Oprah Winfrey, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The issue of entrepreneurial and entertaining activity requires a complex approach to providing strategic course and adequate embodiment; it is important to admit that a number of widely-acknowledged entrepreneurs and entertainers passed through a vast amount of serious challenges before becoming successful participants of this field of involvement. The media has undergone many entrepreneurs/entertainers, each justifying his/her individual ideas; and it is clear that Oprah Winfrey occurs as one of the most successful entrepreneurs/entertainers in the world.

Oprah’s Beginnings 

Obviously, that would be reasonable to start the description of this woman, listing her life proverb. Once she said, “I always feel if you do right, right will follow.” It is possible to see that those are not just words, but the words of a person committed greatly to her daily visions of life. Oprah Winfrey is the great media proprietor, actress and producer; she was born on January 29^th, 1954 in Mississippi, United States. She is distinguished all over the world due to her award-winning talk show that has become the highest-rated program in the entire history of talk shows. It is clear that she is “one of the most persuasive people in the world” (Hendren 2). Although she is the richest African American woman in the twentieth century, she still remains an extremely generous woman. That is why people think that she is one of the greatest philanthropists in the world. The major reason for her generosity is that she was born in poverty in the rural Mississippi to a teenage mother. She was unlucky to face a lot of life challenges in the childhood. In some interviews she mentioned that she had been raped at the age of nine and became pregnant when aged 14, thus she lost her son in infancy. She was globally respected for her ad-lib delivery and ability to answer the most complicated questions spontaneously. And this greatly contributed to her career growth, where she needed only a couple of years to become a radio speaker, than the TV evening news reporter and, finally, one of the central figures in the daytime-talk-show arena in Tennessee. In accordance with Kedrosky, Oprah Winfrey was initially “known as an entrepreneur by the higher- and low-income strata” (6). Soon, she was noticed to launch her own production company that allowed her creating a more intimate confessional form of media communication. Obviously, it greatly aided to shape the tabloid talk show genre. In the middle of the 1990s, she reinvented her show, creating the major focus upon literature, culture, spirituality and self-improvement. And, although she is somewhere highly criticized for her emotion-centered approach, she is frequently praised for her ability and intention to help others, by spending huge money to cover poverty and save many people from sufferings.

The Nature of an Inborn Leader

In view of many critics, Oprah Winfrey is a great entrepreneur and entertainer; and it is possible to see her “unparalleled influence on culture” (Sun).  This is because she managed to shape the media, conveying the point of intimacy to ordinary Americans. She managed to show her real love to people as well make most American families watch true TV, and analyze accurate information. There is a number of those who appreciate her sense of philanthropy. In 1998 she intentionally established the Oprah’s Angel Network that was considered to be the charity foundation, supporting numerous charitable projects, fostering the development of non-profit organizations all over the world. One more point of her donation initiatives is that she is the altruist, and she is intended to implement many charity programs, promoting the overall public charity. A peculiar thing is that Oprah Winfrey among the five entrepreneurs “followed at 38.9 percent” (Kedrosky 4).

Considering Oprah’s nature, one should know that the ability to successfully communicate with the audience belongs to her most significant features; moreover, she has a flair for using persuasion, which is based encouraging other people to take some actions (McGaan). Oprah thinks that the majority of thigns are viewed as of two sides; however, they should actually be analyzed from various points of view. She clearly understands that it is vital to learn and apply the principles of arguing to inquire, persuade and mediate using mature reasoning and classical rhetoric. Consequently, many viewers consider this woman as “authentic, trustworthy, humble, and a leader” (Hendren 7)

Negative Comments on Oprah’s Activity

Apparently, it is worth saying that apart from millions of fans that a famous American media proprietor has, there are also those criticizing Oprah. The point is that many viewers consider her as absolutely unaware of what she often says. As a result, due to some stereotypical insight that she learned to obtain, people tend to be misinformed and devoid of trustworthy facts. One of the incidents dealing with a barrage of criticism from the viewers refers to Winfrey’s emission of “the stereotypes and all the clichés the West has” while being in India (Abbey). The problem is that Oprah Winfrey used to tell things about India in her show that do not correspond to reality; in accordance with Aseem Chhabra, Winfrey demonstrated a rather primitive “imagery of India” (Abbey). All in all, Oprah Winfrey managed to justify herself saying that she did not mean to offend anyone and India proved to be a marvelous place to explore. Consequently, it is worth admitting that Oprah Winfrey is focused on studying people’s entity; and the criticism is not likely to undermine her authority.

Conclusion

Throughout her long career it does not tend to be difficult to recognize her features of character and contribution to the welfare of American community. First of all, she is extremely generous in all senses of this word: she is a great sponsor and she takes care of others. Secondly, she is the altruist and optimist, which indicates that she is strong and she acts for the sake of others. Third, she is sincere and intimate towards everybody (Moore 4). She is not afraid of her own life and confesses everything to the overall public in order to share her life experience with the others and to protect humanity from doing the same or similar mistakes. Finally, she is a wise woman, achieving her success herself devoid of any help. To sum up, one cannot but encounter the fact that Oprah Winfrey occurs as one of the most outstanding entrepreneurs/entertainers of these days. It is important to admit that she is definitely a strong woman who managed to succeed in her life and demonstrate the desire to assist people with their everyday’s problems; Oprah showed the way that the society has to react to burning issues, and this should not be disregarded.

Works Cited

Abbey, Jennifer. Oprah Winfrey Faces Backlash From Indian Viewers. ABC News. 25 Jul. 2012. Web. 11 Jul. 2015.

Hendren, Libby. The Oprah Effect: How Oprah Winfrey Persuades Viewers. University of South Florida St. Petersburg. 2012. Print.

Kedrosky, Paul. Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, And Steve Jobs: Who is an Eentrepreneurial Role Model? University of California, San Diego (UCSD). 2013. Print.

McGaan, Lee. Introduction to Persuasion. Monmouth College. Retrieved from http://department.monm.edu/cata/saved_files/Handouts/PERS.FSC.html.

Sun, Feifei. The 25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century: Oprah Winfrey.Time.18 Nov. Web. 12 Jul. 2015.