Unit 1 Issue 1 p. 2-26

       The main theme of unit one's reading was whether American values are shaped by the mass media.  There were two authors named Schiller and Carey who argued for and against Americans being shaped by the mass media.  Schiller's argument seemed almost marxist in the sense that the government uses media to communicate and to manipulate a purpose.  Schiller repeatedly says that the purpose of communication is to "control and maintain the status quo" (p.6)  He also has 5 myths that structure the content of the media.  He talks about the media falsely leading on viewers that the news is well diversified, and plays on the fact that many networks rely on the "imitation of success", in order to get more viewers to watch their network.  There is a common theme in corporation owned network's that "takes advantage of the special historical circumstances of Western development to perpetrate as truth a definition of freedom cast in individualistic terms" (Schiller, p.7)  In addition to the media playing on its "independence from other networks", Schiller also critically points out that there is a false perception of neutrality, variety, non-existent social conflict, and unchanging human nature.  Personally, I found that Schiller's argument was much more accurate than Carey's.  Despite some typo's in the article, Schiller identified 5 general myths about the media, and tied in great examples to back up his points.  Overall, I thought he did a good job.
       Carey's argues that Americans are not shaped by the mass media.  His article is not critically written in the sense that the first two pages drag on about what it means to communicate, and he explains the difference between the transmission view of communication and the ritual view of communication, in which he delineates farther away from the effectiveness of the argument that he is trying to prove.  Carey points out that our models of communication create what we pretend they describe.  Although an interesting point, I believe that communication does create a sort of false sense of reality, while also reporting real incidents that happen in the world.
        If I had to pick one author over the other, I would lean towards Schiller and his argument that media does shape American values.  The articles were mediocerley written in my opinion, but both authors did bring up valid points.  Carey's argument was more convaluted and did not present any outsanding examples to back up his claim.  Schiller had a more effective and precise argument that seemed to be more concrete.  Overall, I enjoyed this reading.