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.

Tube Radio

The Tube Radio would have no chance of lasting in our society. We need instant gratification and even waiting 30 seconds for the radio to warm up would annoy most people. We don't even like when the Internet takes more than a second to go from web page to web page.

The only reason I would want to listen to a tube radio is if there wasn't another option. I like listen to clear music on the Internet, CD player, or cell phone. The only time I use the radio is in the car where it is fast and clear anyway.

Casablanca

The film a saw most recent on this list for the first time was Casablanca. We had to watch it for an intersession class. I really wasn't looking forward to seeing it. I thought it would be dry and dull but fortunatly I was wrong. Casablanca it very good movie that keeps you guessing. Everytime you think you have figured out what is going to happen next the characters surprise you.
In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine, an exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town. Cynical Blaine comes into the possession of two valuable letters. When Nazi Major Strasser arrives in Casablanca, the police Captain Renault does what he can to please him, including detaining Czech underground leader Victor Laszlo. Much to Rick's surprise, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa, Rick's one time love. Rick is very bitter towards Ilsa, who ran out on him in Paris, but when he learns she had good reason to, they "plan" to run off together again using the letters of transit.
This movie is ranked third on the AFI Top 100 list and has been known for years as a classic. Movie lovers should definetly pick this one up.

Shawshank Redemption

I have heard from many people that The Shawshank Redemption is a really good movie and I have been meaning to see it. I decided to do a review on it.
Andy Dufresne, is sent to Shawshank Prison for the murder of his wife and secret lover. He is very isolated and lonely at first, but realises there is something deep inside your body, that people can't touch and get to....'HOPE'. Andy becomes friends with prison 'fixer' Red (Morgan Freeman), and Andy epitomises why it is crucial to have dreams. His spirit and determination, leads us into a world full of imagination, filled with courage and desire. Will Andy ever realise his dreams...?
Shawshank encompasses friendships, hardships, hopes, and dreams. And what is so great about the movie is that it moves you, it gives you hope. Even though the circumstances between the characters and the viewers are quite different, you don't feel that far removed from what the characters are going through.

Drive-ins

Just 20 minutes from my house is a Drive-in movie theatre. Since I was about 5 years old I have been going on a regular basis throughout my summers. My favorite memory was the first time a got to go by myself with a group of friends. It was after I got my drivers liscence and me and 4 other friends drove up. I don't even remember what was playing, all I remember is how much fun we had. We sat outside on lawn chairs with a bunch of food and talked for about an hour before the movie started. Going to the drive-in is a load of fun. It's cheap, only $5 for two movies, and you don't have to buy expensive movie theatre food. You can take along your own. If you haven't been to the drive-in yet, I highly recommend it.

Agenda-Setting

I watched WTAE and KDKA this weekend to see what the agenda was for their broadcast. Both had very similliar broadcasts as they were broadcasting to the same area. The lead stories were about a the murder of a local boy, and the rescueing of a fisherman. The stories for both were about local fires, murders, Father's Day, The U.S. Open, and flooding in the mid-west. I think they emphasized these stories because they are the stories that people want to hear about when watching local news. If they wanted to hear alot of national news then they would turn on CNN, FOX, or MSNBC.

Magazines

I do not subscribe to any magazines but I do occasionally pick up one up to read. I frequently read my brother's SI or my friend's ESPN the Magazine. If I am sitting in a waiting room somewhere I will try and find a TIME or Newsweek to read. I think this shows where my interests lye. I am very interested in sports especially on the national level that is why I read sports magazines. I am also interested in current events around the country as well as the world and that is shown in my reading TIME and Newsweek.

Newspapers

Newspapers have been a solid part of our culture since the founding of this nation. It use to be the best medium to communicate with the masses. However with growing technology the Newspaper industry has taken a huge hit. Readership all over the country is down and more people are getting their news online. With this growing trend some of speculated that in 5 years daily newspapers will be extinct and will be entirely online.

I agree that this trend in newspaper readership looks bleak for the newspaper industry but I do not believe newspapers will go away in the near future or at all. There is something special to Americans about waking up in the morning, brewing a cup of coffee, and reading the morning paper. I do not for see this going away anytime soon. It might dwindle to the point that newspapers are only going out once or twice a week but I still believe the newspaper will be around.

I also think the country is fascinated with Newspaper headline. We love to see what the headline is going to be on the front page the day after the Superbowl, a big election, or a catastrophic event. These front pages are entombed in our culture and carry the events of our time. I do not feel this is going to go away anytime soon.

National Enquirer

This cover is dedicated to the Clinton's specifically President Clinton. It is accusing him of having an affair with Denise Rich, the wife of a Clinton financier under investigation for money fraud.

While looking up covers of the National Enquirer I found that most of them deal with national celebrities and their scandals (especially sex).

I do not believe the headline of this cover. If it were true more than just the National Enquirer would of reported it. Let's face it, it would of been all over Fox News.

I think the National Enquirer uses a lot of these absurd covers to get readers to just pick up the magazine. Some of their reporting is legitimate but they have to come up with continuous shocking material to keep readers grabbing for the magazine.

The Handmaid's Tale

I had to read the Handmaid's tale for a class last fall. It is a futuristic book focusing on women's rights. It is set in the near future when the government has been overthrown by the military and we live in a police state. The story centers around the Offred the Handmaid. She is a fertile woman which is rare in this new society so her role is to produce a child for The Commander. The book ends vaguely and leaves the door open for interpretation. It is a fairly dark book and I can see why it is on the list. There are a few graphic sexual scenes that parents might not want elementary kids reading.

Chocolate War

In the list of banned books in school libraries. I chose to research a little about the Chocolate War. I found a review of the book on commonsensemedia.org. Here is what I found:

How do good people succumb to evil? Can one person's defiance make a difference? Teenagers wrestle with such moral issues as they mature. This book, dealing with life's cruelty, often gets mixed and extreme reactions from high school students. Older readers often enjoy the stark reality and honesty, but those not yet ready to grapple with the book's themes frequently dislike it. One sophomore found it too disturbing, saying, "It just hit too close to home for me."That boy's reaction reflects the book's intensity. Evil in all its ugliness pervades the story. By setting the story in a private Catholic school, Cormier presents evil as something that can invade even our own protected lives. Only a few villains cause all the mayhem, and the book exposes them early. Archie declares his opposition to religion and authority in his first scene. To intimidate his class, Brother Leon accuses an innocent boy of cheating. Readers root for Jerry as he defies the fierce intimidation directed against him.When he finally fights back and then fails, readers may feel betrayed. However, Cormier won't spare us from life's nasty truths. Throughout the book good boys agree to the demands of Archie and Brother Leon. Readers wonder, "Would any of us have done better? Or would we make the same easy compromises as Cormier's characters?" This book remains relevant for a reason: It forces readers to face the reality of evil, and examine how to confront it.
Plot Summary:
Evil stalks the halls of Trinity High. A vicious student and the corrupt temporary headmaster control the school, targeting freshman Jerry Renault when he quietly resists them. With the whole school against him, Jerry stands alone. This dark, disturbing novel towers as one of the true classics of Young Adult Literature.

Outfoxed

I do believe that there are news mediums that have a liberal bias. However, after watching Outfoxed it is apparent that not all of them do. Fox news has a very right winged bias. Most of what the documentary said and showed I think is true but I also think most Americans know that Fox has a conservative bias and they want to hear that. The majority of conservatives wanted to believe John Kerry was french. They were looking for any reason not to like him and Fox gave them that. Anyone who watches Fox knows what they are getting and they enjoy it.

Intellectual Freedom

I think intellectual freedom is the freedom to learn whatever you want from any perspective. If you want to read and learn about creationism then you should be allowed to do that. However intellectual freedom also means that material and information regarding evolution is also available.

This is very important because if we do not have intellectual freedom our knowledge and information can be controlled by one person or a group of people and frankly I don't want anyone controlling what I can and can't learn.

Censorship

This is a CD that has the parental advisory warning label on it for explicit language. This shows that even though the first amendment says freedom of speech we still have to watch what we say. If you were listening to some of these songs on the radio if would censor out the explicit language. Most of the time though everyone knows the word that is being censored. There isn't a difference between hearing the word outright and knowing what word was actually said.
The Iraq War and 9/11 have increased what we are allowed to hear and see in the media. We no longer see dead soldiers being brought off planes with the flag draped over it. Newscasters and political pundits have to watch more closely what they say. If they attack a certain point of view they can be brand as unpatriotic or not supporting the troops.

Oil and the Media

Oil is the most identifiable product that comes from the middle east. Our economy is constantly effected by the demand for oil and the supply we receive from the middle east.

With global technology and our societies insistence on immediate information, the Internet has caused some problems with news medias deciding to be quicker with information instead of more accurate. With the Iraq war the supply of oil has been effected causing gas prices to soar. People are constantly on the lookout for the direction gas prices are headed. Unfortunately the media will report on the web or the next broadcast that they heard gas is to go up. This causes unrest among citizens and they flock to the pump to fill up. On many occasions this has just been a rumor and gas was not going to go up but in the medias haste to release the information they neglected to verify if it was accurate.

Control Room

Control Room gave us an inside look into the news media of another culture. I think it shows that the media is responsible for what we see in the world and how we view it. In arab countries, at the onset of the Iraq War, they showed images of dead Iraqi citizens and the American war machine. This likely had an effect on the way the arab world viewed the American occupancy in Iraq, the same way American media not showing US casualties had an effect on American sentiment towards the war.

I did like the begining of the film when they pointed out that Al Jazeera is a very controversial media outlet in the middle east. I thought it was interesting that they were banned in many arab countries and yet it is considered by many Americans to be the spokesman for Arab propaganda.

What is News?

I believe News is information an individual finds important and is informed of through the media. News is a relative term. To me News is the results of the Primary elections not the latest mishaps of Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan. However some people find that to be important and it is news to them.

Newsworthiness should be decided by the consumer of the medium. If the editors of the Washington-Observer feel more people in their area would find politics more newsworthy than crime then they should report the politics first. Whatever the majority of the consumer finds more newsworthy is what should be given as News.

With the rise of the global market and technology, media has become more globalized. This allows news to be communicated instantaneously around the world. There are a few problems with this. With new technology there is no way to verify what news is legitimate and what news is a hoax with another agenda. Whereas localized and nationalized media is held to a credibility standard and needs to report the facts to maintain their consumer base.

Media Use

Hours of Media use per week

Television 30 hours
Radio 4 hours
CD-Downloads 6 hours
Books 6 hours
Internet 10 hours

I had never before considered how much I use the media. Not surpisingly to me the most used medium was the television. I watch approx. 5 hours a day during the week. This ranges from sports, news, sitcoms, and dramas. Alot of the time though my media use overlaps. I'll read a book while I have the TV or I will listen to music while I work on homework.

Politics in Media

The media is charged with the job of watchdog over the men and women running the country. They keep the common citizen informed of what is going on in our local, state, and national government. Unfortunatly sometimes the media strays away from giving the facts and interjects their own personal opinion and agenda.

This leads to headlines and magazine covers like this one. I don't know why you have to choose between loving and hating Hillary Clinton. But the media portrays her as a "love her or hate her" figure. I personally don't feel either way about her and think their is alot of Americans who are somewhere in between.

Mickey Mouse Monopoly

This is an image from the Lion King. In the movie Nala frequently shows her physical dominance over Simba (the hero). Throughout the movie she is able to take care of herself as well as put Simba in his place which contradicts the film Mickey Mouse Monopoly. The female character in this movie is shown standing up to the male characters and being able to defend herself. She is not the stereotypical helpless female.

I found myself agreeing and disagreeing with parts of the film. I think Disney does have a problem with their gender role representation. (even though I contradicted it in the first paragraph). The vast majority of the movies portray women as beautiful, sexual, helpless against man, and always needing a man to rescue them. As the woman in America has changed Disney's portrayal has stayed the same. This can be alarming with the massive number of young kids watching these movies and idolizing them. Todays society puts enough pressure on people to look and act a certain way and I don't think Disney should enhance that.

With all that being said it is job of parents to monitor what their children are watching and openly discuss the these things with them. As long as the child has a healthy understanding of reality and fantasy then there is no reason they can't be entertained by Disney's movies.