Gunnar's final essay

For my Junior Urban Adventure question, I had to consider just how it should pertain to the group that I was in, and the people that I would be meeting. I didn’t just see this as an opportunity to ask people something; I wanted to know how the people we were interviewing applied their expertise to the world of media. Because of this, my essential question was based off of that very subject. I thought about it, refined it, and finally came up with what I considered to be a very useful question to ask: Do you feel that you position in the world of media gives you any influence over people’s opinions? If so, is this accidental or on purpose; helpful or a hindrance?

Naturally, I felt that I would receive highly different answers based on the different locations that we would be visiting: NPR radio, ESPN, Emerson college, and the New England Cable News network (NECN). All of these groups had different goals, ranging from making sure that the listeners were informed, or that they were simply amused or exited.

The first company that we interviewed was NPR, which mainly focused on dry, opinionated news stories, music, classical literature, and political talk shows. As expected, when my question was asked, I received the answer that they made it their business to remain as opinion-free as possible, and that their purpose was to be one of the few radio stations that did so. They also stated that in the event that if someone was influenced by them, it was entirely the listener’s own doing.

The second station that we visited was ESPN radio. This station seemed to be entirely different from that of NPR. They broadcasted only exited and highly vocal news stories on sporting events, comments from viewers, and discussions between several different radio jockeys. Naturally when I asked them if it was their intention to influence their listeners, the replied that that was exactly what they tried to do. If there was a game the Red Sox and the Yankees, they wanted to create excitement for the Red Sox and the exact opposite for the hated rivals. That, as it were, was the bread and butter of sports radio.

Our third visit was that of Emerson College, one of the greatest schools in the world for those studying for anything ranging from radio to news anchor to actor to cameraman, and anything in between. I must admit, I was alittle unsure of what I would receive for my answer. What I received for my answer was far different from that of our previous two destinations. They said that weather or not they had an influence over their viewers was entire upon the program that they were airing. Unlike NPR or ESPN, which only aired specific programs on specific subjects, Emerson radio had a multitude of different radio shows and many different broadcasters. The opinion-altering goal varied show to show.

Our final destination for JUA was none other than NECN. When I had the chance to ask RD Saul what he felt about it, he answered that it was his job to report the news to the world, but not to forget that he was a human, not some fact-spewing machine. He had to explain the news in a way that people could relate to, and reflect upon it afterwards. So if they were influenced by his work, he found that to be a great reward, but he felt that if one tried to influence people one way or another, than that would be an abuse of power.