Radical Radio

Industry was the driving force behind the rapid expansion and formation of radio in the 1920's, because it provided both a monetary and ideological incentive for the growth of the medium.

A technology can only go as far as men are willing to take it, and the best way to motivate an individual to pursue a new paradigm is through money. Industry provided the proverbial carrot that those individuals needed in order to foster and maintain the growth of the burgeoning new medium. The idea to create a new "mass audience radio" wherein a company or band could reach thousands of new listeners every day represented a new step in the evolution of media. The government realized the potential of placing radio into private hands, which is why control reverted to the private sector following World War I. Radio allowed for individuals living in rural areas or cramped urban quarters to be exposed to and learn about the surrounding world, be it the music of a different part of the country such as Mississippi Blues, or the way another group of people live such as the couple "Roger and Irene" in Radio Days.

Radio in the 20's provided a unique opportunity to advertisers; a war-weary country was desperately seeking for an escape from the horrors that it had just undergone. And so it came to be that various companies would go to advertising companies and create various series that were meant to both entertain and sell product. Radio Days provides another example, wherein the show "The Masked Avenger" fills the title character with such desire for a "Masked Avenger" ring that he steals from his Rabbi for the opportunity to acquire one. In addition to integrated advertising, radio shows would also tell listeners that a program was "provided by" a specific company or product, thus helping to ensure that their name was brought up as often as possible. Eventually, radio became so large that entire companies were created around the medium itself, such as CBS and NBC. These new companies would garner their money through the selling of ad space, akin to certain newspapers which allowed them to reach hundreds of thousands of listeners and accrue even more money in the process.

Effects of the Media

The media's ability to influence social learning plays a key role in defining what values and attributes an individual desires and or despises, such as the depiction of heroism in the films of John Wayne, as well as irrevocably shaping one's opinions of the world around them.
The media itself has proven to be an indelible force that is able to change public opinion regarding what is and is not acceptable. A person's actions, and indeed, self worth, are defined by a set of ever fluctuating rules that are as fickle and capricious as the people who enforce them. One moment, the public may find itself weary of rock and roll and thus begin to spread out and begin to experiment with other genres of music such as disco. Or moviegoers may tire of westerns and instead begin to demand cop films. Yet, as soon as these shifts arise, they are just as quickly swept away amidst a tide of boredom from the general public. It may seem to some that these waves of public opinion, or fads, are utterly out of the hands of the media at large. And while it is true that the media cannot always create a fad or ensure that a product or idea succeeds, it is in fact able to plant the idea in the public's mind, and influence their thoughts and behavior. Thus, social learning is both a blessing and a curse for the media, in that the media is able to provide the tools and means for the public to fully embrace a new idea, such as the rise of hip hop music throughout the 2000's, but not able to ensure that the idea takes hold in the public subconscious.
What I find to be most interesting in regards to the media's social influence, is its seemingly self-perpetuating value system. A group of kids will grow up watching westerns starring John Wayne, and then begin to idealize a sort of "rough and tumble cowboy" as evidenced in the film "Tough Guise" by the massive support garnered by Ronald Reagan. These children grew up idolizing the John Wayne character and everything he stood for; he was a sort of indelible being, who could do no wrong. As such, when a man came along touting the same values and attitude that defined their childhood hero, these men and women set their reservations aside and chose to follow he who defined the epitome of their values. Yet, why did these children learn to fantasize about cowboys and the American way? It was the media who imparted the vision of such an individual in the collective minds of a generation, making Ronald Reagan's election possible.

Media Targets and Impacts

The media is just as fickle and capricious as the people who report it. To say that the news is impartial and tries to report only the facts is a nice thought, but naive. That is not to say that the media intentionally misleads, though it oftentimes can, rather the media is inherently influenced by those who create it. One can find meaning and judgment in the most seemingly innocuous statement, whether real or perceived. Indeed, the public craves such opinion, which explains the abundance of radio and television personalities who forcefully expound their own thoughts. People enjoy hearing opinions they agree with, which is what allows the hegemony in media to continue. The reason two stations as divergent as CNBC and Fox News can both thrive is that people love to hear others not only agree with them, but also agree to such a degree that all traces of doubt that they once had are expunged. The stations also use this to their advantage, each utilizing a unique viewpoint or agenda and furthering it with whatever means they have available. The stations are also able to regulate precisely what they report, giving large amounts of coverage to events that other stations would similarly ignore. Yet, at the same time I do not believe that media has the same sort of control that it once did, as the advent of near-instant and efficient communication has allowed large groups of people to spread the word of events faster than ever before.

 Perhaps the best example of media framing is the media's coverage of the conflict in the Middle East. A tumultuous issue at best, one need simply look at the different titles of these two articles to see the dichotomy of opinion on the matter among major US publications alone, one from a prominent conservative publication The Wall Street Journal and one from the more liberal minded Time Magazine. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703995104575388754261573556.html?mod=googlenews_wsj and http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2015602,00.html 

The titles alone, "Funding Palestinian Incitement," and "Why Israeli's Don't Care About Peace with Palestinians" are clearly meant to not only appeal to a specific group of people, but also to incite some sort of reaction. A holdover from the early days of print media are hyperbolic headlines, mean to attract viewers, whether out of agreement or anger or simply intrigue. Both articles talk about the conflict in the Middle East, yet they both chose contrary and conflicting stories and viewpoints, illustrating how varied the ideas of different media can be on a particular subject. The editors at the Wall Street Journal know that they are trying to appeal to a generally conservative readership, and such a thought process is imparted in the tone and content of their articles. Yet, one can argue that the content of the articles themselves is irrelevant, with pageviews instead being what these sites seek. For the more pageviews a website can accrue, the more ad revenue a website can command, which is always good as newspaper and magazine subscription numbers continue to dwindle. A favorite example of this phenomenon is from my favorite webcomic that illustrates the logic behind outlandish and abrasive articles and headlines in a logical fashion.

source: Penny-Arcade.com