Chapter 5: Specialized Magazine Readership

I went to the local Barnes and Noble bookstore and picked up a copy of a magazine I had never seen before: Woodcarving Illustrated.

I have never been passionate about woodcarving; the extent of my carving experience was whittling with a dull knife at scoutcamp. But this magazine actually got me a little excited about the prospect of woodcarving. I think I may take it up as a hobby.

In looking for the "target audience" of this magazine, I found a helpful note from the Editor, Shannon Flowers: "With every issue, we receive emails and letters from readers commenting on the mix of carving styles we've included...Experienced carvers say we don't have enough advanced projects and others claim there aren't enough articles of beginners. For every letter I receive asking for more of a particular type of project, there is another letter requesting the opposite. Over the course of the year, you'll find the mix pretty even."

This shows that feedback comes from both expert and beginning carvers, and thus both types of woodcarvers read this magazine. There is virtually nothing of any interest in here for anyone who does not or does not desire to carve wood. All of the ads pertain to carving, to list a few: wood tool sharpeners, wood, workshop lamps, workshop sawdust collectors, carving design software, carving tools, carving Santa contests, carving books, hand forged knives, and woodburners. There were no ads that did not pertain to this topic.

Articles were written by and about woodcarvers. One man taught children to appreciate carving by helping them carve faces into sweet potatoes in school, and he was highlited for it. There was a how-to guide for artists to make a relief mantle piece and another on creating a house sign. These were obviously for experienced carvers, because the tools they referred to were unfamiliar to me. There were also a few articles appealing to beginners, explaining what grain is in wood and why it is important to pay attention to it. This article by Everett Ellenwood was interesting and informative to me, but I can see how it would be obvious to an expert. He had great illustrations of using grain, though, like this piece, called "One Feather."

If we look at Woodcarver's Illustrated using the "uses and gratifications" theory, it is clear that this magazine exists because it offers information and entertainment to a small group of people who don't get that kind of information any other way. I've never heard of a woodcarving channel on TV. The magazine thrives because it fills a need that no one else is filling.

Chapter 5: Impact of Internet on Magazines

Internet has been big for almost two decades now. While this new medium has impacted the magazine industry in some ways, the perseverance and popularity of magazines suggests that they still hold an important place in our society.

Electronic media make everything more readily available. Right now, I am looking at www.readersdigest.com and finding all sorts of current and applicable articles. The development of the internet might intuitively seem like an antagonist to magazine sales. The two seem to compete with eachother. In some ways, they may. Those unwilling to pay for magazines can get their information from online sources. But in other ways, the internet has helped the magazine cause. Subscribing to a magazine is now easier than ever: all you need to do you can do online in a matter of minutes. Advertising is also facilitated. Magazines can place ads anywhere on the internet to attract subscribers.

It is my opinion (and I dare say a verifiable one) that the internet will not drive magazines out of business. In high school, many of my teachers subscribed to magazines. I have a few theories as to why they are preferred:
1. The internet has a lot of information, and a lot of false information. People trust what they read in print more than they trust what they read in cyberspace.
2. There is something nice about having a tangible medium. I love holding magazines and looking at their glossy pages. Who doesn't?
3. Some magazines don't publish the same information online as they do in their publications. There were new and unique articles online at www.readersdigest.com, different from those published in the magazine. To get the good stuff, people have to subscribe.

The internet isn't changing much these days, apart from spreading in influence. I do not see it changing much in the future. A good friend of mine says, "laziness is the mother of invention."
What could change about the internet that would make it easier to use? It is so efficient, quick, and easy!! If the internet does not change, there is no reason it's current effect on magazines should change. Magazines will always be important to our society.

Chapter 4: Paper or Plastic?

For my classes, I prefer using real paper textbooks. These are the advantages I see in using them:
1. If they sit on your shelf or on your floor, they are a constant reminder that you need to study.
2. They contain quantified information. When I read a textbook, I see that it is so many inches thick, so many pages long. That makes me feel like I have a goal with an end destination; I can one day say "Ha! I have conquered you, textbook! I learned everything you threw at me!" I have looked at our chemistry textbook online, and I feel overwhelmed in doing so, because I feel like I am looking out at a vast ocean of information. The end is not in sight!
3. Computers are fickle things. They get grumpy if you glance at them wrong and catch colds and viruses very easily. When this happens, you call up your computer repair man and wait for a few days before you have internet use again. With a paper textbook, there are no such risks and delays.

The only reason I would prefer to use an online textbook would be if it has flash animation educational resources. These are helpful and available only in this medium.

I have never used an e-book, and the thought does not appeal to me. I like paperbound books for my leisure reading. Why? Several reasons come to mind:

1. If I have a paperbound book, it is mine! I can put it on my shelf to remind me I have read it. I can write notes in it if I want to, lend it to a friend, hold it, heft it, love it! I have no sense of ownership over online books. They are public property. Anyone can read them. I like paper books just like people like to own their own land. There is something gratifying about ownership and responsibility for objects.
2. I am a prime example of "online ADD." I get distracted from my goals very easily when I am online and end up in the far reaches of cyberspace reading about penguins, because I clicked on some add that looked interesting. Gmail and Facebook especially would distract me from reading an ebook, whereas a paper copy has no distractions.
3. I have heard that reading on screens is unhealthy for one's eyes. I enjoy reading paper more than looking at a bright screen.

For these reasons, I am a paper book and textbook fan.

Chapter 4: As the Good Book Says....

In surveying fifteen people (the more the merrier, right?) I found a large range of diversity in book readers.
The stats on numbers of books read among my freshman honors english class were:
3,15, 5,5,3,10,3,2,20,15,6,2,3,4,3 books read in the past six months.

The average was 6.6 books in the past six months.
The median was 4 books in the past six months.
The most common number was 3 books in the past six months.

These stats tell us a few significant things:

1. In my sample population (freshman Honors English students at BYU) most people read at least one book ever two months.
2. There are a few select individuals in this population who read like crazy and ought to take up a sport. :) just kidding.

The genres of these books were:
Fiction: 13
Sci-fi: 1
Classics: 3
Religious: 3
Autobiog: 1

Obviously, fiction is a popular genre among freshmen. Religious books are also popular among LDS youths. We might assume that the number of religious books is higher than it would be among underachieving LDS youths or youths in general. As competitive as it is to get into BYU, the Honors freshman students are probably more academically inclined than the average.

This also shows us a high acceptance and love for fiction novels. There was a time in America when fiction was frowned upon by scrupulous citizens, under the rationale: "why would you read lies when there is so much truth in the world?" A anecdotal story may help show the change America has undergone since that time. John Taylor, in the early days of the Church, found that his son had one day brought home the novel "2,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne. He confiscated the book, and told his son, "in this family, we do not read fiction!"
The next morning, John Taylor's son came downstairs to see his father just turning the last pages of the book. He handed it back to his son and told him, "that's a good book! You should read it sometime!" (Source: William R. Flake, Professor of Religion at BYU, September 2008).

It is clear that since that time, fiction has become a very popular genre, especially among young adults. We can see this in the crazes surrounding Harry Potter, Eragon, Lord of the Rings, Twilight, and even historical fictions like The DaVinci Code.

Chapter 3: Too Much Media!!!

There is a disease among us, so insidious, that no one can withstand. It has infiltrated our homes. It has absorbed the lives of our children. It is manifest everywhere, growing more prevalent every minute, and it is currently allowing me to write this and publish it to a world-wide audience. Cool, eh?

The mass media obviously cannot be reduced to a good or bad thing. While many vices and evils have been promoted, much good has come about as well from the rise of the mass media society.
Media is a just a vehicle: it allows us to go more places and see more things at greater speeds than we could before. But it can also lead to trouble if we spend too long in the car.

Evidence of over-dependence on mass media is all around us. I recently played a CD of Disney tunes in my car. My freshman friends instantly started singing along as if they had the songs programmed into their minds. In a sense they did! My generation grew up watching Disney, Nickalodeon, and PBS. The trend still continues: whenever I babysit my siblings and don't know what to do with them, I put on a movie or TV show. I'm insinuating that child exposure to media is inherently bad; such things obviously teach children about the world around them. However, over-exposure can have negative effects. In Aaron Espe's recently released album, Songs from a Small Town, he sings the lyrics, "I grew up without a television/All we ever did was play with the neighbor kids." Real life social interaction must be more healthy for young children then fake, scripted, virtual realities taught by movies and media.

One major threat presented by the media is idleness. For centuries, idleness was looked upon as a terrible vice. Inactivity keeps people from achievement and excercise. The growing obesity rate of Americans may very well be due to the population's inactivity based on overuse of computers, televisions, and magazines. Most of us need look no further than our own lives for recent evidence of this fact. I personally spent at least two hours today in front of a computer. Imagine the excercise I could have gotten or the good I could have accomplished with that time.

Another threat of overuse with the media is overdependence. Media influence dominates our lives. If the government were to somehow gain control over all forms of media coverage, we would be living in an Orwellian nightmare. As things stand, people depend on media for news, perspective on which issues are important, fashion, and social standards. This was clearly illustrated by L. Tom Perry's talk in 2003, "The Importance of the Family." He told the following story:

"Several years ago, I was having dinner with my daughter and her family. The scene is all too common in most homes with small children. My daughter was trying to encourage her young, three-year-old son to eat a balanced meal. He had eaten all the food on his plate that he liked. A small serving of green beans remained, which he was not fond of. In desperation, the mother picked up a fork and tried to encourage him to eat his beans. He tolerated it just about as long as he could. Then he exclaimed, “Look, Mom, don’t foul up a good friendship!”
Those were the exact words he heard on a television commercial a few days earlier. Oh, what impact advertising, television programs, the Internet, and the other media are having on our family units!
We remind you that parents are to preside over their own families."

Clearly, while media is a useful tool, we must be careful not to get so drawn into it that it begins to define our lives. One day, our media may be gone. All it would take is a well-planned bombing of a few satellites. If our lives based and centered on various forms of media, we may realize we don't have much should that day come. It is important for people not to become involved in media to the point that it defines their being.

Stereotypes in the Media Today

Stereotypes absolutely exist in the media today. As much as our society stresses political correctness (a modern euphamism for censorship) stereotypes have endured and likely will endure, both blatantly and subtly.

One of the most prevalent stereotypes is of body image, for both men and women. Nearly every women's magazine offers some secret formula for a girl to improve her appearance, and many men's magazines do as well. In movies, the heroes are usually lean, slim, musclular men of medium height and remarkable good looks. (Think: The Rock, Batman, Spiderman, Speedracer, Pirates of the Carribean.)The truth is, most men are average looking, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and aren't ripped.

This depiction of men in the media leads some to turn to steroids and pills for greater self esteem. In the end, they just end up looking like this guy:

Gross, huh?

Body image stereotypes are even worse for women of all ages. Girls are constantly bombarded with the message that looks are all that men care about, and that their bodies aren't good enough until they are stick-thin and perfectly porportioned. This is the message in movies (John Tucker Must Die, Pirates of the Carribean, Mean Girls, and nearly every adventure or romance film.)

It is present in magazines, where women are given tips to lose weight and get "the body you've always wanted." Really, the message the advertisers are intending is "this is the magazine you've always wanted." The stereotype is seen in television shows (Desperate Housewives, Lost) and even in the news broadcasters who are women. All this media pressure is leading many girls to anorexia and bulimia in an effort to find self-respect and beauty.

Many of these media also portray women as promiscuous and sensual. Desperate Housewives is a classic example, but not the only one. A recent study showed that the most common role for a woman in video games is the role of prostitute. (see http://www.commonsensemedia.org/resources/body_image.php) This is obviously a distortion of true womanhood, because the real world simply isn't that way.

Other stereotypes involve minorities. Granted, there are far fewer racial stereotypes in the media today than in the days of John Wayne. We now see more and more protagnists of minority races (Hancock, Rush Hour, Hitch, College Road Trip, etc.) But some stereotypes to persist. Have you ever noticed how when you see an asian in a film, you automatically assume they know karate or some form of martial arts? This fallacy could be partially accreditted to Jackie Chan's cinema work thru the decades. It is a stereotype nevertheless.

Stereotypes of the elderly are also prevalent. The following picture advertises: "For the prompt control of senile agitation: Thorazine." This is an old ad, but it shows that senior stereotypes are nothing new. Not all old people are angry and unreasonable, not all need canes, and certainly none deserve to be treated like animals, in need of "prompt control." On the contrary, many are free-spirited and able-bodied men and women capable of almost anything, like this guy here:

One obvious and well-known (and in some cases, beloved) stereotype of the elderly is Maxine. This old lady lives with her dog, looks grumpy, and always has something sardonic to say.

Some old people are like maxine; I know a few personally and love them for it. But to assume the Maxine is a typical elderly woman is absurd! People are more diverse than that.

Another interesting stereotype of the elderly is that they are usually white. The vast majority of senior citizens portrayed in the media are not of minority races.

These are just a few of the many stereotypes that persist today in our media. I do not believe stereotypes are usually intention nor malicious. Neither do I believe that we can eradicate stereotypes from our media, because the media by design portrays the world as the script-writers, advertisers, and reporters see it, and they all have our own classifications and stereotypes of people. We as media consumers must simply see these stereotypes for what they are.

Chapter 1: Informing, Persuading, Entertaining

Television, radio, newspapers and magazines are each useful because each fills a different societal need. To some degree, each serves to inform, persuade, and entertain simultaneously, but the emphases of these purposes vary between media.

Television is used largely to entertain, and to some degree to inform, viewers. By and large, viewers see television shows such as "The Office," "Lost" and "House" as more reliable sources of entertainment than they see CNN and Fox News as reliable sources of news. Because television is the only classic medium that utilizes both sound and sight (other than the internet) it is an ideal form of entertainment. It is fun to watch television for hours, whereas reading a magazine or newspaper for hours requires mental exertion. For this reason, I argue that television is the most effective medium of ENTERTAINMENT.

TV is likewise effective in communicating information, images and ideas. Debates and newsflashes inform viewers and tell them what to think about, but our media book states that most people rely on opinion leaders for guidance, and those leaders rely mostly on written media.

As such, newspapers and magazines typically are the surest source of INFORMATION. Whereas radio and television give brief overviews of the news highlights, newspapers and magazines contain in-depth articles devoted to specific issues. Herein opinions are expressed in open forums, allowing readers to understand other people's perspectives on issues. Newspapers generally deal with information essential to the informed reader. Magazines often publish information pertaining to specialized interests. For example, if I wanted information on how to effectively carve pumpkins, I would go to this months Reader's Digest. If I wanted to know about upcoming events in the provo area, I would go to the Daily Universe and look at the advertisements for the SEGO festival therein.

The written word is the most effective means of INFORMING.

Radio has two facets: talk radio and music radio. Talk radio, I argue, is the most effective medium of PERSUASION. Music radio is a runner-up to television in the art of entertainment.

Talk radio features powerful and opinionated speakers like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck shouting their deepest feelings. I noticed that when I started regularly listening to talk radio over the summer, my opinions became more decidedly aligned with those of the radio hosts. For this reason--the power of oration--I am convinced that talk radio is the most effective means of persuasion.

Music radio, on the other hand, strives to entertain the listeners. Music is fun to listen to, but from my experience most people would rather watch and listen to television than strictly listen to music on the radio. Radio takes second place in it's effort to entertain. It still exists because it is available to drivers. Music stations are extant on TV, they just aren't extant in cars like the radio is.

For these reasons, I believe television is the most effective medium in entertainment, the written media in information, and radio in persuasion.