Haley Kaelin | Movies

Psychology and Movies?

When Haley had mentioned the fact it was related to psychology in a way, it made me really think. Was it really related to two separate subjects that were completely different? After a long realization though, what Haley said was true! With the experiences involved to make the movie medium such a popular one, even in today’s time, psychology can be applied to it. With the aspects of how the human mind works, the experiences are something that we grown accustomed to in order to per say go with the crowd and be part of the trend that everyone has been in. It’s interesting to find out how these two things work out to keep the industry surviving, but not just movies itself. In many other ways, many of the other mass mediums today can still apply psychology to how that certain medium is able to keep on going in modern days.

Haley's post about movie theaters can be found here:
http://haleyk1.blogspot.com/2013/11/lecture-on-movie-theaters.html

Kate Hatter | A Cultural Underground No More

Not Affecting Just Mass Mediums

When Kate had mentioned about the cultural underground that wasn’t exactly underground anymore, I totally agree in which how the internet impacted it! As well as Harlem shake, many of the fads and music that seemed to be only know to a smaller public could now be discovered by a mass audience which messed up those who knew the things before everyone else since they wanted to be unique and not as they say “part of a crowd”. It really does become fascinating in the end of how the system of the internet is able to mass impact many crowds of not just media mediums, but also mass groups of people whether it’s just something still unknown or soon to be widely known.

Kate's post about the Internet Lecture: http://teawithahatter.blogspot.com/2013/11/no-cultural-underground-harlem-shake.html

Media Critique

TV News Stations: Blowing Proportions to the Little Things and not Showing the Big Things

Looking back of what the lead stories are for the TV news stations as well as Courier Journal during the month of October, the pattern still continues. In most cases, the four TV stations often had lead stories that have been not much significance to a whole wide audience, thus making it non-newsworthy. Their topics are typically not core/peripheral nor does it ever have that direct and lasting informational impact toward a large audience. Typically, the stories that they reported as news stories were local crimes of sorts or any accidents that had happen in the Kentuckiana area. Though they say they are providing local news to the general public because that’s what their priority, many other local issues could have been pressed as their lead story like the Courier Journal. Using the Courier Journal as the lead example, they have done a good job in making sure that whatever stories they mostly have are important to their audience, which is mostly local also. If the TV stations are able to go toward a large variety of topics and not just mostly crime and accidents, the substantial information they would be able to send out would be more newsworthy and a good aspect of what good journalism quality should really be.

Media Critique

WAVE: Few, but not Millions

Of the events that were told Theo Keith, a local couple was left to a giant hole in their backyard after a sewage pipe was hit when they originally had wanted to build a below-ground pool for their grandchildren. Though it is a feat in which they were not informed of the situation that they had an underground pipe that they were not told of, this disrupts a part of the yardstick of newsworthiness. To consider what makes it a newsworthy story, it would have to have a direct and lasting informational impact among the story. However in this case, this type of story was done in a way in which it wasn’t that newsworthy. Rather than affecting a large part of the Louisville community, it had only affected the couple themselves and how their situation is going so far with the MSD. Though it can be considered important to the Stefaniks, it is not considered something worth to be told about to the whole public if the situation will be fixed soon vice versa to a situation in which might affect all of Louisville for a period of time.

The story can be found at:

http://www.wave3.com/story/23963663/louisville-couple-left-with-large-hole-after-pool-contractor-hits-sewer-line

Internet

An Eventual Takeover

The final stage..well for now has finally come. A fairly new medium, the internet’s main advantage was that it contained all of the mediums itself! It was able to help the general public and save a whole lot of money, whether it came from illegal downloading, buying it for a cheaper price or simply finding it from a website. What didn’t really didn’t come into mind though was how it impacted on all of the media mediums. It was a thought that came up sooner or later, but it wasn’t that important to know at the time. Knowing the real reasons in which what happened because of the internet, it’s a bit devastating to find out that it made such a wide impact.

Everything being cheaper, faster and on-demand, it caused for cut profits. Everything started to be interactive which made it bad for them. With all of this happening in such a short period, many effects started to happen. Many real businesses are closing down or staying online because of the impact of the internet. Now before you know it, everything will turn toward the internet and all of the other mediums will simply blend in with the internet. Now that..that is a result that seems a bit frightening and sad all the same while. 

Television

A Slow Process, A Fast Effect

We all know by now that television had took over most of the other mediums during its time, but what the shock to me was during our discussion in class was the time it took for the television invention overall to become a major outlet for the United States. When first discussing about the whole situation that was happening along with another medium radio, it was the most bizarre thing I ever heard of! Compared to what the radio was at the time, it wasn’t much at all to what you would expect today. Now that it comes to mind, it created such an impact than it originally intended to. The things that TV did created more of a negative effect rather than a positive effect.

It kept people inside from social interests (outside), which could’ve led to a down toll to things like social services such as churches if they were able to watch it on TV instead. It then could also influence people on their spending habits and their decisions to what trends they would go toward seeing it on television. Seeing it on TV made it a delusion to what they would consider as real vice versa to seeing something in real life and saying it wasn’t real because of the fact it wasn’t seen on television. Finally, it had corrupted our politics systems. Really now-a-days, in order to get elected, you have be able to show all of these advertisements which require a lot of money. Lower and middle classes can’t go toward elections without that much needed money so it just depended on those who had rich friends or those who were already rich themselves. Overall, it was able to control how we did things in today’s society rather than almost 100 years ago. Although shocking at first, it has finally become something that we now see as well..normal!

Movies

An All-Time Popular Medium

A booming medium ever since its beginning, who knew that it was actually a medium that would demassify eventually? To think in the first place that movies would end up that seeing as that today’s top businesses often make a lot of money. Why is that though? It isn’t really something that you would think of as a medium that became demassified till now. The reasons why it still is “alive” do make sense once it was discussed in class. It seemed little since it played on a normal part of people’s lives but it really wasn’t in a way.

The social experience made it so many people watching it seemed like the usual thing to do. 

The overwhelming experience made it so that you could actually experience the thrill, the joy or many of the other feelings that you wouldn’t be able to experience in comparison to anything like home. The cultural experience was there so you were able to be part of that trendsetting group of people. Being able to see it first and able to say how much you either loved/hated it, it was something that you could feel proud about.

Altogether it was able to gain so much tickets being spent every week to allow the movie industry to live strong. The evolution from 1888 till now is one of the most interesting progressions that I ever learned about and hope to see more in the nearby future. Well done movies, for you were able to catch my attention!

Radio

A First Live Medium

The impact that radio gave upon other mediums during that as well as its impact today is really a fascinating topic. Originally thinking that radio by itself was all storytelling in the past and music now, but it was way off from what I had expected. The first live news medium, it gave news immediately to the public vice versa to the other mediums where you had to wait for it. The most intriguing thing though was actually what happened when it became less popular due to television. Instead of becoming almost extinct, it became to what seem like a better advantage than most of the other mediums. To be able to become fragmented and still surviving now, it’s an amazing feat to how they’re able to become something we still use today. Well of course, the general public still uses magazines and newspaper but it can never compare to what radio had as an advantage of:

•          Direct communication with the audience with immediate feedback
•          A faster, live medium

Nico Pagni | Recordings

More to music than just entertainment.

Nico definitely hit his points straight on about our lecture! Music really doesn't serve as just entertainment but actually so much more. It allows us to spread info throughout the world along with teaching "language". This language includes many things. Referring to what Nico said:  

"Bards, which in the olden days, went from town from town, reciting verses from songs. And in these songs, they usually contained information of landscape, cultures, or events from the past. So, the people that were listening to the bard would most likely learn something that they didn't know."

Pointing out most of the key information, Nico's posts could be used as a way to study since it's clear and straight to the point. Though honestly, there could have been much more info that should have been said. As well as the music industry taking off, there were also many other events that allowed messages to be sent. Most of this can be seen during the Civil Rights Movements, the Rock era and so much more. Allowing us to communicate widely, this is how modern evolution of music messages were brought up from back them till now. Like Nico had said to end this post cleanly - Music, having a new wide perspective is now something that contains messages in which we all have to listen more closely to decipher.

Nico's Post on Recordings @ nicopagni19.blogspot.com/2013/09/music-lecture-response.html

Seyda Muratova | "Miss Unamerican"

Racism in the 21st Century!?

Looking throughout many blogs, here came up Seyda's post. Here I thought, 'why would I forget such a big thing which happened only last week!?' As many people know, Miss America was crowned just last week. She's a beautiful, intelligent lady that deserved a title and yet Americans were so frustrated and mad. The reason? She's from Indian descent. This is one topic that Seyda pulled off a very bold, strong opinion about. America does not have an official nationality! Really..

"This country is supposed to be built on freedom and equality so why are people hating on this poor girl?"

Those people on social networks ridiculed saying that, white-skinned people should win it. Honestly though, what is America thinking of now-a-days? Like Seyda said, this is America! She was born here in New York and she is willing to represent the U.S. in the international pageant. Many people had said things like how she was a terrorist, but come on people - first of all she's Indian so she's either Hindu or Buddhist. Second of all, is it really that necessary to even say such things? Many people in the United States are of different ethnicity and we should be proud of that. Reading the well..cruel but true realizations in Seyda's post about it, it's a bit disappointing in which how America is still like this. 

Seyda's Post on Miss America @ seydamuratova.blogspot.com/2013/09/miss-america.html

Fox News: Is it really that important?

Former President George H.W. Bush witness at Maine same-sex wedding

As fellow journalists, the seven yardsticks and nine principles have to be followed throughout the whole process of journalism itself. While many do follow some of them, like the truth, loyalty, independence, watchdog, etc., there's one topic most news organizations (often local) miss -
Newsworthiness.
According to gradethenews.org, newsworthiness is based off of two facters:

1. Whether the story topic is "core" or "peripheral"
2. Whether the story is likely to have a direct and lasting informational impact on a wide audience.

Core topics would be things in which information like this is what the public needs like politics, government action and economics. Meanwhile there's peripheral topics, information that is wanted but is not needed to know. Things like this include celebrities, human interest and other stories in which do not create a big impact. An example of in which articles are not newsworthy is a story done today by Fox News. The article can be found here:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/26/former-president-george-hw-bush-witness-at-maine-same-sex-wedding/

In this article, it tells the story of the former President, George H.W. Bush. He had visited a wedding in Kennebuck, Maine, being an official witness of a same sex wedding. The associative press of Fox News had gave in great detail about the former president being in long term ties with the fellow wives and how his son wasn't for same sex marriages, unlike many other people that surround him. As much as it was a tearing, heartwarming story, this is not what journalism is to be.
Looking back at the two factors that determines whether they are newsworthy or not, it clearly shows.

• This topic is peripheral. In a way, the former president is a celebrity. Also, in fact it was informed mostly about things all over the place. They had mentioned many things like information about President George H.W. Bush, his family and his son's way of being against same sex marriage. None of the info listed above or in the article is important.
• They did not have a lasting impact toward a wide audience. Journalism's purpose is to help readers and viewers make sense of pressing issues and events that affect them. How is an article like this able to affect viewers in a huge sense if it doesn't even have any relation to them? Being a witness at a marriage does not affect millions of people in America unlike something like tainted beef or deadly bacteria found in farmers' produce. Simply, it's not newsworthy but rather a filler.

As stated in many of the previous journalism classes, Fox News is one of those demographics that typically try to get as many news stories to fill up time or just try to look as if they are important journalism organizations like CNN or NPR. What they should really do however is just stop going after every story. Instead go for the stories that affect us greatly. Even if there are many interesting things that people want to know like who won 'The Voice', it's not something that would affect people's lives vice versa to something like Obamacare and the war in Syria about chemical weapons. That way, it'll significantly be a more newsworthy journalism association with these big impacted stories instead of many little ones with short impacts.

Newspapers

Truth: the ultimate defense to the press

Honestly, this wasn't really one of the lectures that gave me much interest compared to other topics in the beginning, being as that we had to first learn about all of the parts that make up the newspaper like the logo, folio, lead, column and many..many more that after writing all of it my hand couldn't take it at that point! Though afterwards, it definitely got more interesting. This was about the man who kind of almost bringing up the first amendment we see today, John Peter Zenger. He created the first English newspaper in the colonies, called Publik Occurrences. Writing continuously, he wrote about a corrupt governor who had took over the system by removing people in power to benefit in project. Soon afterwards, he was arrested for such libel against a man of higher power. After spending months in jail, he had went into court but was claimed not guilty for just a few simple, yet powerful words -

"The truth is the ultimate defense for the press."
Proving that with the proof shown, speaking out the truth, it could go against any libel made for it wasn't just a petty rumor or lie about the governor. This became such an amazing impact, where the freedom of the press starts till it is finally recorded into the 1st of 10 amendments. To me, this was something that stood out throughout the whole lecture itself for it is something that journalists use everyday. Without this, it's practically impossible to allow journalism to be right and fair as well as inform the corruption that might affect them without getting arrested for such things. Thinking over it, journalism is just now more than writing stories about occurring things..it's now a story waiting to be unfold in our eyes as we find the hidden shadows that could eventually destroy us and our rights. The statement itself..it's something worth knowing forever.

Books

An everlasting old technology:

It didn't really seem like it as first, but I didn't think books would actually create such an impact. It was surprising to find out that it was the first mass communication, considering that many articles / posts were probably made beforehand. Though what was even more surprising was the fact that it took till the 1400's (Gutenberg's time) for it to actually be a successful plan. Knowing that the people of Mesopotamia, Rome and China were all greatly developed societies in that time period, it took almost 5000 years till Gutenberg's creation was existent. Never mind that though. After Gutenberg, it created probably a long list of effects like:

• The printing press
• Increase of literacy
• History could be recorded
• Protestant reformation
• Spread of democracy
• Inventions and science developments would also be recorded
• Dictionaries along with translations could be made
• Maps were able to be created

Compared to other topics, this gave an impact to me to look at books more seriously and not like it's just some heavy thing we have to carry in our backpacks! Many of these things are tied in today's society which practically makes this one of the greatest, important inventions to us in modern society for the next 600 yrs. Looking back, without Gutenberg's press, we probably wouldn't be as far as we come to modern society today. We wouldn't be able to read as well, sciences wouldn't come as far to give us the proper medical care and history might as well never exist to our generation. Really, without books, might as well just not see a society like today.

Binary Models

The realization on conglomeration:

Though this was a while back, it did create a lasting impression in how I see all of these major co-operations. Now knowing 90% of it is now owned by six media giants - GE, Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS. The power of conglomeration can greatly change many smaller companies, often becoming demassified not as a choice, but as their only option. A visual aid to see how it works can be found at the link at the bottom of this entry. A comic made by Jason at Frugal Dad, it shows how the media society is actually is - Not by many certain individuals, but rather by small yet 'big' companies as listed above. It's an interesting aspect on how they can just simply take over all of these cooperations and how similar they actually are when thinking over about it. Hopefully, now thinking over this, smaller companies can get more support before conglomeration takes over them as well.

Comic: http://www.businessinsider.com/these-6-corporations-control-90-of-the-media-in-america-2012-6

Witness to History: The Photographers of 9/11

The story in the words and images of photographers on 9/11:

The story of all of these photographers while trying to capture those events really show a different side to how we see photographers or photojournalists in general. Seeing a different side of the events happening during 9/11, it gives us the ability to know the truth of everything that was happening on that day. Looking back at this video as it goes along to the events quickly happening, this was the boom of one of the greatest photojournalism and journalism pieces in U.S. history. Things like this are able to be remembered for future generations to come just from journalism which makes it vital from now till the future. The fact in which that these journalists had risked their lives as well as trying to get such information, they definitely show the principle of truth and making the important interesting (even if this was such a tragic event.) Capturing moments bit by bit, we are able to consider them as our heroes. Though they are not the paramedics, the police, nor the fire department, they still help us greatly with a great asset - knowledge.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVgKQUAPozs