News, trust, and “truthiness”

Is satirical news reporting less, more or, equally reliable as traditional news? In my own opinion yes it is. As a media junkie I’m usually on the internet bouncing around from place to place, and when I stumble upon some sort of satirical news, it usually sticks with me. Deanna Quait describes many of our thought processes when we come across this type of news.  “The use of culture jamming keeps the attention of people as it isn’t normal and it’s something fresh for them to be exposed to.” What I get from satirical news is that, it can be an equally reliable source just like the traditional news. For example when the Rob Ford scandal had been exposed to the rest of the world, many of the satirical news personalities covered the story, and even though their priority was to create a comedic side to the story, they were actually presenting a piece of news to their audience, and that audience was sharing what they had seen with many people around the world, and just as Patrick Simmons states “Satirical news reporting does cover important things that happen throughout the world they just use different strategies to get their audiences attention.” It may not be the same as traditional news, but in the end satirical news is getting a message across to the public, just as traditional news does. Though they are doing this in their own fashion that will draw the audience towards them. There is a general consensus that satirical news is equally reliable in its own twisted way. Celeste T. Hill puts it’s in a way that everyone can understand “Satirical news blends both the truth of news broadcasting and irony of the truth. While the “real” news uses facts and their own perspective on the matter, satirical news points out the “stupid and obvious” truth of what is happening.” Due to the fact that satirical news presents itself in this way, the personalities that present it are able to gain a larger following, and people really do listen. Because of this they share real news in their own way, and people that don’t concern themselves with traditional news are able to find a source of news that will stick with them that they are able to absorb. Once they are given the entire story, they are able to determine a stance on the subject just like traditional news. All in all, it is generally equally as reliable as traditional news, and viable in our contemporary public sphere.

 

References

Deanna Quait: http://deannaquait.wordpress.com/

Patrick Simmons: http://patricksimmonsblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/is-the-fake-news-the-real-news/

Celeste T. Hill: http://acethill.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/is-the-fake-news-the-real-news/

Is the fakes new the real news?

Culture jamming is a large part of the media in today’s society. Usually considered media activism, or a protest against mainstream media; in today’s world culture jamming is everywhere and “the objectives of culture jamming often include consciousness raising (raising awareness of social and political issues) as well as using the media to criticise the media and dominant culture.” (Media and Society, 214) An example of culture jamming could come from the world of art. From the origins of pop art artists have been involved in culture jamming. Banksy is a current day artist who is usually creating artwork that goes against the world of mainstream media. His artwork usually takes a popular image or series of images as he would alter the image(s) in some form to convey a message against the mainstream media. He does this through his street art, which is usually found in major cities around the United States. Now is this form of media useful in the public sphere? In my personal opinion, yes it is a useful addition in the public sphere, as it allows many people who usually don’t get to see another side of a story to be able to see the other side and make a decision on what they believe in. Culture jamming could be considered freedom of speech, and freedom of speech is “The right to express opinions publicly without interference from government or other sectors” (Media and Society, 223) these culture jammers are expressing an opinion that not everyone will be satisfied with. Though it does help present us with another aspect of media we do not usually see in our daily lives. It allows us to think and try to make an educated decision on what we believe in our world. Culture jamming is a useful addition in our society and without it we would only be provided with, what the media outlets want to share with us. As media consumers we need people such as Banksy to allow us to make decisions on the things we do and think in our lives. Culture jamming is an acceptable form of media.

References

Michael O’Shaughnessy & Jane Stadler (2012). Culture Jamming and Counter Hegemony. Media and Society (214). Australia: Oxford University Press.

Michael O’Shaughnessy & Jane Stadler (2012). Culture Jamming and Counter Hegemony. Media and Society (223) Australia: Oxford University Press.

Demonstrable Demographics

As a 17 year old Caucasian male, my demographic is usually associated with women, guns, and videos games. As a consumer it is not very hard for me to find a product or good that suites my needs, or an advertisement that is directed towards my demographic. But I’m not going to be talking about that type of demographic and how easy it for people like me to find an advertisement that suites their needs. I am going to talk about the so called “Hipster” sub culture that I have somehow found myself in. Now how do these companies know that I am considered a part of this sub culture? Well they have different methods to do this and one of those methods is YouTube. One of our classmates describes how these companies use YouTube and what you watch to make up an entire identity even though may not be entirely true, they do this to see what your interests are. Due to the fact that I watch many indie bands on YouTube they won’t stop showing me advertisements for west 49, because the relation between indie music and skateboarding, but the problem is I don’t skateboard. “These personally targeted me because of my frequent use of YouTube and watching movies, which they assume makes up my entire identity.” (Brent Barron).  Even though these companies aren’t necessarily targeting what I want the have a general gist. The “hipster” demographic is being well represented through these advertisements though. Many of these so called “hipsters” including myself enjoy music, sports, clothes, art, and so on. When companies advertise their products to this sub culture they are doing a good job because “media captures the audience of individuals and lures them into investing into their product.” (Megan McLeod) These media companies are capturing the mass majority of this sub culture and are able to find common ground with many of them in what they like and don’t. Even though I don’t like to skateboard many “hipsters” enjoy skateboarding a lot. So for that one advertisement I just deal with it pretty much, but even though I may not like to skateboard they may be playing a song I enjoy so I automatically clue in and go “that’s pretty cool.” So these representations are accurate, but if there isn’t enough information on what I enjoy as a consumer the ads can be a bit off but they are able to classify this demographic or sub culture and “It is for this reason that this ad is successful in getting the message across” (Jessica Dowall).

References:

Megan McLeod: http://mm13sa.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/what-the-hail-2/

Brent Barron: http://bb11tl.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/blog-assignment-3-advertisement-and-stuff/

Jessica Dowall: http://jessdowdall19.wordpress.com/

What the Hail?

Advertisement has been present for our entire lives, and there is no way to escape it, so we typically deal with it. Media companies use many different advertising methods in an attempt to get you to buy their products. In the Media and Society textbook it explains how, “Our Ethnicity, class, religion, and gender are, once again, the most obvious”. In knowing all these different aspects of a person, media companies are able to direct their product to the people who are going to buy it. Let’s talk about the new video game, Call of Duty: Ghosts. On November 5, 2013 Infinity Ward and Activation will be releasing this video game to the general public. An advertisement for the game came was released during the week of October 28, 2013. This advertisement was a live action trailer showing how awesome the game is (Link Below). The trailer included four males, and one female who is the stunning Megan Fox. Clearly the game is being advertised towards males of all different ages, ethnicity, weight, and looks. The game is advertising that anyone can play, but they are still advertising to their largest market, which is the male population. Throughout the trailer there are many guns, attractive women, explosions, and a group of buddies that enjoy playing the game together. The advertisement is successful in its attempts because it is showing what many people have come to love about the Call of Duty franchise. As a 17 year old male, the advertisement was clearly one that made me want to purchase the game even more. Infinity Ward’s game targeted my interests, and why I have continued to purchase games from the Call of Duty series throughout my life. Even though I may not play the game as much as I have in the past due to my current arrangements, because of their strong advertisement campaigns I have become a loyal consumer and will probably purchase the game when it is released. This advertisement is a clear indication of how “Gender is central to identity, and socialisation is one of the earliest processes of interpellation”.

References

O’Shaughnessy, Michael & Stadler, Jane. Media and Society. Chapter 12: Where Are Discourses and Ideologies Found? (p.184).

O’Shaughnessy, Michael & Stadler, Jane. Media and Society. Chapter 12: Where Are Discourses and Ideologies Found? (p.185).

Call of Duty: Ghosts live action trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNxh7umVOZ0

Wannted: the media that we need

Is the media we want the same as the media we need? In most cases the media we want is the media we need. But is the media really necessary? Well, it depends on what you are looking for. In many cases when we search the internet for many different types of things we are searching things we generally care about. The media we search may be important and it may not be important and as Life of Lowe states “I find my newsfeeds and new papers flooded with headlines that are not what I am looking for but are geared by my perceived interests.” The media outlets are trying to gear towards our own personal needs. Sometimes what we want is not always what we need, and due to this it can be difficult to see if the media we want is the media we need. In most cases the advertisements are for consumer goods, or information that we want. It doesn’t mean that it is needed, I don’t need the latest Avett Brothers album; I want it, but in my own mind I need it and that advertisement lets me know that it is available to me. It just depends on what your personal needs and wants are because everyone has different thoughts and opinions on many aspects of life. These media outlets are businesses and they couldn’t care less if the media you want is the media you need, they are trying to sustain a business model, which will help them succeed. Montana Highly agrees with this notion “Media is a business, and for them to be successful, they must keep their consumers pleased and the only way to do that is to make sure they are interested with the material given to them which in turn makes viewers continue to want the media that they receive.” As she mentions the media outlets are only gearing towards what they think will sell. If media is something we need, but don’t want, who will pay attention to it? So the media is geared towards your wants. For example, I am a university student, and I have stated I am on a few social networking sites, but do I want to see education advertisements? No, maybe I do need to see them, but I don’t really care so those advertisements most likely won’t show up in my news feed. These companies try to interest you and if they don’t, they lose money and lose economic profit that they would have gained if they actually geared to your interests. “The producers of the media need to do all of this; because in order to make money they depend on advertisement” (Sarah Trotman). If the media always gave you what you needed these media outlets would not be a viable operation, so in fact in most cases you don’t get the media you need you get the media you want, because the media outlets need to gain your interests, and if the advertisement happens to be something you need so be it, you still wanted to see that advertisement, and it usually more interesting compared to something you wouldn’t care about. So we want the media we get, but we don’t necessarily need the media.

References

Life of Lowe: http://lifeoflowe.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/1f25-post-2-do-we-get-the-media-we-want-or-want-the-media-we-get/

Montana Highly: http://montanahighley.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/1f25-post-2-the-media-we-want/

Sarah Trotman: http://st12tq.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/the-media-we-want/

 

The media we want?

Do we get the media we want, or want the media we get? The real question that should be asked is do we control the media, or does the media control us? In our society we want to control and see the media we want, but we usually don’t get to do that. We don’t control the media we see, and we want what we get, but we don’t have a say on how or what type of media we are actually getting. Media makes us believe that what we are seeing in the media is what we want to see. This means that we want the media that is being displayed, but we did not choose to have that media displayed in front of us. “The media do affect what people think, what they believe, and how they behave” (Media and Society, 43).  The media that is displayed controls what we think, for example CNN is providing people with news, which many people want to see, but they provide you with the news that they want to share with the rest of the world. CNN can be seen as a more liberal news station, which means they are going to have a swayed opinion on the news that they provide to their audience, and this will sway the audience to have a similar opinion to the media outlet. Media shapes who we are as people, depending on the media you fill your life with and the media you are provided; you can have a different opinion than other people. “Media construct and shape our actions, our sense of who we are, and our daily annual routines” (Media and Society, 44). Media is considered to be the media we want to see, but that is not true, we want the media we get as we are controlled by the media we are provided with. The media that is provided is the media that is here to shape us depending on the media we get. With this media, our beliefs and opinions are swayed in a certain direction to provide a bias or backing for the people that provide us with the media we get.

1f25 blog response 1: Media Impact on Others

The topic of discussion in class for a couple weeks has be the effect of media in our lives, and as a group we have been talking about how the mass media affects us in our daily lives. After reading a few of the blogs, I can say everyone has a unique opinion on media in today’s society. Some people think media is a great thing in our society and some think that it is hampering our lives through examples that may come through personal or general experiences. Some students in the class also felt indifferent about mass media and how it affects our daily routines.

Media is a strong force in our world, Jamie Foster had a very good point by discussing how he thinks media is perceived in our world. “Media is almost like the new religion, with likeness to the rise of Christianity in Alexandria. People did not allow it at first, they were scared of it, but now it’s everywhere and we cannot stop it.” After reading his blog I decided to relate media to religion in a similar way. Majority of people’s parents were brought up religiously through their parents, but does that mean that our parents are overly religious? In some cases yes, but most of the time no. Media has the same effect on this generation today, we were born into this world of technology, but does that mean all we do is sit around and surf the internet? No, since our generation was born into this world of media, we don’t really acknowledge it as this amazing phenomenon, we’ve become use to the fact that it is everywhere all the time, it’s considered to be the norm, and that’s how religion was perceived to many of our parents, they’re always around it so what’s the big deal. Media is not a bad thing to have around us all the time it’s just something that’s around and will always be there so we have to embrace it.

On the other side of the spectrum Anthony Olufeko discussed how media keeps us narrow minded in certain aspects of life, he discusses his own personal story of narrow minded media through his native country of Africa. “The negative aspect of the media is revealed when the media shows Africa as a poor and weak nation, unable to support and govern its countries. The media does this by constantly broadcasting images of starving children, disease infected homes and violent natives.” In his argument against media he describes that the way we portray certain things in our media, is far from the truth. He states people only see what they want to see and people only believe what they want to believe. He discusses that media is not something that can be trusted or reliable, and words can be twisted and skewed in many different ways.

In my own opinion I see media as a great place for people alike to share ideas and interact with each other. My opinion remains similar in, which media is a large part of our society and should be embraced by everyone around it, but Anthony opened my eyes to the world of media and how it is controlled. Though Taylor Umer put it the best when he took a quote from he great Jim Morrison “Whoever controls the media controls the mind.” this is clearly evident in Anthony’s Argument. Even though my opinion has not changed on how I view the media I have opened my mind to the way the media is perceived in the minds of others, and how things in the media and be changed and altered to suit ones needs.

1f25 post 1: Media Impact

Media is everywhere, on television, the computer, phones, and in our day to day lives. Throughout our lives media has played major roles in school, at home, and on the road. Of course media has played a large part in our society today, but what has it done for us, and how has it been perceived in the eyes of the public. In my own opinion media has played an incredibly positive role in our world today. The use of media has allowed for us to accomplish things we have not been able to accomplish in the past. From the invention of the ever so popular printer press, and the introduction of paper, and the telephone, media has made our lives much easier and more productive. Media is a positive thing in our society not just because it can make even the hardest things in life simpler, but mainly through communication, which we would consider to be mass media. Mass media is just communication through the use of media and it is the largest aspect of media in my opinion. Mass media has helped us communicate in ways we would have never of imagined. In this new day in age mass media is mainly centralized around a few pieces of technology phones, laptops, and televisions all which help us communicate with one another. In my life I have used these pieces of technology to communicate with relatives in other countries, and I have used this technology to even play video games with friends from school. This technology may help us meet and interact with new people as well as old friends you haven’t seen in a long time. Mass media has played a massive role in today’s world and will continue to play a large role. I consider mass media to be an anchor point in today’s society in which we are using this form of media to constantly connect and communicate with other people in the world, after all communication is key in our society as a whole, so why not continue to embrace it, but also use it to its full capacity.