Thanksgiving Audiences

As I reflect on this past Thanksgiving season, I think about the audiences that I have encountered and been a part of. The first audience that I was a part of was at church where I attended mass and was part of the congregation listening to the homily. As part of the Catholic community, parishioners came together with their families especially at this time to be thankful and to wish one another a Happy Thanksgiving. From being a consistent church goer, I have noticed that when it comes to significant holidays throughout the year, that is when the most amount of people come to church, maybe because they find that time of year to be more important than others, who knows. The audience at church can be compared to that of sports audiences when it comes to playoff games because more people want to show up to those games and show their support while being a part of something bigger than themselves.

On the day my family celebrates Thanksgiving, we host many of our family members for dinner and we also use this time to catch up with one another. That day I noticed many different audiences around my house; the young adults were listening to their older relatives tell stories about when they were children themselves, there were family members playing with the little children in the family room while also making sure they didn't get into trouble, and there were teenagers playing a board game and some of the older relatives watched them in confusion. Thus, some of the audiences were engaged with those they were watching, while others were able to reflect on the similarities and differences between them and their elders. This reminds of early examples where there were older people gathered around a fire telling stories to the young ones and teaching them life lessons. Hence, in my opinion, not much has changed as far as the idea of sharing experiences between the young and the old audiences, but rather the platforms we use to communicate have evolved and that may be why some people in the older generations find it difficult to use newer technology and communicate with the younger generations.

Agenda Setting

Throughout the current Canadian federal election campaign the political candidates have been spreading their messages of change as well as sometimes putting down one another in order to appear as the best person for the job of Prime Minister. Thus the notion of the agenda setting theory has never been more relevant than when describing politics in the media. The agenda setting theory proposes that the media can pick and choose what they release to the public. In addition, the media can fulfill their priorities even if the priorities of the general public differ. Hence, the political leaders frame themselves and their competitors in particular ways by using certain pictures, tones, and information. This framing is important for voters to pick up on and investigate further as the political campaigns only depict part of the facts, manipulate them, or emit certain ones altogether to make themselves look better or their opponent look worse. For example, the Conservative party commercial attached below portrays Justin Trudeau as not being ready, but that's not what caught my attention. What I noticed is that the people in this commercial talk about the Liberal party cancelling income splitting and there is a comment snuck in there that may lead more senior voters to worry about what will happen to them if the Liberal party comes into power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c86-9HitWg0

However, I am not the only one who has caught on to the Conservative's manipulation of the truth, but rather the Liberal party has formed an ad that may put those senior voters more at ease.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoTsne3QxM8

Realistically, politics will be a part of Canada's future forever, but it is up to Canadians to be critical of those in power and to do their own research into who and what they are supporting instead of relying on the media to inform them since we know that the media has their own agenda to fulfill.

Effects of Media

There is no doubt that in today's society, we are continually bombarded with media content whether it be in the form of advertisements, television shows, video games, or radio broadcasts. Thus, it is not surprising that there is a significant amount of theories and research looking at how media affects the audiences consuming it. For instance, cultivation theory suggests that since we are spending so much time in front of the television, our day to day concept of reality is affected. In other words, what we watch on television can influence our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. An example of this is dietainment which is the current craze on many media platforms that looks at body image, working out, and dieting. The implications of dietainment is that many children may develop eating disorders and have low self-esteem because there is a very particular 'ideal' body type portrayed for both men and women in the media. In addition, the child's reality becomes distorted as they only see these certain body types as being acceptable in society. However, it is important to note that not all effects of media are negative and that some support equality, the development of healthy eating habits, positive body image, and positive outlooks on life in general.

This link is to the dietainment commercial by Cheerios that I find is important to look at since dietainment is becoming more prevalent and is not just affecting girls, but boys as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcvFlUZ_LGA