Research Report

In this blog post I'm going to be analyzing 10 sources that I will be using for my project.  There will be a short rhetorical analysis of each source that I find.

1. Title, Author, Host of Source: "Revising Guidelines for Children and Screen Time" aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) in NJTV (New Jersey TV station).
The Source's Author: 1. NJTV News is a nightly news program that covers news across the state of New Jersey with a concentration on government and public policy.  It airs each weeknight at 6, 7:30, 11pm, and 6:30am.  It is a reliable source because it is powered/sponsored by PBS which is a highly regarded television programming system.  2. NJTV covers very important topics in the media like the government policies and the current presidential election.  It has videos from the Senate room in DC with Governor Christie speaking.  This is a reliable source because it has covered such important news.
Target Audience of Source: This video is aimed to attract parents that are scrolling through the PBS website or the ones who are watching the actual channel on an actual TV.  I can tell that the targeted audience is parents because the news that is covered on this channel/website is directed towards an older crowd (older meaning not teenagers so anywhere past 20ish when politics are actually somewhat important or interesting).  Another way that I know that this is directed at parents is because the short summary of what this video is about says that it is specifically talking to parents and how they can learn to limit the screen time of their children.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this video is to inform parents that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that more than 30% of children in the United States first play with a mobile device while in diapers.  So they are asking parents to start practicing their best judgements for time limits and to become more involved with the use of their kids' screen time usage. NJTV is trying to assist in helping parents learn the best way of limiting the screen times for their kids based off of the statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Important Contextual Details: NJTV includes the opinions of Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, Chairman of Department of Pediatrics at the UMC at Princeton.  He wants to help the parents understand WHY the screen time needs to be limited.  They want the parents to become more involved in their children's use of screens and devices.  Another important point that Dr. Mandelbaum makes is that the way that screens are used are not used in the correct way.  As a result, it will affect the focus of the kids, as well as the social and intellectual aspects as they grow older.

2. Title, Author, Host of Source: National Public Radio (NPR) aired "Even Techies Limit Their Children's Screen Time" on podcast segment All Things Considered. 
The Source's Author: 1. This is a reliable source because it is aired on NPR which a nationally recognized radio station. 2. They are an unbiased radio station that jest relays the facts back to the audience which allows the audience to just receive the information and then make their own opinions of it.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this podcast are the parents that are super techie and have technology devices all over and are super involved in all of the new devices that come out.  In the podcast it says that the parents, one of the techie parents, Melissa Block, even limits the amount of time that her children can spend on a device in front of a screen.  Even though it is a big part of her life, she knows the negative side effects of spending too much time in front of a screen. Another part of the podcast that shows that the target audience is the age of the people who are newer parents is when the author says "A generation ago, right, our parents told us...".
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this podcast is to inform and show the reader that even though technology is so prevalent in everyone's lives so frequently, even the people that are most involved in technology for their daily lives, they still find a way to limit the amount of time that they allow their kids to spend in front of the screens.  The people that didn't put limits on the amount of time that their kids could spend in front of the digital screens ended up binging on the amount of time so that the parents ended up having to set limits for them.
Important Contextual Details: Some of the coolest parts of the podcast included the parts that alluded to some of the most technologically advanced people, like Steve Jobs, and a Google Engineer even limited their children's screen time. The other important contextual detail of this podcast is that the journalist that created this podcast says that he would "rather have his kids watch a movie like Mary Poppins than be constantly swiping and swiping".  These contextual details are important because it shows that there is credibility in the author by having such good examples.

3. Title, Author, Host of Source:"Kids and Screen Time: Cutting Through the Static" by Cory Turner on NPR's podcast segment All Things Considered.
The Source's Author: Turner is a reliable source of information because he is a senior editor at NPR for this podcast segment.  He is also a reliable source for this specific topic because he focuses on the Common Core and exploring how kids learn.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source are parents, just like all the rest of the podcasts and videos that I have found.  The audience is directed at the parents that are worried about the kinds of screen time there are and which ones are good.  This audience is for the parents that are curious about learning the differences in the types of things that their children are doing on those devices and what they can do to prevent the amount of time they spend on their devices.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of the podcast is to explain the differences between good and bad uses of screen time.  The author explains how the good sources of the screen times can be beneficial to the kids, but how the bad sources of the screen time are going to negatively affect the children in social areas as well as the intellectual areas of life.  As the author says, "It's a question that perplexes parents and educators alike".  This is a pretty biased podcast however, since the author is so passionate about the health of children.
Important Contextual Details: The author, Cory Turner, includes important examples of real life people that  have gone through both the good and the bad parts of screen times. For one, Turner brings up the Star Wars kid who fights alone with the light saber back in 2002.  Turner makes this out to be a bad form of screen time because it led to him dropping out of school and having real self-confidence issues after posting that video of himself 14 years ago.  The other important example that Turner included was the 6th grade classroom that uses a 3D printer and he points out that it is a good example of a good source of screen time for kids.  This is because they are using the technology for the use of intellectual advancement.


4. Title, Author, Host of Source:"Parents Struggle to Limit Children's Screen Time: Digital Detox Experts Offer Advice" found on the Huffington Post, written by Ellen Wallwork.
The Source's Author: Ellen Wallwork, the journalist of the video for this, specializes in articles regarding children all over the US.  She has focused on autism in children and how parents learn to deal with things like that in their lives.  This is a reliable source of information because she is knowledgeable about the information that involves the relationship between parents and their children.  She is also a reliable source of information because the Huffington Post is a good news source.  It is a good reliable source in the UK too.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source is to parents that are having some sort of dilemma regarding raising their children.  Since this author seems to focus on how parents can cope with these, it is clear that his video is directed at the parents that are having a hard time understanding what they should do about the amount of time that their kids spend on their digital devices and in front of screens.  The title of this video also makes it clear that the parents that are struggling to figure out their kids, and are looking for help with coping with these issues.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this message is to help parents understand the different ways that they can help manage the amount of time that their kids spend in front of the screen.  There is a lot of pathos in this video, and the author seems to have a lot of good input for these parents that are struggling" with their children.  It is to make sure that the parents understand that limiting the amount of time that their kids spend in front of a screen, immersed in the screen, should be an important discussion that the parents should have with their kids.
Important Contextual Details: 23.1% of the mothers and fathers that took the survey by Action of Children struggle to limit their children's screen time. The statistics are all there and clearly cited which is an important part of the logos of the video.  The other important contextual detail that related to logos, is that more parents felt that it was more difficult to help their kids get off of the devices than to get them to eat healthy, do their chores, or do their homework.

5. Title, Author, Host of Source: "How to limit your Child's TV Time" on YouTube under the Parenting account.
The Source's Author: The parenting account on YouTube is a reliable source because all of the videos (101 of them) are about parenting and the best ways to raise your children.  Another reason why this is a reliable source of information for parents wondering what the best way to raise their kids are, is that the people that are subscribed to this account are doctors and people that are clearly knowledgable in this subject of parenting.  They also quote the statistics of doctors and other well known websites known for their parenting.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of the this source is for parents that are interested in learning how to improve their parenting skills. I know this because the short summary of this video says exactly who this video was made for.  Additionally, this parenting account on YouTube is actually called "Parenting" which signifies that this is specified for parents, not kids or teachers.  The title of the video also makes it clear that this is for parents because the title says clearly "your child's" meaning that it is for parents with children that are having issues with limiting TV time.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of the video not only is to really highlight the pathos of this video by exploring the negative side effects of spending too much time in front of screens, but it also employs the use of logos by quoting statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics and how before the age of 2, TV/screen time should be very limited because of the bad health effects.
Important Contextual Details: One thing that I really liked about this video was that it also linked us, the audience, to other sites that has similar information.  For example, they linked us to their Facebook page so that we could explore even further about this topic.  This also allows the audience to make sure that their information is credible-which it is.  Additionally, the video was posted very recently, on March 25, 2015, which really verifies that this information is up to date and accurate since not much technology has changed since then.  It has only been about a year so it really is not a problem.  

6. Title, Author, Host of Source: "Screen Free Week 2015 was a Success!" found off the CNN website as a hyperlink but written in the blog portion of the Screen Free website written by Sara Adelmann.
The Source's Author: This Screen Free Week was made official this year for the week of May 2-8th 2016 and it started last year during the first week of May as well. They are an official website and allow parents to find a place that can leave a space for someone to come up with activities for their kids during this time of no screen time.  This is also a reliable source because it has parents writing blogs that have actually experienced their children being dependent on screens and the amount of time they spend in front of their screens.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source are the parents that have a lot of technology surrounding them at almost all times so when they are around their kids, they want to learn how to prioritize their time with their kids and the screens that are so important in each others lives. Another reason that they are known to be the target audience is because they are made schedules for their children during this week.  It could also technically be for babysitters that are watching those kids during that week of screen free time.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The purpose of this website/ article is make it clear to parents that there are actually things and activities can do with no screen times so that they can actually realize that there are more important things in life than spending time in front of a screen hurting their brains. The ethos in this article, as well as pathos is extremely evident in these because of the amount of personal opinions that the parents have written about on this website. And the fact that this comes from CNN is very credible for this source of information.
Important Contextual Details: An important part of this article is that there are so many additional resources that the parents can look up to make sure that all of this information is reliable and that everything from this website is legitimate for the parents.  Because so many of the parents are not willing to trust random websites on the internet.  So it is good that there are so many additional resources that they can access.  The other important part of this is that there are essential handouts that the parents need to look at so that they know what things are most important to gather from this website. 

7. Title, Author, Host of Source: "Is it Even Possible To Have No Screen Time for Kids Under 2?" by Rebekah Henderson from the Mom.me blogging website.
The Source's Author: Henderson is a mom and is a constant blogger for this website and has created a video for parents about what is so hard about about limiting screen time for their kids when they are constantly surrounded by their parents who have some sort of device always in front of them.  Henderson is a writer and has many science backgrounds which help her to understand the science of the side effects of screen time for little kids.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this video are parents that have really young kids that have technology based jobs so technology is very prevalent in their lives.  Therefore, it seems that it is almost inevitable for their kids, who are not self-sufficient, to be around these screens for so long. This video is for the parents that do not have much of a choice to but have screens constantly around their kids because they have to work but they also have to take care of their kids.  I think that the target audience is for the parents that are working while also trying to raise a young child.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this video is to show that there are many parents that would like to limit the amount of time that their kids spend in front of a screen, however, they don't always have a choice.  So, this video covers the ways that parents can cope with these problems and learn to overcome these issues that they have with their kids so that at such a young age, their kids won't be affected so early on in life.
Important Contextual Details: This video includes the author's opinions on the topic, saying things like, "Our children will need technological skills to navigate our world and are essentially born digital. However, they still need face-to-face interaction..." (Henderson). Without knowing that she needed to include her opinion, other parents wouldn't think that she had a good idea of what it was like to raise a kid and also have a job that is very technological based.  It is important that the date that this video was published was recent as well. If this was posted longer than about 3 years ago, I would not trust the information completely since the technology in this new "digital age" changes so frequently. So it was posted June 9, 2015 which is a relatively recent date.  

8. Title, Author, Host of Source:"Kids and Screen Time: Cutting Through the Static" by Cory Turner on NPR's podcast segment All Things Considered.
The Source's Author: Turner is a reliable source of information because he is a senior editor at NPR for this podcast segment.  He is also a reliable source for this specific topic because he focuses on the Common Core and exploring how kids learn.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source are parents, just like all the rest of the podcasts and videos that I have found.  The audience is directed at the parents that are worried about the kinds of screen time there are and which ones are good.  This audience is for the parents that are curious about learning the differences in the types of things that their children are doing on those devices and what they can do to prevent the amount of time they spend on their devices.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of the podcast is to explain the differences between good and bad uses of screen time.  The author explains how the good sources of the screen times can be beneficial to the kids, but how the bad sources of the screen time are going to negatively affect the children in social areas as well as the intellectual areas of life.  As the author says, "It's a question that perplexes parents and educators alike".  This is a pretty biased podcast however, since the author is so passionate about the health of children.
Important Contextual Details: The author, Cory Turner, includes important examples of real life people that  have gone through both the good and the bad parts of screen times. For one, Turner brings up the Star Wars kid who fights alone with the light saber back in 2002.  Turner makes this out to be a bad form of screen time because it led to him dropping out of school and having real self-confidence issues after posting that video of himself 14 years ago.  The other important example that Turner included was the 6th grade classroom that uses a 3D printer and he points out that it is a good example of a good source of screen time for kids.  This is because they are using the technology for the use of intellectual advancement.  

9. Title, Author, Host of Source: "Revising Guidelines for Children and Screen Time" aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting System) in NJTV (New Jersey TV station).
The Source's Author: 1. NJTV News is a nightly news program that covers news across the state of New Jersey with a concentration on government and public policy.  It airs each weeknight at 6, 7:30, 11pm, and 6:30am.  It is a reliable source because it is powered/sponsored by PBS which is a highly regarded television programming system.  2. NJTV covers very important topics in the media like the government policies and the current presidential election.  It has videos from the Senate room in DC with Governor Christie speaking.  This is a reliable source because it has covered such important news.
Target Audience of Source: This video is aimed to attract parents that are scrolling through the PBS website or the ones who are watching the actual channel on an actual TV.  I can tell that the targeted audience is parents because the news that is covered on this channel/website is directed towards an older crowd (older meaning not teenagers so anywhere past 20ish when politics are actually somewhat important or interesting).  Another way that I know that this is directed at parents is because the short summary of what this video is about says that it is specifically talking to parents and how they can learn to limit the screen time of their children.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this video is to inform parents that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that more than 30% of children in the United States first play with a mobile device while in diapers.  So they are asking parents to start practicing their best judgements for time limits and to become more involved with the use of their kids' screen time usage. NJTV is trying to assist in helping parents learn the best way of limiting the screen times for their kids based off of the statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

10. Title, Author, Host of Source:"Parents Struggle to Limit Children's Screen Time: Digital Detox Experts Offer Advice" found on the Huffington Post, written by Ellen Wallwork.
The Source's Author: Ellen Wallwork, the journalist of the video for this, specializes in articles regarding children all over the US.  She has focused on autism in children and how parents learn to deal with things like that in their lives.  This is a reliable source of information because she is knowledgeable about the information that involves the relationship between parents and their children.  She is also a reliable source of information because the Huffington Post is a good news source.  It is a good reliable source in the UK too.
Target Audience of Source: The target audience of this source is to parents that are having some sort of dilemma regarding raising their children.  Since this author seems to focus on how parents can cope with these, it is clear that his video is directed at the parents that are having a hard time understanding what they should do about the amount of time that their kids spend on their digital devices and in front of screens.  The title of this video also makes it clear that the parents that are struggling to figure out their kids, and are looking for help with coping with these issues.
Source's Main Purpose/Message: The main purpose of this message is to help parents understand the different ways that they can help manage the amount of time that their kids spend in front of the screen.  There is a lot of pathos in this video, and the author seems to have a lot of good input for these parents that are struggling" with their children.  It is to make sure that the parents understand that limiting the amount of time that their kids spend in front of a screen, immersed in the screen, should be an important discussion that the parents should have with their kids.
Important Contextual Details: 23.1% of the mothers and fathers that took the survey by Action of Children struggle to limit their children's screen time. The statistics are all there and clearly cited which is an important part of the logos of the video.  The other important contextual detail that related to logos, is that more parents felt that it was more difficult to help their kids get off of the devices than to get them to eat healthy, do their chores, or do their homework.