Conflicts of Interest

3). Pick one concept from the assigned reading, that we have not already discussed, that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

In chapter eleven, Trenholm writes about ethics in the media, and how to harness the potential for conflicts of interest within a news company. How can a reporter report the facts in an unbiased manner when they are human beings with emotions, opinions and belief systems?

There is mentioned an example of a reporter sending one hundred and sixty wired hangers to politicians to appeal to a pro-abortion issue. Another reporter was seen demonstrating in an activist rally. Some speculate that these actions paint reporting the news with a pre-mature skew, because the reporters have conflicts of interest. Perhaps the solution is accountability.

With some organizations the act of omission is the same as a lie. Put it so that if there is evidence for blatant and willful neglect to report a balanced and reasonably accurate event then legal action will ensue. This is something that should be taken more seriously because of the power and influence that is wielded in a short news segment.

This solution does not deprive a news reporter of their personal views or opinion. What it does do is further ensure a more accurate report which can legally protect a news agency, the subject(s), and the reporter themselves.

The TV Is Warming Up

2). Do you agree with Marshall McLuhan that the medium is the message, i.e. that the format or logic of a medium is as important as its content and, in fact, determines what content will be broadcast through that channel? Evaluate his idea that television is a cool medium.



I have to agree with Marshall McLuhans concept of the medium being the message. I also have to disagree with McLuhan’s assessment of TV being a cold medium, in the context of modern television.

First, like nonverbal communication, the medium tells something to the receiver before they even find out what the message is. You may or may not have heard of the new movie “The Messenger” which depicts the lives of army personnel who have to deliver news of soldier’s deaths to the soldier’s family. They deliver the news in person. Several times parents or loved ones who see these uniformed and solemn-looking men approach already know that the news is bad. They perceive the message by deducting from the medium, which is a message within itself, much like nonverbal communication. Once within sight the message is already communicating before a word is spoken.

McLuhan’s assessment of television being a cold medium, meaning more participatory, was truer during his time then it is now. I disagree with it in the context of modern television I do understand that this “hot” and “cool” are on a continuum, leaving me to say that it is simply less cold today. The reason being that TV now may present a realistic and participatory spin with shows like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, but in my opinion the evidence showing how the judges responses are pre-written casts doubt on these being different than scripted movies.

Plus, with commercials now using the same soundtracks, camera lens, dramatic effects, visually stunning animation I would say that TV has become much more an appeal to the visual senses, and leaves much less room for conscious efforts at pieces details together.

Cyberspace: A Tool, Not A Solution

1). Have you made friendships that exist exclusively in cyberspace? If so, how are they different from f2f relationships? If you have not formed cyber relationships, why not?

I have formed cyber relationships before, but have not retained them exclusively to cyberspace. This I have done for two reasons. First, online interactions do not lead to meaningful friendships in and of themselves. Secondly, because I am a person by nature I wish to avoid potentially deceptive or false relationships from coming to fruition.

I applaud technology for making it easier for friends to meet and to stay in contact with one another. While I agree that this technology is handy for people to meet, I do not think it is a healthy medium to interact in exclusively.

My point being that there is so many subjective and ambiguous features to this interaction that a real meaningful and grounded relationship could not possibly come from it.

Texts or emails are void of one very important characteristic- nonverbal behavior. In my opinion only pseudo-relationships can be formed from solely online interaction, not full, healthy ones.

Secondly, I am cautious of this medium because it is too easy for one to deceive the other. Face-to-face relationships are already ripe with obstacles leading to potential pitfalls. Cyberspace increases the “pitfall” percentage dramatically.

These are some of the reasons why I use cyberspace as a means, not an end, to relationships.

Disclosure and Its Risk

3). Pick one concept from the assigned reading, that we have no already discussed, that you found useful or interesting, and discuss it.

Disclosure is something that everyone does at some level. This is why I find it very interesting. Because disclosure can be such a sensitive tool it is important to use in a controlled environment where you can minimize potential fallout. Following is an example I experienced about the wrong way to disclose.

I am sure that everyone in this class has come across people who prefer to admit everything about themselves, even when it is not asked of them. I remember riding the light rail and I could hear a lady talking to a man she had just met, and going into sordid detail about her illnesses, family situation, drug addiction, and even her love life.

Perhaps if she spoke in hushed tones it would have been slightly more couth, but I was in the back row and could hear every syllable, as could all fifteen people between her and I.

While disclosure is a healthy mechanism which is meant to draw people together through empathy and understanding, it can also serve to our detriment if that information ends up in the wrong ears. In this lady’s case, hers was not a controlled environment where she could manage the intake of her private information.

Who knows how that information could later return to haunt her from the now sixteen random individuals now loose with her information in the city?

Filters and Standards

2). Think about the filters you use to eliminate people from consideration as potential romantic partners. What characteristics or behaviors lead you to judge others as unattractive? Does Duck's theory make sense to you? Have you ever eliminated someone by using a sociological or pre-interaction cue only to reconsider them based on interaction and cognitive cues?

After thinking over Duck’s theory of attraction, some examples of my own filtering of romantic partners come to mind. In terms of determining unattractiveness as potential partners there are two categories I go by- initial and subsequent. Also, how these two filters relate to Duck’s sociological, pre-interaction, interaction, and cognitive cues.


There are a few characteristics that I use as immediate filters for romantic partners. These result from the initial contact. One is copious amounts of tattoos on the girl. This tells me that she has a mistaken concept of long term-thinking and lives in the moment too much, leaving a tendency to act spontaneously to the point of extreme in a relationship.


Another initial disqualifier is rudeness or disrespect to parents, either theirs or mine. I judge this to be a propensity to how my partner will treat me in the future.


As for subsequent filters, these come a little later and can manifest themselves after going out with this person for an extended period of time. If she is constantly in need of rescue emotionally it may indicate to me that she is not yet mature enough to handle life responsibility.


Secondly, if her spending habits do not match her income it becomes a red flag. Marriage counselors attribute that over half of divorces stem from financial problems. If she cannot reign in her spending then that is a definite filter I abide by.


The initial filters line up closely with Duck’s pre-interaction cue, in that these filters can be employed without even speaking to the girl at all. I can disqualify her from a distance for these things without even interacting with her at all. The subsequent filters align with Duck’s interaction and cognitive cues because these deal with conversations and belief systems. As for the sociological cue, I do not recall when I ever went by this method of filtering.

Submission and Self-Esteem

1). Which pattern (rigid complementarity, competitive symmetry, or submissive symmetry) do you think would be the most difficult to change? Why? Which would be the most damaging to a relationship? Which would be the most potentially damaging to the self-esteem of the individuals involved?

Of these patterns submissive symmetry would be the most difficult to change.

The reason is that it is more difficult for a weak personality to take on stronger traits. Now if someone has a strong personality it seems more likely that they would fall into the “rigid” category, thus relinquishing control is less difficult than attaining it.

In my opinion, the role or pattern that damages relationships most is the submissive symmetry. Analyzing not only the frustration this stance causes to the receiver, but also to the sender.
It is the senders who does not stand up for themselves and try to constantly relinquish control who end up becoming dissatisfied in these relationships because they are foregoing assertion which damages the most component of relationships- self-esteem.

It is self-esteem that dictates how you feel about yourself. If you feel that you do not have the ability to make a tough decision, or even a menial one like where to go eat with someone else, then there could be a lack of confidence in yourself.