What's "Real"?

We are all probably guilty of watching television, listening to music, and reading to some extent. We take part in these activities for different reasons such as entertainment, consolation, and sometimes just to learn or gain information about certain things. While we might like to watch, read, and listen to a wide variety of shows, books, and artists, we typically pick favorites that we stick with throughout the years. Why is this?


Well, as far as I'm concerned, my favorite movies, TV programs, artists, and pieces of literature all depict a story that I can somehow relate to. I like stories that are real to me and can evoke some kind of emotional response from me. An example of a media form that I consider to be real is Rent, (the movie).

This movie, (originally based on the broadway musical), follows the lives of eight friends living in Alphabet City, New York in 1989. The movie deals with numerous world-wide issues including poverty, disease, and sexuality. However, it's central focus is on the idea of living the bohemian lifestyle. I suppose it's the idea of bohemia that draws me so close to this story. Personally, I think it would be amazing to care so much about creativity and artistry that you would have the will power to give up all your money to support the cause of helping others and being happy in everything you do. I also love that the characters never conform to what society wants them to be. I can only hope that I will learn to be that brave someday. The characters are not without problems, though. They're so poor that they can't even afford rent and are being evicted from their apartments. A number of the main characters are also effected by the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS of the 80s. The conflicts of poverty and disease are the aspects of the movie that make it really appear real to me. I'm a poor college kid. I understand being broke. And, as far as the whole disease thing goes, I've been there, too. Not personally, but one of my friends was diagnosed with HIV a few years ago. It's a terrible disease to watch someone battle and I hope that there will be a cure for it someday. Rent is such an inspiring story to me because, despite all of their hardships, the characters make the best of everything that they can and never complain. They all learn to "measure their life love", as the song goes, rather than measuring their worth in money or material possessions.

CBS

CBS Corporation is among the largest media companies in the world and is considered to be one of the most elite media conglomerates there are,(see Concentration of Media Ownership). The company’s focus lies mostly in broadcasting, publishing, and television production. However, it’s also involved in internet and gaming industries, too.  CBS Corp. has grown to be one of the leading media companies in the world, succeeding its former corporation Viacom. While CBS has recently become very successful, though, the company has still undergone both good and bad experiences. Despite some issues, CBS has been subjected to mostly positive feedback from other media, indicating that the company contains more good aspects than it does bad. That being said, I'll be discussing the major successes and problems the company has gone through, and will then discuss the positive and negative feedback it has received through other media sources.

CBS Corporation has an almost never-ending amount of subsidiary companies that have contributed significantly to the corporation’s successes, (see List of Assets Owned By CBS). CBS Radio and Infinity Radio have done wonders for their broadcasting focus, while The Free Press, Simon & Schuster, and Pocket Books have done a great job boosting their publishing reputation. Perhaps their most powerful and well-known assets, however, are their several television networks. Among the most successful of these networks are CBS, CBS Sports Network, Showtime, and The CW Television Network, (which they own fifty percent of, along with Time Warner). It’s because of these successful subsidiary companies that CBS is ranked in the top five media conglomerates in the world, in terms of revenue. 

 

The company wasn’t always where it is now, though. In March of 2005, Viacom, the previous syndication of CBS, announced its plan to split the company into two other publicly traded companies. This plan to split the company formed as the result of problems related to the stock price beginning to stagnate. While CBS lost a number of networks previously owned by Viacom, they did manage to retain assets such as CBS, UPN, Infinity Broadcasting, Viacom Outdoor, and Showtime Networks.

The corporation has been subjected to a large amount of consumer feedback in the last few years. While the feedback has been mostly positive, negative remarks have been made, too. The majority of the good feedback has come from viewers of the various television networks CBS owns, as well as those who use the different websites belonging to CBS. CBS Sports’ website, CBSSports.com, even has a form users can fill out to give direct feedback to the site managers. The bad feedback regarding the company has been mostly about consumer criticism on both their political influences and business ethics, (CBS Corp. Criticism).

CBS Corporation is still a very successful company, despite the industrial hardships it has been forced to endure. While the company has received some negative feedback, it has received an even larger amount of positive feedback. Based on the company’s perseverance and reputation with the consumer media, I think we can say that the good aspects of CBS Corp. outweigh the bad. I believe that CBS Corporation will continue to stay in the ranking of the top five media conglomerates in the world. 

Parent Interview

Media is all around us everywhere we go. Most adults would agree that this is a wonderful thing...for us. Media informs us of the things we need to know; it assists us in our daily lives in numerous ways. We use it at work, in school, and for entertainment purposes at home. But while media might be a handy tool for us, it can have an overwhelming effect on easily-impressionable children. This fact is something that many parents have become quite concerned about. In order to provide some parental insight on this issue, I decided to interview my older sister, Michelle Bare.

Michelle has four children, (Angel, Danny, Tristan, and Will), who range in age from seven to fourteen. Naturally, they are all exposed to media everyday. Whether it's the internet, television, or video games, my neice and nephews are always engaging in media activity. Since they're constantly taking part in these activities, I asked my sister how she regulates this media use. She told me that she regulates their use of media differently based on each activity. For example, when it comes to movies and television she checks the parental ratings, (the kids can only watch G, PG, and PG-13 rated shows), and often watches tv with them. She follows the same type of procedure in context to video games. When it comes to internet, though, she feels that she has less control over what the kids do. Because internet is required for so many of their school assignments, the kids are constantly on the computer. To regulate how often they get online and which websites they use, Michelle sets parental controls for the internet. She also likes to check up on the kids from time to time while they're online. Michelle also only allows them to watch tv and play video games at nighttime once their homework has been completed and while she's home. Because of homework purposes, she doesn't limit their internet use. She does, however, make them wait until she's home before signing on.

I then asked her if she prefers certain types of media for the kids. Michelle told me that she thinks the internet and certain books/magazines are the most beneficial types of media for children because of the educational knowledge they can gain from it.

To wrap up the interview, I asked Michelle if she had any additional comments/concerns about the use of media in her children's lives. She said, "I think that media can truly be a great thing. It's useful and efficient and the kids love using it. But I'm a parent - so of course I worry about the impression that it's going to leave on my kids. I'd have to say though that, if closely monitored, I really think media can have an overall good effect on children."