Beat : Radio

A new book on the market “Jewish Wisdom for Business” has been having a hard time finding its place in the media world. It wasn’t able to find a market until Christian radio stations have begun taking interviews with the authors. It goes to show that you only need to find the right audience, and then find the right way to reach them. A book is the perfect thing to advertise on the radio and luckily for this book it was able to find a unique and devoted audience.

Newspaper Websites

I was given an assignment on observing newspapers and what they are doing to keep themselves alive. I did what any college student would do and googled “newspaper websites”. The first website my search came up with was http://www.bivingsreport.com . This website had a list of the top ten best newspaper websites based on aesthetics, design and usability. The website wanted to give viewers the best examples of “good” newspaper websites. The top website was the New York Times. This was the topo site because it was user friendly and eye pleasing. It also had a feature called pay wall. The Washington Post was second on the list because it has a database application that provides information hard to find everywhere else. The third best website was USA Today. This website was so high on the list because of its social networking. So it seems that to have a good newspaper website you need to be innovative and have the latest applications. Each site on the list had a special part or feature to their site. There was no site on the list that simply had the most current news. No site that was on the list because it was the most trustworthy or its information was the most intriguing. A websites ratings are based on whether or not they can bring a new idea or a way to read news to the public.

Beat: Radio

The New York Times published an article on September 9th “New York investigates a Yardstick for Radio”. The New York attorney general’s office said that there will be an investigation into Arbitron, which is a company that measures radio ratings that are used to buy and sell advertising times. The company is deploying devices called personal people meters. These devices are handheld about the size of a cell phone and pick up radio signals. The argument against people meters is that the devices are not in the hands of enough minority listeners. This will potentially skew the ratings for minority groups. Early tests show that there is a decline for some stations catering to minority groups and young listeners. Personal meters will become the standard for buying and selling radio airtime by Oct. 8. People are now waiting to determine whether the attorney general will investigate before the switch happens. In my opinion the attorney general must act before the switch happens. There is too much at stake for the issue not to be addressed. If minority geared programs are not allotted the proper ratings there will be a “negative impact on minority broadcasting in New York”.

Books That Have Influenced My Life

I have never made a life decision based on a book I have read. I never felt impelled to immediately go out and change my life. I think that books have influenced my life in more subtle ways. After reading Harry Potter I would daydream and imagine myself in the castle, a part of the thrilling story of magic and prohecies. I was part of the plot and had my own powers. When I read the Tortallan series I could wield a sword and win every battle. For days after reading Willow King I was handicapped learning to ride horses and saving a young colts life. Daydreaming gave me an imaginative outlet. It was a "happy place" where I could retreat to entertain myself or to be a part of a larger story.

They say that children who read do better in school and their writing skills improve. I will vouch for doing better in school. I now am able to read any work and still take the meaning out of a story, even if it is not what I would have chosen to read for myself. Overall I am sure it has helped me in other aspects of school that I am simply unaware of. I do not believe that if you are a good reader you are a good writer. I wish it were true but in no way do I feel I will ever be able to write compellingly the way true authors do. My grammar could only get better and I tend to be unorganized. If reading fiction books or interessting articles could fix this problem I would certainly know by now.

Books are influential even if you are not a die hard reader. The books that you are forced to read in school will affect you in the aspect that maybe you are a little wiser. I have neer had a reading experience that directly influenced my choices but maybe others have. I think reading shaped the person that I am today, and will continue to in the future.

Thoughts on the first week of class

The first week of class was very enlightening. Before recording my media diary I did not realize how media affects my everyday life and how much I come in contact with different types of media. I know that I watch TV and listen to the radio but I look over all the advertisements. I have become so accustomed to people trying to sell me things that I tend not to realize anymore. The strangest part is that I do notice when I hear a new advertisement or watch a new commercial. The fact that all other advertisements blend together, I hear them so much a new one stands out so drastically, is very disconcerting. I also tend not to notice small details in advertisements unless I look closely or am told to look for them. For instance, I have only watched American Idol a handful of times. If someone asked me what drink do the judges always have I could answer Coke. But I don’t remember noticing the coke glasses, I never gave them much thought until someone asks the question.