Guest Speaker

Monday, September 22, we had guest speaker Bob Wigginton come to talk to my Professional Media class. Bob was a journalist and editor who use to work for a popular newspaper in Little Rock, Arkansas. Bob just recently got a job here at Lindenwood teaching and is in charge of our school newspaper. He shared his writing experiences in Arkansas to the class. We learned about diversity in the newsroom and just how important and crucial it is. We were told that in the newsroom Bob worked in there were more women than men and only 1 black reporter in the “news section”. Bob said “if you do not diversify in the newsroom you miss out on many things,” and “you want to choose people who are capable of the job, not by color of skin. He said that if you look hard enough you will find the right person for the job. With news, it could very much seem one sided and one would not even notice that mistake. Mrs. Falk told us a story about how a white reporter who was doing an assignment interviewing the public, had not interviewed one black person and hadn’t realized this until her black cameraman mentioned it to her. Bob also talked to us about censorship in the newsroom. His response to censorship was “BS”. I strongly agree with this and think newspapers should be able to report anything and everything. Giving out all the facts and information such as a person’s name and picture would help out the public and let them know about hazardous issues that have happened or even the name of a rapist to look out for. With the incident that happened over last weekend when a guy in a Lindenwood dorm held a knife to another guy’s throat, we have the right to know the suspect’s name because he’s dangerous and a threat. Bob stated how our newspaper wouldn’t allow him to mention any names or else he would lose his job. Another issue Bob discussed was how some newspapers are going downhill and ruining the industry. One example he gave was the “Gazette” which he called “the great Satin” and said is a disgrace.

The controversy over Grand Theft Auto and violent video games

One issue that I found interesting and fascinated me was the study about how video games such as Grand Theft Auto cause violent behavior and aggressiveness. This interested me because I have watched my younger brother, who is 13, and his friends play this game numerous times. To me, I can see both sides of the issue. I believe this game as well as other violent video games could bring out aggressive impulses and behaviors, but not everyone who plays violent video games acts on these impulses. Out of all my younger brother’s video games, Grand Theft Auto is the one he plays the most. Before I saw the game though, I had no idea that it allowed players to sell cocaine, distribute porn, or hire prostitutes so I was quite surprised when I saw it. Although those substances are in the game, my brother and his friends enjoy playing it because you can steal cars, smash windows, and kill people. Most boys play these games because they’re “just being boys” and enjoy smashing and destroying things.

I agree that violent video games might bring out aggressive impulses in SOME people. As mentioned in the book, there were 3 instances where teens acted on these impulses killing innocent people because they were copying the game action in Grand Theft Auto. It also doesn’t help out due to the fact that video games like Grand Theft Auto go beyond just celebrating violence generally and actually reward players for engaging in appalling behaviors. I believe however this factor should be taken out of the game as well as the other shocking actions like the selling of drugs, distributing porn, and hiring of prostitutes. Although violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto may have an intense effect on certain individuals, not everyone who plays a violent video game is going to go out and commit a crime. My younger brother and his friends love GTA and other violent games and they are far from violent, but are good individuals. I think that there is more to it than just the violent video games. It could be that the people who commit a crime because they were influenced by the game have problems in their life, have/had a troubling childhood, or are just an overall deeply wrong individual.

Years ago, there was still violence in media such as movies/t.v shows with cowboys shooting one another or murder movies such as the movie Psycho. I think people are stirring up too much controversy over violent video games and that history is just repeating itself. In the 1950’s comic books were blamed for juvenile delinquency. This is very much the same phenomenon playing itself out again with a new subject.

International student interview

남한 매체와 생활
(South Korean Media and Life)

For my international student interview I interviewed Sujin who is from Pusan, South Korea. Unlike some countries, South Korea is lucky and has a no control government. It is a democracy like the U.S. In South Korea, it is very similar to our country but with some slightly different laws. There is not any control over the press nor censorship, so you have the freedom as in America, to write about anything and not worry about getting thrown in jail. In this country, you can even find many U.S. shops such as Starbucks and Mcdonalds and also well known stores at the local malls. During school uniforms are required, but outside of school Koreans can wear whatever they like. Koreans have their own style of clothes but that doesn’t mean they stick to just that style. Teens and younger adults love our style of clothes here as well. Many young teens look up to and copy the styles of popular Korean and U.S. singers that they watch on T.V. and on the internet. South Korea is very internet literate. Also, surprisingly, South Korea is a very industrialized county. The country as a whole is generally well-informed of foreign news; it is a media-rich country. Korea’s interactions with the world are expansive. Many Koreans travel and pursue advanced studies abroad. They have several different newspapers; all in Korean but with one or two in English for tourists. Although newspapers are huge deal over there, I learned that T.V. is the primary source of news to most Koreans. South Korea has over forty cable channels and even digital satellite. Sujin even told me that a lot of South Koreans know about and follow the news of our candidates McCain and Obama through T.V., internet, and newspapers. In regards to movies and music, South Koreans are fascinated by our movies and T.V. programs. Besides Korean artists, many people listen to the same artists we listen to. The same movies show there except they come out later than our movies and have subtitles. One popular T.V. show that South Koreans love is Prison Break. Another is Sex and the City. Even though Koreans follow their culture, South Koreans like America and so the country is becoming more Americanized. An interesting fact that I learned is until a few years ago, South Koreans did not know what “brunch” was. Now, with the U.S. as an influence, Koreans started opening up restaurants to serve brunch and even older restaurants followed the trend. South Korea isn’t so different after all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z1lMuuYads

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