Media Ethics

I believe the advertising industry should hold a higher code of ethics. Sure movies twist the truth in movies about historic events but twisting the truth is expected in those kind of movies unless the movie is a documentary. And I think because the news media knows that the public wants the truth, the news media gives the truth. However, the advertising business does not really seem to have any standards at all. The advertising industry shows the really small, skinny, pretty girls while most girls do not look like that. Also the advertising industry uses retouching making the girls look perfect. And if the networks refuse to run the ads, it really does not matter because the ads end up on the Internet where anybody and everybody can see it. I also think the advertisers are not thinking about the children who could potentially see some of the scandalous ads such as the Paris Hilton commercial. The advertising industry just really needs to sit down and think about what is appropriate for television, radio, and magazines.

Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual Property Rights protects copyrights, trademarks, and patents. The part of the Intellectual Property Rights law that concerns me the most is the protected copyrights. The copyright law grants the author of a work the right to make and distribute copies of that work for a specified period. I actually learned about this when I was training for my position as a Walgreens Photo Specialist. I get so many people who try to reprint copyrighted pictures and I have to explain to those people why Walgreens, not I, can not reprint their copyrighted pictures. Some people really get mad at me and I have to explain that it is not Walgreens policy but the government’s law. Sometimes the copyright law is a pain for me when the costumers start yelling but I tell them if they can get the release formed signed then Walgreens can reprint the pictures. The people don’t ever listen though.

Agenda Setting Theory

The Agenda-Setting Theory means a theory that predicts that the amount of attention given to an issue in the media affects the level of importance assigned to it by the media. I do not know if I agree or disagree with this theory. There are certainly many stories in the media that are very important that deserve attention but then again there are many stories in the media that are not important. For example, some stories that do deserve media attention are the presidential election of 2008, the war in Iraq, the gasoline crisis, and global warming. Some stories that do not a lot of attention are stories about Brittney Spears, Anna Nichole Smith, and Rosie O’Donnell versus Donald Trump. I certainly understand that there is a difference between all of them but for Anna Nichole Smith’s death to be in the media for as long as it was and it grabbing the headlines everyday for almost three weeks or more is just plain ridiculous. The media can be wrong about what is important sometimes.