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Katie Couric

2008-06-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

Who is Katie Couric? She is the first solo female anchor in television news (Poniewozik, 2008). This is a big deal because before her time there were only men. It was always three white guys in suits that covered the nightly news. It's as big as Hilary Clinton being the first female presidential candidate. But as time goes by, Katie Couric might be leaving her $15 million a year job at CBS as CBS is still in dead last to NBC and ABC. Her leaving is a big deal, just as big as when she got hired on in the first place.

When Katie Couric was first hired as the first solo female anchor it was a large stepping stone for women in the world. As we know even with all these equal rights, women still are not treated and respected equally as men. Women still have to set higher standards in the work place. This was event was setter better equality in the workplace and made it seem as if America is moving on and growing up. Are we moving towards real equality? Before her time Connie Chung was hired as a co anchor but it didn't work out as well as she was fired (Kennedy, 1995). After that news stations didn't know if society would be ready for a solo female anchor, but CBS did and hired her from the Today show. Till today she is the only solo female news anchor and that is very important to set how much women have been accepted.

Katie Couric might be leaving her $15 million a year job at CBS. After 2 years of being the solo anchor for CBS nightly news she is thinking about moving onto something else. As the news might be loosing their only solo female anchor our presidential candidates are more diverse with Obama and Clinton being the first black and female presidential candidates. Is TV moving backwards? Katie Couric failed to bring CBS from last up to any spot, but is this her fault? CBS was always indeed last. CBS executives speculate that America wasn't ready for a woman (Poniewozik, 2008). Many women would rather do the actual reporting than being the anchor. Many say that the anchor job, although financially rewarding along with celebrity stardom, is very boring.

Katie Couric is the first and only solo female news anchor, a position that was always held by a white man. This is as important for any work place that is male dominated. Her becoming the first is just as important as the first female doctor or the first female president. Katie was used to giving career advice, but when she was touring her alma mater a student approached her and asked her for advice. She kept it short and said "good luck in the real world!" (Dagostino, 2008). This shows how much she's been affected from the job title. The real world is tough and now that she might be leaving lets hope that the world of television does not go backwards, not hiring any women anchors for a long time.

References

Dagostino, M. (2008). Katie couric moving on? Retrieved from http://0-find.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A177984707&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=sjpllib&version=1.0

Kennedy, D. (1995). Women on the verge. (television network news anchors) Retrieved from http://0-find.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A17006261&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=sjpllib&version=1.0

Poniewozik, J. (2008). What's wrong with this picture?(tuned in)(katie couric and female television news anchors)(column) Retrieved from http://0-find.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A178227246&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=sjpllib&version=1.0

Good Night and Good Luck

2008-06-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

“Good night and good luck”. That was Edward Murrow’s closer for every new segment that he did. This movie was a lot better than I thought at first. I’m not a big fan of black and white movies. As the movie began, I struggled to catch the story line because the blandness in the black and white failed to catch my short attention span. As the movie went on I finally started realizing what was going on and how powerful media can be. Man people can be put in on the jury of media without having a chance to defend themselves. Media can be very persuasive and very political. In this movie Edward Murrow pushed the limits of CBS news (Aucoin, 2005) He knew that he would get attacked yet still pushes the limits so that the truth would be told. The main controversy was behind Senator Joseph McCarthy’s prosecution of a man without evidence (Aucoin, 2005).

During the movie you could see that it was very easy to point someone out as a communist if they didn’t share the same ideas. It reminded me of the Salem Witch trials. Where if someone didn’t understand something someone else did, they would call them a witch and they would be stoned. There were points the movie where you can see a trial of someone being prosecuted as being a communist with no real evidence. It was only hearsay evidence which in today’s world would be outrageous. McCarthy interrogates a witness during a House Un-American Activities Committee session and his appearance on "See It Now" in which he responds to an earlier show in which Murrow challenges his tactics and motives (Lippe, 2006).

You can see clearly how media can be greatly influenced by political parties. One party might be able to be shown as the better one just by having affiliations with a news company. Many journalists may be scared to report certain things especially if it will upset the America people, or upset someone of great power. Journalist should not be objective. Philip M. Seib, a professor of journalism at Marquette University says, “Great journalism does not require objectivity” (Edward R. Murrow and the myth of objectivity.(interview)2006) . The world would be great if journalist could simply educate the people with just truth. I now see that the media can be full of politics and propaganda. This movie was made now so that people can see what media can do to a society. How it can affect so many people with just one broadcast. Cleary media is a very powerful tool that should be used cautiously.

References

Aucoin, D. (2005). Remembering one of journalism's finest moments: 'good night, and good luck' brings to life how and why Edward R. Murrow pushed CBS news to confront senator Joseph R. McCarthy's un-american tactics.(words & reflections)(movie review) Retrieved from http://0-find.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A141213680&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=sjpllib&version=1.0

Edward R. Murrow and the myth of objectivity.(interview)(2006). Retrieved from http://0-find.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A149203885&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=sjpllib&version=1.0

Lippe, R. (2006). Good night, and good luck: History replays itself.(critical essay) Retrieved from http://0-find.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=IPS&docId=A155477213&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=sjpllib&version=1.0

Am I a Millennial?

2008-06-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

First of all what is a Millennial? Millennials are Americans who were born between 1980 and 1995 an there are about 81 million of them (Littman, 2008). They are a new bread of adults who are taking over the current workplace with new views about the workplace and most have no idea of what an office is like. Millennials have some advantages since they are very tech savvy, which every gadget on the market (Safer, 2007). CBS news reports that you have to talk to them like they are children and you cannot tell them you’re disappointed in them. They are raised by parents who tell them they are special and that they shouldn’t take no for an answer. Millennials are the new work force of the future.

Now am I a Millennial? I am in the age group and I do have some of the characteristics of a Millennial. Millennials have to be coached and baby talked. That is a characteristic that I certainly do not have. I believe in some ways I fit in with the Millennial group but in some ways I don’t. I think the word Millennial was made up by older people who are not part of the Millennial generation. Many people my age don’t take summer jobs cutting grass or working at retail stores anymore because the world is more competitive when it comes to careers. We would rather find internships and jobs that would further our education and experience rather than make a couple bucks. Jason Dorsey from the CBS news segment “Here come the Millennials” says that our parents really took from us the opportunity to fall down on our face and learn how to stand up. This is not with everyone within the age group. I think its just certain parents that do that because my parents certainly did not, as well as parents of my friends. Just because some of them feel like that doesn’t mean it happened to all of us in the same generation. Some of the words used the CBS segment such as us being “epidemic” or “extraterrestrials” was just offensive. It makes us seem like a disease that is spreading. 87% of millennials regularly fast forward through commercials with their DVR (Boomers, millenials watch TV differently, study reveals.(survey)(brief article)2008) . I know that this is not only for millennials but people of all ages! As technology grows we can grasp what it offers and use it to our advantage. It is not as easy for people that are older who aren’t so tech savvy. We as young adults consume more media than most. Because of new technology we can consume them on the internet, TV, and mobile electronics, it’s almost everywhere.

So am I a Millennial? If a Millennial has to be babied or coached throughout the work field I don’t think so! I am a person of the new generation who is tech savvy and very non-chalant about life. But I believe that is the way of the new generation. Every generation people change and things have to be adjusted, and it will happen almost every generation. It was the baby boomer generation and now it’s the new generation coming into the work field changing things. I would rather not be labeled in a group but as an individual who is a part of the new moving generation.

References

Boomers, millenials watch TV differently, study reveals.(survey)(brief article)(2008). Retrieved from http://0-find.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A177206028&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=sjpllib&version=1.0

Littman, S. (2008). Welcome to the new millennials: The generation born between 1982 and 2002--also known as generation Y--exerts its spending power and drives marketers to rethink different avenues to gain a direct response to their campaigns.(generational marketing) Retrieved from http://0-find.galegroup.com.mill1.sjlibrary.org:80/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A179308682&source=gale&srcprod=ITOF&userGroupName=sjpllib&version=1.0

Safer, M. (2007, The"Millennials" are Coming. [Electronic version]. CBS News, Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com