Urban Entertainment: Trends in Mass Media - Research Paper Example

Research Paper on Urban Entertainment: Trends in Mass Media and Their Cultural Research Paper on Urban Entertainment: Trends in Mass Media and Their Cultural Impacts Abstract: In reference to the changing paradigms of the landscape of the media in terms of urban entertainment, there are emerging trends that have been witnessed in the various mass media platforms. These trends have had significant influence on the cultural norms and practices of societies. There are various modes or forms of mass media platforms that continue to influence the behavior and culture of the society. Some of these forms are television, radio, social media et cetera. In the context of urban entertainment, some of the emerging trends that have been embraced despite their influence are the popular culture which was accelerated by the advancement of technology and communication. The study focused on providing insights on the impact of television on the culture of the students of Bowie State University, as well as their habits. The methodology that was employed was the use of questionnaires, observation, interviews, and sampling in the collection of data. The questionnaires used were both open and closed ended type while the sampling procedure entailed faceting the random selection of participants from the study area. The observation technique however was employed with the aim of monitoring the behavior of the selected participants. After the collection of data, the obtained data was analyzed through the qualitative and quantitative methods. The quantitative methods involved the use of statistical models through the use of excel while the qualitative was solely through the descriptive analysis technique. INTRODUCTION The concept of mass media emanates from mass communication. Mass communication is often used to refer to the transmission of communication to a larger audience or segments of populations. On the other hand media refers to the channel through which the communication is disseminated (a transmission means). Therefore mass media entails means or channels of transmission of communication to a wider spectrum of audience (Peters & Simonson, 2004). The various common channels are radio, TV, newspaper, books, magazines, video games, podcast, internet blogs and social media. People react differently to mass communication by sharing ideas about themselves and the realities of the globe (Vilanilam, 2008). The action or reaction towards the shared ideas is often regarded as culture. According to Liu (2004), culture refers to patterns that are historically transmitted and they usually have meaning embedded in form of symbols. It is an inherited system of conceptions that are symbolically expressed by channels through which individuals communicate, develop, and perpetuate their ideas or convictions, knowledge and attitude towards life. On the other hand, entertainment refers to activity(s) that have the potential of capturing both the attention and interest of individuals or audience consumed by it. It not only gives pleasure but also delight to the audience as well as the performing characters. The urban form of entertainment has significantly advanced in the 21st century. Perhaps, this phenomenon can be attributed to the advancement of technology and communication. This proposal therefore seeks to illuminate in details the different modes of urban entertainment in the context of the trends in mass media and their cultural impacts. Statement of the problem Report from Adweek (2014) illuminates that the viewing habit of television network still reigns over other mass media channels though the use of social media is rapidly catching up. The most common culprits are the young (teenagers and the youths). The viewership has been accelerated by the use and awareness of streaming companies in the digital platform. The report further indicates that television enjoys much air time from the adults of the American population in comparison to the youths. However, the extent to which this form of mass media affects the cultural norms of the American population remains elusive (Simonson, 2010). Some parents have devised strategies of to prevent their children from too much time spent on watching television with the perception that it impacts negatively in the children academic performance. In addition, the extent to which viewing of the television programs have impacted on the cultural norms of the American population remains at large. Purpose of the study This study focused on the urban forms of entertainment where more emphasis was laid on television as a form of mass media and its cultural impact to the students of Bowie State University. The main purpose was to determine how the students of Bowie State University use their television (which was one of the indispensible forms of mass media) and their adaptation to their culture in reference to their television viewing habits. To achieve the above main objective, the following specific objectives were incorporated: To comprehend the viewing habits of television among the students of Bowie State University. To determine the relationship between viewing television programs and its influence/implications on the cultural practices of the students. To compare the impacts of culture as a result of television viewership between the males and female population of students of Bowie State University. Research questions and hypothesis Research questions What were the viewing habits of television that the students of Bowie University had adapted? What were the impacts of viewing television to the culture of students? What gender was the most influence by the habits of television viewership? Hypothesis This study had two hypotheses and was as follows: H1: The implications of television on culture of the students of Bowie State University vary and depend on the amount of time taken or spend on watching TV programs daily. H2: Male viewers of programs in TV show greater tendency of acceptance or accommodation of cultural norms compared to their female counterparts. LITERATURE REVIEW Popular culture The most common mode of urban entertainment is the popular culture, frequently referred to as pop culture. It refers to the perspectives, ideas, images, and attitudes et cetera that are adopted by the society or rather a community in order to commensurate or conform to the western cultural mainstream (Burke, 2009). Even though the mass media is a form of urban entertainment, it has continued to influence popular culture. The ideas and the perspectives within the connotations of the popular culture are true reflections of daily lives of individuals within the society. Some of the widespread forms of popular culture in reference to entertainment are TV, music, movies, and art. According to Swirski (2005), sports can also be faceted as not only a form of entertainment but also among the various modes of pop culture. Some individuals have been critiques of mainstream ways through which pop culture is usually aligned to coincide and meet the desires and needs of every individual who has an interest in popular culture (Candelaria, Garcia & Aldama, 2004). These critiques emanate from religious groups or associations and counter cultural association/groups whose convictions and believe are contrary to the western culture or any other culture for that matter (Harriger, Calogero, Witherington, 2010). They allege and claim that popular culture is characterized by consumerism, corruption, and that it is superficial. In the mid 20th century, popular culture popularity began to skyrocket though it had originally surfaced in the 19th century. This culture at the onset was largely associated with the poor or the citizens that belonged to the lower class within the society. Ashby (2010) narrated that one of the consequences of the Second World War was the increase in innovations in the field of mass media. This development resulted into popular culture not only being embraced but also appreciated across the entire western world. The American population began experiencing numerous changes in the social arrangements and happening (Butcher, 2003). In turn, individuals developed an urge to new form of entertainment thus prompting and compelling the art, music and TV industry to invest in the popular culture. Storey (2012) illuminates that there are different types or forms of pop culture. Even though pop culture is usually associated with several forms of entertainment such as mass media, Storey (2012) asserts that in the political aspects or rather political connotations, popular culture is viewed in the contrary. He claims that in the 19th century there was a thin line between high and pop culture the when post modernity approach was incorporated in the art made it difficult to distinguish the two. Storey (2012) further claims that popular culture emanated as one of the consequences of the industrial revolution just like the urbanization. However, Shakespeare inclusive of his work had not only infiltrated the modern era but also became popular as a form of pop culture (Johnson, 2008). It is indeed a reality that popular culture changes with time and their occurrences are usually unique depending on time and place. In most cases, they are concepts that are mutually independent though they are complex in several ways (Butcher, 2003). In addition, these changes have values that differ as well as perspectives that which significantly influences the society in various ways. If a pop culture originates and emanates from a particular community or society, then that verifies that that pop culture affects that particular community despite the fact that in appeal to a wide range of people (Milestone & Meyer, 2012). Cowen (2007) extrapolates that several studies have been conducted to examine the impacts of pop culture on different societies across the entire planet such as the Europe, America, Africa and Asia. Of all the listed continents, America is the most affected by the popular culture. They carry on with their daily lives and activities while focusing on the currents and ways of popular culture. For an instant, in the music industry, some of the traditional folklores have been adopted and incorporated into the popular culture. However, the public only purchases folklores that appeal to them and also those that are aligned with their tastes. Due to intermingling of critics, cultural anthropologists, literacy, and distribution of sources that are complementary, the interconnections of popular culture is wide and wild. It has surfaced that there is an extent to which the level of interconnection with the modern culture and the modalities with which it is either portrayed or manifests (Liu, 2004). The various media outlets have ceased focusing on the real world and are more oriented on other images and narratives. Despite the fact that self-preferentiality is seldom acknowledged, it embraces all cultures that are deemed modern (Asimow & Mader, 2004). Critiques have argued and warned that self-preferentiality is only a portion of the side effects of mass consumerism although other critiques give different explanations. One of the critiques, however, argues that self-preferentiality is a paradoxical reflection in that as the increase of technology and culture lead to dehumanization and superficiality. Scholars of the television studies elaborate that self-preferentiality is a reflection of the American TV reflection of their progress. The impact of urban entertainment The urban television more so the television has significantly influenced daily activities and lives throughout the world. It has indeed affected humanity in several ways. For example, the franchising of popular television crime scene investigation (CSI) has completely transformed the way jury examine cases (Peterson, 2005). It has been characterized by expectations that are very unrealistic with the aim of establishing and tabling convincing evidence. The police have found it quite a hard nut to crack to at times produce convincing evidences (Asimow & Mader, 2004). Despite witnesses’ accounts, some criminals have managed to walk scot free due to lack of sufficient evidence. Interestingly, there is an increasing trend on fad in animations that has no impact on the real life. For an instant, if a certain animated movie is showcased in the movie theatre, the population usually gets consumed or rather engrossed on the animation. In turn, individuals purchase that type of animal due to the influence of having watched the animal on television. Most of the individuals who are consumed with the urban form of entertainment have not come to the realization that the animal actions in the movies are not real but part of movie making (Asimow & Mader, 2004). The medical field has been hugely affected by the medical TV programs or series. Medical programs and series have been on the increase lately in the entertainment industry. The doctors are being portrayed to be absolutely accurate in their decision making processes have had a significant influent in the real medicine world. Consequently, individuals go to doctors with unrealistic expectations that are at time never appropriate. In most cases in the medical dramas, the interns are usually portrayed as individuals with lack of knowledge and skills in the medical field and that they often risk the lives of patients. This phenomenon has really transform the perception of individuals on interns in that they usually seek the services of doctors even if the doctors are not available. The TV shows usually portray interns as individuals who screw up treatment processes hence in real hospitals all the messes and causes of loss of lives are accrued to the interns. In addition, there are several fictional movies that emanate from human brain invention that have also influenced lives in several ways. For an instant, some movies have used characters that are perceived as either zombies or aliens which in turn have influenced some movie lovers who believe in what they watch. Therefore, the social behaviors of human beings have been influenced by the entertainment industry. Nowak (2007) explains that in the 21st century, media and urban entertainment have adversely influence teenagers lives. The teenagers have aped the violence nature of characters in the movies, abuse drugs, consumed with body image issues, and also indulge in premarital sexual behavior and activities. It is quite difficult for the teenagers to escape the glaring images in the various forms of media since the media images are present almost everywhere in the contemporary popular culture. They have become vulnerable to the various type of images that the media have portrayed as ideal hence the youth have become insecure with their bodies. The violent movies and series or programs may influence the teenagers to perceive violence as a normal activity. The victims of violence may fail to report to the authorities suppose violence is perceived to be a normal activity. A study conducted in 1998 revealed that drug abuse, alcohol, and sexual abuse have negatively influenced the youth and the teenagers as well. Fergusion (2011) highlights that the increase in abuse of the above mentioned by teenagers is by 9% after watching these movies. However, the remedy to these problems is creation of awareness especially among the youth and teenagers by highlighting that what the media portray in the movies are fictional and that they should not conform to that direction (Sukosd & Jakubowicz, 2011). The influence of mass media and social media The advancement of technology has completely revolutionized mass media and social media as well since it has made it easier for people to access them. The advancement of the computer in conjunction with the use of smartphones has made it easy for individuals to access information from several sources of media (Sukosd & Jakubowicz, 2011). The social media platform is fast becoming the channel where the people depend on either communication or the dissemination of information. It has become a natural phenomenon for individuals to wake up and check for either messages or information from their phones. Therefore, there is a need for individuals to come to the realization that or rather be conscious and aware that the beliefs and values they hold are because of what they accommodate and tolerate. Human beings make decisions based on their experience, assumption, knowledge, and education. Harriger et al (2010) argue that the extent to which media influence individuals depends on the availability of various types or sources of media. Sometimes back, radio and television were very influential though currently the social media is emerging to overtake the influence of radio and TV (Selznick, 2008). Social media has emerged as the platform where individuals discuss issues concerning communities, society, and countries. Some of these social media sites are you tubes, facebook, twitter, and blogs. Stern & Seifert (2008) explains that media company owners control the messages disseminated through these channels. However, individuals should not let the media to influence their daily decisions and the decisions should be made on facts. Influence of urban entertainment on children According to Sirgy (2001), the industry has both the positive and negative influence on children not only in the American society but also other societies in the world. In America, at least all the children are exposed in one way or the other to the media as well as the contents of the media. Some of the contents conveyed through these various media platform are educational and audience specific (McCabe & Akass, 2007). The majority of the children have high affinity for cartoon programs and animated characters they are exposed to through movies and television series. However, as the electronic media continues to expand rapidly, children may be influenced to indulge in media avenues that are not deemed appropriate to them (Wiatrowski & Barker, 2013). The only remedy for protecting them is through parental lock and controls of the time spend watching television and sites in the internet that contain explicit or adulterated contents. Barbour & Scully (2008) vindicates that the likely challenge to the control is that advertisers and producers have devised strategies of optimizing their customer funnel or base by archiving their contents in devises such as the DVDs. Fortunately, the government has laws that if adhered to my minimize children access to contents beyond their age though the government’s implementation on these laws leave more questions than answers (Vijayalakshmi, 2005). For an instant, one of the government’s regulations or rather rules is that producers have to put age limit for the audience allowed to view the contents they put out in the public. The other common form of urban entertainment among children is video game (Fearn-Banks, 2009). These games are healthy only if not abused since they provide the children with the needed break from the hectic and busy educational life (Artz & Kamalipour, 2007). METHODOLOGY Several methods of data collection techniques were employed. Some of these methods were the use of questionnaires, interviews, observation, and sampling. Questionnaire The survey technique of questionnaire was conducted to obtain large data not only from representatives but also from the scattered and diverse groups of the students’ population. These questionnaires were both open ended and closed ended. The open ended questions were aimed at getting some detailed information while the closed ended focused on specific information concerning viewership habits of television among the students. Interviews The interviews were specifically conducted on some selected media stations to determine the programs they perceived to be selling in to the students of various universities and their likely impact on the population. The information that emanated from these interviews was compared to those obtained from the questionnaires. Those who were interviewed were various program directors and producers of the most common programs among the Maryland population. The procedure for sampling A systematic sampling technique that was stratified was incorporated in this study. The total number of samples was 80 and was selected from 4 specific departments in named university. Each of those selected areas consisted of 20 samples. Since the population demography of the students was so huge, they were faceted into four groups in reference to a particular range of age. These age groups were 17-25, 26-30, 31-40, and 40 years and above. The gender parity was incorporated in the study in that there was equal number of male respondents as those of the female. That is out of the 80 samples, 40 were male while the rest were females. The other category of sampling consisted of selected 12 students from each of the selected 4 departments of the university for the purpose of conducting observations on their viewing habits. Observation The observation method that was incorporated in this study involved the selected students that had been sampled in each of the selected departments within the institution. Their perception and reactions to different television programs and implications were then recorded. Analysis of the data and results It was observed from the age of the respondents in every interval of the age groups (17-25, 26-30, 31-40, 40 years and above) that there was an equal representation of 25% of the respondents across all the departments of study within the university. The overall representation of the respondents was 51% male and 49% female thereby ensuring gender balance in the representation. Of the 80 respondents, 75% were in relationships but unmarried, 24% married, 0.8 % divorced, and 0.2% widowers or widows. 45% were students of which 22% were working in the private sector while 4 percent in the government. In addition 10% were not employed. The table below indicates the average time spent on viewing TV. Time spent on viewing TV Time spent Percentage > 1hr 25 1-2 hrs 38 2-3 26 Above 3hrs 11 One of the vital aspects of evaluating the socio-cultural impact of viewing television is by determining the amount of time spent in watching TV on daily basis. The above table illuminates the amount of time spent on watching TV. An increase in time spent implies a decrease in the number of the respondents watching TV. The respondents were asked of their most preferred programs. The table below illuminates the most preferred watched TV programs Programs that are preferred by the students of Bowie State University to watch Item percentage Female Male Total News 7.0 9.8 8.4 Serials 7.5 4.3 5.9 Music 7.4 7.2 7.3 Quiz 5.6 6.6 6.1 Documentaries 2.0 2.8 2.4 Reality shows 5.8 5.6 5.7 Dance shows 5.9 5.5 5.7 Talk shows 5.0 5.0 5.0 Comedy 7.0 7.4 7.2 Celebrity shows 3.4 2.8 3.1 Crime shows 1.6 3.2 2.4 Spiritual 1.9 2.1 2.0 Health 5.0 4.2 Cookery 4.6 1.0 2.9 Environment 4.0 2.0 3.0 Travel 2.5 4.0 Film 8.7 8.9 8.8 Culture 3.2 3.2 3.2 Sports 5.5 9.2 Agriculture 2.6 4.2 3.4 Science and technology 3.3 5.7 4.5 Total 100 100 100 The above table indicates that the students of the university of Bowie State are not skewed to a particular program. Instead their preferences are distributed across the entire programs. 68% revealed that they discussed about TV programs with friends and acquaintances. Of the entire 80 samples 55% illuminated those male respondents made program decision while 46% of female respondents did so. In the determination of the cultural impacts, majority of the respondents after watching TV became aware of trends and fashion. In addition, the respondents would be aware of some festivals in the city; youths indulged in habits such as smoking and drinking; issues of extra-marital and premarital affairs in the TV programs increasing in real life; use of some word obtained from TV; and they were able to learn other cultures. These were the indicator of how TV influenced culture of the students in the university in discussion. Discussion The main objective of the study was to determine the cultural impact of viewing television on the students of Bowie. Gender differences among the various viewers contributed partly to the nature of the effects/implications of TV. The analyzed data showed that the TV had influence on the viewers more so the youth. Both the males and females were vulnerable to cultural impacts that emanated from TV. In addition, there were differences in the priorities of the types of programs watched by the different genders (male and female). The females were more impressed by programs such as health shows, cookery shows et cetera while the males were inclined towards sports, news, documentaries et cetera. It was also illuminated in the study that TV had an impact on the cultural norms of the students. They were influenced in terms of fashions and trends, as well as specific events in the city. However, there were no significant differences between the male and female viewers. Their vulnerability to television influence was equal. CONCLUSION Significant changes have been witnessed in the various forms of urban entertainment. The trends in the industry have been accelerated by the advancement of technology and communication. One of the most common forms of urban entertainment is popular culture which has significantly influenced societies across the world. However, these forms of urban entertainment have had significant impact on culture of different societies. The above study reveals that television as a form of entertainment has also influenced and still continues to influence the society. The students of Bowie State University are among the culprits in the American population whose culture has been influenced by television to a considerable level. This is illuminated by their preference of programs and the amount of time spent viewing the television. References: Ashby, L. (2010). The Rising of Popular Culture: A Historiographical Sketch. OAH Magazine of History, 24, 11–14. Barbour, C. & Scully, P.A. (2008). Families, Schools, and Communities: Building Partnerships for Educating Children. New York City: Pearson Education Inc. Print Cowen, T. (2007). 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