Was Mary Mallon a victim or villain free essay sample

Mary Mallon was a woman of Irish descent who came to the United States as an immigrant to start a new life in 1886. She worked as a cook in a house where wealthy families came to celebrate their vacation. She was a healthy carrier of typhoid and made the guests sick and they died because of her. Although science had not been developed enough yet and she was tried unfairly it did not make her only a victim. Mary Mallon transformed from victim to villain. When she decided not to report to the police and return to cooking. Mary Mallon was a victim when she was quarantined for the first time. Science had not been developed enough yet to prove and explain what healthy carriers really were and if they existed at all. She believed that she could not be a carrier without being sick. At the time she was asked by George Soper, a researcher who specialized in investigating where diseases come from, to cooperate to do a test with him, which she did not want to do. We will write a custom essay sample on Was Mary Mallon a victim or villain or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Soper implied that she might carry the bacteria and be the cause of the vacationers in the house getting sick. But because she was not sick herself she did not believe a word he said and ignored him. Mary had no reason to believe she could be a typhoid carrier. At the time the theory was; you either have typhoid and are really sick or you do not. The same applies to spreading it. She at least would have to be very sick in order to spread it. No one knew about healthy carriers, who like her, were healthy and yet carried the disease with them their whole lives and could also spread it. They did not get sick themselves because their immune system had beaten the bacteria. Therefore, when police officers came to arrest her and put her in quarantine without trial, she really did not know what was happening to her and why. They told her that she was a healthy carrier and had made people sick, but why would she believe this? It was a really novel idea and people were still under the assumption that typhoid was spread by lack of hygiene. So was she. â€Å" Message to good Housewives† with the warning that the house might look clean, â€Å"but don’t get the idea that you can judge simply by the appearance of things†. â€Å"Wherever there is dirt, germs can breed; and flies and vermin will come† (Tomes Reading, p 165). People also did not know that typhoid could be spread by uncooked food like ice cream. If science had been developed more they could have maybe used Mary to find a cure or at least it would probably have given her a better trial in the first place. Now everyone was thinking she had typhoid, so let us just lock her up. Maybe they could have thought of better solutions if they had known more. However, Mary Mallon became a villain after she was released from quarantine, because then she knew she was not allowed to go back to cooking and she did anyway. As a result, many people in the hospital where she worked became sick and died. I have to believe that when she was in the hospital and all of the papers were written about her and cartoons were published she had to know she was carrying it. They would not have kept her in quarantine for so long if she had not been a threat to civilization. Also given the fact that the people in the house where she had worked at first had all become sick must have proved a point to her. They did multiple tests on her as well that proved she carried it. She might still have been thinking that it could not be true but that would have been really ignorant. The facts speak for themselves. When she got out of quarantine and had to obey the rules that they had given to her, and did not obey them she had transformed in to a villain. She knew she was not allowed to cook again because she could spread the disease that way. She had to inform the government where she was and did not do that either. The fact that she went back to cooking for me proves she turned into a villain, because that made many innocent people sick and caused many of them to die. And the worst thing is that of all places she did it in a hospital. She knew she was not allowed to do it but still did it with huge consequences. When she did not know what she was doing she was a victim of her own medical condition, once she knew what she was doing she had become a villain. The fact that after she came out of quarantine she had to work extremely low- paid and bad jobs did not give her the right to go back to cooking and make innocent people sick and die.

Cognitive Dissonance Essay Example

Cognitive Dissonance Essay Example Cognitive Dissonance Paper Cognitive Dissonance Paper Cognitive dissonance theory was first proposed by Festinger in 1957 in which he suggested that there is a tendency for individuals to seek consistency among their cognitions (i. e. beliefs/opinions). When there is an inconsistency between attitudes or behaviours then something must happen to eliminate this inconsistency and the discomfort this causes. Festinger proposed that in the case of a discrepancy between attitude and behaviour it is likely to be that the attitude will alter to accommodate the behaviour. This theory was investigated in a study undertaken by Festinger and Carlsmith in 1959. Subjects were asked to undertake two very dull repetitive tasks. At the end some of the subjects were given one dollar and told to tell the next subject that the task was interesting. Another group of subjects were given twenty dollars and told to tell the next subject that the task was interesting. The final group was sent away once the task was complete without talking to anybody. The groups were subsequently interviewed and questioned on how interesting the task had been. The one dollar group reported that the task was interesting, the twenty dollar group reported the task was boring and the control group reported the same. The conclusion was that the one dollar group was not sufficiently rewarded for lying and therefore cognitive dissonance occurred. They convinced themselves the task was interesting in order to remove the cognitive dissonance. The twenty dollar group were sufficiently rewarded for lying so felt no cognitive dissonance. Dissonance theory and the motorist. When trying to change the attitudes and behaviour of motorists we need to explore Festingers theory of cognitive dissonance. For example, when a motorist takes a rat run in order to avoid a queue of traffic he may not in effect get to his destination any quicker, neither may he recognise the risks associated with his action. If he does recognise this then dissonance will occur. In addition to this he may also live on a residential road and feel aggrieved when motorists use his road to short cut, subsequently cognitive dissonance occurs. In attempt to alleviate this dissonance he may try and justify his actions by altering his attitude in saying that if rat running was a problem on the route he uses then the council would introduce a method of preventing it. He may also convince himself that other people are doing it and one more car wont make a difference. How do we as road safety professionals bring about a change in attitude? Other methods such as physical engineering works can be used to enforce behaviour change however this will only have a short term effect and will be related only to that locality. A long term attitude will have a beneficial effect upon behaviour at all similar situations. One of the biggest successes in road safety during recent times has been the drink drive challenge. In the 1960s and early 1970s it was seen as socially acceptable to drink drive. Your friends did it so you did it with little thought for the consequences. It is fair to say that increased enforcement of this issue has had some affect on reducing the numbers of motorists drink driving but the biggest success has been with attitude change following years of awareness raising and education campaigns. This has brought about a sea change in attitude whereby nowadays it is completely socially unacceptable to drink and drive and it is likely that friends would even prevent each other from doing so. Therefore it can be seen that with sustained targeted and appropriate education attitudes can be changed. It should therefore follow that if we invest the same resources in tackling the issues of inappropriate speed then we can bring about a sustained change in attitude regarding this. We therefore need to challenge the dissonance felt by speeding motorists. In West Sussex we run a road safety campaign aimed at challenging this dissonance. Called Make the Commitment the campaign encourages motorists to sign up to a pledge to say that they will not speed in residential areas. The campaign is adopted by whole communities and not only are the pledges signed but roadside posters are erected to tell motorists that they are in a speed pledge area. This campaign has been successful in challenging the behaviour of those motorists who speed in other areas but would not dream of doing so in their own area. Also included in the campaign has been a number of radio advertisements. This have been hugely successful in reaching the target audience at the time of the behaviour you are challenging thus creating cognitive dissonance in attempt to alter their behaviour at that time. The campaign has been successful in raising the awareness of inappropriate speed and its affects on communities. As mentioned earlier education is also key in bringing about a long term change in attitude and behaviour. The UKs Road Traffic Law Review (1988) recommended that: A pilot study of one day retraining in basic driving skills as a disposal should be undertaken to determine whether such retraining produces a lasting improvement in the driving skills of the offender undertaking it. The recommendation was prompted following the identification that a large number of motor vehicle collisions are caused by driver skills deficit. Furthermore, it was felt that this approach could also benefit drivers who persistently commit traffic violations. It was felt that these drivers attitudes towards committing offences could be modified, with a consequent reduction in their offending behaviour. The National Driver Improvement Scheme (NDIS) attempts to re-educate motorists who have committed offences such as speeding or non-conformity. Attendance is offered on a referral basis as an alternative to the motorist having a fine or penalty points imposed on them. It is likely that these reasons motivate most motorists to attend rather than a desire to change as they will probably believe that they are a safe driver who was unlucky to be caught on that occasion. Therefore, we may assume that the majority of these individuals consider that they made an active, unforced and positive choice in attending the course. Dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) suggests that NDIS clients will justify their physical, financial and psychological investment by changing their attitudes in such a way that they become consistent with those endorsed during the course. During the course attitudes and behaviour is examined and the consequences of inappropriate speeding is highlighted to the participants. Anecdotal evidence has shown that attitudes of even the most sceptical participants are affected by the course and whilst there is still much research to be undertaken to ascertain the long term affects of such programmes the initial research has shown that very few of the participants re-offend within the first two years after attending a course. It is also likely, though as far as I am aware not proven, that participants on the course will go on to re-educate others within their social circle as to the consequences of speeding. The course may therefore be having a greater impact than on just the referred participants.

Godzilla Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Godzilla - Movie Review Example However, at the same time, many critics claimed that Godzilla has not been up to the mark. The critical acclaim was posed against the production and cinematography. This makes it evident that modern version of Godzilla has covered the critical points to overcome critical acclaims. Most of the positive feedback that has been noted over the weeks is in terms of graphical work done for the film. Audiences have greatly enjoyed the audio and visual effects of the film. It is due to this reason that increased number of movie-goers made the film as a must watch. The film has been made with little emphasis on storyline and more action oriented. The rendering of action sequence is by far well done in this film which was not better in previous version of Godzilla (Edwards). Cinematography is yet another element of the film that has been able to gain a lot of attention. The main objective of films such as Godzilla is to make sure that their focused monsters are extremely horrible. This is exactly the case in the 2014th version of Godzilla where the monsters were given scariest look. Also, the ability of the heroic groups or the combating party was shown to be very less that rather increased interest of the audiences. It must be said that making the monster larger than life greatly worked for the film. In order to increase the intensity of damage that has been by the monster, the film’s production team made use of panoramic shots of the film that was damaged by the monster. Such details greatly made audiences to imagine the damage that could have been done in the real life by such monsters if they were real. One of the aspects that must be noticed is that the cast of the film is very interesting. The actors are fairly famous actors and actresses. However, the film storyline did not give much chance to the actors to play their respective roles with enhanced looks. Thus, it can be said that the film rather revolves around the monster

Digital Equity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Digital Equity - Assignment Example For this reason, the provision of free laptops or home computers has a little help in reducing the academic gap between the haves and the have-nots. From a research conducted by Pew, students in rural areas spend up to $80 per month on internet connection while those in the urban areas spend $36 per month. Although these figures might be small for the rich, the poor cannot afford such expensive connection. Consequently, they have limited access to information, class notes, and often late with their assignment completion and submission. The solution for educational gap does not depend on internet access but rather on the educational policies. The government should introduce a program to ensure that each student has equal access to educational materials regardless of their financial status. Your assertion that technology is an important instrument in facilitating the access to educational material and a communication tool where educators can distribute learning material to the student is compelling. In addition, your acknowledgment that limited access to the internet due to high connection prices provides the reality of the matter as it affects the poor students. Finally, the proposal you make to ensure all students complete and submit their assignment on time shows a high level of consideration. Specifically, this is because you have considered the situation of various students within the society and offered a solution that can help in improving their academic

A Study On Power Of Media

A Study On Power Of Media Gods great gift to humanity is communication. Freedom of speech is a right of every individual who have expressed their thoughts, because of their free will desires, and aspirations through the mass media (Russell, Norman and Heckler, 2004). Communicating liberally with other affirms the self-esteem and merit of each and every member of society. Freedom of phrase is vital in the achievement and growth of knowledge. Communication brings ahead a variety of ideas and information. People nowadays are well-versed and more open-minded thanks to flourishing press freedom and rising mass media here and in many parts of the world (KRCMAR and Kean, 2005). All points of view are represented in the souk of ideas and culture benefits from question about their worth. In addition, this is how media influences culture as it leaves a large shock on the individuals (Potts, Richard, Dedmon and Halford, 1996). As it has an innate power to hold and influence the total person. It leaves a sensible and lasting impact on equally the conscious and subconscious. While media informs and educates, it also corrupts and exploits, leading it to adjoin to the moral disgrace of society (Russell, Norman and Heckler, 2004). Medias function in society is to update, educate, and amuse. It tells the truth and provides optimistic motivation that can build up descriptions and reputations the right way. Therefore, media has contributed deeply in ways that both enlighten and supplement society, but in additional ways have deteriorated and perplexed it. It is not a shock to learn, then, that media is the most powerful source of information, and nothing else in todays world influences public insight as heavily (Salzman, Philip 1993). Media in the Philippine is simply a sign, an outgrowth, and a mirror of society as a whole. In spite of everything, media has been thought to have such a great authority over people. But, rather than performing its work in society, media has strayed, having a more harmful than constructive implication. It destroys descriptions and reputations, covers up the truth, stimulates negatively, and imparts the wrong messages (Anderson, Eugene, Fornell, and Lehmann, 1994). Moreover, people practice a freedom of the press that becomes a flood of contradictory information and opinion. It confuses even as it is thought to inform, it assails the sanity even as it is thought to cleanse them, it entertains more than it enlightens, it gossips more than it informs (Salzman and Philip, 1993). Media has become ethically and ingeniously bankrupt. Media shows no ethics and morals and the substance is packed with no other topic but aggression and sex. As a result, media mirrors society by reflecting it as a society with little ethics, with offense, sex, and pornography. It contributes to the nationwide breakdown and the moral disgrace of society. It has dishonored and broken the freedom of the press (Miller, 1995). Media teaches by means of sensations and descriptions that leave a superior effect on the youth. People become victims of medias misuse as they are being inclined for the bad. Because of the influences that shape the subconscious, all forms of media should be taken more significantly so as to prevent harmful effects (Potts, Richard, Dedmon and Halford, 1996). 1.2 Modern Media The medias main impact is psychological and intellectual. Media and entertainment companies form public opinion and assist in framing the terms of public discussion. The media is what we interpret, listen to and observe. In equivalent, through its close affiliation with advertisers, the media also exerts a great influence on the decisions we put together, the products we buy, and the kind of questions we put when we make our daily choices (Gerbner, 1990). The long view of the past proves medias power by presentation that the medium itself, in the extended run, is more influential than the messages it carries, because the medium determines what can be communicated and how we imagine about that communication (Potts, Richard, Dedmon and Halford, 1996). Television, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and internet sites are mainly owned by profit-making businesses. 1.3 Changing Media Values, Study of Pakistan Media is one of the significant organs in forming national identities. For the last ten years media in subcontinent is conquered by India. To begin with the domination was in the form of movies but once the advent of satellite television they have altered the lives of people of subcontinent (Malhotra, Iqbal 2000). Following the liberalization of Indian media Indian satellite channels principally entertainment channels were launched swiftly. This all started in 90s, at that time rest of the countries of South Asia together with Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka etc were far behind India. Through that era they all were relying on national televisions. Television programming was going to full circle now. It started of with Doordarshan. Then comes satellite television. From local content it becomes more national (Sonwalkar. Prasun, 2001). Public of these countries were not having any right of entry to moderate media like Zee TV or Star TV Asia. Indian entrepreneurs just took benefit of this fact and launched plethora of satellite channels one by one. In 1999 Pakistani government allowed private television and radio channels to be aired from the soil of Pakistan, until this time Pakistani audience were used to Indian entertainment. Pakistani government tried to vanish Indian satellite channels from the TV lounges of regular Pakistani family in the course of imposing bar on Indian satellite channels, but they were unsuccessful (Gholam Khiabany, 2003). In this age of Globalization the majority of the regions are affected by commercialization and uneven stream of Information. The worst victims of Globalization are developing countries those are victims of uneven stream of information from urban countries. In South Asia case is totally different, this region is dominated by India, which itself still comes in the category of emergent country. The thought of writing this text is to write something about non-western world (Sardar, Ziauddin 1993). India is improving in media industry, this is not only influencing Indian society but also its influence stretched to its neighbors, Pakistan Bangladesh, Nepal and even Sri Lanka is reliant on their media (David and Crawley, 2001). Language and ethnicity played important function in the growth of Indian Media industry, Urdu language bind India and Pakistan. Everyone in Pakistan understands Urdu, and there is no visible difference in Hindi and Urdu. Elites of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka always speak about cultural imperialism of India. Pakistani government tried to stop this influence by banning Indian channels in Pakistan, but Pakistani people are now more inclined to Indian media. Zee TV, Sony and Star Plus (Indian Satellite Channels) have penetrated in the upper middle class Pakistani homes as never before (Sonwalkar. Prasun, 2001). According to UNESCO India is the lowest importer of Television programs, only 8 percent of the programming showed on television in 1990 was imported from abroad. Indian satellite channels dispersed from the control room of cable operator to the subscriber home, not only shows film and television dramas but also showed political and supplementary events to grip advertising (David and Crawley, 2001). The soap opera culture which was in fact western idea was ideally adopted by Star Plus. In nineties while Indian media liberalized from the control of Door Darshan, and star network began there satellite channels, then primarily star network laid the foundation of westernized form of entertainment. Like Stars Channel V, Zees Music Asia channel is a booming indigenized adaptation of Western models such as MTV and Channel V (Mowlana Hamid, 1996). Going on in step with the liberalization of the market, television has brought about a liberalization of culture inside India over the past decade. This has meant, on one hand, admission to sources of news and entertainment not controlled by government but, on the other hand, exposure to a tele-visual culture at odds with conventional norms and morals (Gholam Khiabany, 2003). Yet as it may have been Western programs such as The Bold and the Beautiful that led this cultural invasion, the resulting competition for audiences has clearly been won by those channels that have developed programs based on Indian accepted culture, mainly film and film music, and have normally been able to indigenize the worldwide forms of commercial television. Indian satellite television networks particularly Star Plus have cached the overseas formats and tried with the Hindi versions. Kyon kai saas bhi kabhi bahu thi(Indian satellite channel Star Plus famous soap opera) is most prominent soap opera in South Asia (John Ellis, 2000). In South Asia soap opera culture was introduced by Zee TV, in 1992 Tara (Zee TV Soap opera) was first and praised by community all across South Asia. Before soap opera Pakistani Dramas were very famous, but due to soap opera traditions the whole television drama creation industry is on the edge of fall down. Even Pakistani satellite channels are replication same format. This is the sequence of globalization, Indian media engaged western structure of entertainment and they experimented (Butcher, 2003). Indian television programs and films are integral part of Pakistani society. Over the years through videos and TV, there has been an recognition of Indians as similar people, so it would be very hard to get rid of Indian videos and TV programs from Pakistani society. The accessibility of international television channels by means of satellite at the start of the 1990s forced the liberalization of a television market formerly held as a national monopoly by the state broadcaster Doordarshan. There remain important technical boundaries on the degree to which television can give out as the stage on which new convergent information services can be delivered (Banerjee, 2002). As language and region increasingly dominate media content and viewership, concept of Imperialism and hegemony acquires new meanings in localized settings. Language and traditions played important role in the development of Indian Media industry, Urdu language bind India and Pakistan. Everybody in Pakistan understands Urdu, and there is no visible dissimilarity in Hindi and Urdu. Elites of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka at all times talk about cultural imperialism of India. Pakistani government tried to prevent this persuade by banning Indian channels in Pakistan, but Pakistani people are now more inclined to Indian media (Butcher, 2003). Zee TV, Sony and Star Plus (Indian Satellite Channels) have penetrated in the upper middle class Pakistani homes as never before. The coming of Satellites television has posed peculiar problems for the official custodians of Pakistani culture because it has breached the ideological boundaries of the state in a much more intensive way then ever before (David Page and William Crawley, 2001). 1.4 Importance of this research: Media industry (drama/soaps) in Pakistan is at it growing stage and due to the reason it lacks many important resources in terms of capital and infrastructure it gets dependant on the copy art and starts taking influences from the neighboring countries. Such research would be able to highlight different aspects of the industry and the weakness that are the causes of the failure to capture the audience. Similarly how these weaknesses can be tempered and taken care of. Efforts can be put on those areas for improvement. This research will benefit the producers that are produce dramas/soaps, the production companies and the TV channels involved in this area. Pakistani industry has a lot of talent in terms of the human resource but they are not being utilized at the potential. By highlighting the issues and their remedies one can easily understand how to improve the quality of the product. 1.5 Theoretical Framework and Research Question The reason to conduct this research was to study and understand the correlation between the connectedness with the program while watching any TV program. This research will try to identify the existence of any sort of relation between the viewership and the connectedness of an individual with the program. In order to prove such relationship the frequency of viewership will be questioned and level of connectedness with the program will be analyzed. In this research five variables have been taken into consideration for studying the relationship between connectedness and the viewership of the program as proposed by (Russell, Norman and Heckler, 2004): Escape Modeling Aspiration Imitation Fashion The current media situation in Pakistan Entertainment sector is that producers of the dramas/soaps have an understanding of what the viewer wants to see. This comes from the high involvement of Pakistani viewer in the Indian dramas/soaps. Due to this producers are producing content that is in turn a copy of the Indian dramas/soaps. If we see this from the perspective of a viewer there is lesser viewership of Pakistani entertainment channels as compared to Indian channels, then why is the producer producing such content? There is a gap in the understanding of the viewer and the producer of the dramas/soaps in Pakistan. We can study this by studying the television viewing and the factors that are influencing the viewer to watch on program more than the other. Connectedness is a newly developed construct of audience viewing behavior, and it proposed to be one of the important antecedents of audience satisfaction with positive relationships. We will find out if the viewer is willing to watch any other content on the Pakistani channel and can relate to it. In order to analyze the correlation between the connectedness and the frequency of viewership following Hypotheses are being proposed: Frequency of viewing a particular program has no relationship with the time spent in watching television. Frequency of viewing a particular program has no relation with the connectedness of the program Connection with the favorite particular program has no relationship with the number of hours an individual spends in front of a TV. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Television viewership Robinson in a studies concluded that television seems to have a superior influence on the structure of daily life than any other novelty in this century (Gabriel Weimann, Hans-Bernd Brosius and Mallory, 1992). Television has altered the daily life of more people in this century then any other medium or discovery. In a US poll, 68 percent stated that watching television was their main resource of enjoyment (Gabriel Weimann, Hans-Bernd Brosius and Mallory, 1992). Children are watching television as a firm routine around the age of two and a half and a typical mature or child watching an average of two to three hours per day more time that they utilize on any other activity except working and sleeping. No wonder that this influential medium has become one of the principles of modern culture (Jeanette K. Chan, Marcia Ellis, and Auria Styles, 2005). Moreover, adults are thought to obtain their images of actual and ideal truth and it also interacts with the childrens developing perceptions of reality, both on a communal and individual level (Jennifer M, Lawrie 1998). The last decade had witnessed noteworthy changes in the media system of many societies. The development of the cable television , undeviating broad casting satellites, teletext and additional broadcast television joined existing competitors for audience attention time, money and pleasure.( Lin, Carolyn A. 1993). Watching television is today more than ever a significant attribute of the modern life, capturing a major slice of our spare time. This has led quite a few scholars of mass communication to draw their attention towards television-its content, construction, usage as well as outcomes and control. 2.2 Media globalization: An Indian perspective It is not an understatement to say that the 1990s have been moderately vital to the conversion of Indian media networks and industries. Considering the fact, that the Indian media for a long time was principally restricted national wide . Indian cinema had active regional division networks in Africa, the USSR, South East Asia, and the Middle East, but here the cultural broadcast of the Hindi film greatly outweighed any severe economic returns in comparison to Hollywood, or what was to approach in the 1990s. Television only advanced after the 1980s, with a huge state network that crossed the country boundries. The 1980s were no doubt important as cassette culture changed the music industry and outweighed the iron grip of international music forms that had conquered the old LP record business. As Peter Manuels work shows, cassette culture drew new markets, created new artists and music forms, and enormously expanded the market (Ravi Sundaram, 2005). Thus the media bang of the 1990s, generally going under globalization, was not without a background, but was obvious by a mixture of both media forms and temporal stepping up. Within a few years India experienced satellite cable television advancing from just a a few to a total of 80 channels, and the increase of other media in the shape of cassettes, CDs, VCDs, MP3s, and DVDs. Media ownership was enormously varied. New empires came up from satellite television, going into circulation, and later on into film production. For the most part television circulation remained extremely erratic; cable was largely retailed by minor independent group of actors in the neighborhoods. By the late 1990s, multi-service providers came forward, pushed by large television networks contributing franchises to local troupes, but this only enlarged difference at the local level between competitors. Mostly, cable distribution stays in the informal zone and a source of disagreement over intellectual possess ions. In the music sector, a huge new production network now exists in the informal subdivision, producing a range of remixes, religious, crossovers and versions of registered film music. The larger companies have tremendously profited by lowered costs of manufacture and the capability of the small company to immediately respond to musical tastes and produce new artistes. Film music, once a leading part of the market (80%) has witnessed its share slipping slowly, at any tempo piracy makes market control impossible (Ravi Sundaram, 2005). In the case of Bombay, the picture remains unclear with the industry moving from crisis to crisis. Most of the expression seems to be against piracy as a reason for losses, but the quality of wordings has been declining, a constant objection in the industry. This situation has led to a small opening for new medium-budget productions with new actors and directors. Concisely, we can differentiate the media in India from the 1990s whose relationship can at best be described as permeable. At one level are the new media enteritis: the business owners of satellite television channels, large software industries located in the techno-cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad, and the advertising companies in Bombay. The great software companies have been the most gainful in the stock market, and operate in real time with Western companies, and hire thousands of programmers. The second level is the huge and vibrant informal and often illegal media zone of urban India, which has, practically, retailed the new cultural group to the group of citizens. This includes the thousands of small cable television networks, millions of publicly operated phone booths in neighborhoods, street music sellers, pirate and non-copyright media producers, and public internet entrà ©e points (Sonwalkar. Prasun, 2001). In India especially Delhi, a considerable part of the media experience of the 1990s emerged from networks that were part of this society of the copy, a world that I have called pirate modernity. Pirate modern culture transformed production and movement of commodities using the ill-legal media copy as a major form for producing and reproducing products in the city. In Delhi the media copy exists in a balanced relationship with all other objects and industries: clothes, cosmetics, medicine, household goods, and also car and machine parts. As is clear, copy ethnics pits piracy right into a global social disagreement on definitions of property (Ninan, 2004). Media and film research in India has now given way to chronological and modern studies, as well as digital networks and the upcoming industrial form of the media itself. Research is at an initial stage, but given the seriousness of the task and an extensive list of issues, some thrilling interventions should be predictable in the next few years (Ravi Sundaram, 2005). An efflorescence of the media in India during the 1990s, mostly in television has changed the south Asian media. After the innovation of the overseas channels declined in the early 1990s, Indian channels strengthened their position, experienced highest viewers rating and enforced foreign channels to significantly adopt local programming. The late 1990s supplemented a new aspect with region/language-specific channels. Besides, Indian media products are gradually being viewed as cultural imperialism within South Asia similar to as the western products were during 1960s-70s. Indias media power and effervescence appears to pose some tests to the trope of media imperialism (Prasun Sonwalkar, 2001). The concept of media-scape as battle ground is often suggested in economic terms, but this can well de broadened to politics as well, as the situation in South Asia. For example, cream of Pakistan, Nepal Bangladesh and Sri Lanka not normally speak of Indian cultural imperialism. Zee TV and Sony have entered into the upper middle class Pakistani homes as never before (Amit Baruah, 2000). As Pakistans information minister, Javed Jabbar, put in I am worried about the pressure of Indian satellite television on our people (Sanjaya Baru, 2000). Foreign channels like Star TV were first to affect in the early 1990s, but its initial uneasiness of a cultural invasion appeared lost as their viewership declined when local channels like Zee came up. In 1992 viewers switched to channels with programs that closer to their culture. This is obvious from the program-based viewer-ship examples across eight major Indian cities. This however, this let down most foreign channels to make a good ranking. Many viewers seemed to decline Indian channels like Doordarshan, Zee TV or Sony (Prasun Sonwalkar, 2001). This has enforced major overseas channels like Star TV to initiate Hindi language programming. According to, Patrick Cross (BBC worlds managing director), additional programs in Hindi were going to be introduced. This was the first time that BBC World was going to broadcast in aregional language anywhere in the world (Anjan Mitra, 2000). According to Peter Mukerjea (CEO, Star India), they had to get into regional language programs in India and speak the tongue that the Indians were at ease in (Anjan Mitra, 2000). Furthermore, Star TV reintroduced their programming by moving popular English-language soaps like Santa Barbara, Baywatch and Bold and the Beautiful to Star world to make way for Hindi shows (Prasun Sonwalkar, 2001). Doordarshan had dominated the market before 1991, but the growing attractiveness of satellite channels has affected its returns even though it sustained its vast viewership (Hasan Suroor, 2000). In 1992, the Indians were alarmed that a cultural invasion could take place, but it was an out-vasion which occured. Sony and Zee are viewed in some African countries, in the Middle East, the UK and Europe, and Star Plus is streaming across Asia. Each one of them represented what is relevant to Indians (Iqbal Malhotra, 2000). Not only the entertainment channels but also the Indian news channels receive normal response in the newsroom from many spectators and politicians in Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, etc. who regularly call up newsrooms to comment on news stories which are live or offer suggestions for coverage (Prasun Sonwalkar, 2001). In conclusion is can be said that, the western communication of cultural/media imperialism comes in for a dispute even as national continues to be a key determinant in the cultural scene thats permits new language and regional force to appear within and across nation states due to new media and trends in communications technology (Prasun Sonwalkar, 2001). 2.3 Soap Operas and Gossip Soap operas are extremely accepted cultural forms, attracting more than 10 million viewers daily, the majority of which are females. From the economic point of view, they produce significant profits for the network (Hasan Suroor, 2000). Regardless of their abilities to draw large number of audiences and to produce large profits, soap operas have long been seen as an object of disrespect. One of the criticisms leveled at soap operas is that they are slow-paced. Soap operas are multifaceted, with large characters and plot lines which build up slowly over large periods of time. Viewers tend to get emotionally involved to the characters in a soap opera (Hasan Suroor, 2000). Viewers themselves penetrate vicariously into the imaginary soap opera community. There are many long-term audiences, some of whom have been watching soap operas for as long as 35 years. Soap operas are planned around a cylindrical cycle of the real world in which viewers live. The lives of characters run corresponding to the lives of viewers in time. Thus it is the time not plot which comes to control the description process (Hasan Suroor, 2000). The organization of time and the durability of certain characters, allows the viewers to turn into very familiar with the characters histories, well ahead of the time-frame of any one episode. These histories are reactivated in the minds of long-time viewers in scenes where the characters talk about the implications of a particular occasion or action. Scenes filled with gossip are in fact essential to how events on soap operas are interpreted by audiences (Hasan Suroor, 2000). Gossip among characters and a soap opera to give the viewers a running commentary on the action, providing information and details about the latest facts of the plots. It helps bind together various plots and characters so that the audiences can interpret how an action will affect other characters not directly involved in the plot, giving a certain plot line a depth (Hasan Suroor, 2000). The intensity of this model complexity is evident at a soap opera wedding, funeral, and other traditional events, allowing audiences to revive memorial events of their own minds. Viewers of soap operas tend to talk about its characters as if they were real people and also have a tendency to get personal about them (Hasan Suroor, 2000). The wider fame of soap operas extends discussion ahead of the television and into the categories through which people live through the dialogue they excite in the media. In these ways, we see that the idle talk (gossip) in and generated by soap operas has a superior impact on our lives then previously envisioned (Hasan Suroor, 2000). Americans watch a lot of television; a study conducted in 1978 indicates that for a U.S. household, he television set is on an average of six hours and eleven minutes daily. At the same time as TV Audience program preferences are rationally well documented, the base for these preference lies in what the viewer is offered. Thus, an understanding of the quantitative rate and the qualitative content of what programs are available (the menu) is a qualification to a more complete understanding and conceptualization of what the audience prefers. Clearly, prime time is vital to the network. The program lineups assembled for this time period have been manufactured and designed to attract most viewership. Although less commercials minutes per hour are permitted in prime time, the actual dollars per second are much more expensive during these hours than any other times due to large number of audiences (Mazzarella, 2003). For the network programmer, critical attention must be given to the calculated succession of the shows during the prime time. Successful television programming involves far more than simply arriving at come capricious sequence of program product. Of course, networks want to collect large, static audience for their prime time line-ups. There is also a desire to constantly increase ones own audience size. 2.4 Television Audience Satisfaction To help increase the efficiency of television broadcasting and advertising, studies have been conducted on audience viewing manners by investigating the background and consequences of audience satisfaction of television programs. Consumer satisfaction has long been recognized as a vital concept as well as an significant goal of all business activities (Anderson, Fornell, and Lehmann, 1994). High consumer satisfaction has many paybacks for the firm, such as amplified consumer loyalty, enhanced firm reputation, condensed price elasticity, etc. comprehension of its importance has resulted in a proliferation of research on consumer contentment over the past few decades (Anton, 1997). Considering television programs as products, media researchers study audience liking and satisfaction from the marketing perspective. The audience activity constructs as an dominant factor in the gratification-seeking course and examines the viewing motives, activities, and satisfaction of adolescents (Lin, 1993). In addition to studying audience satisfaction from the viewpoint of viewers behavior, it is no doubt that TV programs presentation should play a role in audience satisfaction. Rather than studying the performance at product level, Gardial et al. (1994) point out that consumers are more likely to eevaluate of their post-purchase practice of satisfaction at an attribute level. An attribute-based approach enables researchers to conceptualize usually practical phenomena, such as consumers experiencing assorted feelings toward a product or service. An attribute-level approach to satisfaction affords managers a superior level of specificity and analytical usefulness compared with the product level or overall approach. The link between products attribute-level presentation and overall satisfaction has been considered by many marketing researchers (Mittal, Ross, and Baldasare, 1998; Oliva, Oliver, and Bearden, 1995). When adopting such a concept on an audience satisfaction study, we can say that a TV programs performance at quality level is one of the significant antecedents of audience satisfaction. When examining the theoretical and logical significance of the link between attribute-level performance and overall satisfaction, it is vital to recognize that the relationship could be asymmetric according to the well-known prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky, 1979), which postulates that peoples judgments show loss aversion. Psychologically, a one-unit loss is weighted more than an equal amount of gain. On the basis of this theory, we propose: Connectedness is a recently developed construct of audience viewing behavior, and it is projected to be one of the important antecedents of audience satisfaction with optimistic relationship. Study confirms the legitimacy of connectedness and supports it as an antecedent of audience satisfaction. 2.5 Behavioral measures of television audience appreciation Study on audience reactions to television programs dates back to the 1960s. A variety of private research firms and public broadcasters

Theme Analysis of Maupassants The Necklace Essay -- European Literatu

Guy De Maupassant's short story "The Necklace" remarkably demonstrates how misfortune can lead to self improvement through the character Mathilde Loisel. Madame Mathilde was one of those beautiful and delightful young ladies with not very many high expectations, achievements, and no way to be accepted into the elaborate society and lifestyle in which she finds herself daydreaming about day and night. In Guy De Mauspassant's `The Necklace," the author examines the theme of how learning a difficult lesson about honesty can impact someone for the rest of their life. The author also examines the theme through the use of his title, the characters who act out the events, and the plot. "The Necklace" plays a larger role than just the heading to a short story; the necklace is used as a symbol throughout the entire story. Young Mathilde has been invited to attend a fancy ball with her husband and realizes that she does not have any jewelry to show off at the big event. Mathilde finds a solution to her problem with the jewelry by borrowing a beautiful necklace from one of her ...

Swot Analysis: Pepsi

SWOT Analysis: PepsiCo Diversification Strategy in 2008 Name Course Instructor Name Date PepsiCo Diversification Strategy in 2008 PepsiCo History †¢ PepsiCo is the second largest snack and beverage company in the world. Established in 1965 when Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay shareholders merged their salty snack icon and soft drink giant. With revenues of $500 million with popular brands such as Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Fritos, Lay’s, Cheetos, and Ruffles, they have achieved growth and long-term value in its operational activities by creating competitive advantages through new product innovation and acquisitions. Its portfolio has grown year after year with its acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, two largest bottlers (Pepsi Bottling Group/PepsiAmericas) in 2010 and Wimm-Bill-Dann (dairy products) in 2011, and the merger with Quaker Oats in 2001. Profits generating $39. 5 billion in net revenues in 2007 leading to 19 products each generating $1 billion in worldwide retail revenues in 2010. Some of the most popular inclusions have been Quaker Oats, Gatorade G2, Tiger Woods signature sports drinks, Cap’n Crunch cereal, Aquafina, and Aunt Jamima pancake mix. In keeping up with consumer health and wellness concerns of reducing saturated fats, cholesterol, trans fats, and simple carbohydrates, PepsiCo created better-for-you and good-for-you products under the Power of One alliance strategy which focused on increasing customers tendency to purchase more than one PepsiCo product during each visit. A quite ingenious innovation! †¢ †¢ SWOT Analysis Strengths Branding Diversification Distribution Weaknesses Overdependence on Snacks & Non-carbonated drinks Large Size Low Productivity Opportunities Broadening of Product Base International Expansion Growing Snacks of new flavors and Bottled Water market in U. S. Threats Decline in Carbonated Drink Sales Potential Negative Impact of Government Regulations Intense Competition Potential Disruption Strengths Branding †¢ PepsiCo’s top brand is its most recognized brand in the world, Pepsi, followed by its 155 varieties of Frito-Lay, PepsiCo beverages, Tropicana, Gatorade, and Quaker Oats brands. Most PepsiCo brands reached number one or two positions in their respective categories and has â€Å"24 other global and local brands with annual retail sales ranging from $250 million to $1 billion, including Sobe, Naked, AMP Energy, Propel Zero, Sabritas, Gamesa, Lebedyansky, Aunt Jemima and Rice? A? Roni . † (PepsiCo website) In2008, Frito-Lay was the top selling chip brand in the U. S. and Propel Fitness Water was the leading brand of functional water; In 2007 it was Gatorade, propel, and Aquafina with a 76 percent market share. Three initiatives leading the industry were â€Å"convenience, a growing awareness of nutritional content of snack foods, and indulgent snacking. † (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 426) The strength of these brands is evident in PepsiCo’s presence in 200 countries and proven in it’s 2007 net revenues of $39. 5 billion globally and annualized revenues of $60 billion in 2010. (PepsiCo website) The company has the largest market share in the US beverage at 39%, and snack food market at 25%. Such brand dominance insures loyalty and repetitive sales. †¢ Diversification †¢ PepsiCo’s diversification not only integrates snacks (chips), ready-to-drink teas, juice drinks, flavored/bottled water, as well as breakfast cereals, cakes and cake mixes, but its brands are catered to its international franchise such Crujitos corn snacks, Fruko beverages, and Crueslic cereal sold in the UK, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa. All the various products plus a multi-channel distribution system, and its 300,000 team of professionals that thrive on collaboration and respect were led by three CEOs (Enrico, Reinemund, Nooyi); all of which served to insulate PepsiCo position as the â€Å"world’s second largest food and beverage business†. (PepsiCo website) Distribution †¢ The company delivers its products through direct-store-delivery (DSD) from manufacturing plants and warehouses to customer warehouses and foodservice and vending distribution networks to retail stores. PepsiCo website) These delivery options allow maximum visibility and appeal (DSD), costs savings for fragile/perishables with lower turnover (customer warehouse), and the use of third party distribution services (foodservice/vending) to schools, stadiums and restaurants reducing stock-outs. All are based on â€Å"customer needs, product characteristics, and local trade practices†. (PepsiCo website) Weaknesses Overdependence on Snacks and Non-carbonated drinks †¢ PepsiCo failed to focus on its main brand, Pepsi. Although sales of carbonated drinks was considerable his, it was carried by it’s non-carbonated which increased revenues 5 percent; consequently, carbonated revenues dropped 3 percent the same year, 2007. †¢ The company focused on more healthy products by trying to develop new sweeteners and acquiring Izze lightly carbonated sparkling fruit drinks in 2007. It failed to strengthen its position in the U. S. to out beat Coca-Cola and lagged 10 percent in 2007; bumping PepsiCo to the number two position of nonalcoholic beverage producer. (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 430) Large Size †¢ Despite its international presence, 48 percent of its revenues originate in the US. (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 431) This leaves PepsiCo vulnerable to the impact of changing economic conditions. Large US customers could exploit PepsiCo’s lack of bargaining power and negatively impact revenues. Acquisition of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC initially proved beneficial but continued growth in snack food and beverage acquisitions deemed its strategic-fit benefits existing between restaurants and its core beverage and snacks were difficult to capture. Benefits were offset by fast-food industries fierce price competition and low profit margins. (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 423) †¢ â€Å"Its value chain consists of 230 plants, 3,600 distribution systems, and 120,000 service routes around the world. (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 436) Low Productivity †¢ Low profit margins on PepsiCo’s international business demanded the need for a new organizational structure leading to the 2008 realignment creating a three division structure under one roof with six reporting segments: Frito-Lay North America, Quaker Foods North America, Latin American Foods, PepsiCo Americas Beverages, United Kingdom & Europe, and Middle East, Africa & Asia. (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 36) In an article from the Dow Jones & Company, dated 21 November 2012, it reports a disappointing year for Pepsi and the speculation that PepsiCo may be reconsidering its refusal to create separate global snacks and beverage companies. † (Proquest) Opportunities Broadening of Product Base †¢ PepsiCo seized opportunity of potential weaknesses by acquiring Mexico’s largest Pepsi bottler, Pepsi-Gemex SA de CV, for $1. 26 billion capitalizing Mexico’s number one producer of purified wa ter. (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 34) In addition, the two largest bottlers (Pepsi Bottling Group/PepsiAmericas) in 2010 and Wimm-Bill-Dann (dairy products) in 2011, and the merger with Quaker Oats in 2001. †¢ It continues to broaden its product base by introducing what consumers want most: Healthier snacks and drinks, convenient snack size portions, and introducing multiple flavors to the needs of various cultures. These initiatives will enable PepsiCo to adjust to the changing lifestyles of its consumers and appeal to its international customer base. International Expansion †¢ PepsiCo is focused on expanding Gatorade into 15 additional countries, Tropicana into 20 new markets, and Lipton into five international markets in 2012. (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 434) Its expansion into international markets and a lessening its dependence on US sales in addition to the company plans on major capital initiatives in China will increase their global customer base. Growing Snacks of new flavors and Bottled Water market in US †¢ Products such as Aquafina, and Propel are well established products and in a position to ride the upward crest. PepsiCo products such as, Doritos tortilla chips, Cheetos cheese flavored snacks, Tostitos tortilla chips, Ruffles potato chips, Sun Chips multigrain snacks, Rold Gold pretzels, benefit from a growing savory snack markets.. Threats Decline in Carbonated Drink Sales †¢ Soft drink sales have decline by as much as 2 percent from 2005 to 2007 due to a health conscience society. Fruit beverages went down slightly and others stayed relatively the same. The future state of the economy and additional emphasis on health could drive these numbers in the negative direction. Potential Negative Impact of Government Regulations †¢ Manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of food products may be altered as a result of state, federal or local dictates. In 2000, PepsiCo experienced FTC setbacks due to concerns over the merger of Gatorade and that it might give the company too much leverage in negotiations with convenience stores. The FTC stipulated that PepsiCo could not jointly distribute Gatorade with soft drinks for 10 years. (Gamble & Thompson, 2012, pg. 423) This could have set them so far ahead of their number one competitor to stay number one. There’s also been talk about the ingredient, acryl amide, suggesting it could cause cancer if consumed in significant amounts in rats. If the company has to comply with a related regulation or add warning labels, it could have negative impacts. Intense Competition †¢ The Coca-Cola Company is PepsiCo’s primary competitors. Intense competition may influence pricing, advertising, sales promotion initiatives undertaken by PepsiCo. Potential Disruption †¢ The economy is unstable and people are cutting back on spending. Although people want to eat and drink healthier products, the costs to eat healthier is more expensive so the changes to make healthier snacks need to stay reasonable. Another potential threat are the generic brands most stores sell that appeal to the penny pincher during hard times. Alternatives Smaller packaging †¢ PepsiCo could expound on making smaller portions to all their products that have high sale rates. Selling in bulk at cheaper prices is another option for the residential and business arena. Advertisements †¢ Promote their products through effective marketing strategies. Utilize internet, facebook and other resources that hit thousands at one time but isn’t expensive. Do funny advertisements like the Super Bowl ones more often. These are things people remember and talk about for long periods. Intense Competition †¢ The Coca-Cola Company is PepsiCo’s primary competitors. Intense competition may influence pricing, advertising, sales promotion initiatives undertaken by PepsiCo. The economy is unstable and people are cutting back on spending. Although people want to eat and drink healthier products, the costs to eat healthier is more expensive so the changes to make healthier snacks need to stay reasonable. Another potential threat are the generic brands most stores sell that appeal to the penny pincher during hard times Potential Disruption Due to Labor Unrest – †¢ Outsource jobs to other countries to benefit their needs but provide job opportunities to people in the U. S. This provides added growth at home and abroad while not jeopardizing at home support. Assessment †¢ PepsiCo has held their own for decades and have grown into the global market becoming diverse in the snack industry, carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, and incorporating new seasonings and spices to appeal to the local nationals. Pepsi has a large loyal group of customers that they need to stay attuned to and ensure they offer incentives for being so loyal. Offering discounts is a great way to not only keep customers, but it helps gain new customers. Overall, Pepsi has achieved success and stayed in the running. Although they were bumped down to number two, it seems as though the take great care in addressing lessons learned and are not fast to make a rash decision as they Dow recently reported that I mentioned above. They have cross-communication and rotate managers to keep them fresh on new initiatives and this puts fresh eyes on the situation to better capture new ideas and identify potential shortfalls. PepsiCo commitment is to deliver sustained growth. They offer a wide variety to meet the needs and preferences to satisfy fun to contributing to healthier lifestyles. It has a solid foundation and is only going to progress back to the number one position in the future. I think it needs to continue what it’s doing but not over extend themselves to where they lose focus on what started them in the first place, their number one product, the Pepsi. Which happens to be my favorite soda! †¢ †¢ †¢ References PepsiCo, (n. d. ). PepsiCo. Retrieved from http://www. pepsico. com/ on December 12, 2012 PepsiCo, (n. d. ). PepsiCo. Retrieved from http://www. pepsico. om/Download/PepsiCo_Quick_Facts. pdf on December 12, 2012 Bary, A. , (2011). Don't Rule Out a Pepsi Breakup Yet. Barron's, 91(47), 20. Retrieved from http://proquest. umi. com/pqdweb? index=0&did=2526832001&SrchMode=1&sid=9&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD& RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1323732097&clientId=74379 on December 12, 2011, (Proquest Document ID: 2526832001). Gamble, J. E. , & Thompson, A. A. , (2011). Essentials of Strategic Management: The Quest for Competitive Advantage. (2nd ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill