Lesson 4.00: Introduction to Persuasion

            The three places that I looked to find persuasive media messages throughout the day is television, an editorial, and a billboard.  All of these forms of media are trying to get you to buy a product or to believe or stand behind a certain opinion.  They appeal to logic, ethics, and emotion.  The television show was an entertainment review show where they comment and critique things that celebrities wore or said and try to persuade people by saying that certain fashions or trends are popular (Entertainment Tonight, 2012).  Only opinion is expressed in this type of show; they want people to have the same opinion as they do.  The editorial was a letter to the editor about a topic that I am researching for an English project (Our Town Sarasota, 2011).  A current issue in my community is removing the benches in a local park to keep away the homeless.  People write to the editor in response to the issue with their own opinions and try to persuade readers to think like them.  The billboard was for a music radio station (93.3 WFLZ).  The pictures and words on the billboard express opinion.  The billboard is used to try to persuade people into listening to this particular station and that it is the best music station on the radio. 

            These three messages were effective in their attempt to persuade me.  I enjoy watching the entertainment review show, I have gathered my own opinion and thoughts from the editorial, and the billboard proved to me that the music station was very good and played my favorite kind of music.  The messages took advantage of what we see and hear on a daily basis and made me interested in the topics and entertainment that they had to offer.  The pictures on the entertainment review show and the billboard made me want to learn more about popular fashions and music stations.  The people writing to the editor in the editorial each brought their own opinion and strong points that helped me determine my opinion on the subject.  The media uses advertising in a way where people almost think that they can’t live without the latest products.

            The messages were effective because they knew how to appeal to persuasion and what the people want.  Discounts, slogans, catchy jingles, bright and bold pictures, and loud commercials are all techniques the advertisements use to make their companies more marketable and well-known.  This helps people make personal decisions about things that they like; it helps them form opinions.  Even though everyone has their own likes and dislikes, persuasion can make people change their minds about what they previously thought, which is what all of these messages did to me. 

Entertainment Tonight, 2012.  http://www.etonline.com/.  Last viewed, 2/22/12. 

Our Town Sarasota, 2011. http://ourtownsarasota.com/#commentary. Last viewed, 2/22/12.

93.3 WFLZ Radio Station. http://www.933flz.com/main.html.  Last Viewed, 2/22/12. 

Lesson 3.00: Introduction to Ethics

   “What does it mean to be ethical?”  If you are ethical, you are fair, trustworthy, and have good morals. Reporters usually have to follow a code of ethics that the company they work for has already established.  A code of ethics is a list of moral guidelines that journalists should follow in order to be responsible members of the news community.  The qualities of an ethical person and reporter are that you are fair, honest, and do what is right.  To handle the situation that is presented in the lesson, an ethical person would explain to their friend that they would never do anything to get them in trouble or harm them in anyway and that being safe is more important.  Then, they should go and tell their friend’s parents what happened and explain that they were only doing it out of love for their friend and to protect them from any harm. 

            I came to this conclusion because telling a stranger your address online is very dangerous and you never know what can happen.  If I were in this situation, I would rather have my friend stay safe and possibly punished for a while then to see anything bad happen to them as a result of an insignificant mistake.  For me, this ethical dilemma wasn’t very hard to solve because if you know what’s right, the answer comes naturally.

            Ethics applies to journalism, because without it, journalists would be writing articles that are definitely not true or invade a person’s privacy.  Journalists have to be honest with themselves, with the companies they work for, and with the people that are viewing their articles or television broadcasts.  The code of ethics for each company requires its workers to be fair and make the best decisions when writing.  Just like people in everyday life encounter ethical dilemmas and have to make difficult decisions, journalists do to.  An example of an ethical dilemma that a journalist might encounter is deciding to give away personal information about a celebrity in a tabloid magazine.  Would you want to write personal information that no one would want exposed for the money you would receive, or would you be a kind person and leave it out of the magazine?