News, trust, and 'truthiness'

While reading some classmates blogs, I received the general impression that each person believed satirical news is as reliable as traditional news broadcasts. A student noted that “while these satirical forms of media are often looked upon as more for entertainment than actual knowledge, they do inform the viewer of current events to the same extent that traditional media would” (http://keenbeau80.wordpress.com/). This statement strengthens the idea that satirical news is as reliable as traditional news. It is firmly stated that viewers are informed of the current events happening around them. This is the main point of news casts and using a more comedic approach does not take away from the information given. Another student mentioned that ‘they provide a different take on popular news stories, which causes people to question these stories and not just believe what they hear” (http://cpcf1f25blog.wordpress.com/). Though some may argue that questioning news reports is a bad issue, it does happen. Reading this quote helped me better understand that satirical news reports are not something to look down upon, but they leave news reports with an open ended approach while traditional news just give you the facts about current events.

As one student noted, “I’d like to present the idea that these satirical news reporting’s are useful sources of entertainment that provide relief and a sense of voice for views of the public sphere who choose to indulge in its content” (http://nk13ps.wordpress.com/). Using this quote as an example, I realize what the conclusions of development for the contemporary public sphere could be. If individuals can all accept that satirical news reports can be a reliable source of information, then the media could move forward in attracting more individuals to watch news broadcasts. I personally do not like watching the news because I find it very discouraging and negative towards our society. As this quote states, satirical news provides relief for viewers by contributing comedy to its broadcasts. This can assist in the development of the public sphere because instead of the viewer’s hearing about the latest deadly storm, the news cast can find comedy in the story while also explaining what has happened in current events. Overall, I believe that satirical news is as reliable as traditional news and the conclusions brought on by the development of this type of program can benefit the viewers in a positive way.

Is Fake News the Real News?

In Canada, new things happen all around us every day. In order to keep up to date on what is happening in our city, most individuals turn to news casts. Some television shows such as The Daily Report and The Rick Mercer Report are not regular news broadcasts. These shows tend to act as a fake news programs. These shows rely on comedy in recent news stories and political figures to deliver the news. The question is, are satirical news reports a mainstream form of culture jamming? In the text, it is explained that “the objectives of culture jamming often include consciousness raising (raising awareness of social and political issues) as well as using the media to criticize and dominant culture” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, pg. 214). Based on this quote in our textbook, I believe that satirical news reporting is a mainstream form of culture jamming. Though these television shows may not be entirely focused on explaining what has happened in current events, they are bringing awareness to the situation. Culture jamming is described as raising awareness of social and political issues, but “it can also reference a more playful, spontaneous form of improvising and engaging with the media, as when musicians jam together” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, pg. 213). By using humour to explain current events, this not only brings popularity to the television show but it also brings awareness to those who do not enjoy watching the news. Comedy is liked by many societies because it can give you a good laugh and make you feel good about yourself. These points above prove that satirical news reports are a mainstream form of culture jamming in our society.

                I agree with the notion that reportage such as this are useful to the public sphere. The public sphere is where we discuss and debate issues of social concern. Satirical news gives individuals a new perspective of current events. This gives us a diversity of opinion which can be useful in our culture. Instead of only watching news casts that give one sided opinions, we are able to see the events through a different light. These reports may bring more awareness to the public sphere because instead of only noticing the negatives in news reports, we are able to laugh at the humour of the situations.

O'Shaugnessy, M., & Stadler, J. (2012). Media and Society (Fifth ed., pp. 184-185). South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Demonstrable Demographics

            This week, as a class we were collectively asked to read several classmates blogs and compare similarities or differences in relation to the hailing process of advertisements. After reading all of the blogs I chose randomly, I was only able to find similarities in all entries. Each individual expressed that they believe advertisements are appealing or ‘hailing’ to our demographic in a successful way. Fellow classmate Ellen believes “that Nike is encouraging the women population to just believe in themselves and go for something with confidence” (http://em12jk.blogspot.ca/2013/11/what-hail.html). Ellen is stating that in her opinion, the hailing process is giving young women a positive reflection of themselves, opposed to a negative one. When analyzing an Iphone ad, another classmate stated that “the portrayal of the phone as a life tool for people who do various activities makes it appeal to a large demographic” (http://jattinc.wordpress.com/). With the advertisement of a product like the Iphone that can be used by either gender, this type of hailing process works extremely well. Instead of using strategies to only hail one gender or age group, this advertisement is expressing that anyone’s life can improve by purchasing this product. Both individuals suggest that advertisements have been using clever techniques to attract our demographic by not only portraying our demographic in a positive way, but by not creating a stereotype in the ad that can only relate to a certain type of individual.

Brittany suggests that advertisements are “constantly reinforcing our gender roles while subconsciously appealing to our demographic” (http://cpcframblings.blogspot.ca/). I disagree with this thought process because as stated above, I believe that advertisements do a better job at attracting a demographic without the need for gender roles. Yes, it is a successful way of attracting a certain gender for a product, but by developing an advertisement that can relate to everyone, the company has a greater chance of being more successful. I feel that the representations advertisements make about the teen/young adult demographic are very accurate. They understand how we think, what we want, and how to encourage us to buy a company’s product through advertisements.

What The Hail?

For my advertisement, I decided to choose one from the biggest skin care company that has been in the media for the last few years. Neutrogena is a company that gears their advertisements towards young women, by using our favourite stars to promote the company’s products. In the advertisement I chose, Vanessa Hudgens was the current Covergirl. The product she is using is the new Neutrogena Wave which claims to clean your pores deeper and result in softer skin.

 In the text, interpellation is described as “a process in which we internalise ideologies as a response to being hailed or addressed” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, pg. 185). This advertisement uses many strategies to hail women and teens. At the time this advertisement was released, Vanessa Hudgens was staring in the movie High School Musical and was in the media constantly. Many young girls looked up to her and wanted to be just like her. This advertisement is targeted at my demographic because all teenagers get acne. It is a normal occurrence and it can relate to every individual who suffers with acne. Vanessa Hudgens is shown in the commercial using the product and she expresses that “my skin is softer right away, even my friends noticed”. Many girls are insecure about themselves in one way or another. In the text, it explains that “our identities (our concept of who we are) are, like language and ideologies, constructed” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, pg. 184). If young adults buy this product, they might not care if it does what the advertisement entails or not. They will be thinking about the fact that their favourite celebrity uses the same product and that the people around them will notice the different immediately.

I believe that this advertisement is successful in its attempt to represent the norms of everyday life. It is normal for teens to get acne along with skin care problems and it seems to be something many individuals are ashamed off. They feel embarrassed and that everyone is looking at that feature. By Vanessa Hudgens representing this product, it may take some of the embarrassment away from the individuals because they feel confident by seeing their favourite star use the same product and look flawless.

O'Shaugnessy, M., & Stadler, J. (2012). Media and Society (Fifth ed., pp. 184-185). South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Wanted: The media we need

In today’s society, we are surrounded by media trying to inform us about important social, political, cultural, and/or economic matters. Many individuals such as our grandparents tune into the news every night at six. Our family members watch news networks faithfully every night because they enjoy staying informed and finding out what is happening in their own city. “Like when one watches TV, no one watches shows that they do not find interesting and if there are boring ads people change the channel” (http://boston94.blogspot.ca/). In comparison to news networks, is that type of media we want the same as the media we need? I believe that even though people like to watch the news and keep themselves updated with what is going on around them, we do not need this type of media. While reading my fellow classmates blog posts, I stumbled across this very point. “Ever noticed how lately when you watch the news it seems like nothing good is ever happening? It is only ever tragedies, wars and despair” (http://brockbadger.wordpress.com/ ). Though we may want to watch the news, we do not need to surround ourselves with all these negative thoughts.

My personal media choices do not better inform me about important social, political, cultural, and/or economic matters because I choose not to find out about this information. I do not like hearing about the latest murder downtown but the news pushes those types of stories on us because of the ratings the network will receive. Everyone would rather hear about that murder, than hear a heartwarming story about a fireman recusing a cat out of a tree. “In terms of politics and news, most conservatives will only consume channels like FOX, and most liberals will only consume channels like MSNBC or CNN, this is why there is bias in the media, because it’s what society wants, this restricts people from seeing both sides to a situation and can lead to ignorant people “ (http://ihadatoughtimecomingupwithanameformyblog.wordpress.com/ ). It is not difficult for us to find information about what is going on around us, but we do not need to watch the news each night. By watching the media we ‘need’, we are only hearing one side of a bad story. The media we want is not the same as the media we need. Our society needs to become surrounded by the good things that are happening in our neighbourhood, not always the bad and scary.

The Media We Want?

When it comes to the media, society is surrounded by it. It can be seen in forms such as television shows, press, radio, and the cinema. The main question surrounding the media, is do we get what we want? “The media are one of the social forces that produce popular common sense, the general social beliefs and feelings of a society” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, Pg. 59). Every individual has different feelings, needs, emotions and ambitions but when it comes to the media, society is looked at as a mass. In relation to television, cable makes a variety of different networks available to individuals. Those separate networks air television shows that portray what the network stands for. The network also attempts to relate to a certain demographic. For example, Space is a television network that airs television shows such as Paranormal State, Doctor Who and Destination Truth. These shows attract individuals that may believe in supernatural phenomenon such as ghosts and aliens but due to different social classes and interests, this network may not interest everyone. “The media producers, in constructing their images and stories, are reflecting various social ideas and beliefs that are held by different social groups” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, Pg. 59).

                Media producers realise that every individual is different, so they continue to release new forms of the media that will relate to each individual. Producers and television networks have conducted surveys to determine the age, income, interests and feelings of their viewers. Once the results get analysed, this gives the producers and networks a general idea of which type of television show or movie they should release next. “If people do not like the product, they will look elsewhere for one, so the media must satisfy their popular audience, which is predominantly working-class and about 50 per cent female” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, Pg. 37). The media focuses on making television shows, movies, and radio stations that targets the interest working-class females but not all media is like this. New websites, radio stations, television shows and movies release frequently and they come in all different genres. These also target different audiences with different personalities. Society is so diverse that there is something out there for every individual, and we do get the media we want. Every media form may not attract the interest of each person, but that individual will continue to search for that form of media until it is found. 

O'Shaugnessy, M., & Stadler, J. (2012). Media and Society (Fifth ed., pp. 37-59). South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.

Media Impact on Others

             When reading my other classmates blog responses about how the mass media impacts their lives, I found many varying thoughts and ideas but one main concern from many stood out the most; The impact that the media has specifically on the body image of women.

Personally, I was never impacted by the way the mass media portrays women. The mass media seems to have a large effect on my classmates that are women.  I was aware even at a young age that not all women could be skinny, weigh one hundred pounds and have the best clothes. By reading the blog posts of others, I realized that this was not the case for everyone. For some, the mass media becomes not only an entertainment source but an obsession. “From a very young age I was very insecure about my body and it did not help that on the television you would see half naked girls dancing on all the boys.” - http://montanahighley.wordpress.com/. It never occurred to me that other women could tear themselves apart so badly due to what they see on television or in magazines. Not only do these individuals think that they are not pretty or skinny enough but they become convinced that everyone around them believes the same thing as well. “I’ve been pulled into this black hole where all I care about is how I can look better.” - http://societythroughmyeyes.wordpress.com/. Depending on how extreme this student felt about herself, it could have been possible for her to develop diseases such as anorexia and/or bulimia in which she would starve herself in hopes to become skinnier. This could become very dangerous and ultimately lead to the individual to become hospitalized. "One of my closest friends fell into a trap of being obsessed about her weight and looks. Media took over her entire outlook on life; she became a victim of the media’s unrealistic view on image.” - http://kw12hb.wordpress.com/. Many people do not realize that this is happening to their family member or daughter because the individual does not want to bring attention to themselves.

The mass media’s impact on women is a huge issue that I never seemed to notice because it never affected myself or others around me. After reading the blog posts from the other students, my view on the mass media has changed drastically. I now understand how much of an influence the mass media has had not only on my classmates but on women all around the world. I used to believe that the mass media was always a positive thing but now I am beginning to realize that there are negative points to it that everybody might not be able to see.

The Media Impact

When asked the question of how the media impacts my own life, I was not sure how to answer the question. There are so many examples that could be used to explain the impact of social media on individuals as well as a society. The device that seems to make social media go round is the cell phone. The brand Apple has become a major factor in how people communicate with others by the use of social media apps such as Twitter, Facebook, Vine, and Instagram. Currently, the company makes $444 per second.

Today marks the day that the long awaited new software update iOS 7.0 comes out for the IPhone. This contains hundreds of new features along with a beautiful new design. For some, updating the phone can be tricky. I myself hit roadblocks for several hours just trying to download the new software. I decided to check Twitter to decipher if this was only happening to me or if the program simply was not working. Instead of trying to find a solution by myself, I turned to the media for answers. By checking Twitter I was able to look for my answer while keeping myself updated on what my friends and favourite celebrities were doing at the same time.

If I had not found the answer that I was looking for, then I would have gone straight to the Google search engine. Now unlike the generations that lived before me, I cannot remember a time when there was no internet. It is crazy to think that at one point if I had a question about how to cook pizza I would need to travel to the library, find a book on cooking pizza, then read the whole thing to find my answer. By technology taking such huge leaps, we are able to search any word in any language and find the meaning. We can find the answers to any question we have no matter how crazy or silly it may sound.

The media surrounds my life so much and adds that personal element of being able to interact with individuals as well as keep others updated and connected to myself. I can honestly say that I do not know what I would do if tomorrow everybody involved with the media collectively decided to shut down all forms of media. The media has taken the world by storm and will continue to change the way we live our everyday lives as time goes on.