MY POEM

Dreams and Reality
Like a pendilum in my ear,
Reminding me of each step I take.
Oh how I wish I could hear better
Yet the forboding nature of the tone makes me wonder,
Has my illusions taken over my thinking?
If so, i want to dwell in them forever.
For in my fantasies lies my strenghts.
This world,is a place of perseverance,the affairs of this world can never be predicted.
I might as well chip in my fantasies so that, time consumes part of my dreams if not all.

my thoughts

Recently, the craze to eradicate fraud dealings among the youth has become very rampant in the Ghanaian society. I think this has not been achieved so far due to some unscrupulous behaviors in Ghana.Why do u i say that?This is because when i walk along the streets of Accra,all i see is MAKE YOUR RUBBER STAMPS HERE.I tend to ask myself if indeed the Ghana government is really bent on solving the above problem.

I do not see any effort being made to tackle the situation from its root or base stage. if the perpetrators are getting away with their activities, then it must occur to the government that these road side rubber stamp makers are equally contributing to the increasing number of fraud cases in Ghana.i say this because the perpetrators go to these road side stamps.I THINK THE GOVERNMENT HAS TURNED A DEAD EAR TO THIS APPROACH AND IT IS HIGH TIME THEY CHECK IT.

weaknesses and drawbacks in the uses and gratification theory ofthe media and the adenda setting role of the media

Having stated the contents of both the agenda setting theory, and the uses and gratification theory of the media it is time to bring to bear the loopholes inherent them.As already stated,the uses and gratification theory holds that, media consumers make choices of the contents media encodes to satisfy or fulfill their needs.it is in this vein that some scholars like Blumer and Katz have argued saying that,the theory places more emphasis on the consumer whilst negecting the media and thereby subjecting its power into questioning.

Other criticisms leveled against this theory are that the media has the power to influence consumers behaviours and thereby condemning the fact that the theory places all the power to the consumers.for example even though the media is aware of the power of the consumer it still encourages the purchasing decisions of consumers and research has proven this.

Tthe agenda setting theory ofthe media also states that it is the media who bring on board issues they deem important in the society.this is mostly done by the particular attention that the media may give to a particular issue.The media thus achieves this by introducing headlines,frontpages positioning o fthe said issues etc

The weaknesses of this theory is that the consumer here is seen to be passive and hence has no control over media contents.The theory also ignores the fact that the consumers may not attach the same kind of importtance or relevance to the content as it may.For example the issue of politics as is deemed by most people in the country may not neccessarily interest children between the ages of ten and eleven and hence may not attach same imortance to it(politics)

The uses and gratification theory of the media holds that,the assertion that the audience of the media are not passive as we realized in the effect theories of the media,rather, they (audience)use the media according to their needs in order to satisfy or fulfill that need.due to this they end up choosing media contents they know will gratify their needs.

my thoughts

This whole issue of indecent dressing is gaining too much grounds in the country,come to think of it who determines what is decent?who is decent?Nobody has set dressing standards in Ghana.we have to try as much as possible to get rid of our individual moral backgrounds in order to argue intellectually,if not all may come on board with their moral beliefs and since we believe in differnt moral standards whose version will be universally accepted.

Meanwhile, the so called exposing of the body we claim was copied fom the western world originated from africa.Most of us have witnessed how africans used to dress in the olden days.they wore just a piece of cloth to cover from their private part downwards, while their chest were left uncovered.when things were a bit modernised, they tied a small piece of cloth just enough to cover only the breast in the womens case.

However, the whites were the people wearing the heavy clothing we now refer to as decent drssses.over the years of coloniliztion,the white started copying our way of dressing and developed it to fit their lifstyles and now we have re- embraced what our forefathers wore and we claim the adopted dressing code of the whites are the decent ones.

we are in a democratic country and threrfore we have the right to freedom of expression not only in speaking form but in communicationin general.since communication goes beyond speaking it is only natural for one to feel free to express his/her self.afterall our individual peferences allows us to choose from a lot which we are entitled to.UNTILL THERE IS A LAW AGAINST ANY KIND OF DRESS CODE. NOBODY HAS THE RIGTH TO HUMILIATE ANYBODY IN THE NAME OF INDECENT DRESSING IN MY OPINION.

THE AGENDER SETTING ROLE OF THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC AGENDA SETTING

The media being the gate keepers of the country determines what should be debated among the pulic and what should be deemed as important.this is done through the use of screamy headlines and banner head lines to sustain and stimulate the public's interest.this is known as the agenda setting of the media.


Meanwhile the public have their own agenda yet much prominence is not given to it.hencce the media goes to search for te information from the public.The question is do they go for the information from the right source?tghey may end up fishing for information from the rich and migthy in the society.the ghanaian media is such a way that if you are not prominent or important you may not be covere in newstories.for instance ,hardly will one hear news about the islmic countries donating money or supporting agood cause.Does that wean they only interested in wars since that is what some us have been made to believe.

The power and influence of the media

The media in the past were not accorded with so much power in the past until Welle's play"war the of words"which gave scholars like Lasswell and Lippman the overall potential of the media and how their words so much impact on the mass and their thinking.through that the eefects theories were propounded.


Indeed the power of the media cannot be under estimated.For it is only the media which makes it possible for the dead to appear as ghosts,it is only through the media that humans beings can be made to fly,and it is only through the media that a person who is not atwin can be made a twin and veryn identical at that.this goes to show that the words or messages recieved by the people through the various media can make and unmake the society,since the mass virtually live on messages theyb recieve from the media.

Effects of media messages on its audience

The society give credence to media communicators and therefore see them as knowledge banks.
They tend to believe them and live their lives in accordance with what they hear and see around them. Imagine a world without news, entertainment and communication at large,how boring it will be.Hence the society or masses depend solely on channels like Radio,TV, Internet, etc for news around the world and around them.Communicators being the mediators of what goes on and what is imparted unto the audience are advised to weigh their words before broadcasting.

The effects of media messages on audience ranges from psychological,timing, direct,indirect,and explanatory mechanism.The psychological aspect deals with the belief audience have after listening to or watching programs.Eg.The MTN advert about MTN family,which talks about the different types of people and their professional positions leaves an indelible mark in the minds of a service uses and they tend to feel a part and parcel of a bigger family without necessarily knowing them.

Topic: Hypodermic Needle Theory.
The Radio, a small to is a powerful medium that turns the lives of audience around.it deals with both the negative and positive aspect of issues.like a needle the above model injects messages into the systems of its audience and hence the masses accord messages sent by communicators as genuine.Eg.The supposed earthquake that was to befall Ghanaians was believed by all because people actually taught the source was the radio.

functions of the media

1. Create awareness: Social
2. Education : Social
3. Watchdog :Political
4. Entertainment : Social
5. Informs : Social
6. Settle Conflicts : Social
7. Platform for Expressions : Political
8. Encourage Initiative : Social
9. Employment :Economical
10. Stability : Political
11. Advertising : Economical
12. Agenda Setting : Social
13. Globalization : Social
14. Mouthpiece : Social
15. Gatekeeper : Political
16. Investigation : Social
17. Analysis / Interpret : Social
18. Knowledge Banks : Social
19. Link Between Government and People : Political
20. Historical Records : Social
21. Agitate For Change : Social
22. Mobilizer : Social

interview with a frend

Name:Abigail Addo

Medium type:tv

Why?

cos it combines movement sound and color which allows me to dream big

which of the tv stations do u normally watch?


viasat1

what is ur favorite programe?

At what time is it showed?


from monday to friday at 5pm

the Oprah Winfrey show.


hmmmm why is that?

cos it is very inspirational and fulfilling for me.Naturally i love noble people, especially those who are rich and yet feel the suffering of the vulnerable in the society and then move a step forward to use their positions to solicit funds for them. i feel lit is a kind of mentor ship since it is my dream to be a in position to help the needy.

Wat impact has this particular show made in ur life

it has not only encourage me but it has given me hope that someday my dream of helping the society will be achieved in due time.

Do you always make time to watch it?

yes,it is not easy but i try hard