Hay Too Good to Fail, Reaction Paper Example

What Ideas are Provoked?

Media is one of the main channels used in today’s society to connect people and businesses around the world. From a business perspective, media has provided infinite opportunities for companies to promote their products and services. The use of media even allows consumers to provide feedback about services or products they have used.  As a result, media has a great impact on the way people communicate and think. Although I was aware of how much influence media has on the perspective of viewers, I never really thought about it as a factor in the housing market. According to the author, this is really a strategy that controls the buying and selling of houses in the market. For example, he says “Through these events, and TV’s operation within the programs and networks of government that target subjects of interest, it is possible that the homo oeconomicus which Foucault associated with a “neoliberalism” in the United States is becoming the subject of new governmental rationality which is too soon to name, though “neoliberalism” and even “postwelfarism” were always too broad and epochalist descriptions of the recent arrangement of government” (pg. 401). He believes that specific interests are targeted through television shows in attempt to sway the perspective of the viewers. In my opinion, this is so true.

What I Learned

I do believe that television is not merely an avenue of entertainment. Parents must be selective in what their children are viewing on television because evidence shows that media has more on an influence on them than any other factor. I would like to see a study conducted on how television viewing influences behavior in adults vs. children and teens. I would be interesting to see what type of effect this may have on a person over a period of time. I think the research was conducted well, but I would have liked to know what race is more affected by media influence and what age is most vulnerable to perception changes due to viewing.

Other Questions

The author did not state any specifics about the participants in this study. He just seemed to give general findings about the data he collected. I would have liked to known about the participants ethnic background, age, socio-economic status, and education. Often these criterions affect the way in which a person makes decisions and how skeptical they are about venturing into situations. I wonder if these factors would have made a difference in the way in which people view television.

Not Considered

I don’t believe the author considered that the shows a person views has a great deal to do with his/her interests. So, although the shows may sway their perspectives, it was something they were already interested in. So, in my opinion, various television shows are not out to just brain-wash the viewers, but they may actually help them form particular points of view.

Final Paper

This would be a great source for the final paper because it examines some of the many effects of media viewing on the general public. Although it focuses on the housing market and how home owners and potential home owners are influenced by what they see on television. He refers to the term “realty t.v.”, which he is referring to how many of the reality television shows are geared towards the realty industry. However, I believe I would focus more on how television shows are so instrumental in consumer choices. A final example he used was “Programs such as It Takes a Thief staged mock break-ins of homes by former burglars to demonstrate a household’s vulnerability and to promote an array of security techniques and devices that could minimize those risks” (pg. 388-89). Consequently, this was just another technique to sell alarm and security equipment.