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The American Media System versus il Sistema dei Media Italiano: A Comparison between the U.S. and Italy

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A map of Italy and its surrounding countries. Source: https://www.infoplease.com/atlas/italy Italy is a European country often known for its television and art, and thus has a strong media influence. The country’s population is 96% Italian, and 93% of the population speaks Italian as a native language; however, bordering countries including Switzerland, France, Slovenia and Austria have influenced its culture. Family is a very important value for most Italians, and this influences their cultural practices . 1 Economically, Italy has a “diversified industrial economy.” While the North is developed and mostly consists of private companies, the South is moreso agricultural and welfare-dependent. Many companies are small or medium-sized, and family owned . 2 Many enterprise owners support close political friends. Politically, Italy is classified as a republic, and Italy’s partisanship has decreased throughout history. Political parallelism still exists within media, however, and it
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Obama's Sandy Hook Shooting Response: How Was It Covered by Mass Media?

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President Obama's statement at the White House on December 14, 2012. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIA0W69U2_Y On December 14, 2012, President Barack Obama made a statement on the shooting that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. That day, twenty students and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School by a gunman. At the White House, President Obama addressed this mass tragedy in America to extend his condolences to the lives lost in the shooting, including innocent children and teachers. He encouraged Americans to assist the grieving community. He mentioned past shootings in America and stated that actions must be taken to prevent these events in the future. As a father himself, he ended the statement describing his heartfelt emotions and his plan to do everything he can to help the victims. The Sandy Hook shooting was a terrorizing experience for the children involved, shown here being led out of the school by Connecticut State Police. Source: http
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As Our Society Evolves, So Does Our Advertising

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The Colgate-Palmolive company started as a soap and candle business in the early nineteenth century, and includes brands such as Colgate, Palmolive, Speed Stick, Softsoap, and more. Thus, the company operates within the household products industry and the cosmetic industry. This blog will specifically explore the cosmetic side of the industry, and investigate advertising used for Palmolive face and body soap. Overall, the company states that its values include caring, global teamwork, and continuous improvement; its overall goal is the improve the quality of life for consumers. Within the beauty industry, this means that the company’s major effect is persuading consumers that they can become “new and improved” with the use of their products, and will be able to fit society's idealized image of beauty. The advertising does not simply imply that the consumer will purchase the product itself, but also the experience and positive emotions that accompany it. 1922 Advertisement for
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Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Oh My!: How the CW Uses Social Media

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Several shows aired on The CW network. Source: https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/coming - soon/cw-shows-likely-coming-to-netflix-in-october-2016/ Riverdale , Supergirl , and Jane the Virgin are just a few of the hit TV shows broadcasted by The CW. Founded in 2006, The CW is a television network and joint venture between Warner Bros. Entertainment and the CBS corporation. As this network often attracts a younger demographic of viewers, the use of social media is vital to its success - younger audiences watch 13% less traditional TV year over year according to AdWeek. Audiences now have a less developed attention span because everything is at their fingertips, and they don’t want to sit through commercials. Thus, it has become the norm for TV networks to provide episodes online. Additionally, with the popularity of hashtags and mentions, the TV industry now has the ability to gauge their audiences’ reactions through platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The company uses
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The U.S. Family Separation Crisis: A Visual Perspective

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In June, it was reported that 2,342 children since May had been separated from their families upon crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. This resulted from the "zero-tolerance" policy that President Trump enacted in April, which stated that all adults entering the country illegally would be prosecuted, and families would be separated. According to Google Trends data, public attention in the U.S. spiked about this issue around June 17. Just three days later, Trump signed an executive order to keep families together. In the photo essay below, I chose to represent this issue to showcase how powerful images were in shaping public opinion and bringing light to a problem in the U.S. that many believed crossed moral boundaries. I personally felt like I did not know the extent of the issues at the border until I was exposed to these visuals.  Migrant children in a detention camp at the U.S.-Mexico border. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2018/jun/22/us-family-se
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Is “Money Moves” Actually Making Money Moves for Cardi B?

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There’s money in music. At least, that is what I have always been led to believe. Of the many forms of media, audio is pretty ubiquitous in our society. One study found that 90% of Americans, 12 years and older, listened to AM/FM radio within a week. 1  In this day and age, there are also many other ways to enjoy music outside of traditional radio -- you may stream music online using a platform such as Spotify or Apple Music, or maybe you enjoy watching music videos on YouTube. Because music is getting a lot of exposure through these many facets of the industry, I generally think of artists and bands making a large sum of money through their craft. However, the role of the record labels in the "money equation" is often overlooked. If you are a consumer of the music industry, you may be interested to see where your money really goes when you purchase music. Below, I analyzed three popular songs. Cardi B, who sang "I make money moves" in her single "Bodak Ye
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