1F25: Blog Response 4: News, Trust, and "Truthiness" !

Blog response 4

Title: News, trust, and “truthiness”!

            In the media we have access to different sources that provide us with Intel from the news. Each media source has a different way to retain information and different ways of getting it out into the media and to different societies. Every person is different in the way of taken in certain new reports. Some people can get their news from a different source every day and some people go to a certain news source that they trust, that they can rely on. Everyone has a general impression of what can and cannot be trusted.

In Jessica’s blog she thinks that satirical news reports are more relatable than the traditional news reports. In her blog she says “Although satirical news reports can be humorous to watch, it gives us different perspectives on many different cultural topics that are normally told not to question. Using humor in satirical news reports makes this form of culture jamming more lighthearted, easier to understand, and more effective¹”. I agree with her stand point because it just makes sense. If people don’t grasp, don’t understand what certain news reportages are trying to explain then why repeat it like that? It would make more sense to repeat the importance of the news in a way that it will reach a large majority of the audience so they could take some type of knowledge from it and do something about it if they believe it’s necessary.

In Allison’s blog she believes that both the satirical news reports and the traditional news reports are equal. In her blog she gives the example of Global News and Saturday Night live. “Global News is famous for airing at the same times every day, and raising national awareness about events occurring globally. The ‘Weekend Update’ section of Saturday Night live is famous for turning those events into comedy²”. Both shows bring out awareness by one show using the other and paving it with a sense of humour to make it more appealing to the audience. SNL takes the events occurring globally from the Global News and turns them into comedy. Global News’ audience is more so for older people as SNL has a young adult audience. With the help of SNL, the news from Global News is able to reach the young adults which will give them insight to what is happening within society.

In Christine’s blog she also agrees that satirical news reports are equally reliable to traditional news reports. She says that “News and current affairs media is boring and in many ways very serious, using comedy to express news stories provides a type of comic relief that makes it easier for the audience to grasp and focus on³”. The use of comedy is useful. They will attract a younger audience by drawing them in with the humour, but still distribute the information but also making it more interesting at the same time.

After reading several blogs, it is apparent that most of my peers believe that satirical news reportages are equally reliable to traditional news reportages. It is good that satirical news reportages are getting young adults and teenagers to take an interest in the news but it also has its implications. Making the news interesting is a good way to draw people in, but the truth is being altered when doing so. Changing around the facts is taking away the truth and the messages that the news is trying to put out into society. The people aren’t getting the true facts, they are getting bits and pieces of it which can cause major miss communications and the people may not understand what was supposed to be intended. Overall both types of news reportages are good and useful, but the truth is also the most important.

  

Work Cited

[1] http://jessicaznaczko.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/cpcf-1f25-blog-entry-4-is-the-fake-news-real-news/

[2] http://allisonsparham.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/is-the-fake-news-the-real-news/

[3] http://christinemerrill2.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/is-the-fake-news-the-real-news/

1F25: Is the fake news the real news?!

 Is the fake news the real news?!

In the text “Media and Society” it defines Culture jamming as a form of media activism that subverts and reworks the intended meaning of existing media texts, or parodies major corporations, public figures and their media images. In the media there are different ways the media is dished out to society. In society people have different interpretations of the news and find different sources to retain information. In today’s society we have so many different ways to have access to information at any time. With our phones, tablets and laptops, we can simply search for anything that pertains to an interest and information the people want and need to know.

“The use of conventional and new media technologies for media activism and counter-hegemonic purposes, and it has discussed issues related to copyright law and the use of humour that arise in culture jamming (pg.226)”. In my opinion the media is able to reach their audience with drawing them in and the best way to do that is with humour. In many of the talk shows they touch on information that is news worthy, but instead of making it all info they had fun into to keep the audience watching. For example “The Dr. Oz Show”, in this show they talk about the importance of healthy eating, obesity and information that is news worthy. Instead of the show being all information for an hour, they display the info about having a healthy body through demonstrations, examples and games to win the prizes that the show is offering. In doing so, the show educates the people about eating healthy and instead of watching the news reports that are boring, they are retaining the same info and enjoying the show at the same time.

The mainstream media uses its ability to reach more people in a shorter time frame. “Email and other forms of computer mediated communication (CMC) have been celebrated as being both democratic and empowering mediums of mass communication because they enable individuals and smaller groups to get their message out to larger numbers of people without having to contend with restrictive policies and regulations or prohibitively expensive equipment and production costs (pg.216)”. Because our technology now a days works so well and is so powerful it could send out messages to people in society about upcoming events or important facts, instead of having to wait for the six o’clock news. The people have access to getting their news on the fly from all different sources such as twitter, Facebook, news app that could downloaded of all devices and so many different sources the people could gain access to.  

In the media it is a fact that stories always gets twisted around, and in fact what we think is the truth is most likely the opposite with bits and pieces of the truth. I think that this information is useful to the public sphere because it lets people have their own opinion on what they believe to be true and news worthy and what they believe not to be. Everyone loves a good story, for example Rob Ford. The allegations are true but people twist the story and take pictures, add captions to make more appealing to society. Mainstream media gives out news but instead of it being boring, they add a little fun to it.  

1F25: Demonstrable demographics

1F25: Demonstrable demographics

In the last blog, the topic was on advertisement and we had to talk about a product that ads "spoke" to us, the consumers. The product that I chose was "No-No". I explained that the product grabbed my attention because as a girl being hairless is a way to show beauty and it makes girls feel comfortable with their bodies. Every ad is made intended to meet certain persons, to make a connection to what persons and why this ad is good for those type of people.

Allison’s blog relates to me on a personal level because for obvious reasons I am a teenage as is she. Reading the description of how the ad went about advertising was basically the same way teenagers act, but was shown with elderly people. As teenagers we go out, party, and we are crazy, after all of that we get hungry and go to McDonald’s not so much Taco Bell. It is clear that the ad was targeting teenagers in a way that would be humorous to teens, to get them to come to Taco Bell after doing their crazy stuff, to enjoy a nice, beefy, cheesy, warm taco. In her blog she states “One mode of address which advertisements use towards the young adult population is to recognize our lifestyle, and try to relate to us through it [1]”. This ad is showing a teens identity and draws teens in with humor hoping that the next time teens go out and party hard, afterward they will come and unwind with Taco Bell’s tacos.

Similar to my ad “No-No”, which is a beauty enhancer, Christine’s blog was about face make-up. The face make-up, Beyond Natural” is supposed to match skin tone colour giving females flawless skin with a natural look. The ad’s face is the beautiful Jessica Alba whose face is completely flawless. This ad was intended to reach the young women that want to have clear skin and an even skin tone. Being a young women, I know that having a clear, natural, and flawless face is dream and it is something that every girl wants to have in their life, but doesn’t always happen. With the use of make-up it will cover up the imperfections. Christine states that “Girls use make-up as a source of making their skin clear and even in colour [2]”. The use of make-up will leave the women with a flawless natural look similar to Jessica Alba’s face. This ad is successful because the women see the type of face they want and they will purchase the product to have their faces look the same.

Madison’s blog relates to my demographics’ because I am obsessed with mascara because all I want is to have long eyelashes. In my make-up bag I have about 10 different mascara I use them to try and make my eyelashes longer. The face of this ad is the beautiful Halle Berry with full, long, beautiful eyelashes that draw you into the ad. “Companies use this knowledge to be successful with their sales [3]”. Revlon’s representation of their product really does work. Their ads promoting that their line of mascara will give girls that full look that they have always wanted. They want to have “FABLUSH” eyelashes.

When ads try to target a certain demographics they use certain criteria that the producer will us to draw in their target audiences. If you ask me they are doing a good job because when I see something I like and the advertising is good, I always end up with something new at the end of the week.    

Work Cited

[1] http://allisonsparham.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/what-the-hail/

[2] http://christinemerrill2.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/what-in-the-hail/

[3] http://mb12qe.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/what-the-hail/  

What the Hail? Blog Entry 3

       In advertising, the advertisers draw us, the consumers in by making us think you can't live without the product and once you get it we wonder why it took so long for us to purchase it. The product is shown in the media with real people benefiting from what it has to offer which leads us to think that we will also benefit from the product. Advertisers of "No-No hair" did a really good job of advertising. No-No is a handheld device that removes hair with laser treatment and while doing so it reduces hair from growing back, it's painless and save you money from laser hair removal treatments. No-No was advertising as commercials on channels. Such as Much music, MTV, The Shopping Channel and TLC which are frequently watch by teenage and adult females. In the ad the displays:

1. Why it is a good product

2. How the product is used

3. Why the product works so well

4. Why the product is useful

No-No was targeted to females because every girl likes to keep themselves groomed with the close shave so we could be hairless. I think "No-No" was successful in it attempts to represent norms, values, and beliefs because every girl knows girls want to hairless everywhere expect for their heads. A girls norm is to shave, is to remove the hair on their legs, underarm and other areas because having hair in certain areas is looked at as gross and unwanted, even though we were meant to have hair in certain places girls don't want that. Even I could agree that as a girl, I don't like having hair in certain areas because it makes me feel gross and looked at as weird and gross by the opposite sex. Most girls value their bodies, they want to do anything to make themselves acceptable, beautiful and comfortable in their eyes.

In chapter 12 in the text, “Media and Society" it states, "the media work as a hailing, interpellating system (pg.186)". In the media they use people that look familiar to us, people that are the intended to purchase the product. Once someone sees that people like them are benefiting from the product, they themselves think they would too.

Girls believe that with the product "No-No" they are guaranteed their hair will be gone and will grow back less and less each time until they are hairless. They see on the infomercials the great success stories from women just like them. They believe that the product is useful and will work to keep them hairless which will make them feel and look beautiful.

1f25: Wanted: The media that we need: Blog response 2

Wanted: the media that we need

In the media we have a lot of different choices and information to inform us because the media doesn’t hold back and give us what we want and need. With the media we are able to have access and able to have understanding different things such politics, culture, and society. Deciding on what you choose to take in, the media exposes information about the important issues of all matters.

In one of my fellow peer’s blog, he touched upon how the media portrays the environment and gives it awareness with the help of the media. They are trying to get people globally to be environmental friendly. By the media showing commercial and ads through the local news about the importance of saving the environment, it encourages the people to the purchasing green products and to follow the 3 r’s (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle). [1] Thus the media is using its power to inform people that they must take care of where they live and do their part to help keep the environment healthy.

In Christine’s blog she mentions that the media is constructed. After reading her blog, I came to understand why she took that stand. To further explain her view point, she used the quote, “like the media – reality – the social world we live in – is also construction (Media and Society pg.62).” In her blog she explained that different groups of people within society have different ideas of how society should be constructed [2]. When I read this I realized that the media we receive is what we think we want when really we are all constructed differently because no one person is the same. The media comes in different forms for different people, it just matters how it is taken in and understood.

In the last blog I read, my fellow peer talked about how within the media, they have different properties, so the way they treat one person, the next person isn’t getting the same treatment. In her blog she used the example of age. [3] “‘A’ stands for age. It is explained as again, a media depicted truth, that “elderly and young people are treated as second-class citizens (pg.39.” When media is broadcasting something they want to meet the set target and most popular age which is teens. The media caters more the teenagers and to the people in between.

In the media, it’s not hard or easy to find information. The information that a person is seeking it depends on where they are looking for it.  For example if you want milk you’re going to go to the grocery store, but you’re not going to look for milk in the meat section, you’re going to look for it in the dairy section because that makes sense. The media can give access to what they need, all they need to know is where to look for it.

Work Cited

[1] http://kirbychan88.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/the-media-we-want/

[2] http://christinemerrill2.wordpress.com/

[3] http://lp10gl.wordpress.com/

1f25: The the media we want: Blog Entry 2

The Media We Want

Do we get the media we want or want the media we get? My answer to this question is that we get the media we want. We choose what we are interested in, we chose what we want to watch and listen to. We pick what appeals to us, what we like. The more we like something the more the people in charge of the media produce. For example the movies series of Fast and Furious. This movie has 5 sequels. The first movie came out in 2005 and the fifth movie came out in 2013. This movie is an action packed, thriller movie about cars in the fast lane. The movie was so well liked the first time around they made four more other movies because us, the audience, the consumers wanted it. If the produces didn't get the type of attention they thought the movie should have got, they wouldn't have spent more money to make movies that people wouldn't spend money on to watch.

We, the consumers are the deciding factors for what stays and for what goes. The media is like the survival of the fittest theory. In this theory the animals that are best suited for their surrounding stay and continue to produce and other animals that can’t adopt soon decease and become extinct. The same thing happens in the media. If the producers don't produce something that will attract the viewer’s long term attention they would "decease" on the other hand if the produce can make products that the consumers want they will "survive."

In the text, “Media and Society” under the heading ‘The media are owned, controlled, and created by certain groups who make sense of society on behalf of others’ it states “Those people who own, control, and create the media are the media producers. They are not totally separate social groups, since they are also part of the audience and of society as a whole, but they are a small, elite group, a complex group of people. (Page 37)”. Which means that people that are business owners and managers are still apart of the audience that makes the media just as much as the other people apart of the audience do. Those people bring creativity and interest that they feel will reach the people who are like them. The main media producers see how society reacts and from that, they determine what the people want. Another example is the need for popularity. “They have to win big audiences in order to be economically viable and survive (Page 37)”. This relates back to what I said about the survival of the fittest theory. The media knows that what they produced can get the “boot” if they don’t have enough of the society hooked on what they produced to keep it going. If what they are producing isn’t popular, isn’t reaching the audience’s needs, they would have to pull the plug because it won’t survive.

In conclusion we get the media we want because that is what we ask for. That is what we, as the audience consumer want. We control the media because we have the choice to control what stays and goes. And if there wasn't a demand form the consumers the producers wouldn't have anything to produce. It an on-going cycle that keeps everyone happy.