Exploring Concepts...For the Second Time!

Week 3; Chapter 15 - pick a theory

            As a media hungry society, humans as a general population seek news of their world from television, radio, and newspapers, among other mass media sources. The stories a source decides to reveal are the stories we ingest, and more often than not, we do not investigate events that are not covered by some form of popular broadcasting or publishing companies. Therefore, we are only submitted to news that the sender wants us to see/hear. Until the classroom study of media therories, I had no idea that this phenomenon had a concrete definition as a media theory. The agenda setting theour resonates with me because I see it happening all the time, everywhere. Press releases are all about setting agendas for what the producers want their consumers to know, keeping other, more secret knowledge withheld from the general population’s ears.

            Just recently, I read an article about the NASA rover Curiosity landing and roaming 23 feet on Mars. The quotes given by the project manager, Peter C. Theisinger, are empty and provide no information regarding the project. The only thing he said, over and over when questioned, was that “things are going well.” Theisinger wants the readers to only pay attention to the fact that the mission happened and it’s going well, withholding facts that could give any detailed information.

Political Propaganda

Hot Topic for Week 3: Political Adds on Facebook and Their Accuracy

The political add above shows simple-minded candidate bashing with little evidence to back up the claim. I researched into the organization cited at the bottom of the add, curious if they were a reliable source or if they took grapevine hearsay and turned it into blind propaganda. Most of the articles about Mitt Romney include guesses at possible bigotry, but had hardly any evidence to back it up. For example, the line, “Because Romney looks out for Wall Street types like himself, the middle class would be forgotten in Mitt Romney’s America,” was not followed nor was preceded by any factual evidence that Romney would “forget” about the middle class.  

When facts were found, their sources were either convoluted or unreliable. The organization included many hyperlinks within the articles, citing the sources used to gather the information presented. However, at least a third of the links did not work and took me to a page that said, “URL not found,” or something of the matter. Most of the hyperlinks that do work lead the reader to essays or articles written by authors who use sources such as Yahoo! News, ABC News, or the New York Times. These cites are not direct, reliable sources with which to quote without further research into where the information obtained therein originated. Yet, no further research seems to have been done. The first thing I noticed once I was at the cite were the giant red buttons that screamed DONATE! Why does this organization need donations? What are they going to spend their money on if they don’t research anything further than from the mouths of popular news stations?

The stories on prioritiesusaaction.org, as well as the ones used in citation for their information, list off tax cuts and economic decisions that are said to hurt the middle class, yet provide no explanation as to how the middle class would be hurt. If you are pushing propaganda and making a claim, you should be able to back it up. But parts of the audience obtaining the message, especially through a social networking cite like Facebook, do not delve into where the message came from. Absorbed blindly by media illiterate consumers, the information does not have to be accurate to be believed.

http://www.prioritiesusaaction.org/mitt-romneys-america

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/obama-says-mitt-romney-would-make-things-worse-for-middle-class/

http://www.prioritiesusaaction.org/about

Exploring Concepts...For the First Time!

Week 2; Chapter 1/15: On Postmodernism

            In the mid-twentieth century, man began to produce films (and television shows) and publish literature that focused more on reinventing classic media artifacts, embracing technology, and exploring the unearthly lure of fantastical and supernatural creatures. Television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, more recently, True Blood, have swept the nation. I know about the vampire epidemic, as well as our flourishing modern technological advances (that is turning into dependency) and our habit of artistic reproduction, but have never linked these recent cultural attributes together. I found the section in chapter one about postmodernism to be quite interesting because I had heard the phrase “postmodern” before, but until I read Media Essentials for week one I had no idea what the term meant. The values of today’s society do not surprise me. As a race, we seem to be gravitating more toward technology, which in turn frightens us into seeking the comfort of otherworldly spirits, whether they be ghosts or angels. We are also creatures of repetition. We see something done, we do it. Absorb and respond with the like. Copycat-ism is more than an epidemic; it’s human nature. I found these concepts about postmodernism to be intriguing. It is amazing how, like the book says, The Matrix is an obvious exploration of the possible downfalls if postmodern society were to be taken to an extreme.

Pokémon Identity Crisis

  Hot Topic for Week 2: Pokémania Plagues the Playground

An Investigation of the Powers of Pikachu

            When I was an apple-cheeked second grader, a media-spawned epidemic rampaged through the streets, infecting children everywhere. It swept (and is still sweeping, though not as intensely) classrooms and living rooms and department stores throughout the world. Powerful, it caught me unawares and I was sucked into the void of endless merchandise and early morning television specials. It’s not until now that I am older have I realized how much Pokémon dominated popular culture in the 1990’s. Every kid in my class had Pokémon toys. When we were released into the concrete wild of the playground, it was the creatures from Pokémon we mimicked, battling each other and running around with exclamations of, “Pikachu, use thunderbolt!”

            Due to its immense popularity, Pokémon sales soared. The colorful characters were exotic and plentiful, and battling was an intense test of wits. For those who did not catch on to the craze due to personal interest, it was injected into their brains with a big fat hypodermic needle. As noted in Mclean’s magazine, Nintendo’s Pokémon franchise had, “already sold more than $5 billion worth of games, toys and cards worldwide,” as of 1999. Pokémon had only been out for three years in America and had sense made several billion more in sales, making it one of the most successful toy franchises ever. Christopher Byrne, editor of New York City’s The Toy Report, predicted that in 1999, “1 of 5 items sold for kids this Christmas will have Pokémon on it.” Pokémon clearly affected kids, offering multiple media through which fans could enjoy their favorite characters.

            The other day, a friend of mine had made a comment on how they never liked Pokémon as a kid and laughed as if it were a ridiculous possibility. A few hours later, I was rummaging through his closet (looking for magazines for an art class assignment) and opened a box full of papers. Amongst the article clippings and worksheet clutter, I found Pokémon cards. They were few and in rough shape, but still provided enough evidence to call him out as a liar.

When approached with the cards, he shook his head and replied, “All of the other kids had them. Of course I acquired a few, but that doesn’t mean I liked them.” The intent behind the ownership of the cards might not have been for self interest, but the evidence proves that he had been infected by the Pokémon craze as a child. He most likely went with the flow of his classmates, stricken by the spiral of silence theory, unable to reject the commonly accepted pastime with fear of being ostracized. A popular franchise like Nintendo’s Pokémon, if widely projected and distributed amongst several different forms of media (toys, games, shows, books), can brainwash most kids into conforming their interests and embracing those of their peers.

Quick links to sources:

http://ezproxy.eastcentral.edu:2095/ehost/detail?vid=18&hid=9&sid=ad7c5bb4-0180-4480-af64-8af79312bd08%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=2466321

 

http://ezproxy.eastcentral.edu:2095/ehost/detail?vid=26&hid=9&sid=ad7c5bb4-0180-4480-af64-8af79312bd08%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=2478695

http://ezproxy.eastcentral.edu:2139/gic/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=Relevance&tabID=T006&prodId=GIC&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R1&searchType=&currentPosition=5&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2C%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C7%29Pokemon%24&userGroupName=morenetecentral&inPS=true&docId=A149705903&contentSet=IAC-Documents&docId=A149705903&docType=IAC

picture:

http://www.google.com/imgres?num=10&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=847&tbm=isch&tbnid=z1Rz_hHeGkq2PM:&imgrefurl=http://www.toy-tma.com/kids-toys/pokemon-toys/&imgurl=http://www.toy-tma.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Pokemon-Mini-figures.jpg&w=500&h=333&ei=UFA9UOfKMobrygHm3oDYDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=262&sig=109845122903219991234&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=164&tbnw=226&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0,i:114&tx=99&ty=64