Everette E Dennis

Children and the Media

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Throughout history the media has primarily been produced by adults, for adults, about adults. Increasingly, children have become a matter of high priority in the modern media society, and as they have, they have also become the subject of much concern. From debates in Congress about the detrimental effects of movies, comic books, and video games over the last century to efforts to court children as media consumers, there is a clear recognition that the media are not now and probably never were purely adult fare. Their impact on children is at issue.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales)
• Seitenzahl: 224
• Erscheinungstermin: 30. Januar 1996
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 12mm
• Gewicht: 304g
• ISBN-13: 9781560008729
• ISBN-10: 1560008725
• Artikelnr.: 25870441

Autorenporträt

Everette E. Dennis

Inhaltsangabe

Preface Introduction Part I Overview 1. Symposium I Jana Eisenberg In the
first of four "symposia" of short observations on the intersection of
children and media compiled by New York free-lancer Jana Eisenberg, six
preeminent commentators share their thoughts: U.S. Secretary of Education
Richard W. Riley, Vivian Horner of Bell Atlantic, Ernest Boyer of the
Carnegie Foundation, Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois and entertainers Shari
Lewis and Art Linkletter. 2. The Moment of Truth Reed Hundt Who better to
reflect on the future of children and the media than the chairman of the
Federal Communications Commission? "Why focus on connecting our children to
the potential of the communications revolution?" he asks in outlining his
goals in this area. "Because any concept of a well-ordered society depends
on raising our children to participate in public discourse, and that
discourse will increasingly be through electronic means." 3. "As I Told the
FCC . . ." Yet Another Modest Proposal for Children's Television Peggy
Charren After a quarter-century, the founder of Action for Children's
Television is anything but shy about telling the FCC what's wrong with
commercial broadcasting for children. "The record of those 25 years shows
that in large part, commercial television has abdicated its educational
responsibility and concentrated on its ability to amuse," she says. "Part
of the reason we keep having this discussion is that the commercial TV
industry does not know how-or does not care-to obey the law." 4. Why Kids
Hate Educational TV Patricia Aufderheide "You don't have to get up early
too many Saturday mornings with the kids before you're convinced that
there's not much educational and informational programming for children on
commercial broadcast television," observes a media researcher and
communication professor at the American University in Washington. "And, by
and large, what is there isn't very inspiring. What was Newton Minow's
line? The Vast Wasteland is perhaps vastest on Saturday mornings." 5.
Electronic Childhood Ellen Wartella "My children are living an electronic
childhood," writes the dean of the College of Communication at the
University of Texas-Austin. "As parents, teachers and television producers
observe our children in this electronic world, we are both awed by their
agility with media that sometimes intimidate us and fearful of the ways
those new media are changing the nature of children's lives and the society
in which they grow up." Part II Covering Children 6. Symposium II Jana
Eisenberg Opening this section are reflections from six more commentators
with vast experience writing, researching, entertaining and thinking about
kids: author and journalist Alex Kotlowitz, Harvard scholar Gerald Lesser,
Linda Ellerbee of "Nick News," kidpaper publisher Adam Linter, children's
entertainer Raffi and Columbia University's Samuel Freedman. 7. From Unseen
and Unheard to Kidsbeat Cathy Trost "For years, the children's beat was the
Rodney Dangerfield of American newsrooms," reflects the director of the
Casey Journalism Center for Children and Families at the University of
Maryland, "it got no respect." "Covering politics or City Hall was the
journalist's dream job, and few wanted to get sidetracked into the
low-status, soft-news backwater of kids." But that's changing. 8. How the
News Media "See" Kids Dale Kunkel The author, a University of
California-Santa Barbara communication professor, reports on his study of
how kids are covered by major U.S. newspapers and the network news. The
result: a picture of coverage that is uneven and spotty at best. "By
serving as gatekeepers of the messages the public receives about the
condition of children in American society," he points out, "the press plays
a pivotal role in influencing awareness of child-related issues." 9.
Children Like Me-Where Do We Fit In? Maria Elena Gutierrez The author, a
child development expert in the Alameda, Calif., elementary schools,
worries about how the kids she works with in an increasingly ethnically
diverse school system pattern their behavior toward one another. "American
television's perception of what is beautiful, desirable, `cool' is not
where the U.S. population is heading," she argues. "But we and our children
still learn from the images television projects, lessons that conform less
and less to the world around us." Part III The Child Audience 10. Symposium
III Jana Eisenberg Setting the scene for this section are five more experts
with wide experience in kid audiences-Fred Rogers of "Mr. Rogers'
Neighborhood," University of California-Berkeley sociologist and media
scholar Todd Gitlin, Rep. Patricia Schroeder of Colorado, Craig Neff,
managing editor of Sports Illustrated for Kids, and mass communication
scholar Jane D. Brown of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. 11.
By the Numbers-What Kids Watch Larry McGill "Amidst all the concern about
children's exposure to potentially harmful TV, surprisingly little
attention has been paid to what kids actually watch," writes The Freedom
Forum Media Studies Center's director for research and administration in
reporting on his own study of child viewing patterns. "While kids do flock
to cartoons, PBS and Nickelodeon, data suggest these sources represent less
than half of what kids spend their time watching." 12. Six Myths About
Television and Children Milton Chen "A curious mythology has grown up
around television and its effects on children," observes the director of
the Center for Education and Lifelong Learning at KQED in San Francisco, as
he sets about debunking those myths. "Together, they would have us believe
that TV is single-handedly turning kids into couch potatoes, frying their
brains, shortening their attention spans and lowering their academic
abilities." This is much too simplistic of you, he argues. 13. "Ask Beth"
Elizabeth C. Winship "Kids used to write me about acne, bras, long hair
(boys'), short hair (girls'), nylons, tube tops, `Mom makes me come home at
9:30!' and `Should I kiss a boy on the first date?'" reminisces the author
of a syndicated column since 1963. Times have changed for kids and how they
use her newspaper-mediated advice. "Now they write me about venereal warts
and condoms and suicide and drug addiction." 14. "Sesame Street" and
Children in Poverty Keith W. Mielke Since the late 1960s, Big Bird, Bert
and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch and the rest of the residents of "Sesame
Street" have been using TV to teach kids-especially those who need it most,
observes the author, senior researcher at the Children's Television
Workshop. "`Sesame Street' is reaching and helping low-income children who
have a narrower range of educational opportunities in the critical
preschool years-important elements in a national strategy for reaching our
educational goals for the year 2000," he suggests. 15. Teaching Media
Literacy-Yo! Are You Hip to This? Renee Hobbs "Me