Communication has the power to change the world by drawing global attention to an important issue or event. It can change the way a whole system works. The 1960 televised Presidential Debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy is an example of this. Until that debate, Nixon was handily winning the election. The televised debate was not the first ever Presidential debate, but it was the first one to be broadcast on national television. This debate was supposed to be Nixon’s crowning achievement that would ensure him the win. However, because of the hot cameras, Nixon began to sweat much more than JFK. Nixon was also coming off a bout of the flu and still did not look fully recovered. Thus, he ended up looking nervous, untrustworthy, and unhealthy to the television viewing audience. This debate became the turning point of the election that JFK went on to win. On TV that night, JFK simply looked more presidential. And TV changed the way the whole system of politics worked from then on. The political candidates needed to be very careful about how they looked on this fairly new household appliance. You can read more about this significant change in the article, How the Nixon-Kennedy Debate Changed the World located in the Week 6 Resources. In this Discussion, you will reflect on how another contemporary electronic communication technology has the potential to bring about change in different areas of society.
To prepare for this Discussion:
With these thoughts in mind, your assignment is to:
Post by Day 3 a 200300-word discussion. For this post you should:
Note about searching in ProQuest: An electronic communication technology includes programs, software and applications. In general, they may be used for the internet, computers, and cell phones. Thus, saying the Internet or cell phones is too broad. Think of more specific technological advances that promote communication, and perhaps are used through the internet or a cell phone, etc. An example might be the social media app, Foursquare. Thus, you would type Foursquare into the search box in ProQuest Central. If your search is not narrow enough, giving you too many articles to weed through to find any that discuss how Foursquare may have changed some aspect of society, you may want to search for two terms together. For instance, you could type in Foursquare AND change. Or, Foursquare AND communication. You may NOT use Foursquare as your technology, please find your own example. But, you could try typing communication technology AND change into the search box. While this will give you many articles to weed through, it will also give you many more options for examples if you are having trouble thinking of an example of communication technology by yourself. If you are in doubt about whether you have chosen an appropriate communication technology, please consult your instructor.