Amy Selk

COMM 108 – Media & Society

Date Due: 2/2/2012

Name of interviewee: Jeanie Malchow

Age: 51

Birth place: Fond du Lac

Relation: Aunt

Date interviewed: 1/29/12

Place interviewed: via phone

Can you describe your childhood and popular media that you and your family used?

-My dad always read the newspaper and as a family we watched the 5 o’clock news with Walter Cronkite. He was considered the most trusted man in American. My parents always watched the political debates in support of the political elections. My siblings and I also listened to the top 40s with Casey Kasem while we lay in bed before we fell asleep. The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, and Dark Shadows were three of my favorite TV shows while growing up as a child.

What is your earliest memory of television?

-When I was 8 and we purchased our first black and white TV; however, this TV only had two channels and had no remote. Previously, we would entertain ourselves by playing board games or playing outside with friends.

What was the telephone like when you growing up? What was it like to have a “party line?”

-In our household we only had a rotary phone which was a turn the wheel style phone. We also had a party line which we shared with another family. I remember this type of phone had a long cord so you could not walk away. I hated the party line. If someone was on the line, you could listen to their conversation, and had to wait patiently for them to get off the phone in order to use it.

Can you share an experience of going to the movie theatre?

-I didn’t go to the movie theatre until I was a teenager, which is when I started working because my family could not afford it. On the other hand, I did go to the outdoor theatres. At the outdoor theatres you had to play a flat fee per car, in which case, you could pack as many people in the car. I remember people were shoved people in the trunk and piled friends in the back seat.  

How has the media benefited your life?

-Media has made life more convenient and simpler. I can communicate a lot easier to long distance family via cell phone, texting, email, Skype, aol (instant messaging), and Facebook. Currently, my family and I have 2 computers, all four of us have a cell phone, we have cable TV (HD), and we recently disconnected our home land line. Another way advance technology has benefited my life is due to online banking. I pay bills on line, and require direct deposits for my pay checks. 

How has the media impacted your life negatively?

-I think it has negatively affected my life due to the separation it can cause between the members of my family. Technology can definitely divide a family and lose that close nit connection between one another. I also think the media has made the information more negative because broadcasters and producers are always finding a way to make money by delivering an interesting hot juicy gossip instead of informing the public the actual facts and figures.

           

Media more than anything else has significantly impacted our daily lives the most. In the same manner, media tools have profoundly changed our lives and how we interact with one another and the world around us.

            First, how we get our news and information has drastically changed. Instead of actually reading the hard print copy of a newspaper or even logging into an online newspaper website, I look at the stories my friends and other people post via Twitter or Facebook. Friends are increasingly becoming people’s trusted sources of information, even more than search engines. My aunt mentioned that they had to wait to receive the latest updated news; nevertheless, news now travels faster than ever communicated through advanced media technology.

Secondly, my aunt and I were born in two completely different generations. People still mostly rely on newspapers to learn about what was happening in the world; likewise, things changed when the Presidential debates was on air. It was clear that people who heard the debates on the radio favored the words of Nixon, but those who saw the composed, handsome Kennedy favored him. TV has become the way in which people around the world see the world. This is extremely different to how my aunt was raised. Moreover, in contrast to the black and white TV my aunt grew up with, now kids are watching their favorite shows in high definition screens. For example, my dad just purchased a 46inch flat screen SONY (HD) TV with surround sound for our basement. This type of entertainment system is what any child dreams about…it’s practically having a home theatre in your household. Next, the qualities of programs have also sunk drastically because of the diversity offered. The amount of channels has literally jumped from several to several hundred, rather than only having two channels in compare to my aunt. Reality television doesn’t rely on writers or actors, and an unimaginable quantity of sports is broadcast-some, like darts and poker, aren’t even really sports. But with so many channels offered it’s possible to cater to all tastes. Lastly, if I missed my show on TV I have the luxury of watching it either on line or on DVR. These options were not available to my aunt during her childhood years.

            With this in mind, media has made it un-stressful to keep in touch with long distance friends and family. There is so much connection that can happen through social media such as; Facebook, Skype, and twitter. People certainly still meet others at social venues like clubs and parties, but it is easier than ever to discover people who share interests through social media, whether that means via groups on Facebook or following people on Twitter. Furthermore, it can also unite people with common interests and/or beliefs through groups and other pages, and has been known to reunite lost family members and friends. The best means of communication for some of my family is via email, others via phone, and some via Facebook. My entire family; aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews all have a Facebook account. Some check it more than others; however, we all stay connected through our family page. In the same manner, Facebook has helped me stay connected with my high school friends; where we have the option to chat at once, coordinate plans on holidays or get-togethers, and catch up with one another since I do not have the ability to go home much due to being a college athlete. One of my favorite features of Facebook is it reminds me of my friends birthdays and events. This is helpful tool for me because I am terrible at remembering birthdays so Facebook helps me along the way. In conclusion, these social media devises have affected the social life and activity of people in various ways and also allow users to continuously stay in touch with friends and relatives wherever they are in the world.

            There is one topic in which I argue against media and that is replacing text books for laptops. There has been multiple discussions to transition public schools' from printed textbooks to electronic materials. If I had an option to choose laptop or text book, I would choose a textbook because it is easier to read and reference. If laptops did replace textbooks that just means that, each district will have to figure out the total cost of buying the devices, training teachers, setting up the devices, making sure they work for blind students, maintaining, insuring and protecting them from theft and damage, and providing uninterrupted internet connectivity with internet filters. Personally, a student from Wisconsin, these are all new costs that should be addressed at a time when school districts aren’t facing financial crises and laying off teachers.

In every era, cultures go through numerous changes, and in recent years ours has been more impacted than anything else by media. Media is providing yet one more means of engaging and communicating with people around us, and if used effectively can give all of us greater choice in how we live and what happens in our world. All in all, I thought this was a very interesting and intriguing assignment because I enjoyed listening to my aunt talk about her life without the advance technology like today has to offer.