From AM to FM to The World Unknown...

They say how one person can change the world, how with one thought or idea life can be upgraded or made new in some way. This is how the world viewed Marconi in 1896, when he developed the first radio transmitter. Following history of the radio from then until now, you can see how technological advances within this box of metal has changed our media community entirely.

Radio, as spoken out of the Meriam-Webster dictionary, entails "the wireless transmission and reception of electric impulses or signals by means of electromagnetic waves;" or in other words the small box of metal in our car that entertains us by way of music, sports broadcasts, gossip and traffic reports, as we cruise down the interstate. This machine, still advancing through the years, has been able to personally spread the combined thoughts and lyrics of the public from every individual household to every individual automobile. After Marconi's bright idea, radio's history follows up with De Forest invention of the vacuum tube (1906) and the very start of the first radio station (1920), KDKA, with Frank Conrad. From a radio station to a entire radio network to the FCC, this upcoming business has magnified and impacted the way we view our media today.

One of the many technological advances among the radio, was the era of the FM revolution! It was a new "high-fidelity sound (Media Now 166)," allowing more stations within the radio community, step-up in how the radio was heard. Although among that, it came with a short range, only being able to be heard "within the line of sight of the radio transmitter (Media Now 166)." But that didn't stop the public form listening in to broadcasts and jamming out to their favorite tunes, as the FM radio brought in more stations with less interference it opened up a greater world of music. Altogether this invention/advancement of technology has created one of many profound ways in how we receive and understand media still now today.

Lies My TV Told Me

Media tends to play tricks on us, especially with how we view ourselves. It's a mind game that we fall for whether or not we want to, just as long as we are listening. Society and how it's run, is all represented through your television screen, depicting what you see, think, and feel, and even how you react. 

- Rambo

Two documentaries, based on gender, evaluate how strong the broadcasting force protrudes on the viewer. You can see in Tough Guise, the only way in life for boys to become men in their community is to grow some courage, pick a fight, and lead the invincible leadership role. In this film, the speaker tells us how guys are taught to "pick themselves up, and dust themselves off," even at an early age. Viewing movie clips of The Terminator or Rambo, presents how boys have to be this rough and tough, gun shooting, arm-wrestling, greasy animal. Apart from women, men are on more lenient terms when it comes to behavior, as in the motto "boys will be boys." They can only be presented in masculine ways, if there was any touch of femininity, for example wearing skinny jeans or shedding a tear, they are called homosexual or sissies for that matter.

-Calvin Klein

As for girls being played in public, you can see in magazine article spreads or billboards, how vulnerable, sexual and innocent we are, and that's how it should be (as viewed from the media). From the movie, Killing Us Softly, women are set up to be nothing but skin and bones to be seen as any kind of pretty. We have dropped our scale of weight from a Marlin Monroe to a Nicole Richie mindset. In films, females are the submissive role, laying scared and helpless. Killing Us Softly displays Calvin Klein advertising, little girls in nothing but denim, as a central "correct" way of thinking and how we should view ourselves.


In all accounts, I believe that the media and broadcasting world holds way to much power of how society is portrayed, yet then again it is our decision to follow these lies. But how are we to escape them, if they surround us each and every day in everything we do. Media is the creeping big brother hovering over us, what are we to do about it?

The Frame Game

A game that could get you entangled in the very sense of what they want, is exactly what the media desires when they are framing. In society today, the media as we know it, controls the gist of how we think by using specific tools, such as hegemony, framing, and agenda setting. 


One in particular, framing, tends to cut and weave through newspaper articles, television channels, and more; advising you through a biased opinion that this is the way to think. While agenda setting provides the topics, framing provides your point of view. Altogether you can view this being done through every television commercial, website broadcast, and magazine article.


For example, previously when I was flipping channels, two news stations spoke out to me in the sense that one geared more towards democratic and liberal ideals; while the other discussed more conservative and republic thinking. It was interesting to see how the two channels tried to persuade you to think on one topic, such as the war in Iraq, and how they differed completely. One channel would favor the president's decision, while the other would criticize the way our government is running our country. One would focus on far we have gotten in conserving the violence, while the other paid close attention to how many deaths had been caused by bombings. 


This is a strong but subtle way of how the media turns important events into a distinct thought process or angle for your own aspect.