Examine the 10 Most E-Mailed Stories on the New York Times Web site for Friday, Sept. 7. When you consider them as a whole, do any consistent themes or preoccupations (on the part of journalists or readers or both) emerge? What does the list suggest is the primary function of the news media in America today (informing, entertaining, rumor-mongering, counseling, editorializing, advertising)? Do your findings confirm or contradict Postman's major thesis? What does all this make you feel about the direction of American media and the society it serves? Your response is due -- remember, no late responses are given credit -- by noon Sunday, Sept. 9.
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Examining Fridays Top 10 Most Emailed stories I was surprised to find that the most re-occurring theme had to do with politics, whether it was about Obama’s speech, how Obama will bring about change, new laws dealing with Medicaid, or more talk about what Obama is planning. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised considering the election coming up and the Democratic National Convention just happening but I thought that more people would have emailed “junk” stories that didn’t have really anything to do with society. There were only two article that I considered to be entertainment, which were the one about this new voice app on a smartphone and the one about going to Ireland. Overall, I would really suggest that today’s primary media function is more about informing than entertaining, which isn’t what I expected. I think that this contradicts Postman’s theory who proposed that an image based society is a less serious society and less informed society. I think that it is clear based on these top emailed stories that what people are most interested in are the issues that are plaguing today’s society. Overall, I think that American media serves its purpose in educating and informing its people. I think it is going in the right direction.
I found it interesting that one of the most emailed stories was an article about a smartphone turned walkie-talkie, especially after our discussion on Thursday. The author of the article writes that these new apps "improve on existing modes of chat." I thought this article sounded more like a press release than an article used to inform. He goes on to say how the voice is more accurate and more expressive than a text message and how this app provides "sporadic burts throughout the day." This reminds me of what Postman said about the telegraph--that it provided people with random messages that were out of context (70). The stories mostly dealt with politics, probably because of the Democratic National Convention. It didn't surprise me that the article discussing Medicaid was frequently emailed because healthcare has been a popular issue in this election year. Another popular article about the election had to do with President Obama's children and how they will affect his image. It seems like a lot of the articles written about the presidential candidates discuss an image rather than the substance of their proposed policies. This focus on something as contrived as image differs drastically from the debates and discussions Postman described during the Lincoln-Douglas debates. I think the reason newspapers are obsessed with reporting on a politician's personality or what people think of his personality is because, for the most part, politicians are using media to pander to their audiences. Looking at the most emailed stories as a whole, I think the media's primary function is to entertain. I don't think that some of these articles aren't informative but I do think it is serving a society that is preoccupied by more trivial information.
I found it interesting, but not surprising, that most of the top 10 most emailed stories to the New York Times were entertaining. When I looked at the list, the number one most emailed story was titled, “Pot for Parents.” That means that the most circulated story for those 15 minutes before it was updated was about a parent who receives medical marijuana and how he thinks it improved his bonding with his children. It was interesting to see how this article beat out things that would seem to be much more important. Another story that made the list was about organic food. Again, this seems entertaining to me. However, there was a story that had to do with politics. It was about education and used Obama as a figure in the beginning. This shows how journalists use public figures to display a message to the audience. The audience will pay more attention to something where they recognize someone or something as important as Obama. Again, this is a way to entertain the audience or to some how get them intrigued in the matter. Another article was about managing your child’s allowance online. This just doesn’t seem like something that would make a top 10 list to me. Looking at these articles makes me think that the news is a form of entertainment. They are interesting stories (and sometimes not interesting) portrayed in terms of entertainment. Postman states in the book that he does not think that all news is entertainment but rather that the way it is portrayed to us is in the form of entertainment. It is hard for people to pay attention to things these days if it is not entertaining in some way. Postman also states that most of our daily news is “inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action.” I would have to agree with this with the articles that were circulating. Lastly, Postman states, “The telegraph is suited only to the flashing of messages, each to be quickly replaced by a more up-to-date message. Facts push other facts into and then out of consciousness at speeds that neither permit nor require evaluation.” This relates to how the New York Time pushes out new top stories every 15 minutes. The stories are moving so fast, that how are we supposed to evaluate them? I think America’s media is serving a society that is engrossed in entertainment. The media is doing it’s best to keep society interested in the news by delivering stories like these. I think the function is to inform America but in an entertaining way.
After looking at the most e-mailed articles from the New York Times online, I was able to draw basic conclusions about what the trends are in todays news stories. When compared to Postman’s theories, I would say that he is correct in many aspects. The top ten articles listed online are mostly aimed to ether entertain the reader or counsel them. One interesting thing that I noticed was that there were no articles directed at young adults. Even the stories that were about young adults such as the article about students cheating on tests, or the new characteristics that are seen as being beneficial to students are directed at the parent generation. This backs up Postman’s theory that the younger generations are becoming more and more removed from print media as they increasingly settle on television or the internet. I also found it both funny and scary that Postman’s point about the waning attention spans of people was also backed up by the news articles. In two articles, one titled “Pot for Parents” and the other “Managing a Child's Allowance, the Online Version” shows how even the tasks of parenting are now becoming too much for people to handle. These stories can also be seen as having a large entertainment value because they are shocking yet not very important when considering the big picture. In the chapters, Postman talks about how unnecessary “daily news” really is, and how it creates “context free information”. I both agree and disagree with this claim. It is my opinion that papers make an effort to report on stories that they feel will have an impact on peoples lives, however, the every day citizen is bombarded with so many of these stories that very few really stand out. I think that The New York Times does a decent job with keeping their news “newsworthy”, however, there is really only so much you can do before it all blends together.
I found that majority of the top 10 most-emailed stories on NYTimes.com on Friday the 7th were entertaining and informative, both the primary function of the news media in America today. I expected the articles addressing politics, specifically editorials targeting Obama’s performance at the D.N.C. and an evaluation of his presidency over the past four years, because we are in the midst of an election season. I considered the topics of the other articles to cover most bases, hitting on economy, technology, science, travel, and health, and I was impressed with the choice of readers. I assumed more counseling articles, or even the more derogatory term of “fluff” articles, would be circulated among readers. Every article featured seemed to be aimed at adult readers with the exception of the piece about the smart phone app, which is particularly relevant to the technologically advanced generation of young adults. The article about middle aged fitness did not surprise me because of the age demographic of many NYTimes readers. Overall, I think my findings tend to confirm an aspect of Postman’s thesis, that we must be entertained to truly grasp information. Postman said, “Most of our daily news is inert, consisting of information that gives us something to talk about but cannot lead to any meaningful action.” I agree that this is what the NYTimes top 10 most-emailed articles enable. People choose one of the ten articles to read and email it to a friend or possibly themselves to save under their favorites. Most of the time it simply provides a good dinner conversation, and is never discussed again. The exception is if the topic of the article becomes detrimental enough to receive real media attention and becomes a media fixture for the time being. But most of the time, it provides a good discussion at best. I am just as guilty of this as anyone else. Yet at the same time, I also think the purpose of these articles is to inform, not to necessarily inspire. I think the NYTimes is going in the right direction because they understand that you need to stay relevant to your readers to continue being a successful publication. And entertaining your readers, in addition to informing them, is now a necessity in this day and age, like Postman argued.
After reading through the New York Times Most Emailed Stories, I was able to see a pattern that emerged: there were hardly any articles of traditional, hard-hitting news coverage. Four of the ten articles were from The Opinion Pages which I think says a lot about people’s reading choices. Of course opinions are important and there are incredibly influential opinion writers, but their opinions are grounded within the news (which Americans don’t seem to be reading—at least not enough). It is also important to point out that the editorials are not necessarily the most important in terms of our political or economic environment. The most emailed story was titled “Pot for Parents.” The story was about the father of three who also uses a medical marijuana card for his back pain, stress and anxiety. He says that the marijuana makes him “a more loving, attentive and patient father” which is obvious a polarizing statement, so the flood of emails to the Times is not particularly shocking. Medical marijuana is a topic that a lot of people have strong opinions on, but nothing that I think Postman would argue elevates the “public discourse.” Perhaps the most disheartening article was “Covention Pop Quiz,” again in the Opinion section, because it is exactly what Postman would see as the blending of informative news and entertainment. The “article” asks questions about the Republican and Democratic National conventions, but the questions are not important at all. One asked which marathon Paul Ryan ran in “just over four hours.” A quiz is not news; it is an opportunity to subtly insult the most absurd parts of the RNC and DNC. The list was disheartening to say the least as only two or three stories were truly “news” and hardly any of the news was about world affairs (revealing, perhaps, that even though our technology has lead to an increased vision of the world, Americans are as egocentric as ever). I think that opinions can’t be regarded as truth and Americans are looking to editorials for their truth. Something, I think, Postman would be horrified to witness.
Of the ten most emailed stories in the New York Times yesterday, six of them, in some way, pertained to children, be it parenting tips or a study combatting their high allergy rates. Somewhere in the first three chapters, Postman says that the top pieces of interest in news usually center around the immediate facets of a reader’s life (like events, public works, the community and its going ons, etc.) so it isn’t surprising that so much of the emailed content would center around children (because last I checked, they’re usually a pretty big deal to those who have them). I am surprised though that there was only one piece pertaining to politics but I’m not surprised it’s a quiz because that is more “fun” and interactive than reading a recap of the conventions so obviously readers will be drawn to it. Going off that, the fact that the American public would be so drawn to a “fun” article about something that should be taken way more seriously supports chapter four perfectly. I can’t imagine the average citizen of the 1800’s would find a quiz on an oratory speech quite as amusing as our current culture does. I could never imagine or expect today’s average citizen to sit through a three hour lecture and fully absorb or enjoy it, but I can definitely say that our current state of media and attention span is disappointing at best.
After taking a look at the New York Times top ten most emailed stories for Friday I found a trend that I believe Postman would have agreed with. Despite the recent RNC and DNC conventions I found a small amount of articles about politics. Instead there was a good amount pertaining to entertainment and some for parental guidance. I dont think this would be the case about 100 years ago. Back then all the thing people would have been interested in most would be a presidential election especially following a large scale political event like the conventions. Postman says we have lost a sense of seriousness from our news media as a result from a shift to digital mediums such as TV and the internet. What scares me is thinking about what happens in the future when media outlets become even more advanced, will the average person completely lose touch with all serious aspects of the world?
After looking at the Top 10 Most Emailed stories on the New York Times, I was confused that the number one story was about Pot for Parents and the last story was about student loans and debt collectors. Not only was I confused, but I was shocked that our society would rather read about parents that smoke marijuana than something (student loan debt) that is most likely affecting them, or someone they know. This goes off Postman's theory that our news is becoming more for our entertainment rather than knowledge. It also amazes me that there was really only one story that had to do with politics, when that is probably the most important topic in the news today. It shows that people are most interested in learning about smaller, less important topics. At the same time, Postman believes that daily news is basically just to give us something to talk about but has no real context or meaning. If this is so, then in all reality, it's not too surprising what the Top 10 Most Emailed stories currently are.
I found that the top ten e-mailed stories were about a variety of issues, though the most common aspects of all the stories were that they were all controversial and informed the readership of new ideas. For instance, the most e-mailed story, "Pot for Parents," was extremely controversial, suggesting that recreational drug use (whether legal or not) can help deal with the hell of raising children. The article "Why Fathers Really Matter" describes new research involving epigenetics, which states that traits acquired throughout a male's life can be passed onto their offspring, something that we were all taught was impossible in high school biology.
Since Postman's book deals with the imagery of television as opposed to the propositional metaphor of language, I feel that the content of these articles and the content of a TV News Program are different. However, as I suppose that Postman is going to argue post-chapter 6, image-based television has affected other forms of information and media. It is true that the articles are short and the sentence structure simple, quite unlike the oratory style that Douglas and Lincoln utilized during their state house debates, and thereby has arguably been affected by television. However, I DO believe that the majority of the articles have something important and educational to say. One might argue that all the articles were sensationalistic, but I would reply by saying that the only way they are sensationalistic is that they are interesting, and they are interesting because they have something real to say.
While looking at the top 10 most emailed stories, I noticed that a lot of them had to do with lifestyle. It starts with the number one article being "Pot fot Parents" then goes on about healthy eating. Judging by the titles, a good amount of the readers are confused about how to be good parents. I feel that with these stories, people are looking to be told how things are done, instead of seeking out and experience the problem themselves. It does support what Postman was trying to say in his earlier chapters about how the media is the tell-all source; the guide to living. Are the articles informative? yes. Should people abide by the articles? I'm not sure, but they probably will because the media said so.
After checking the top 10 most emailed stories, I felt that Postman would have been ashamed to have seen the outcome himself. Scanning the page, I could see that most of the articles came from opinionated authors; however they mainly appealed to readers through the use of pop culture or "tips" for everyday people. A lot of the articles pertained to things like healthy living, parenting, or school. While I believe these are important topics in general, they way they were portrayed was definitely leaning toward the entertainment side rather than the educational (the point of Postman's writing). Even the articles written about political issues and the presidential candidates are more for entertainment purposes (ex. "Obama's English"). Is it really more important to read an article about Obama's language in his speeches instead of his political platform? Sure, it's an interesting read, but how informative is it really? There was even a pop quiz article about the Conventions, but the questions were about Romney's hobbies or Obama's diet. The one thing I really noticed about all of the articles was that every topic is relevant and even important, but not the way they were presented. There was not one "hard-hitting" story with actual news. They were appealing to the common reader's interest in a fun-read. It is shocking to realize that Postman is absolutely right; is anything educational anymore, or are we just in it to be entertained?
For this blog, I am looking at the 10 Most E-Mailed Stories for Sunday, September 9.
Out of the ten stories listed, six of them are listed as either opinion or op-ed. The fact that the majority of news that people choose to share with their peers are driven by opinion, it would appear that a major function of modern news media is to editorialize. These opinion based articles range in subject from the role of fathers in child rearing to editorializing the Obama administration and the chances of Obama's reelection. Three out of these six opinion articles are on the subject of parenting-- one about the importance of fatherhood, one about right and wrong ways to discipline children, and one about parents who smoke marijuana and feel it is beneficial to their mental state, and thus has a positive effect on both their parenting and their overall family dynamic. I think this says more about the preoccupations of the readers than it does about the journalists themselves-- many readers of the New York Times website are parents whose social circle largely consists of other parents. This is why so many parent-themed editorials are shared amongst readers. These articles reflect the day-to-day concerns of a demographic that thinks in terms of the family. There are also two articles that are not opinion per se, but still are concerned with matters of family life and health. One is a recipe for whole grain risotto, and another is about the trend of organic food and its transition into a trend of locally grown food. Each of these stories has a subject that is deeply rooted in family life. I've been trying to avoid stereotyping while writing this, but I'll just come out and say what I'm thinking: these are all articles that are geared toward and probably mostly appreciated and shared by domestic mother-knows-best types.
As far as Postman's opinions are concerned, I think this list is pretty typical of the attitude toward the media that Postman describes Americans as having. Considering all of these articles as a whole, I'm reminded of Postman's discussion of pseudo-context; they all seem to be trivial and disconnected from one another. After skimming each of these articles, I now know how to create a wholesome nutritious meal for my family, and how to evaluate food products based on labels such as "organic," "natural," and "locally grown." However, this doesn't really contribute much to my worldview as a whole. Instead, I now possess trivial knowledge about domestic issues that don't particularly impact my 22-year-old college bachelor life. These stories do not have significant context for me, personally.
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