BioPac & Broadcasts
Welcome back to my blog, everyone! As you may remember, last week was primarily focused on completing preliminary training and finishing other general requirements to prepare myself for my project and internship.
This week, I finally was able to come in person to ASU’s School of Journalism! My mentor gave me a tour of the building and we were able to see things like where PBS Arizona filmed and what equipment they used. She also introduced me to the BioPac system, which is used to measure physiological responses to external stimuli. Overall, my mentors have been super encouraging so far and I love the environment of Downtown Phoenix (despite how difficult it can be to find parking).
With the modern media tools I saw at ASU in mind, I began my research by looking back to a key turning point in media history: the 1960s. My project’s scope is from the 1960s to present day. I chose to start with media from the 1960s because this was the year of the first televised presidential debate (between Nixon and JFK). Notably, people who listened to the radio were more likely to vote for Nixon while people who watched the debates on television were more likely to vote for Kennedy [1]. This was primarily attributed to the fact that physical appearance and perceived confidence were a major factor in swaying the opinions of those watching at home. Initially, much of my research focused on the Internet’s impact on media consumption. This week, however, I shifted my focus to sources covering the earlier part of my project’s scope. I’m excited to see how the trends I’m uncovering in the 1960s connect to the media we consume today!
[1] “Scholarly Analysis of the Kennedy-Nixon Debates – College of Liberal Arts – Purdue University.” Purdue.edu, 2024, cla.purdue.edu/academic/history/debate/kennedynixon/kennedynixonscholarly.html. Accessed 23 Feb. 2025.
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