Signing Off

As this is my last post, I would like to reflect on the Media Journal. I found it to be fun and eye opening. Some of my favorite topics were discussing the Mickey Mouse Monopoly, Political Bias in the Media, and the Control Room. These were controversial topics and the Media Journal gave us a chance to have our own soap box to talk about our opinions and feelings on the issues.

I do wish we could have discussed more the medias reaction and response to the Iraq War. I feel that the war is largely media driven. We don't hear from the soldiers or generals on the ground very often so we only have the media to tell us what is going on. I also find it interesting how different networks can produce two different outlooks on the same event. It would of been fun to dive deeper into this subject.

I also wish that instead of having a couple entries due in one night and none other night we could of spread them out so we had one per day. That would of made it easier to get into a routine. Sometimes I would forget to check to see if we had any due.

Other than those two small things I really enjoyed the Media Journal and felt it really added to the class and my experience.

Network

The movie Network demonstrates numerous topics in the area of Media Ethics and Public Relations. When Howard Beale announced he was going to kill himself on TV, the Network had to immediate react to it and make a statement. They looked to see what other stations were doing and then had Howard make a statement the next night. When he went on a prophetic rant the next night and ratings started to soar; the network decided to give him his own show. After seeing he was clearly mentally unstable but continuing to encourage it; the network was crossing a serious ethical line. Not to mention the ethical and illegal line they crossed when they decided to kill him on TV.

Killing Us Softly

The ad for cigarettes agrees with the film Killing Us Softly. It shows a healthy, handsome, and heroic man smoking a cigarette. It is stereotypical of ads to show men in masculine roles. This is a military man and he is striking a cord with men to be patriotic heroes and smoke Chesterfields with him.

This shows how American Culture views men. Men are suppose to be the strong heroes. This agrees with the film Killing Us Softly. Most of the film concentrated on how women were portrayed but since I have the ad above I decided to talk about how Men are viewed in advertising.

Ads

I compared this Bud Light Ad to a couple different Bud Light commercials. There are huge differences. This Ad goes for sex appeal by having a beautiful woman in the picture. It is also relaying the message that if your life is good or you want the good life drink Bud Light. This is the more visually appealing Ad. The commercials all go for the humor impact. They are all funny (Will Farrel commercial, hidden Bud Light Commercial, etc.). They make people laugh and get people talking about the commercial therefore get people to talk about the product. It is a very effective way of advertising. Everyone has heard of Bud Light. The print Ad is for a younger audience with a young beautiful woman whereas the TV ad is for people of all ages.

Race in Television

I think there are two kinds of portrayals of African Americans on TV. There is the ghetto, gang, hip-hop African American; who is normally the bad guy and is into drugs, guns, sex, and crime. Then there is the strong African American (normally only one per show) who is used only for his or her strength and has some dark secret into the past. In the show I talked about early Criminal Minds the only black guy is special agent Morgan who is used only for his strength, agility, and power. He never solves the crimes and is frequently getting in the way by being to emotional about it. The criminals in the show are normally highly intelligent and cunning and they are never portrayed by a African American actor. The only shows that have African Americans in all different sort of roles are shows with all black casts (Different Strokes, The Cosby Show, or The Jefferson's). TV Shows haven't really improved that much over the years. The only Black shows are on Black networks like BET or pop culture stations like MTV, VH1, E.

Criminal Minds

One of my favorite shows is Criminal Minds. It follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit out of Quantico Virginia. The team is called all over the country to help solve vicious crimes and hunt down serial killers. What makes this show different from other crime drama's is that it focuses on the criminal instead of the crime.

The show stars Thomas Gibson as supervisory special agent Aaron Hotchner. It is a very gruesome show and it not for someone with a weak stomach.. I don't think there is a specific race, religious, or age demographic that watches it but more of an intellectual demographic. It takes someone who like to think through a show to watch it.

Free Fallin

Shes a good girl, loves her mamloves Jesus and America too. Shes a good girl, crazy bout Elvis. Loves horses and her boyfriend too. Its a long day living in reseda. Theres a freeway runnin through the yard. And Im a bad boy cause I dont even miss her. Im a bad boy for breakin her heart. And Im free, free fallin. Yeah Im free, free fallin. All the vampires walkin through the valley. Move west down ventura boulevard. And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows. All the good girls are home with broken hearts. And Im free, free fallin. Yeah Im free, free fallin. Free fallin, now Im free fallin, now im Free fallin, now Im free fallin, now im I wanna glide down over mulholland. I wanna write her name in the sky. Gonna free fall out into nothin. Gonna leave this world for a while. And Im free, free fallin. Yeah Im free, free fallin

Free Fallin by Tom Petty is one of my favorite songs. I think it speaks to almost every generation. Its soft melody makes it easy to listen to and its lyrics bring back a nostalgia to when people were young.