According to John Vivian, author of our textbook, the "[m]ass media's culturally binding role is diminishing" [see next post below on the Mackerel Wrapper]. Yet at times the media do play such a role.
In the next issue of TV Guide after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, Matt Roush wrote:
Watching on split screens with a growing sense of alarm, in homes aor offices that became bunkers as the world outside instantly grew more uncertain, we couldn't quit wondering when it would stop. We still have no idea how it will end. ... But throughout, as disturbing and unimaginable as it all was, the TV coverage provided a reassuring reminder that we were all in this togethr. Our enemies hadn't destroyed our abiity to communicate: to share grief, express hope and investigate the truth. Perhaps not since the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy has the medium provided so necessary and defining a public service. (10-11)How is that working 10 years later? Can the media play a culturally binding role today?
We'll watch Sunday's CBS Evening News Online. [Full episode is 20:27; we'll watch the first 10 minutes or so.] Pete Hamill, free-lance writer and former columnist and editor for the New York Post and The New York Daily News, says, "Our collective heart was broken on Sept. 11 ... and I think [now] that has largely healed." How does Sunday's CBS News report represent an effort to help that healing of the city's - and the nation's - collective heart?
We'll also watch a State Farm commercial that aired Sunday. Directed by Spike Lee, the 90-second TV spot is a tribute to the firefighters who died at the World Trade Center. The title of the commercial is "Never Forgotten. Always Grateful." According to a State Farm publicist, "Nearly 150 school children (ages 8-11) from the New York City area visited four firehouses and thanked the firefighters through song." The song was "Empire State of Mind" as written by Jay Z and performed by Alicia Keys.
Link below for the videos. But first, here's a question to ask yourself as you watch the videos. (1) This is a State Farm commercial, but it doesn't say a word about insurance. What's in it for State Farm? Do they benefit from airing it? If so, how? Link below to watch the videos:
- Click here to watch the 90-second versiona of the commercial on YouTube [1:31]. It aired Sunday during the Eagles-Rams pro football game on NBC.
- Click here to watch as Spike Lee takes us behind the scenes as he talks and narrates video about the song, the children and the firefighters.
Roush, Matt. "Terror Hits Home." TV Guide 29 Sept.-5 Oct. 2001: 8-11.
5 comments:
Yes, Spike Lee has been involved with many "controversies", but to whom are they considered controversies? Spike Lee has also been considered one of the most notorious african -american movie producers in the world for his bold and fearless productions of subjects considered "taboo". He is also famous for making commercials that have made history and millions of dollars(Retro Michael Jordan Commercial). Therefore, it was probably in the best interest of State Farm to have Spike Lee direct this commercial.
Yes, the media can play a culturally binding role today. It can do so by forgoing competition between networks and stations and sharing information that the entirey of America needs to know. It works best after a national tragedy like 9/11. There is still a lot of media that everyone knows about because everyone shares it.
The CBS news report helped heal the nation by showing how people were healing 10 years after. People want to remember the attacks, but they are no longer hurt by remembering them. We all share a President, so showing both the presidents helped us to feel that this is a national situation and we are healing from it.
I think State Farm does benefit from making this commercial. They are showing their compassion. They're not just a corporate machine. If people feel that State Farm is made up of good people, then they're more likely to want to put their trust (in the form of buying insurance from them) into State Farm.
1) I think the video is culturally binding.
2)New York, in a lot of ways, represents America as a whole. There are people from all over the world, and all over America, who go to New York. The entire nation was affected by 9/11. Having children thank the firefighters who risked their lives to safe those Americans brings us together.
Yes, I think the media can play a culturally binding role today. And I think they always will have that ability. The question is whether or not the activly choose to play that role in times of crisis and debate. CBS news did a great job of memorializing the lost on September 11th, and showing the world that we are healing. Although it has been a long process, we are starting to become whole again, 10 years later. I think State Farm did a great job with hiring Spike Lee to produce their commercial. It was a great portrayal of New York and it's people, all coming together and healing after the events of 9/11. I think they benefit by showing their compassion for the U.S. and all the victims from 9/11 all around the country. It was a great commercial. I think this commercial does play a culturally binding role, and unites us as american's. It makes us feel like a part of something, and gives us the power of being united after such a horrible and tragic event.
Yes, I would say that the State Farm commervial is sulturally binding. It plays a culturally binding role because we all went through that event. We all saw the towers go down on television. State Farm benefits from this because there using a culturally binding event to bring people together. It makes them look like they are always there. Like a good neighbor. Which refers back to their slogan.
This is a perfect chance for media to use their means to unite a country that is healing. For those of us who are separated from the heart of this tragedy, we can still have to chance to remember. The media helps us to not forget. Through their news casts the whole world can see and feel the pain that those who lost during the 9/11 are feeling during the anniversary.
Despite having the country catch of glimpse of how these people are healing, we also get to see how they are moving on. Not only do they focus on the loss that that day brought, it shows how "life goes on". New lives are starting through unions and through birth. Although those people felt pain they continue to live and also remember.
State Farm's commercial with the children's choir and the firefighters may not have said anything about insurance, but it did say something about what they stand for. This commercial reaches out to an entire nation. We have all been touched by the 9/11 attacks and by showing that they are involved they are reaching a huge audience of consumers. This shows that this insurance company has human tendencies; love, hope, and kindness. The commercial is definitely culturally binding. A good way that they show this is by involving children. Children from all walks of life, who may not have experienced the actual tragedy, but are being becoming involved and learning about it.
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