Top 10 Media Revelations

#1 Economic Shift

According to our four tool sets, an economic shift is described as hyper commercialism and corporate consolidation.

Hyper commercialism can be seen very clearly in Feed by M.T. Anderson. Throughout the entire book, the characters are constantly being advertised to. One part in particular that stood out was on page 293 when Titus order pair after pair of new pants. He put tracking orders on each and "could feel them moving through the system."

Corporate consolidation is readily apparent in that only 6 transnational corporations own 90% of the content out there. Although possibly out dated by now, our text, Media and Society, says on page 337 that CNN broadcasts via 23 satellites to more than 800 million people in 212 countries and territories in all corners of the globe.

The video below discusses a topic we touched on briefly, about deregulation, or re-regulation, of the internet:



On another note, one interesting part of this video clip is around the 2:19 mark when he's talking about choosing your own news and entertainment outlet he says, "even dial-up!" I laughed at this because although I'm part of the generation who grown-up with the internet, I still remember having a dial-up connection and it's astounding how quickly technology progresses.


#2 Technological Shift

According to our four tool sets, a technological shift is described as from analog to digital.

I remember this discussion in class when someone brought up how awful music sounds these days because of this shift. I personally don't have a musicians ear so I can't tell the difference. However, I'm also one of those people who can't see the difference in HD and regular unless they are side by side or I flip quickly between the channels with the same program. So my word may not count for very much here.

The text that most clearly represented a technological shift is obviously, Feed. The entire book shows this just in how different and "advanced" the technology is compared to today. More specifically, however, they too in the book show an advancement in their technology. On page 135, Titus meets Violet's father for the first time. Violet's father has an early version of the feed, which was external. Titus describes it as a big hunchback with special eyeglasses that had foldout screens on either side.

Although not directly referencing analog to digital, in Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, Postman writes about the shift in newspapers to resemble television. On page 111, Postman says the most successful national newspaper, USA Today, is sold in receptacles that look like television sets, stories are short and the design relies heavily on pictures and graphics. This book is now over 20 years old, so the direct translation of analog to digital is not yet found, but the concept remains intact in the simplifying of our media.




#3 Ownership

Although much related to the economic shift in corporate consolidation, ownership is equally as important on it's own.

Media and Society says on page 242 that the news may not tell the public what to think, but it's great at telling people what to think about. With the consolidation of corporations and the small number of media owners, they shape the news.

In our Censored 2010 text, by Peter Phillips and Mickey Huff, on page 251 it says hyperreality is the inability to distinguish between what is real and what is not. They say that corporate media offers news that creates a hyperreality of real world problems and issues.

It's because of limited media ownership that these conglomerates have this power.




#4 Social Construction of Reality

Media and Society explains social construction of reality as that reality exists, but we must negotiate the meaning of that reality. (pg. 7)

Our four tool sets says that media construct our culture and involve trade-offs (good and bads).

One of the most talked about new shows is MTV's Jersey Shore is a perfect example of this. While the reality exists, viewers all over the world can interpret this reality in a number of ways. Some are shaped by the way the medium constructs this for us.




#5 Value Messages

Our four tool sets says that media contain ideological and value messages. Some of these are intended while others are not. These messages can be positive or negative, and messages target specific groups.

Value messages can be seen in Feed in Quendy and Loga. The feed (the medium) targets them assuming that they value trends and staying "cool". On page 21, Quendy and Loga left the group to go to the bathroom because the feed told them that hairstyles changed again.

This commercial for Fancy Feast cat food is a perfect example of this. They are assuming that the potential consumer values wealth, the best, and high quality.




#6 Discursive Shift

A discursive shift is some objective to subjective. What is the truth? In the web 2.0 world, those who were once the audience are now the creators as well.

On page 102 of Feed, Violet decides to question the truth. She plays games with the feed by pretending to be interested in a wide variety of products. Her choices make it impossible for the feed to properly target her.

When we begin to question media we're given, we begin to create our own truths. In the video below you can see just how easy it is to go from consumer to producer.




#7 Flow State

Flow state is when time slips away when your brain is engaged. The brain is the most complex living thing in the known universe. The brain processes 400 billion bits of information every second but is only conscious of 2,000 bits.

The limbic brain is enacted during flow state because it is the feeling brain and processes images and music. Here's a bit of music to tickle your limbic brain while you read the rest of this blog post:




#8 Simple Solutions

Persuading by offering a simple solution to either a manufactured or more complex problem is a simple solution persuasion technique.

Simple solutions can be seen throughout the entire Censored 2010 book in what we WERE told as opposed to the what the book uncovered. One particular stand out is in "Obama's Military Appointments Have Corrupt Past" (pg 32). When Chris presented this topic, he spoke about how the CIA reports eventually became so watered down that the public didn't even care anymore. In reality it was dumbed down to a simple solution when it was much more complex than that.

While a bit off topic, I did find this simple solutions video from Ikea to be quite interesting and helpful!




#9 Beautiful People

Using images of good-looking individuals to sell products is our beautiful people persuasion technique.

Although not my idea of beautiful people may not be the time in the years of the feed, Feed uses this idea when the feed makes lesions popular. On page 11, the lesions come up as not being a particularly good things. The later on, the feed projects them as sexy and all the beautiful people are wearing them. Once that happens girls everywhere suddenly had necklace-like lesions around their necks.

A men's fragrance, Bod Body Spray, uses this technique in their advertising. While searching for a commercial of theirs, I found this even better parody:




#10 Aesthetic Shift

An aesthetic shift is from discrete to convergence. This can be seen in Feed with the feed itself. The fact that a chip in your brain can do anything and everything you want it to, it doesn't get much more converged than that.

To close my top 10 is one of my favorite videos featuring the one and only convergence superstar, our feed of this century, the iPhone:

I Am SO Glad I Don't Live In Jersey - Media Meditation #8

As I sit here trying to come up with a topic for my 8th and final media meditation, I start to thinking about what media I am currently consuming. I've already written about Facebook and Craig's List (two tabs I have open at the moment) so that's a bust. What about that background noise, the television. When I'm home I usually have the television on constantly just so I don't feel so alone in my 1 bedroom apartment. When I'm trying to work on homework I put on something I'm not terribly interested in so that I won't tune out my homework in favor of the TV.

Tonight's selection is "True Life: I Have a Summer Share" with the description: "Young people fuse together to rent weekend share houses on the Jersey Shore." Here's a little taste below for your viewing pleasure:



At this point, you are most likely agreeing whole heartily with this blog post's title.

Now, let's analyze their first tactic for picking up girls, waving them down on the side of the road with a "Let's Get Naked" sign. While these men were quite smart in attempting to reach the reptilian brain going for the natural instinct of sexual needs and the instinct to reproduce. However, they failed to realize that the reptilian brain contains the "fight or flight" function, and looking at them, I'd say the reaction is to run, and fast.

Another aspect of this tactic is the use of the neocortex. By holding a sign with writing on it, women driving by would need to use high levels of brain function to drive safely AND process the words on their sign at the same time. Taking this high level of brain function into consideration, these men were not aiming for their target market. They were hoping for attractive women who would be sexually promiscuous with them. Women with the high level of brain function needed to perform this task are certainly not the type to get with these guys. If they really wanted to attract their target market they should have had a much less sophisticated appeal.

Of course, who I am to judge? As I learned in our Media and Society text, social construction of reality is when a reality exists and we negotiate the meaning of that reality (pg. 7). These are just "Leah's Thoughts" and that doesn't mean everyone will agree with me. Especially this guy:

"Are You 'Friends' With Jonathan?" - Media Mediation #7

Below is a screen shot of my limited friends list, a list of my friends that I have set limits on as to what they can see on my Facebook. The list was too long to get to fit on the entire screen, but all but 1 person on that list are family members.




The day my mom got a Facebook was the same day Facebook officially became uncool for me. I love my mom to death and she is my best friend, but trying to explain how Facebook works to someone who has never used it before is very frustrating. She would (and still does) constantly ask me questions like "What is tagging?", "What is a wall?", "Have you ever used this chat thing before?" and other questions that to Facebook users would ignite a "Duh" or I-can't-believe-you-don't-know response. She tells me every time she has a new "friend" or if she chats with her sister (my aunt). She'll word it as, "I chatted with Aunt Mary this morning!" So? I understand it is exciting for her learning this new technology, but boy does it bring the cool factor way down. It's like a 21-year-old rocking out to their favorite new song and then seeing a 12-year-old girl doing the same thing while wearing a Hannah Montana shirt. My favorite mom-moment was when I was sitting next to her while she was on her computer and she was talking about all her "friends" on Facebook and very excitedly asked, "Are you "friends" with Jonathan??" (Jonathan is my cousin). I responded, "Yes, in fact, I have been friends with Jonathan long before Facebook was even invented!"

What is a "friend" anyway? Were we not friends with these people before Facebook? Actually, most of them probably not. The majority of my Facebook "friends" I wouldn't call friends in real-life at all, just acquaintances.

Therefore, this post will be dedicated to pointing out some of Facebook's persuasion techniques:

Beginning with, big lie! Sure you have 1,000-something Facebook "friends" but those people aren't your friends. How many of them would come running if you were stuck in a jam. How many of them would help you move? That's the real test of a friend!

Next, symbols, Facebook allows the user to have a little tagline or phrase underneath their default photo on their page. Many people use this to say a quick bit about themselves usually through a famous quote or song lyric which is supposed to symbolize who they are as a person.

Flattery is absolutely a factor due to the default photo option. You know every person picks the most attractive or flattering version of themselves to be the default photo. It's the first photo you see when you go to your page, you want it to make a good impression.

Then we go on to hyperbole, since Facebook began as a college social networking site, many of the status updates, wall posts, and photos upload are those promoting a "cool" lifestyle. Photos of themselves out drinking and partying with friends. They put the "coolest" version of themselves up for their peers to see. This is clearly a hyperbole of their life, exaggerating their social lifes making it seem like that's all there is. They may have posted, "Out with the girls tonight!" when in reality they are at home studying for a test the next day.

Do I even really need to explain bandwagon? Come on, everyone's doing it.

Again (sorry for the repetition -- get it? get it? Persuasion techniques, ha!) we see the best version of the person with beautiful people. Although they may not be beautiful (who am I to judge? Social construction of reality, people!) they can certainly look that way by being the gatekeeper of their photos.

Group dynamics comes in to play with the networking aspect. Through groups, and other ways, people can feel like they are part of something.

To Whom It May Concern - Media Meditation #6

I'm not the biggest fan of mass texts, but on the other hand, if you're left out of a mass text what does that say? You're not good enough to even text when it's going to a large group of people? It's a double-edged sword and everyone has a different opinion about it.

That's why I was a little bit nervous when I needed to send out a mass email. I had gotten so many replies from my Craig's List posting that I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed. I had been able to respond to the first few emails personally, but more and more just kept coming in. So many people had different questions and wondered when they could come see the place. I'm graduating in 2.5 weeks and am already so overwhelmed with schoolwork I wondered how I was going to fit showings in to 30 different people as well. I scheduled 3 showings, all with friends of friends so I didn't have to worry about sketchy Craig's List people/strangers. I started thinking, what happens if the first person who comes decides they want it on the spot and I've already scheduled showings with these 30 other people and now I have to go back and cancel them all? I decided my best option would be to send out a mass email answering everyone question that had been asked. I also explained my process for scheduling showings. They would need to send an email back saying they were still interested and I would schedule showings in the order they came in, if they first few people before them hadn't decided they wanted the apartment yet.

I was worried that I was sounding rude and controlling, I made sure I apologized in the email for it being a mass email but that it was in the interest of not wasting their time. After a few hours I received 5 emails back from people saying they were still interested. Some even said they appreciated just getting a response even if it was a mass. If they emailed me with the "I'm Still Interested!" message, I emailed them back personally and thanked them for their patience and gave them an expected date to hear back from me.

This is an example of the personal shift -- from mass to personal; or rather in my case, from personal to mass back to personal. These people emailed me with a personal message, intended just for me. I emailed them all back at once with a mass message intended for all receipients and was not tailored to any one person. If they responded to the mass email, I emailed yet again but this time going back to personal by addressing their particular questions or concerns individually.

From the Media and Society text, "...a sociological perspective -- what he called the 'sociological imagination' -- enables us to see the connections between 'private troubles' and 'public issues.' Such a perspective suggests that we can understand the condition of the individual only by situating that person in the larger context of society" (pg. 18). The people who did not respond to my mass email may have decided that I was rude and controlling. However, maybe the people who did respond decided they understood my perspective. They understood the larger situation of feeling overwhelmed with a large number of responses and not quite knowing how to handle the situation.

Below is another example of a mass message -- a mass text. Although the successfulness of the following mass message is unknown, it's safe to say mine was probably more well received.

Dear CNN, I Hate Your New Homepage. Love, Leah - Media Meditation #5

A few weeks ago, the "New" CNN was born. I don't know what mother CNN was on when she was pregnant, but the "New" CNN did not come out pretty. I unfortunately did not foresee this change coming so I do not have a screen shot of what the old CNN looked like. The old CNN had the most important story on the left side of the screen first with a photo and then the first paragraph and the viewer would click to read more. On the right were links to other news stories. Below is a screen shot of the "New" CNN:



The most important story is still located on the left, however, it used to be the only photo so it would stand out. Now, it competes with a video of a feature story and an advertisement. If you look closely you can even see that the advertisement on the right is bigger than the most important news story! I was furious the first time I saw the "New" CNN. I would see television commercials touting how great the "New" CNN is, yeah, right. Now, instead of my eye being drawn to the big story of the moment, I'm seeing fluffy feature pieces and advertisements for getting an online degree.

This is an example of both an aesthetic shift and an economic shift -- hyper commercialism. This is an aesthetic shift because they were trying to make their website more attractive to visitors by appealing to the limbic brain with more pictures and videos. This new makeover (or under?) blurs the lines between news and entertainment. The economic shift shows the hyper commercialism blatant in the fact that the advertisement is larger than the most important news story! CNN clearly gets more advertising dollars because their advertisers get more room and impression than they did on the old CNN. The Media and Society book says, "It appears that, rather than transporting information, the internet has become a 'virtual mall,' with corporations trying new ways to sell us all sorts of products." (pg. 13) Even our news source is trying to sell to us!

OMG R U 4 Reeelzzz?! - Media Meditation #4

Before I go on with this blog post, I'd like to give a disclaimer: I am in no way claiming innocence with this very serious issue. I have been a grammar and punctuation offender plenty of times in the past. However, I like to think that I know the time and the place to use text-talk or disregard proper sentence mechanics in the interest of time or based on who is the intended receiver of my message.

I digress.

As I've blogged about before, I have lots of experience using Craig's List. While I am using it to rent out my apartment, I am also using it to sell my furniture. I have multiple pieces of furniture for sale and have been getting a few responses. One in particular stood out:

"Hi I like to c the stuff so if u can ? can u give me call plzz I can b reach at 802-***-**** thans ."

No, I did not edit that (besides blocking out the phone number). Someone actually emailed me that and expected a response.

This may be a stretch, but I think this is an epistemological shift -- from word to image. Although it is not an actual image, but still words, they much more represent an image than anything close to words. Since when was "c", "u", "plzz", "b" and "thans" added to the dictionary? When I read this, or tried to read this, I was flabbergasted. I thought and expected that people know when there should be a certain level of professionalism. The way this person (I don't even know if they were male or female since they didn't sign a name) wrote to me, I didn't see words but rather an image of a very unmature and ignorant person for writing in such a manner to a complete stranger through email.

This is another good example of social construction of reality. The reality is the way this person writes. What I can only assume to be their construction of this reality is that they think it's cool, young, and hip. This construction came through their socialization, maybe their friends type that way. My construction of this reality is that it's incredibly unprofessional and inappropriate. My construction came through my socialization of applying for jobs and writing cover letters, etc.

Data Plan Overload! - Media Mediation #3

From my past blog entry, you know all about my apartment renting troubles. Most recently I have listed my apartment on Craig's List. I really wasn't expecting a ton of responses, and I thought it would be a long and difficult road. I am still in the process, however, my expectations thus far have been exceeded. I received 30+ emails from people inquiring about the apartment. Normally, this would have been fantastic, however, I had just gotten a new phone and my very first data plan.


From the Motorola website, "The Motorola Karma QA1 combines texting and social media. IM-style texting provides conversational-style communication. The slide-out keyboard keeps the phone compact."

I had previously owned a Blackberry but since I'm cheap and still on Mommy and Daddy's plan, I never had a data plan. My Blackberry had an unfortunate accident and broke. My top priority in a new phone was a full keyboard. All the phones with full keyboards were smart phones. I decided I had better make the switch over from paperweight mode to full functioning smart phone and buy a data plan.

This is also happened to be the day before I made my Craig's List posting. I had the email function up and working but only received one or two junk emails, but was excited to be connected even away from a computer. When my listing went live, my phone was blowing up nonstop! I received a new email almost every 10 minutes and was feeling incredibly overwhelmed with how I was going to respond to all of them and make appointments for showings with that many people. If the emails hadn't been coming to my phone, I wouldn't have been notified everytime I got a new messages, but rather I'd see them when I asked to see them, by signing into my email from a computer.

This is an example of the technological shift -- from analog to digital. I took photos of my apartment with my digital camera, uploaded them to Craig's List with a description, people then viewed my Craig's List post and emailed me, I then received that email on my cell phone. The Media and Society text explains that, "The communication media are the different technological processes that facilitate communications between (and are in the 'middle' of) the sender of the message and the receiver of that message" (pg. 7). Not only did this facilitate the communcation, but it was dead in the middle of it, without it, the apartment renting process would have been extremely difficult.

My Grocery Store is on Facebook...Seriously?! - Media Meditation #2

Again, seriously?!

If my mom wasn't already using Facebook (you'll hear more about that in another post), I'd say that this is the moment Facebook just became uncool. My grocery store, Superfresh, has a Facebook page. Not only do they have a Facebook page but they have 552 fans! I am shocked that 552 people actually care enough about their grocery store to be a fan of them on Facebook.



This is a prime example of an economic shift -- hyper commercialism and corporate consolidation. The mom and pop grocery stores are slowly dying down and being replaced by the Superfresh's of the world -- case in point, they are a large enough of a corporation to pay someone to be in charge of updating the Superfresh Facebook page.

Corporations are now devoting much of their advertising budgets to social media like Facebook. This creates a hyper commercialised online environment. Almost every webpage you go to, there's an ad. If it's not as blatant as a banner advertisement, maybe it's that 3 of your friends became fans of Superfresh and 2 of them "liked" their photo.

Facebook is exactly where corporate consolidation and corporations come into play. "In particular, integrated media conglomerates seeking the benefits of what industry insiders refer to as "synergy" are likely to favor products that can best be exploited by other components of the conglomerate." (pg. 44 of Media and Society) Facebook is the perfect product for corporations to use to exploit their target market, getting "inside" information on who they are, what they do, what they like, and use it to market to them.

Are You Sure You're Not Sketchy? - Media Meditation #1

Unfortunately, this Thanksgiving, while I was thankful for my loving family and my good health, many not so great things happened which I was not at all thankful for. A few weeks ago I put my apartment on the market to try and find a renter to take over the rest of my lease. I had finally found a new tenant and was very excited. I began selling my furniture and I moved about 1/2 of my stuff back home. Two weeks after this new renter decided she wanted the place, she called me, on Thanksgiving day, to tell me that a friend of hers showed her another apartment that was $200 less than mine and she was going to go with that one. Seriously?!

After much frustration of losing 2 weeks and having to start the search all over again, I listed the apartment on Craig's List and on my Facebook. Shortly after posting on both I had already received a few emails. There was one scammer email which I deleted and another one that seemed a little sketchy. It said:

"Hi,
I am very interested in your 1 bedroom available.
From what I can see in the photos, and based on your description, I could sign a lease as soon as possible.
Can I take a look at it in person?

Thanks so much,
dS"

He didn't even sign with his name! The name listed with the email address was Deke Smith. What kind of name is Deke?! I pushed the email aside since it seemed a little sketchy and decided that I would only respond if I started getting desperate. My Media and Society text tells me that "socialization is the process whereby we learn and internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of our culture and, in so doing, develop a sense of self" (pg. 13). Through socialization, I have come to expect certain norms, for example, signing your name at the end of an email, especially to a stranger.

Within an hour I received a text from my friend, Pat. He said he had a friend would who was interested in my apartment and would love to see it when I got back in town. Great! I was hoping the Facebook posting would lead to a friend or a friend of a friend renting the place, to void out as much sketchiness as possible. I set up a time through Pat with his friend to see the place. I think at the last minute to ask what their name is so I know who to expect at our set time, he says Deke.

Ding, ding, ding!

I put two and two together and realized this was the same Deke who had emailed me. Apparently my assumption that Pat had seen my Facebook posting and thought of his friend in need was completely wrong. Rather, Deke saw my Craig's List posting with the link to more photos on Facebook. On Facebook he looked to see what friends we had in common and there was Pat. He then contacted Pat to get in touch with me to get him a faster in than Craig's List would have. Boy, was he right!

This is an excellent example of the personal shift -- from mass to personal. My Craig's List posting was meant for the world to see. It was just a worm tossed out in the ocean hoping to catch a fish, not targeted (besides that it was listed in Burlington, Vermont). My Facebook posting was just for friends to see, except for the photo album which I linked to the Craig's list posting. However, unless you are my Facebook friend, you can't see any of my other information. This stranger, Deke, was able to use what little information he had about me tossed out into the internet ocean to find a mutual friend, Pat. That's where the shift to personal occurred, Deke then targeted Pat to target me.

It absolutely worked. At first I thought Deke's email came off as a little sketchy. With what I know now, I have a friend vouching for him and he's got the first appointment for an apartment showing out of the other 30 something Craig's List responses I received.

And, to top it off, I also found out from Facebook that he's a Champlain graduate. So I know he's definitely good stuff.

Katrina's Hidden Race War

1. “A shocking report in The Nation magazine exposes how white vigilante groups patrolled the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, shooting at least eleven African-American men.”

2. “While the media portrayed African Americans as looters and thugs, it is now clear that the most serious crimes were committed by gun-toting white males.”

3. “Nathan Roper, another vigilante, says he was unhappy that outsiders were disturbing his corner of New Orleans and that he was annoyed by the National Guard’s decision to use the Algiers Point ferry landing as an evacuation zone. ‘I’m telling you, it was forty, fifty people at a time getting off these boats,’ says Roper. The militia, according to Roper, was armed with handguns, rifles, and shotguns.”

4. “While white vigilantes killed an estimated total of eleven African American victims, local police have never conducted investigations. So far, the crimes have gone unpunished.”

5. “Democracy Now! footage shoes that dead bodies were left, sometimes for weeks, to rot in full view of Homeland Security, State troopers, Army personnel, private security guards, and police who “secured” the streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina.”

Truly Censored?

LEXIS NEXIS provided nothing on this story. I did an archival search of the mainstream news networks (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc) and also found nothing.

The Nation

Democracy Now!

The Huffington Post

Institute for Southern Studies

News One: For Black America

Color of Change

Black Rose Alliance

Let's Talk Postman

WEEK #1

1. Describe three specific characteristics of the "Typographic Mind."

Typography dominated the Age of Exposition in which the American mind, the typographic mind, “submitted itself to the sovereignty of the printing press.” (pg. 63) One characteristic of the typographic mind, found on page 63, is “a large capacity for detachment and objectivity.” The typographic mind can read a piece of work without going into it with a bias or opinion. The typographic mind is able to take each thing on its own and access and analyze it. In today’s world most of the information we receive comes through some sort of filter, whether it be the medium’s bias or our own. Another characteristic of the typographic mind is a “tolerance for delayed response.” The WWW has drastically sped the rate at which we can receive information. Before this invention, the typographic mind was patient. The typographic mind didn’t have expectations and a sense of entitlement to instant gratification. A third characteristic of the typographic mind is a long attention span. The typographic mind could spend hours at a time divulging completely into a piece of work or speech without distraction or boredom. These days everything is rushed and instant gratification is a must.


2. Postman suggests that the twin inventions of 19th century Telegraphy and Photography challenged Typography's monopoly on public discourse. How, specifically did each of these two new media/communications inventions do this?

“But the foresighted among the nation’s publishers were quick to see where the future lay, and committed their full resources to the wiring of the continent” (pg 67) Although telegraphy and photography started slow due to resource, they quickly flourished due to their potential. When all the attention shifted in a large fast movement it greatly threaten typography’s monopoly on public discourse. The new and previously unknown was exciting; public discourse could now be gone about in a fascinating new way in a way that the written word alone could not reel in.


3. What does Postman mean by "The Peek-A-Boo World," and can you give an example of this world from your own media experiences?

On page 77, Postman writes, “…a peek-a-boo world, where now this event, now that, pops into view for a moment, then vanishes again. It is a world without much coherence or sense; a world that does not ask us, indeed, does not permit us to do anything; a world that is, like the child’s game of peek-a-boo, entirely self-contained. But like pee-a-boo, it is endlessly entertaining.” From my own media experiences, I definitely have the peek-a-boo effect when it comes to websites. I will discover a new website and spend hours on end exploring it until eventually, after a few days or sometimes months, I get bored and move on. I never submit my own content nor take part in anyway, just explore and am entertained.


WEEK #2

1. Discuss THREE specific ways in which Postman explains how the medium of television transforms the epistemological nature of each of the following:

A. Public discourse about religion

“To say it still another way: Entertainment is the supra-ideology of all discourse on television. No matter what is depicted or from what point of view, the overarching presumption is that it is there for our amusement and pleasure.” (pg. 87) Rather than religion be about faith itself, the medium of television transformed it into entertainment. Instead of going to a place of worship for religious services, you could now stay in the comfort of your own home and watch your religious program on the television. This creates competition among these television programs because now “worshipers” can simply flip the channel to change their mind about what they wanted. This meant these programs had to be more intriguing, more fun, more exciting, more drama, more everything than the next; therefore becoming entertainment.




B. Public discourse about politics

“The men were less concerned with giving arguments than with “giving off” impressions, which is what television does best.” (pg. 97) Television made looks and charm top the list of priorities for the next president far above intelligence or platform. The candidates and the audience watching their televisions wanted to entertain and be entertained. They were more concerned with how the candidate looked and if they could “KO” their opponent with jokes. Television turned public discourse about polities all into showmanship.

C. Public discourse about education

The story about the Yale University commencement on pages 96 and 97 prove once again how television has changed public discourse is all areas of life, including education. An Ivy League school full of intellectuals being honored for their years of hard work were more impressed with the attendance of Meryl Streep than with honorary degrees awarded to Mother Teresa and other humanitarians and scholars. Not to demean Meryl Streep’s work, but the audience’s excitement came over having a television celebrity present rather than all of the accomplished individuals awarded before her.


2. What specific solutions does Postman offer to improve public communication in our "Peek A Boo" world, and our challenges to communicate in a thoughtful and rational manner in "An Age of Show Business"? In other words, how might we prevent a world in which we are "amusing ourselves to death"?

“There are only two answers that come to mind, one of which is nonsense and can be dismissed almost at once; the other is desperate but it is all we have. The nonsensical answer is to create television programs whose intent would be, not to get people to stop watching television but to demonstrate how television ought to be viewed, to show how television recreates and degrades our conception of new, political debated, religious thought, etc. …The desperate answer is to rely on the only mass medium of communication that, in theory, is capable of addressing the problem: our schools.” (pages 161 and 162) The first answer is clearly ridiculous, in a culture where money talks there is no way morality would lead production companies to follow this path. The second answer is exactly what Postman calls it, desperate. Even if schools were to incorporate media analysis and critical thinking into the education, there’s no telling it would work. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.


3. HARD Question: Does Postman's thesis about television still apply to our public discourse in today's Age of the Internet? Please explain your reasoning in 4-5 sentences.

Postman’s thesis about television still applies to our public discourse in today’s Age of the Internet, except with a twist. It is still greatly focused on entertainment, however with the interactivity component it is a step up. There is an opportunity for people to question what they read/hear/see and search for other answers. The 6 big media don’t have control over the internet so there endless opinions and view points to discover and censorship of the medium isn’t an issue. In the Age of the Internet people have a greater opportunity to question what is.

Who Am I and What Do I Think?

That's me! Attractive eh?

I'm Leah Shearer from Baltimore, MD, a Public Relations major graduating in December. I've recently learned to write everything in your calendar in pencil and be flexible! My plans for the future haven't panned out like I had hoped, so I'm in a transition mode now of figuring out what to do with the rest of my life, easy right? I'm not exactly sure where in the country I'll end up but I want to do PR work for a company I love and really enjoy going into work everyday for. I'm really pretty flexible about where I end up, but Ive got a sweet spot for sweet tea and the South.

Honestly, I had no "fun" media experience this summer. I spent my entire summer working a full-time job, a part-time job, AND volunteering. However, with all my down time at work I got into the habit of reading the newspaper everyday. The fun parts of my summer included being disconnected from media!

What I love about 21st century media culture is the endless amount of information right at your finger tips. Can't remember who that guy is in that movie? IMDB it! What I hate about 21st century media culture is how everyone knows everyone on Facebook (or Twitter, etc.) but then you don't actually know them in real life; and when you finally do meet them? Oh yeah I already know everything about your life, awkward!

I've only been in this class for about four weeks so far but I've learned quite a bit. The four most important media-related concepts I've learned so far are as follows:

• Don't rely solely on the internet!

The internet is an incredibly invention. You can find and plagiarize any piece of work or information in a matter of seconds! It's fantastic to keep in touch with friends and family and be an individual (along with the rest of the world.) However, could the internet possibly be making us stupid? It's important not to rely on the internet for everything; your brain needs stimulation. Way back before the internet, or even television, people were much more intelligent and articulate. They had greater attention spans and, yes, actually ENJOYED reading!

• Be aware of gatekeepers

Ownership of the medium is something to consider when consuming it. Remember that there have been a number of gatekeepers editing and censoring the medium before it reached you. Be aware of this and keep it in mind when analyzing what you see or hear.

• Don't just consume, create!

With the introduction of the internet, consumer are no longer just consumers, but also producers! The internet provides endless outlets for creativity. In fact, check out this video my classmates and I made:

• Technology can lead to a slippery slope

Although the Feed world seems like a stretch of the imagination, it could one day be a possibility. With our ever changing technology and capabilities it could quickly become a slippery slope. This again leads back to not relying solely on the internet. Get outside and get some fresh air every once in awhile!


Now to the obvious most important piece of this course, the four tool sets. My relationship with them is going quite well. I'm very comfortable with the triune brain and the 29 T.O.P. I still feel like I need the pack in front of me for the other two sets however. As far as the T.O.P. go, I feel as if the average consumer today is too smart to be fooled. The best T.O.P. will appeal to the limbic and reptilian brain. The neocortex brain thinks too much and can easily debunk the T.O.P.


There is, however, media related question I can't seem to wrap my head around. I don't understand the concept that machinces/technology/media is smarter than humans and is scary or why we should be concerned. Humans make machines. Humans teach machines what they know. I don't fully understand why I should be concerned about the direction technology and media are heading in.


Now that you've gotten a taste of who I am and what I think, would you like to know what I'm doing?