Regulation and Government Intervention in the Radio Industry

Through government intervention and the privatization of the radio industry, regulation helped push the radio industry in a profit-driven direction, exemplified by AT&T's use of advertising to make money. 

During World War I, the Navy took over control of all radio stations, but when the war ended, the U.S. Government wanted the radio industry to be privately owned. However, the government didn't want American Marconi to hold a monopoly, so they forced the company to split in order to establish competition. General Electric, AT&T, and Westinghouse purchased American Marconi to create three separate radio companies. AT&T was the first to focus on using advertising to finance and make money through radio programming.

Because of the competition involved in the formation of multiple radio companies, AT&T needed a unique way to make money, and they discovered that companies would pay money to advertise their products. Other companies began to use this strategy to turn a profit, and radio steadily became more and more advertising-based. Companies started putting together "soap operas" in order to attract viewers while at the same time sell their products; the first companies to do this were selling soap, hence the name. Radio evolved to the point where the majority of profit came from advertising, all due to the government intervention and forced break-up of American Marconi. 

Cultivation Theory

Understanding cultivation theory leads to me to understand the FCC's concern with violence in television, because it can make viewers believe the world is a more violent place than it actually is and thus they will be more violent people.

The idea behind cultivation theory is that television can affect viewers' ideas of everyday life. Excessive television watching can impart values that more accurately reflect the world of television, as opposed to real life. Cultivation theory is focused more on the attitudes of the viewers than on their actions, as what we see on television is often an exaggerated interpretation of our actual world. 

Many television shows and movies include an excessive amount of violence as if it were everyday life. Crime scene shows especially, where murders are committed every week in the same city, greatly exaggerate the violence that is present in our world. People who spend a great deal of time watching these types of shows will gain ideas of violence that accurately reflect the television shows they watch, but not our actual society, such as in the comic below.

http://www.pastdeadline.com/tv_violence_ouch/

Cultivation theory is based on this idea of gruesome violence being "cool,' learned from what is seen on television.

Framing

Framing is an important media tool that can shape how the population interprets the stories reported by the media. 

Following the headlines of most major news stories are explications by the media that include opinions. These opinions can affect the way the audience interprets the story, commonly in either a positive or negative light. The media takes advantage of these explications to manipulate people's views on a certain topic, most commonly with regards to politics, by telling the audience how to feel about a certain person or situation. 

A recent instance of framing took place in a CNN news story about Barack Obama's plan to extend the tax cuts originally enacted in 2001 and 2003 by George W. Bush. In the article, support for the extension is described; according to the article, "congressional Democrats want to keep in place those tax cuts that apply to Americans earning less than $250,000 a year," but little is mentioned about opposing views to this extension of tax cuts. This specific publication of support with little regard to the opposition can easily sway the readers of the article to also feel support for the tax cuts, thus building support for President Obama. For the complete CNN article, follow the link below:

Obama's plan to extend some tax cuts may be gaining traction