MTV Essays (1396 words) - Viacom Media Networks, Television

MTV Everyone remembers Michael Jackson's red leather jacket covered with zippers and the sexy style of Madonna. MTV, or music television, nationally publicizes these images and entertainers, and others like them. The station also promotes an idealized teen lifestyle, reflecting the images of these famous artists, that contrasts with the realities of the Generation X lifestyle. While some view the station as "illustrated radio" or an entertainment network for viewers' pleasure, others more accurately assess it as an advertising enterprise that endorses products and promotes attitudes. The advertisements that are both hidden in videos and placed in regular slots, influence viewers. Whether or not MTV critics agree with these "messages" that the network sends out, it has become a huge franchise generating large profits and great popularity. During the 1980's, MTV grew from being strictly a music video station to an original, three-station network that became the choice of several generations of viewers and the advertisers who court them. MTV's entertainment, commercialism, and messages satisfy and influence many types of viewers, giving them a healthy sense of group identity. In 1981, MTV became one of the first stations to be able to appeal to such a populous audience as the twelve to twenty-four year old age group. The chief operating officer of Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company (WASEC) felt that there was "a body of young people being ignored," hence the company designed MTV (Denisoff 37). Although at first success was unpredictable, the MTV network fought off competition by such competitors as the powerful Turner Broadcasting System (Daspin 20). "There isn't room for two or three services doing the same thing," commented MTV's Bob Pittman (Hedegaard 38). Later, the MTV network came out with VH1, or Video Hits One, a music station for older viewers, and Nickelodeon, a children's service station (Daspin 19). These two stations and the original MTV station gave the network a station for an audience of just about any age, satisfying many advertisement agencies. Once the advertisement industry noticed the MTV network's popularity, it became a very desirable sales medium. Advertising agent Kevin Burns explains that "if you're a national advertiser and you buy teens, you're going to buy MTV" ("Viacom" 11). MTV appealed to its viewers by constantly televising popular singers and other role models. A music video endorses many nonmaterial items, as well as material items. Regular inter-program commercials usually promote brands of physical items. However, in music videos with popular singers, messages and images are promoted to the viewer. Videos increase an entertainer's popularity, thus promoting his/her record, producer, type of music, style of dance, and physical image. This popularity increases profit for many industries. The artist's record sales boom, benefiting the record company, the record stores, and any other person involved in the process of production. "MTV was dealing with the [record] labels, not the artists," states R. Serge Denisoff (154). In addition, clothing companies benefit when the singer wears their brand. Creative director Judy McGrath feels that MTV videos are "almost a subliminal fashion show," meaning that clothing brands and styles are introduced and publicized through music videos (Denisoff 258). Lastly, fine arts companies, specifically dance and music, increase in popularity as people wish to imitate the musicians. A perfect example of this advertising scenario is Michael Jackson's "Beat It" video. In the early 1980's the already popular pop singer came onto the screen wearing a red leather jacket and a sparkling glove. He introduced an ankle-flicking dance style that moved to the beat of his pop-style music. Soon children across America were wearing replicas of the clothes and "moon-walking" down the schools' hallways. In this scenario, Michael Jackson, pop music, red leather jackets, dancing, and Motown Records all became popular. With so many brands and agencies wanting to place their ads on MTV, the network itself needed to advertise its own information and existence in some way to increase its own profit. The network began to air animated segments after commercial breaks that endorsed the MTV logo. Then in 1989, the network issued "In The Bin," a newsletter designed to unite MTV, VH1, and retailers (Newman, "MTV Spreads" 55). The newsletter included advertisements and information about new developments in the MTV Network. These endorsements for the network get people interested in MTV. In 1984, Dire Straits' hit "Money For Nothing," had people around the country singing the verse, "I want my MTV." The lyrics of the song were satirical; they talked about the unfairness of being an MTV star. However, the singer wanted to experience similar stardom, where life was easy, or as Dire Straits sang, the

A Brief History of Communication

A Brief History of Communication Humans have communicated with one another in some shape or form ever since time immemorial. But to understand the history of communication, all we have to go by are written records that date as far back as ancient Mesopotamia. And while every sentence starts with a letter, back then people began with a picture. The B.C. Years The Kish tablet, discovered in the ancient Sumerian city of Kish, has inscriptions considered by some experts to be the oldest form of known writing. Dated to 3500 BC, the stone features proto-cuneiform signs, basically rudimentary symbols that convey meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Similar to this early form of writing are the ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs, which date back to around 3200 BC. Elsewhere, written language appears to have come about around 1200 BC in China and around 600 BC in the Americas. Some similarities between the early Mesopotamian language and the one that developed in ancient Egypt suggests that some concept of a writing system originated in the middle east. However, any kind of connection between Chinese characters and these early language systems are less likely since the cultures don’t seem to have had any contact. Among the first non-glyph writing systems not to use pictorial signs is the phonetic system. With phonetic systems, symbols refer to spoken sounds. If this sounds familiar, it’s because the modern alphabets that many people in the world use today is a phonetic form of communication. Remnants of such systems first appeared either around 19th century B.C thanks to an early Canaanite population or 15th century B.C. in connection with a Semitic community that lived in central Egypt.   Over time, various forms of the Phoenician system of written communication began to spread and were picked up along the Mediterranean city-states. By the 8th century B.C., the Phoenician symbols reached Greece, where it was altered and adapted to the Greek oral language. The biggest alterations were the addition of vowel sounds and having the letters read from left to right. Around that time, long-distance communication had its humble beginnings as the Greeks, for the first time in recorded history, had a messenger pigeon deliver results of the first Olympiad in the year 776 BC. Another important communication milestone to come from the Greeks was the establishment of the first library in 530 BC. And as humans neared the end of the B.C. period, systems of long-distance communication started to become more commonplace. A historical entry in the book â€Å"Globalization and Everyday Life† noted that around 200 to 100 BC: â€Å"Human messengers on foot or horseback common in Egypt and China with messenger relay stations built. Sometimes fire messages used from relay station to station instead of humans.† Communication Comes to the Masses In the year 14 AD, the Romans established the first postal service in the western world. While it’s considered to be the first well-documented mail delivery system, others in India, China had already long been in place. The first legitimate postal service likely originated in ancient Persia around 550 BC. However, historians feel that in some ways it wasn’t a true postal service because it was used primarily for intelligence gathering and later to relay decisions from the king. Meanwhile, in the far east, China was making its own progress in opening channels for communication among the masses. With a well-developed writing system and messenger services, the Chinese would be the first to invent paper and papermaking when in 105 AD an official named Cai Lung submitted a proposal to the emperor in which he, according to a biographical account, suggested using â€Å"the bark of trees, remnants of hemp, rags of cloth, and fishing nets† instead of the heavier bamboo or costlier silk material. The Chinese followed that up sometime between 1041 and 1048 with the invention of the first moveable type for printing paper books. Han Chinese inventor Bi Sheng was credited with developing the porcelain device, which was described in statesman Shen Kuo’s book â€Å"Dream Pool Essays.† He wrote: â€Å"†¦he took sticky clay and cut in it characters as thin as the edge of a coin. Each character formed, as it were, a single type. He baked them in the fire to make them hard. He had previously prepared an iron plate and he had covered his plate with a mixture of pine resin, wax, and paper ashes. When he wished to print, he took an iron frame and set it on the iron plate. In this, he placed the types, set close together. When the frame was full, the whole made one solid block of type. He then placed it near the fire to warm it. When the paste [at the back] was slightly melted, he took a smooth board and pressed it over the surface, so that the block of type became as even as a whetstone.† While the technology underwent other advancements, such as metal movable type, it wasn’t until a German smithy named Johannes Gutenberg built Europe’s first metal movable type system that mass printing would experience a revolution. Gutenberg’s printing press, developed between the year 1436 and 1450, introduced several key innovations that include oil-based ink, mechanical movable type, and adjustable molds. Altogether, this allowed for a practical system for printing out books in a way that was efficient and economical. Around 1605, a German publisher named Johann Carolus printed and distributed the world’s first newspaper. The paper was called â€Å"Relation aller Fà ¼rnemmen und gedenckwà ¼rdigen Historien,† which translated to â€Å"Account of all distinguished and commemorable news.† However, some may argue that the honor should be bestowed upon the Dutch â€Å"Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, c.† since it was the first to be printed in a broadsheet-sized format.   Beyond Writing: Communicating Through Photography, Code, and Sound By the 19th century, the world, it seems, was ready to move beyond the printed word (and no, people didn’t want to get back to advancing fire and smoke-generated messages). People wanted photographs, except they didn’t know it yet. That was until French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce captured the world’s first photographic image in 1822. The early process he pioneered, called heliography, used a combination of various substances and their reactions to sunlight to copy the image from an engraving. Other notable later contributions to the advancement of photography include a technique for producing color photographs called the three-color method, initially put forth by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1855 and Kodak roll film camera, invented by American George Eastman in 1888. The foundation for the invention of electric telegraphy was laid by inventors Joseph Henry and Edward Davey. In 1835, both had independently and successfully demonstrated electromagnetic relay, where a weak electrical signal can be amplified and transmitted across long distances. A few years later, shortly after the invention of the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, the first commercial electric telegraph system, an American inventor named Samuel Morse developed a version that sent signals several miles from Washington DC to Baltimore. And soon after, with the help of his assistant Alfred Vail, he devised the Morse code, a system of signal-induced indentations that correlated to numbers, special characters and letters of the alphabet. Naturally, the next hurdle was to figure out a way to transmit sound to far off distances. The idea for a â€Å"speaking telegraph† was kicked around as early as 1843 when Italian inventor Innocenzo Manzetti began broaching the concept. And while he and others explored the notion of transmitting sound across distances, it was Alexander Graham Bell who ultimately was granted a patent in 1876 for Improvements in Telegraphy, which laid out the underlying technology for electromagnetic telephones.   But what if someone tried to call and you werent available? Sure enough, right at the turn of the 20th century, a Danish inventor named Valdemar Poulsen set the tone for the answering machine with the invention of the telegraphone, the first device capable of recording and playing back the magnetic fields produced by sound. The magnetic recordings also became the foundation for  mass data storage formats such as audio disc and tape.

Mastering Time Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Mastering Time Management - Essay Example How an individual allocates time for different activities depends upon his level of education and understanding of life. As a manager one must first know how to manage oneself and only then can one manage an organization or a subordinate. One has to identify what is important in life and spend more time on that. If one knows of the hectic week ahead, decisions and planning in advance helps (Green & Skinner, 2005). Prioritizing work reveals that some work could be delegated or were not really important. It can help to avoid stress that reduces efficiency. Stress also leads to high absenteeism and labor turnover, all of which can be measured in terms of money. Time management can help to avoid missing deadlines which hampers customer relations, affects the image and competitiveness of the firm. it helps to develop cognitive skills. It enables a person to be more organized, assertive, he is able to prioritize work and achieve targets. The whole environment is less stressful and results in better health conditions of the employees. In the field of nursing time was a condition that structured the planning, accomplishment and result of nurses’ work (Bowers, Lauring & Jacobson, 2000). Their main source of job dissatisfaction was too little time. Limited time makes it difficult to complete the required work and it is difficult to spend time with residents. Timing is important even in political campaigns and decisions. It can mar the campaigns if some events in the nations erupt just during that period. Timing makes or breaks the situation; timing influences the victory or loss as in the case of Rudy Giulani who faced bad news from the drug indictment of his South Carolina chairman to criticism for skipping meetings of the Iraq Study Group (MSNBC, 2007). The timing could not have been worse as the string of events came just as national polls showed him ahead of his rivals. People want to ‘manage stress’. Managing

General Information about Spain Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

General Information about Spain - Research Paper Example Civil War erupted in 1936 and Franco ascended to power in 1939 who followed a pro-Axis policy during the Second World War. Spain was isolated by the Allies after WWII and finally signed Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States September 26, 1953, and joined the UN in 1955. In November 1975, Franco died and was replaced by his heir Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon who assumed the title of king and chief of state. He replaced Franco’s Prime Minister with Adolfo Suarez in July 1976 who held an election on June 15, 1977 (the last election was in 1936) and instituted the democratic constitution (Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 2011) Spain has an area of 504,750 sq. km. (194,884 sq. mi.), which includes the Balearic and Canary Islands. Its capital is Madrid with a population of 3.3 million people. It's lands composed of high plateaus, lowlands, and mountainous regions. The form of government is Constitutional Monarchy with Juan Carlos I proclaimed as King on November 22, 1975. The President of the Executive branch is nominated by the kind subject to the approval of Congress. The Legislative branch has a bicameral Cortes: â€Å"a 350-seat Congress of Deputies (elected by the Dhondt system of proportional representation) and a Senate. Four senators are elected in each of 47 peninsular provinces, 16 are elected from the three island provinces, and Ceuta and Melilla elect two each; this accounts for 208 senators. The parliaments of the 17 autonomous regions also elect one senator as well as one additional senator for every 1 million inhabitants within their territory (about 20 senators).  Judicial--Constitutional Tribunal has jurisdiction over constitutional issues. Supreme Tribunal heads system comprising territorial, provincial, regional, and municipal courts† (Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 2011).  Ã‚  

The Guillotion Essay Example for Free

The Guillotion Essay The guillotin was a fast falling blade that extinguished life instantly. It was improved by Dr. Joseph Guillotin so that criminals can be wronged for their doings. Robespierre did not actually use the guillotin, but advocated the use of it. Robespierre quoted â€Å"Liberty cannot be secured, â€Å"Robespierre cried†, unless criminals lose their heads(225). â€Å"Maximilian Robespierre (1758—1794) did not have an easy childhood. Robespierre mother died when he was only 6 years old. Two years later, his father abandoned his family. The childrens aunts and grandfather then raised them. Because of this, Robespierre assumed responsibilities at an early age. Eventually, he went to study law at the university of Paris. His performance was chosen to deliver a speech to Louis XVI on the occasion of the kings coronation. But young Robespierre was snubbed. After listening to the address in pouring rainstorm, the king and queen left without acknowledging Robespierre in any way. Years later, in 1789, Robespierre was elected to the estates- general†(225). He also became a chief architect of the Reign of Terror. The Reign of Terror played a significant roll of the revolution. Which lasted from September 1793-July 1794 it provided hasty trials in which spectators greeted death sentences with cries of â€Å"Hail the republic or death to traitors†(225). About 300,000 ere arrested for resisting the revolution during the Reign of Terror. As many as 17,000 were executed many victims of this massacre were mistaken for others and falsely accused by their neighbors supporters of the revolutions were afraid for their lives. Robespierre believed that France could achieve a â€Å"republic virtue† only through the use of terror, which he defined as nothing more than prompt, inflexible justice. Robespierre was described as being physically unimposing and immaculate in attire and personal manners (Wikipedia/Maximilian Robespierre). He was a bloodthirsty dictator.

Russian History Essay -- Vladimir Lenin, Peter the Great

The Soviet Union has had numerous leaders throughout it’s existence as a country. However, there are a few leaders that will forever be in Russian history books and lectures. Among those leaders who have had the largest influence on the Soviet Union are; Vladimir Lenin, Peter the Great, Alexander Kerensky, and Joseph Stalin to name a few. While all of the leaders are interesting and have influence on Russia, this research paper will specifically focus on Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin lead the Soviet Union for over 20 years and he certainly had a unique way of doing so. While Stalin did contribute to turning Russia into a world superpower, he was a murderous dictator who is among many things, responsible for millions of innocent lives, genocides, and famines. While Stalin’s birthday is printed in different places as two different dates, Iosiph Vissarionovich Djugashvili was born on December 21, 1879 in Gori, Georgia (Montefiore 2004). Stalin was born to â€Å"illiterate peasant parents†, Vissarion and Ekaterina, and his father is said to be the cause of his ruthless soul. According to the Jewish Library, he was undeservingly beaten by his father and this was reason for him to have revengeful feelings towards everyone who had power over him (Jewish Virtual Library 2011). He eventually would chang his name to Joseph Stalin, which means â€Å"Man of Steel†. Some sources say that Lenin is referenced in his name change (stal + Lenin = Stalin) (Jewish Virtual Library 2011). When Stalin was just seven years old his face was permanently scared after he acquired a case of smallpox. Iosiph attended church school when he was young and would also do so later under the preference of his mother (Radzinsky 1996). Stalin was involved in two ac... ... of tyrant reign, millions of innocent Soviet people were enduring murders, false imprisonments, famines, brainwashing, and terror. They feared constantly that they be subjected to unjustified arrest or execution. They feared for the lives of their friends and family and also for the future of their children and the future of Russia. Stalin died on March 19, 1962 in Kazan where he was banished to. It is thought that he had help, like his father, in dying. I’m sure that the Soviet people breathed a sigh of relief, they no longer had to live in such an intense fear and anxiety. However terrible he was many Russians still believed him to be a great leader. Stalin was a murderous dictator who is among many things, responsible for millions of innocent lives, genocides, and famines however, Russia has Stalin to thank for turning the country into a world superpower.

My apartment Essay

When I was younger, I fantasized about how wonderful life would be when I moved into my own apartment. Now I’m a bit older and wiser, and my dreams have turned into nightmares. My apartment has given me nothing but headaches. From the day, I signed the lease; I’ve had to deal with an uncooperative landlord, an incompetent janitor, and inconsiderate neighbors. First of all, my landlord has been uncooperative since the first day I came to that apartment. As promised, I arrived there at 3 p.m. sharp but he leisurely came there one hour late with depressed looking faces. Then he immediately started to give tour in the apartment and explained a little bit about the rent. After that, he impatiently asked for a deposit even though I’m still touring the apartment for any deficiency in the apartment. At that time I noticed that the flush in the toilet is not functioning and asking him to repair it but him keep insisting me to pay for the deposit first. Thus with an irritating voice, I said to him that he really needs to repair it and I can see his brows frowned. It’s been two months I stayed there, yet no plumber ever came to my apartment and another problem followed in which the air- conditioner started making noise and in the end it broke down. I called and emailed him but there’s no reply at all, so I went straight to his house. Surprisingly, he was there laughing with his friends and my anger cannot hold anymore, so I shouted furiously about the problem happened in the apartment. After a few days, a plumber came and the air – conditioner has been fixed. I’ve had a problem not only with my landlord but also with an incompetent janitor who is a middle-aged man. My first impression toward him is already bad, for he just came to my apartment without brought any equipment to clean the apartment. Not to mention that he used the whole bottle of the cleaning product just to clean the small apartment. I can a ccept if my apartment will be shining but the thing is that I can still see muck in my toilet, dust under my sofa and dirt in my kitchen. There’s one time when he actually made my apartment like his own house. He would laid-back on my sofa and talk with his friends on the phone, watch television and eat my food in the refrigerator without my permission. The intolerable thing I can’t accept is that he thinks himself a plumber by fixing my kitchen’s sink and in the end my sink becomes worse. It has cost money for the sink to be functioning again. Perhaps the worst problem has  been with the inconsiderate neighbors who live in the apartment above me is that they think they own the whole apartment. Even with problem occurred in the apartment and at work, I still felt that my apartment is my heaven but the peaceful moment do not last longer when they moved in the apartment above me after five months I stayed there. Then at that time my dream turned into my worst nightmares in which music being played loudly at 3 a.m. and drums being played deafeningly and people talking boisterously. Sometimes I noticed that my balcony full of dust even when the janitor came to clean my apartment. I assumed that maybe the janitor didn’t sweep the balcony properly but it turn out that the neighbors above me actually was the one who constantly threw dust after they had sweep their house, for they think it’s just debris of dust. Sometimes, my apartment seems like a small, friendly oasis surrounded by hostile enemies. I never know what side trouble is going to come from next: the landlord, the janitor, or the neighbors. Home may be where the heart is, but my sanity is thinking about moving out.