“Television News: The Language of Pictures” Content Questions

FOCUSING ON CONTENT

1.  Postman and Powers consider all new shows “re-creations” by modifying the truth to the viewers. As people watch, they are open to half truths of what is actually going on.  Viewers are given a taste of the truth at hand, receiving only “re-presentations” of actual events of what is seen and heard of it. These re-presentations are viewed through image and language. 

2.  The ways language of pictures differ from spoken and written language are through which pictures in written language gives a chronological side to what is seen in comparison to spoken language, where it can provide a more definite meaning.

According to Postman and Powers, these differences are important for understanding television news because it not only gives factual information but brings out emotions and thoughts on what is happening.

3.  The scenes of violence and dynamic destruction appeal to viewers by the change moving pictures make. Moving pictures show events in suspense, attracting audiences who want to be entertained or for those who connect with the story.

Television producers avoid “talking heads” because they are aware many people like pictures that move and not just a person who is in front of the camera and speaks. Without the footage of events occurring, there is nothing to show.

Visual changes must “be more extreme and more dramatic…on television” due to its visual field being much smaller to a movie screen. Unlike a theatre, viewers are confined in their homes and in order to makes things more appealing, changes must be much more dramatized.

4.  Television news is considered a form of theater by heavily stressing on daily events. Like theatre, they create symbolism by building up stories through music and people (workers typing new incoming information or answering phones) taking part in each segment, displaying dramatization throughout the program.

News telecasts are staged with an anchor, who is in control of greeting, introductions of the newscast, and providing information and locations of the reports to the viewers. With the help of the newscast, they create a control for the anchor and instill the program to run smoothly.

One dominant theme of television news is providing an order to the world of “news” in which events have no real course. This theme is orchestrated through the newscast by organizing what needs to be heard or displayed to the audience.

5.  The features of television news that tend to undermine journalists’ efforts to give context, depth, or sense to the world are due to time limitations, favoritism towards moving and instilled images, and its news appeal to capture the audience throughout the whole show. Stories held in television news are viewed in an order to keep and create more audience. They broadcast a cycle of events in an order in which all viewers see the same thing.

The advantages newspaper readers have over television viewers are that they provide readers straight to what they want to know and read about instead of staying around a whole program just for one report. Like television news, a newspaper contains summaries of latest news, but with a newspaper, more in-depth coverage can be obtained by heading over through a specific section the newspaper.

"Selection, Slanting, and Charged Language" (Birk and Birk) Questions Response

“Selection, Slanting, and Charged Language”

FOCUSING ON CONTENT:

1. The principle of selection defines the knowledge that one takes it. It is what we “select,” notice, or pay attention to that ultimately shapes what we know or take in. The principle of selection is influenced by one’s interest, point of view, and mental state at that moment.
2. According to the Birks, slanting is different from the principle of selection in that slanting takes place as we convey our knowledge in words, while principle of selection occurs as we’re actually taking in that information. With slanting, one selects certain facts or feelings from their stored knowledge, and chooses the words and emphasis to use in order to communicate their meaning.
The devices a speaker or writer can use to slant knowledge includes: emphasis, which consist of giving importance to the subject matter, using specific punctuation marks, underlining heavily stressed words, and how and the order in which words are connected; the selection of facts that either slant for, against, or in a balance presentation.
It is appropriate to slant language when you are trying to voice your own opinions or interpret a person, place, or thing based on how you react towards them. Also, slant language provides others to acknowledge the writer’s perspective without persuasion of the subject referred to.
3. Charged words are specific words used to get a particular reaction from the reader. The two descriptions of Corlyn both use specific words that stir up different reactions when read, though it describes the same girl and her same actions. In the first description, the writer describes Corlyn as wearing “a well cut dress draped subtly about her slender form” while the second describes the dress as “plain” that “hung on her thin frame.” The first suggests Corlyn as beautiful, while the second considers her simple. The first description also describes her as walking “with an effortless grace and spoke with equal ease” which expresses Corlyn’s elegance, while the second describes her pace as “fast and ungainly,” suggesting that she was awkward and ungraceful.
4. It is important for writers and others to be aware of charged words in order to deliver the appropriate message and response. Using charged language unknowingly can lead to unintentional biased interpretations by one’s readers or audience. Some of the difficulties in living in a world with charged language are giving unintended responses provoked by such things as “dishonest propaganda, political speeches, advertising, and insincere or exaggerated displays of emotion.” Charged languages can also produce misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
FOCUSING ON WRITING:
1. The Birks’s purpose in this essay is to inform the reader that language and how it is used shape how we see and interpret the world. They are more intent on explaining, rather than arguing their position, and they use specific language to do so. The Birks uses words that are suited to the subject to create their point.
2. I found the examples about Toddy the dog and Corlyn very helpful for it furthered my understanding of the material. If the examples have not been included, the ideas would not have been as clear as they were. The examples defined the differences between how words are used and the meaning behind them.
3. The Birks organize their essay point by point. They start off by commenting on language and its importance in interpreting the world. The essay continues on to explain the various techniques words and language are used, especially when in slanted and charged forms. However, they do not jumble these ideas and instead separate them into multilevel parts. They first explain the principle of selection, then the principle of slanting, the different kinds of slanting (slanting by emphasis, selection of facts, and by use of charged words), and finally explain the advantages and disadvantages of slanting and charged language.
4. The transitional words and expressions the authors use to guide readers through the essay are those that both highlight the passage that was just read and mention the passage to come. For example, after the example for balanced presentation, the authors included a paragraph summarizing that type of writing and ended with a sentence that told the reader what to expect next – favorable and unfavorable slanting.
5. Birk’s diction could be changed to eliminate any sexist language by looking at the example of charged words used to describe Corlyn and her actions. In the favorable slanting narrative, she was described as a “rare talent of making every male feel that he was the only man,” which suggests she makes a man feel special like how she appears to be. Whereas, during the unfavorable slanted description, she was shown as having “a habit of making every male feel that he was the last man on Earth,” which assumes males are low and worthless, while her character is also degraded.

Wrongful Pit Bull Profiling leads to Unnecessary Ban

In Malcolm Gladwell’s article, “Troublemakers: What pit bulls can teach us about profiling,” published in the February 6, 2006 issue of The New Yorker, he emphasizes that profiling only takes into account generalizations – not specifics – when it comes to who or what should be deemed dangerous. In this case, the ban of pit bulls in New York City (and other parts of the world) was based on the assumption that pit bulls, in general, are dangerous after many dog-related injuries have pit bulls as the perpetrators. Gladwell, however, argues that various factors could have caused pit bulls, and any type of dogs for that matter, to be a danger to the public. These factors range from what type of dog owners prefer during a certain time period to how these dogs are treated and nurtured. He explains that a combination of these factors could spark a dog’s violent tendencies.

Gladwell opens up his article about an incident that occurred to a family during one ordinary afternoon as a father heads home after picking up his son. While walking, a pit bull comes and attacks the young boy, a site horrifying to see from a parent or any person for that matter. Jayden, almost three years old, encountered this exact life-threatening situation. As he was viciously claimed by the pit bull’s mouth, his mother and father immediately went out to help their son. After seeing the commotion, neighbors came out to help but the dogs were too much for them to handle. It took reinforcement to calm the situation which ended with the hospitalization of the family and a neighbor. Gladwell continues on to mention that pit bulls are described as dogs with a lot of aggression and that, in comparison to most dogs, they are easily agitated and can fight until past exhaustion. According to epidemiological studies, many dog bites are given by pit bulls, which are found to be increasingly growing by them than other types of dogs. As a result, pit bulls have been banned in several parts of the world, claiming that they are indeed dangerous to mankind.

Although many reports insist pit bulls are dangerous, Gladwell argues that that is not the case for all, but is a generalization of what people see and hear about. He argues that like stereotyping, pit bulls are put in a general category that dogs with pit bull-like appearances are put against. However, other breeds such as the Dobermans, German shepherds, and Rottweilers are also biters, yet they are not as highly scrutinized as pit bulls. People do not see that these breeds can also have violent tendencies, attack at any given moment, and be considered a danger to the community. So why are pit bulls being particularly targeted? Gladwell explains that the high popularity in owning pit bulls thus result in the high number of pit bulls involved in attacks. Since dog owners want to own a specific breed of dogs at a particular period of time, those breeds become more numerous and are more likely to have high numbers in attacks. Basically, owners’ preferences for dogs, or aggressive dogs, change over time.

The ban of pit bulls is not an appropriate way to handle the violence of dog attacks. By putting a ban, people are overlooking the fact that pit bulls have more than one breed of their kind. They are categorizing what is sought after as unsafe according to the dogs’ outer appearances. Individuals believe that the same appearances of dogs ultimately give them the same type of personality and temperament. In this case, all dogs considered to be pit bulls are believed to have the same dangerous qualities within them. Using a single generalization thus does not get to the root of the problem. In reality, various factors define a dog as dangerous.

In profiling, authorities search for suspicious activities by picking out those individuals who are most likely to be doing them. However, they come up with generalizations and wrongfully categorize traits and behaviors in people and animals. Raymond Kelley, the police commissioner of New York City, finds category profiling as a problem and downright ineffective. Just like people, dogs are adapted to the environment they are placed in. They are taught a certain way to live and follow certain rules they are given. Referring back to the story of Jayden, the pit bulls that attacked him were owned by a man who had several run-ins with the law concerning the dogs. His three pit bulls were nurtured in a way where their actions reflect the owner’s irresponsibility – an owner who avoided disciplining them. His lack of care to teach them how to behave resulted in the pit bulls’ unruly behavior.

Dogs become violent due to many circumstances such as not having the opportunity to be exposed to society. The lack of socializing with children and small human beings also lead dogs to see them as prey. In other cases, violent dogs are seeking medical attention, are hungry, unneutered, ill-trained, and have a history of aggressive behavior. However, authorities have found that violent dog traits are attributes to the kind of owners they have, as seen by the dogs that attacked little Jayden. With such attacks, it is not due to the dogs themselves, but the people they are surrounded by and the environments they are placed in that make dogs a danger.

Gladwell suggests pit bull bans are unfitting for the matter at hand. Instead of just generalizing outer traits, people must look beyond and find the main source to the problem. The source is typically discovered within the whereabouts of the dog, the owner’s own personal life and the ability to discipline their dog. By stereotyping, judgments are not only wrongfully assumed, but the mistaken elimination of people and animals are only based on how they look like. Needless to say that one’s view is incorrect, but one must look at the background of the person or thing before making a generalized conclusion. His perspective is not only insightful, but imprints a solid point conveying pit bull bans are not only unnecessary but not the best way to handle these types of dangerous situations.