Mass Media

Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) and Accuracy In Media (AIM), are two of the most active media watch groups, who seeks to influence and encourage members of the media to deliver fair and objective information to the people, without injecting biases and personal opinions. FAIR considers themselves as a national media watch group who “offers well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship” ever since they started with the cause in 1986 (F.A.I.R., 2007).

On the other hand, AIM sees themselves as a grassroots citizens’ watchdog, which “critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage” (A.I.M., 2007). Simply put, they are both against the misinformation that the media sometimes deliver to the people because of personal reasons, like biases, opinions and more. But scrutinizing this two properly, the question would then be on who is able to convince more people regarding the slanted news and information of some media practitioners and agencies.

Looking closely on FAIR’s characteristics, they say that they seek both the opinion of the journalists and the activists. They present the side of the journalist, whenever they have presented a bit of a biased article or information. They give the journalist a chance to defend themselves and be able to explain further why they have resorted to writing such article.

They also present the side of the activists and the critics who notices the mistakes and the points where the journalists went out of line. This is to provide a point of argument for the people, who usually wouldn’t realize that they are receiving biased commentaries from the people they would often think to deliver an unbiased report of the facts.

Because of this, FAIR keeps the line open between the journalists and the activists. Through them, they can keep a constant dialogue so that they could be able to work things out for them. This then leaves a room for improvement for the journalists, especially if they consider what the activists say. With the help from FAIR, they would know whether what they are doing is right or wrong. Through constant communication, they are able to sharpen their senses to bring about truthful, unbiased pieces of information for the public.

Another characteristic of FAIR is that they are encouraging the people to ask for the person responsible to change their ways, say, the media who gave biased information to the public. They are having a part where they propose a possible solution to a problem and then ask the people to act in order to solve that problem by following what they have suggested. An example would be asking them to call the person involve by giving that person’s contact number. They would encourage the people to ask for an explanation why that media practitioner made such a biased comment regarding a certain topic.

AIM on the other hand, sees that the media needs a watch dog, which is why they exist. They said that the news media don’t seem to always give out the right information, wherein they could be misleading the people or giving out biased information shadowed by their personal opinions. But looking closely at AIM’s works, they are more on the political opinions of the media. They are more into scrutinizing that these people should not reflect their political belief in what they are writing.

This has become a distinguishing characteristic, since most of their discussions are on whether some media personnel are for the democratic or the liberal side. In addition to that, they tackle on some publications that they see to “stir people’s minds” with what they publish. They say that these publications exist to deliver straight, hard hitting facts and information, and not to promote a certain belief or side they represent or endorse.

In comparing the effectiveness of both FAIR and AIM, it can be seen that both of them are getting feedbacks from people, saying that what they are doing are really helping out in delivering the appropriate, unbiased information. This means that both of them prove that they are effective. But comparing them FAIR is able to communicate more with the people with regards to the wrong-doings of the media. This is because of the wide range of topics and information that FAIR gives and they are not as much as shadowed by the political stand of the media, as compared to that of AIM.

In an article in the New York Times last July 3, 2007, writer Sheryl Stolberg has somewhat infused her thoughts in what she has written. The article was about President Bush deciding to commute the sentence of I. Lewis Libby Jr. who has committed a crime by lying to the FBI regarding an Iraq war issue (Stolberg, 2007). With Stolberg saying that the President seem to find the 30-month imprisonment for Libby as harsh, and that the case was a test of will, she was clearly sympathizing with what President Bush is feeling, whether what she said was factual or not. She mentioned that President Bush was forced to give the decision, a statement clearly implying of her, injecting her own opinions.

This article was taken by some media watch group negatively, saying that Sheryl Stolberg was violating the media ethics of delivering a truthful, unbiased news and information to the people. What she did was an act of showing her biases, which she was siding and sympathizing with President Bush. As a media practitioner, doing as such reduces her credibility to give truthful, untainted information to the people.

Conclusion

Democracy includes the people’s freedom to freely speak their minds, the freedom to voice out their opinions whenever they want. But democracies freedoms also have limitations. This is applicable to media, where in order to get a true grasp of a story, the media practitioner, journalists or reporters should be able to give the unbiased face of the story. In order to do so, they must set aside their own opinions and interests in order to give the appropriate information to the people. The media’s role in democracy is the freedom of all people to access information. This information must be untainted with the media people’s opinions or biases, in order not to mislead the recipient of these pieces of information, which are the masses.

References:

A.I.M. (2007). What is Accuracy In Media(AIM)?   Retrieved July 4, 2007, from http://www.aim.org/static/19_0_7_0_C

F.A.I.R. (2007). Media Views.   Retrieved July 4, 2007, from http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=11

Stolberg, S. G. (2007, July 3, 2007). For President, Libby Case Was a Test of Will The New York Times.

Are there still mass media? The easy and immediate answer would be an absolute yes. However, the difficulty comes from substantiating the answer.

For the purposes of this paper, mass media will be defined using Boeren’s (1994: 122-123) classification of media. According to him, mass media refers to “all media that enable one to disseminate ideas to large audiences through technological/electronic means”. Included here are printed medium of communication (books, newspapers, magazines, posters, etc.), recordings, radio, television, film, cassette, video programs, and the most recent information-carrying technology—the internet. Mass media here was also differentiated by Boeren from other channels of communication.

These are media generated by the human body (verbal language, facial expressions, body decorations and the likes), objects or substances used in transient communication (Morse code, horn signals, perfume, etc.), objects or substances used to deposit and express ideas (architecture, ornaments, paintings, etc.), and complex media that refers to rituals and the performing arts such as songs, puppet shows, theater and the likes.

To support the answer posed above, there is mass media and it is here to stay.  This is on the basis of, first, mass media play an important role in a democratic society wherein “the welfare of an entire nation depends on the knowledge and good judgment of the majority of individuals” (English & Hach 1968: 259). In support of this, the University of Washington (2000), in its article “What is the role of the media in the United States?” stated that media support democracy.

This is done in a way wherein the media serve as a significant source of information. Through the information (and competing ideas) circulated by the media, people are then able to govern themselves or able to make their own decisions. Furthermore, mass media provide the general public “with the information it needs to function as a democracy” (Stay 1999). With this, it could be said that being a model country where its citizens enjoy democratic space, the United States of America will always consider media outlets as key structures or institutions for maintaining democracy in its ideal state.

Second, there is a need to examine the role of mass media in a society. If those roles are still satisfied, then, it could be well validated that there is still mass media. For this paper, the roles of the media outlined by Voelker, F. and Voelker, L. (1978) were referred to. These are Informers or providers of information, Entertainers or providers of pleasure and enjoyment, and Persuaders or could be referred to as shapers of perception/public opinion and behavior.

Mass Media as Informers

News source for Americans has evolved over the past decades. Americans used to rely largely on print medium (mainly newspapers). Then the radio innovated how the public get their news from black and white printed paper. Then came television. And since then, it could be said that television has been the number one source of news compared to newspapers and radios.

That TV is the primary source of news for Americans should not come as a surprise. In its study, the Arizona State University gave some data showing that TV sets are a fixture in American households (Arizona State University, n.d.). Data shows that 98.3% of households have TV sets, 65% have cable TV, TV sets are turned on for an average of 7 hours each day and that an average American spends 2.5 hours a day in front of TV. Aside from this access, news on TV is more available around the clock wherein we have early morning shows, noon newscasts, late night news and news breaks in between regular TV programs. In addition, TV is viewed as a source for international and national news while newspapers as source of local information.

Meanwhile, with the advent of the internet, it is not yet defined whether this new technology has overtaken TV as the primary source of news. But data shows that over 2.5 million Americans are watching less TV this year compared in 2006 (Bauder c.2006). This decline has not been attributed to the internet replacing TV as a source of information (or other TV programs) but one of the factors being speculated upon is that more shows are either being downloaded or streamed.

Mass Media as Persuaders

With scores of discussion debating over the effects of media content, the point that mass media shapes individual or collective perception and behavior could not be disregarded.

Gans (n.d.:236) stated that news, as an example of media content, “does not limit itself to reality judgments; it also contains values or preference statements.” With this, Gans forwarded that underlying the news lies “a picture of nation and society as it ought to be.”

For example, a protest march pictured as a disruption to public order, would be considered more news worthy and placed in headline news. On the other hand, a family murder that claimed three victims is less news worthy would be placed in local news. The way how news stories are prioritized and presented in turn shapes the public’s perception on what social disorder is.

On a different note, Klapper (1967:331-333) believes that mass media mainly strengthen the views the audience have. One factor leading to this situation is that generally, people lean to (watch, listen, read) materials that advocate the same views that they have. Similarly, people tend to ignore materials that are conflicting or opposing to their own judgment.

Aside from the reinforcement power of mass media, Klapper also believes that the media is effective in creating opinion on new issues. He explained that when an individual has no predisposition on an issue, that individual would be vulnerable to adapt an opinion presented by any mass medium. That created opinion would be easy to reinforce and then hard to change.

Now we go to the media as shapers of behavior. Some of the critics about media content pertain to their effects on the behavior of target audience particularly on issues such as violence, alcoholism and the likes.

A research study by Atkin, Hocking and Block (1981:280-289) was used to support the idea that mass media indeed affect the behavior of its target audience. They used a correlational survey design to determine if advertising of alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine and liquor encourage non-drinkers to drink and encourage moderate drinkers to drink more. The questionnaires were distributed to 665 students from seventh to twelfth grades in the states of Michigan, California, New York, and Georgia.

Over-all results of the study showed that the relationship between exposure to advertisements and liquor is strongly positive. Also, non-drinkers immensely exposed to alcohol ads expressed intentions of drinking when they get older. The difference between those who intended to drink and the opposite is a significant 26%.

Mass Media as Entertainers

Apart from its functions as providers of information and shapers of perception and behavior, there is no doubt that mass media also largely function as entertainers. Americans turn to different forms of mass media to enjoy, to relax or to simply spend leisure time. The expansion of leisure time in the twentieth century according to De Fleur and Dennis gave way to Americans’ “growing interest in various forms of recreation and entertainment: (1981:212).

This could be attributed to reasons why most commercial TV shows (75%) are made for entertainment while the remaining 25%  accounts for the news and public affairs, educational and cultural programs and religious programs. They also classified entertainment programs that Americans watch such as dramas, situation comedies, variety and talk shows, personality and game shows, soap operas, children’s programs, movies, specials, sports and special events, and docudramas (1981:190-196).

Aside from TV programs, it is also worth noting the movies or motion pictures as channels for entertainment. As early as the 1920s, Jowett (1976, quoted in De Fleur & Dennis 1981:212) stated that the movies “had become the largest and most widespread commercial entertainment form the world had ever known”. By that time onwards, the movies have become a multi-billion dollar industry. Of course, the business would not have been that successful if it had not been for the millions of audience patronizing them.

Meanwhile, the print media was never behind when it comes to its role as entertainers. Newspapers and especially magazines make space for materials that offer amusement to the audience.

And to complete the package, there is the internet, which makes available online versions of print materials, music, music videos, TV shows, and movies on the World Wide Web. Of course, the internet also offers other types of entertainment that are not offered by the aforementioned mass media such as online games, social networking and others.

So are there still mass media? Definitely. To conclude different channels of communication—mainly print media, TV, radio, and the internet—are still prevalent today. The roles or functions of mass media in American society are satisfied because the public has a need for them.

Americans are hungry for news and information. They continue to seek information, which consciously or unconsciously reinforce their views on various issues. In addition, Americans continue to turn to mass media as a source of entertainment.

No mass medium has been obsolete since it was introduced decades ago. Mass media technology continues to be sophisticated and in the near future, we might be introduced to new channels of communication. Bottomline is, mass media provide distinct social needs of the Americans and that is why these channels of communication are here to stay, up until the next century or even forever.

List of References

Boeren, A. (1994) In Other Words… The Cultural Dimension of Communication for Development. The Hague: Centre for the Study of Education in Developing Countries (CESO)

English, E. & Hach, C. (1968) Scholastic Journalism. 4th ed. Iowa: The Iowa State University

Stay, B. L. (ed.) (1999) Opposing Viewpoints: Mass Media [online] available

Gans, H. J. (n.d.) ‘The messages behind the news’ In Media in Society: Readings in Mass Communication. ed. by Deming, C. J. & Becker, S. L. Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company: 243

Arizona State University (n.d.) Mass Media & Society: A Sociological Perspective on Media [online] available from < http://www.public.asu.edu/~zeyno217/365/notes1.html> [17 November 2007]

Klapper, J. T. (1967) ‘Basic Research in Persuasion and Motivation’ In Mass Media: Forces in our Society. 3rd ed. ed. by Voelker, F. H. & Voelker, L. A. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.: 331-333

Atkin, C., Hocking, J. & Block, M. (1981) ‘Teenage Drinking: Does Advertising Make a Difference?’ In Media in Society: Readings in Mass Communication. ed. by Deming, C. J. & Becker, S. L. Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company: 280-289

De Fleur, M. L. & Dennis, E. E. (1981) Understanding Mass Communication. USA: Houghton Mifflin Company

Bauder, D. (c.2007) Data Says 2.5 Million Less Watching TV. [online] available from <http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8P0F6RG0&show_article=1> [17 November 2007]

Pember, D. R. (1987) Mass Media in America. Science Research Associates, Inc.

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30, 2005. Danish Muslim organizations staged protests in response. As the controversy has grown, some or all of the cartoons have been reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries, leading to violent protests involving hundreds of deaths, particularly in Muslim countries.

I feel this is a suitable story to explore and analyze media bias and prejudiced reporting, as this is a highly controversial issue between a Muslim population sensitive over what they perceive as a global assault by the Western world on their religion and faith, and both liberals and right wingers alike who feel that freedom of speech is sacred and unassailable.

As such, I have included news coverage from 3 distinct sources – Al-Jazeera, commonly regarded as the media champion of the Arab world; BBC, one of the oldest and respected media institutions in the world; and finally, a random daily newspaper from the United States, to compare the news coverage regarding this controversial issue, and to identify any media bias, negative reporting or partisan reporting.

Al- Jazeera

The link to the story can be found in the “Works Cited” section of this paper. We would expect from a preliminary basis that Al-Jazeera would typically play up the offensive nature of the cartoons, highlight the perceived insensitivities and double standards of the Western media vis-à-vis the cartoons and the Holocaust, as well as champion the rights of the Muslim world.

Surprisingly, this is not the case. The news article quoted seemed to be factual rather than opinionated in nature, quoting a variety of sources and viewpoints from both sides of the fence, from the Danish media and politicians to Hamas and other Islamic militant groups. No underlying or latent propaganda was detected; indeed, negative quotes were enclosed in double quotes, and attributed to its source. The language used was non-inflammatory, focused on facts and events, and there was no strong hint of an opinion piece.

The closest the Al-Jazeera piece came to being biased was when it was reporting on the nature of the cartoons (drawings) at the heart of the controversy. The descriptions used were accurate, non-misleading, and mildly strong. However, there was no mention of the Western world point of view, or of the fact that the combined cartoons at the heart of the controversy which were spread by Danish imams contained 3 additional (highly offensive) drawings not published by the Jyllands-Posten.

I conclude that the Al-Jazeera piece, when factual in nature and non-inflammatory, seems more interested in presenting the reaction of the Muslim world as well as the threats made by them, when ignoring the Western point of view. There seemed to be an unusual emphasis on the negative incidents such as attacks and boycotts that has occurred as a result of the backlash against the cartoons.

BBC

The report by the BBC is by far the most accurate and objective. It presents inconsistencies on the actions and words on both parties (the Danish media and the Danish imams who incited the controversy), reporting in detail how an editor of the Jyllands-Posten rejected cartoons of Jesus Christ with the reason that they would offend. Impressively, the particular section also included (in brackets) a update in which a reader pointed out that the paper did publish a cartoon of the biblical Joseph in 2000, and thus queries why the paper should be criticized over the rejection of the Jesus Christ cartoons, finally ending with the editor’s (of the BBC report) explanation of why the inconsistency was still valid.

A detailed account of how the initial cartoons failed to spark any major outrage, until a group of Danish imams made concentrated efforts to spark a controversy by adding 3 cartoons which were highly offensive and insulting (more so that the original cartoons) and were not published by the Jyllands-Posten to a portfolio and touring various Middle Eastern Arab leaders with them follows.

The report finally ends with a reflection of the viewpoints and the reaction of both sides. I was very impressed with the objectivity of the reports, and the lengths to which the writer went to portray the inconsistencies of both parties.

Washington Post

The report by the Washington Post is reminiscent of that by Al-Jazeera; non-inflammatory, factual in nature, no underlying propaganda or strong language, and drawing from a wide variety of sources. However, whereas Al-Jazeera’s report focused solely on the reaction of the Muslim world, Washington Post report carried a fair balance of the reactions of both the Western world and the Muslim world. There was a balance in the strength of the opinions and announcements from both side, and hence I find the Washington Post more balanced and objective, although the BBC outshines the Washington Post in this aspect.
Works Cited

Reynolds, Paul. Cartoons: Divisions and inconsistencies.  BBC. Monday 13th February 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4708216.stm

Fury Grows Over Denmark Cartoons. Al-Jazeera.net. Tuesday 31st January 2006.

Sullivan, Kevin. Muslims’ Fury Rages Unabated Over Cartoons. The Washington Post. Saturday 11th February, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/10/AR2006021001822.html

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R. R. Donnelly & Sons: The Digital Division (Case Synopsis) R. R. Donnelley & Sons was suffering with an ad-hoc technology development process. Once this process had to be changed and new technology development process had to be brought in. R. R. Donnelley & Sons with 6% share of the $80 billion print market is certainly the market leader. But the level of competition was rising rapidly as well. The printing market was going online and electronic with the online service providers and software packages were making four color images available electronically.

Smaller printing companies were also building alliances with firms that had high-capacity networks for transmitting files. Despite digital division being a good idea, it was essentially outside their core business. All divisions knew the potential of digital technology but did not know enough about the markets and were scared of unproven technology. The biggest issue faced by the Digital Division was whether they would be accepted or not by other divisions in the organization itself. The company knew that digital technology was the future.

And that the company needs to improve on demand printing and delivery on time as well. But the problem was convincing the other divisions. They could not do it with their arguments or with the incentives they gave. The solution would be to accept the advantages of the digital technology by the CEO, john Walter not as a different division. This is done so that the profitability and the existence of other divisions are not affected. It should benefit the organization not as a separate division. All the divisions in the organization must work together as one to contribute to the organizational goals and growth.

In this day and age, no one can deny that technology make human’s communication easier. However, many people are of the opinion that spending on computer screens rather than face-to-face contact has dangers for society. Therefore, this essay will examine the dangers that probably impact on society at present day. Firstly, it is true that when people select to work at home by doing their job on computer, their inter action with their collegues in socity will decline in importance.

This change results in becoming shallow and isolated feeling among these individuals because greeting conversations by typing on screen can not convey emotions, feelings, touchings to another side while face-to-face meeting can. A case that illustrates this is if you want to confide in your best friend in serious cases, you can not share or feel in with her by posting messeges via computer. Thus, they better take indirect way conversation.

Furthermore, the most important threat for society by lacking participation in communication is the lack of creativitys in humanity. It is inevitable that humanity is a social animal, so people have to socialise with others surrounding them. Clearly, the communication skills pay important roles in our race. If humans detract this communication skills which should continuously been developed, those could rarely progress in art, science, technology, innovation and so on.

I believe this is likely the result from the fact that those innovations rely much on team work combining variety of skills among people. On the other hand, working on screen alone at home destroys all chance to construct these developments in society. All in all, I personally agree that obsession in spending time on greeting people on computer screen is dangerous for society in two perspectives, namely being shallow and lonely in individuals, and lacking of continuous development of communication skills which play a significant role in creativity of humanity.

Gone are the days when the media used to exercise its power mainly through the radio and the newspapers. During that period, there was always time for free reflection on what it means to be an American. Today, the media merely thrusts its views on the viewer in a very powerful way. People are being exposed to a hugely expanded power of the media through the incessant television programs, movies and the internet.

Like an invader who captures the minds of the weak, the American media is now in a position from where it can brainwash people into developing a media customized American identity. One of the more dominant images being circulated right now by American media is that to be American is to agree with the American President. All those who disagree are anti-American.

Ever since the war on terrorism was launched during the aftermath of September 11, 2001, political leaders have used the media to seed the hearts and minds of Americans towards a new kind of patriotism. The Bush administration has, with the help of the media, widely propagated that this is the time when America needs to come together and support the President. The message is that unity and support for the President is more vital than having a healthy debate. This communication strategy has garnered a great deal of success in the United States as anti-war and anti-Bush policies have become equated with anti-Americanism.

National identity of America was earlier derived from powerful figures of colonial America who imparted their daring visions, power, and energetic optimism to the American tradition. Among them are the explorer and colonial founder John Smith; the religious liberty advocate, Quaker, and colonial founder William Penn; the great Puritan intellectual Cotton Mather; and the astonishing 18th-century polymath Benjamin Franklin. Americans of the early 19th century were involved in the great controversy of whether slavery should be abolished or not.

They were not afraid to fight wars for their causes and they also ensured that the republic achieved astonishing economic growth. Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May Alcott helped in the development of a mature distinctive American literary and philosophical culture. There were great leaders like Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln who turned America into a great prosperous nation of sustained economic growth and they enabled the republic to stretch from ocean to ocean. America flowered as a land of great diversity with the advent of immigration in the mid-20th century. This was the time America grew to be a global leader and American character was exemplified through distinct American traits found in its great citizens.

Some such distinct American traits that became part of American identity were lack of fatalism, energetic approach to problem-solving, faith in economic growth, dedication to education, devotion to religious liberty and belief in equality. There were many individuals who embodied these American traits. Louisa May Alcott was a volunteer nurse in a Civil War hospital, where she contracted typhoid fever and was crippled for life from the mercury used to treat her. But that did not deter her from writing Little Women, a book that was hugely successful. Benjamin Franklin was the epitome of self confidence as he invented the Franklin stove to meet the firewood shortage in Philadelphia.

Andrew Carnegie was a great industrialist who finally thought it best to focus on a single industry: the steel industry. Horace Mann was responsible for the creation of the universal compulsory school model. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which Thomas Jefferson drafted in 1786 was the foundation stone for the rise of America as a nation that valued freedom in all aspects of life.  Every American shares a national identity with his fellow citizens and he is proud to known that values such as optimism, self reliance and belief in equality and justice are all part of this great American identity which has been shaped by a long history of political openness and change, tolerance of conflict, entrepreneurial energy, and cultural mix.

The nobility that is enshrined in American national identity is slowing being eroded in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, race relations, crime, immigration, health care, euthanasia, gun control, and education and the erosion is more intense due to the focus of the media on such issues. Media expert David Domke feels has studied the government’s post-September 11 communication strategies in the war on terrorism as well as the media response and the impact on U.S. public opinion.

After studying media reports and public responses from the period from September 11, 2001, to Bush’s address to the nation about Iraq on March 17, 2003, he concluded that “government officials have consistently emphasized American core values and themes of U.S. strength and unity while simultaneously demonizing the enemy” (Whitworth Communications, 2003). His conclusion is supported by a study of media coverage and public-opinion polls. Words such as freedom, individualism, mobility, and pragmatism “speak to the American spirit.” It is through the use of such words that mass media is shaping the national identity on political issues.

There are people such as think-tank researchers, interest-group leaders and academic experts who can offer analysis from a neutral platform. They are not people who are likely to sing chorus to the government’s song. But Domke and his colleagues have found that such intellectual people tend to get less media attention – for the simple reason they are not guaranteed supporters of the government.

This finding shows that the media coverage under the blanket of patriotic press coverage, has served to shift the American national identity from one that allows every individual the liberty to have his or her own opinion on political issues to one that supports the standing of a unified nation behind the President of the United States, no matter what decisions he takes.

Apart from this negative shift, there are many positive ways in which mass media is helping to shape the national identity of Americans. Hollywood is one of the most influential media in America and has always played a huge role in creating a sense of national identity and pride. American values such as equality, liberty, love for the nation, freedom of expression, human right are emphasized in many movies.

Popular movies such as Pearl Harbor; We Were Soldiers; The Quiet American; Behind Enemy Lines; Black Hawk Down; Kandahar; Collateral Damage; In the Bedroom; Minority Report and Fahrenheit 9/11 explore and help in shaping American identity with respect to morality, family, nation and globalisation.

Television programs such as Apprentice and American Idol showcase the potential America offers to people with values, talent, skill and willingness to work. They add a sense of pride and positive attitude to the national identity. Sports such as baseball and basketball as shown in the movies and television programs have become American symbols of competitiveness and professionalism.

However, television advertisements seem to focus more on hawking a happier home and love-life, improved eating and drinking and appearance, better health, taste and smell, a more comfortable car, etc., etc. thereby polluting the national identity with a craving for materialism and self centeredness.

Through the mass media, Mickey Mouse, Babe Ruth, screwball comedy, G.I. Joe, the blues, “The Simpsons,” Michael Jackson, the Dallas Cowboys, Gone With the Wind, the Dream Team, Indiana Jones, Catch-22 – these names, genres, and phrases from American sports and entertainment have become a powerful tools in sculpting the American identity. Through mass media, music has also played a huge role in shaping American identity. The first major composer of popular music with a uniquely American style was Stephen Foster (1826-1864). Soon the music that was representative of America combined elements of European musical tradition with African-American rhythms and themes.

Some of Foster’s best songs are: “Oh! Susanna,” “Camptown Races,” “Ring the Banjo,” “Old Folks at Home”. Today, the inclusion of African music such as Reggai and rap, Latino rhythms, and the domination of global artists has made American music much more representative of its expanding scope of national identity. However, rock music remains the prevalent pop music of America because it is one genre that can assimilate almost any other kind of music, along with new varieties of outlandish showmanship, into its strong rhythmical framework – much as America assimilates different cultures and different races into its constitutional framework and national identity.

Rangers in the Sequoia National Park report that the huge sequoia monarch trees in the forests, however huge and seemingly strong, one day simply tilt over and crash to the ground because of their weak roots (Sites, 2007). So also the American national identity built through mass media can crash if care is not taken to nourish the roots of that identity. Mass media should focus on the unique American history and resplendent traditions instead of favoring an almost total obsession with the clamorous present and the dubious lures of the unpredictable future.

Bibliography:

Whitworth Communications (2003). Political Communication Scholar to Present Whitworth Lecture on Challenges to Civil Discourse of ‘Post-9/11 Patriotism’. http://www.whitworth.edu/News/2002_2003/Spring/GreatDecisionsDomke.htm

Sites N. James. Inger: A Modern-Day Viking Discovers America. Published by Scan-Am Communications. Ashland. http://www.identityindependence.com/ingersites.html