All in the Family vs. Full House

“All in the Family” and “Full House”, though technically in the same genre, come from two very different eras, which is apparent in the issues mentioned within each series. “All in the Family” is set in the 1970s, while “Full House” takes place in the 1980s-1990s. The cast dynamics are also noticeably different: “All in the Family” stars an older couple, their adult daughter and her husband who live with them in Queens, New York, while “Full House” stars a single father raising his three young daughters with the help of his friend and brother-in-law in their home in San Francisco.

Even with these differences, both series feature characters dealing with relevant issues that occur in their lives. Both series have dealt with people having conflicts with each other due to personal differences. It can also be noted that both families live outside of a typical nuclear family structure, which usually consists of a father, mother, and their children in one household.

One noticeable difference in the issues dealt with in these series is the fact that “All in the Family” deals with more serious issues such as Archie’s bigotry towards people of color and homosexuals. Meanwhile, “Full House” has addressed more social problems such as child abuse and drunk driving. This may be simply because of a change in personal values between people living in these time periods, where in more recent times it has become less acceptable to discriminate people on the basis of skin color or sexual orientation.

Both of these series do, however, reflect on the history of their respective eras. They provide insight into social dynamics and the values of people in those times. Through these series we can reflect upon how times have changed, and take note of the status of our society today.

Audience Demand and the Radio Industry

The power of audience demand has left a huge impact on the radio industry. The desire for entertainment and information from those with radios at home led to the evolution of radio and its purpose.

Audience demand is basically what the entertainment uses to appeal to their target demographic. If the audience doesn't enjoy what is presented to them, they'll stop watching/listening. Even after the age of radio, this plays a major role in the televison and film industry as well. Without an audience, there's no profit to be made, so entertainers have to keep the viewers/listeners interested.

In the 1920s-1930s, people used radios as solace during the poor economic times. As noted in "Media Now", radio was not just centered around music, but also featured news, dramas, and stories of various genres that appealed to a wide variety of people. These shows became more and more popular, which drew attention from companies who wanted to use radio for advertising. Without an active audience, radio would not have become as successful as it has, and without radio, there would have been nothing to start the development of TV and internet radio.

Social Learning & Teen Pregnancy

Today, I’ll be explaining social learning and the effects it has on teen pregnancy rates.

The social learning theory states that people learn behaviors by observing others. For example, a study by Albert Bandura demonstrated that children imitate violent behaviors that they learn by watching adults perform them. In today’s society, the glamorization of teen pregnancy in media may be encouraging teenage girls to have children themselves.

Researchers have proven that teens exposed to the most sexual content on TV are twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become pregnant before they reach age 20. During the pregnancy of Jamie Lynn Spears, birth control is never mentioned. Dealing with pregnancy is often taken lightly by the media; the film Juno, while otherwise being very straightforward about risks in having sex, takes the issue of giving children up for adoption lightly, making it seem like a simple solution without taking note of the emotional impact it has on teen mothers. Media that features teen pregnancy often opt for happy endings, such as the couple staying together to raise the child, when in fact this rarely is the case in real life. Teenage women who watch these sort of films make the connection that there are few negative consequences of getting pregnant, and through social learning become a statistic by imitating these behaviors.

Sex on TV Increases Teen Pregnancy, Says Report
What's Missing From Teen Pregnancy in TV, Film

Framing as used by FOX News

Fox News is an example of framing by the media. They present news as interpreted by those in the network.


Framing involves manipulating media to create associations with the issue or person mentioned. In the news, how a story is presented can have an effect on the audience. For example: on the subject of government spending, referring to the money that’s being used as “taxpayer dollars” as opposed to “government funds” gives citizens the frame of mind that they can influence government policies since they pay taxes. Meanwhile, simply referring it as “government funds” creates an impersonal connection to the government from the audience.

When Fox News presents a story, sometimes important information about the story is left out. When Sean Hannity reported on one of Obama’s speeches, he reported that many seats were empty before Obama’s speech began, but he never mentioned that the speech was an invitation-only event and only about 5% of those invited were absent. This is an obvious attempt to make Obama seem unpopular to Americans. Also, in the video of the speech Obama is quoted as saying “taxes are scheduled to go up substantially next year -- for everybody”, but the truth was the quote was deliberately cut off to make it seem that he planned the tax hike. What Obama really said was “Under the tax plan passed by the [Bush] administration, taxes are scheduled to go up substantially next year -- for everybody.” This was a blatant attempt by Fox News to portray Obama in a negative light.

Video on Fox News
Obama's actual speech
Information on the Event