This post is due by Tuesday, February 4 @ midnight for full credit.
Email late posts to rob.williamsATmadriver.com for partial credit.
Read our MEDIA@SOCIETY book, assigned chapter above.
In a SINGLE blog post below, provide for the chapter:
1. A single sentence, IYOW, that captures the chapter's THESIS (main argument).
2. THREE specific pieces of supporting documentation - ideas, concepts, stats, data - to bolster your thesis for the chapter. (Use 2 - 3 sentences for each.)
3. A single PERSONAL story of 3-4 sentences that connects the chapter directly with your own personal media experiences.
4. A SINGLE specific question you have after reading and blogging on the chapter.
Game on,
Dr. W
(1) It seems that the first chapter primarily focuses on common misconceptions of media and does a good job breaking down the different types of media criticisms (reflectionist, constructivist and narrativist).
ReplyDelete(2) Reflectionist Criticism - Focuses on how well the media represent the real world. This type of criticism often discusses how unrealistic certain aspects of the media, especially television. Two popular "watchdog" groups are Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) and Accuracy In Media (AIM).
Constructivist Criticism - Focuses on how the media shapes or "constructs" individuals and society. This type of media criticism was created by media scholars from the Frankfurt School, who saw firsthand how a heavily mediated environment could create a toxic society (Nazi Germany). "A constructionist is interested in how ideology (organized seer of ideas and beliefs) supports hegemony (ideologically enforced power relations) and how it is that the media are part of this constant process of maintaining the status quo" (16).
Narrativist Criticism - Focuses on the media as society's central "storytellers." Stories are the most symbolic way that we can make sense of everyday life. "Even if media stories are designed only to sell us something or to provide a platform for commercial pitches, they tell us important things about who we are and what we value" (17).
(3) Well, I don't know if I'm answering this question properly, but one thing that really stuck out to me was under the "Constructionist Criticism" section. Alan Bloom published a popular book in 1986 called, "The Closing of the American Mind," which discussed how rock music distracted young people from reading great literature and philosophical works. I find it comical that Bloom based a person's drive to become better educated with the type of music they listen to. However, it's a common stereotype even to this day. I personally like a lot of metal/punk music, which most people associate with violence or anti-religious beliefs. Because I listen to that type of music, does that make me a violent, angry, atheist? Of course not. I'm sure there may be people out there like that...but to stereotype someone's personality and beliefs based solely off of music preference is ridiculous.
(4) I found hardly any statistics or visuals in this chapter, which was very disappointing. What percentage of people believe the media is bad? How many people have the "third-person effect"?
ReplyDelete1. The media that control and infiltrate every sector of our society are often misconstrued as being far less implicit in our society than they actually are and the different forms that media can adopt in order to successfully convey a message alter our perception of everything in a subconscious way.
2.
1) In the Reflectionist Criticism, media are described as, “...inadequate sources of information because they offer us distorted images” (Media in Society, 14). However, the general population seems to think that, “...TV’s visual aura and near ubiquity makes the medium seem-among all mass media forms- best suited to reflect real images of daily life with the most accuracy” (Media in Society, 14). This gap of knowledge lends itself to creating a society based on incredibly fake ideals and events.
2) The chapter uses Allan Bloom’s quote, “...But as long as they the Walkman on [ Today he might cite the iPod], they cannot hear what the great tradition has to say, and, after its prolonged use, when they take it off, they find they are deaf” (Media in Society, 16). This quote comments on our ever increasing usage of technology and how, similar to the feed, we cannot seem to function without media and everything in our life operates in tandem with the media we mindlessly and subconsciously consume to the point where really, nothing independent of the media exists.
3) Within the Narrativist Criticism, the idea is introduced that, “Even if media stories are designed only to sell us something or to provide a platform for commercial pitches, they tell us important things about who we are and what we value” (Media in Society, 17). The problem with this concept is that the vast majority of us are media illiterate, and therefore we do not actively recognize that we are constantly being bombarded with stories that shape the way we think, act, and live and the importance of noticing whether this affects us negatively or positively is incredibly important to our moral and social integrity.
3. I find that within my daily experiences I encounter an incredible amount of people, including my friends, who are not media literate. The series finale of the show, The Hills ended with all the production crew being exposed and essentially the “mask” being taken off this “reality” television show and being exposed for what it truly is, which is a carefully constructed and written TV show produced to appear as reality. To my shock and dismay, my friends were genuinely shocked when they realized that what they had been watching for so many years was not in fact reality, but basically the same exact thing as a written sitcom. This illustrates how successful media are and how deceiving our entire society based on this mass media culture has become since the invention of the printing press.
4. Why is it that our society is not media literate? What specifically about media makes the vast majority of humans incapable of realizing the tactics and approaches towards undermining our understanding of media usage?
1.) The first chapter of Media in Society focuses on the idea of how different forms of media platforms mislead our society and how we must learn to realize this then analyze what we have experienced and react accordingly.
ReplyDelete2.) In the section of Interpretation the first sentence reads, “In the interpretive stage, we try to determine the meanings of the patterns we have analyzed. Interpretation demands an answer to that ‘So what?’ question.” (10) Interpretation is considered to be the most difficult stage but the reward is worth the struggle. When we answer the “So what” question our result will become more clear. The Reflection criticism area of the book stated, “A reflectionist perspective focuses on how well or badly the media represent the real world.” (13) This would demonstrate the idea of how media platforms can manipulate people in everything they do. That goes hand in hand with constructions criticism, “focuses on the ways media shape or construct individuals and society.” This quote made me feel confident enough to say in my one sentence about the thesis to the first chapter “and react accordingly.” I say this because if we don’t act a certain way it is due to the fact that we reacted from a certain medium.
3.) Media as Stories: Back in the day when I would watch Fairly Odd- Parents, Rugrats or Rocket Power I realized something about each episode in the fifth grade. It hit me that each episode had a message with it. With that said every episode in television series like the few I listed above can be analyzed and a childhood lesson could be found within the story of the episode. I thought to myself that it was a clever way for the produces to teach kids good intentions.
4.) Is an example of third-person effect be of someone quoting a movie over and over?
Although it is not always acknowledged, media technologies sustain considerable influence on the way society functions as a whole.
ReplyDeleteForms of communication instituted developments of early democracies such as the Ancient Athenian Democracy. Now through contemporary forms of media like social networking, thoughts are easily broadcasted between numerous groups of people without delay. Media in Society cites the mobilization of the Occupy Wall Street movement and how it “demonstrates that new media technologies can be instrumental in fostering and sustaining democratic practices” (7) Media influence also extends to the economy. America is a nation built on capitalism, media are consolidated with commerce through its push for consumerism “media are products of capitalism, as well as purveyors of it.“ (7)
The Constructionist Criticism incorporates the Frankfurt School Perspective that emphasizes, “What it means to live in a heavily mediated environment.” (15) We live in a culture that is affected by media and at some point that exposure must leave an impact on its participants. The viewer is held at the will of media and ideologies are constantly transferred whether the receiver realizes it or not.
Narrativist Criticism cites media as society’s storytellers. Everything communicated to us is presented in a story-like format. Consumers are often unaware of this platform, “stories can be simple or complex, shallow or deep, confirming or challenging, depending on the context in which they are told.”(17) Humans are now more than ever subjected to different “stories” at rapid rates.
I find that I am constantly being bombarded with versions of media and stories. A news report featured on CNN differs strongly from one on FOX news, media bias packages stories in a way they think will best be received by viewers. It’s good that the critical process on page 24 helps media consumers in describing, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating and engaging with media.
Are there instances where scapegoating the media hasn’t led to a dead end?
Media have an impact on our technology, democracy, and capitalism, and while they are often viewed as the enemy, it is necessary to assess their benefits to society, in order to get a full understanding of their role in our lives.
ReplyDeleteFor example, holding the media fully responsible for something is unreasonable. When they are used as scapegoats for an occurrence like “a young middle-school student injur[ing] another over a name-brand jacket,” condemning the ads that glamourize these products is one approach, but people cannot forget other factors that could have played into the incident like the “growing disparity between rich and poor” (19). Media also have a direct impact on capitalism. According to Media In Society, “not only does advertising support news and entertainment programming, but we are categorized by media as consumers and as markets” (7). This creates a cyclical pattern in which the media have some hold on our lives, but we also have the power by getting to choose what we consume and support. Finally, it is ironic that media are often perceived as untrustworthy or harmful when a majority of people continue have a deep attachment to certain media products, proving that we cannot simply remove media from our lives. To resolve the paradox, one could stop following the assumption that all “popular media forms are… bad for us” (20).
I have personally experienced the media junk food or health food paradox when it comes to Twitter. When I first created one I stuck to the idea that it was a waste of time and another pointless social media platform, but I still found myself scrolling through my timeline when I was bored or reading tweets when I was supposed to be doing homework. I maintained that it was a useless thing to do, but I still participated in it, unable to stop myself long enough to match my beliefs with my actions.
The authors of Media In Society were adamant on not blaming media or using them as scapegoats, but aren’t the media somewhat responsible for perpetuating some messages and enforcing some beliefs on their audience? Can we really take all of the blame away from them?
1. I think the thesis for this chapter is about society and yourself becoming media literate by recognizing that our media is simply an extension of ourselves as a society, and that our media and our stories revolve around our lives and tells us who we are and what we value as a culture.
ReplyDelete2. One example of how media is extension of ourselves is Marshall McLuhan’s famous quote about how media technologies are “extensions of man” (page 6). Media forms not only shape us personally, but also gives us an insight into what we enjoy seeing in the media, or else why would it be there? A second supporting idea is called ‘Constructionist Criticism’, which “focuses on the ways the media shape… individuals and society” (page 15). This form of media criticism specializes in how our media shapes us and what we do, and how media controls us. “The media make us into what they need us to be” (page 16). A third way the media is reflective of who we are is the ‘Narrativist Criticism’ view, which states that because storytelling is an engaging medium for (almost) everyone, its content “tell[s] us important things about who we are and what we value.” Our stories involve us and our lives and our values and challenges; otherwise, there would be no point to stories if we learned nothing from them or could not relate to them.
3. I’ve found that media with deep, valuable messages imbedded in its content hit me the hardest and this is the type of media I enjoy the most. I find that if I can relate with a developed character who has the same challenges and problems I have, the more engaged and interested I am in that story or media.
4. What specific elements of a story make it a "good story" or more engaged to audiences?
1) This chapter talks about the affects that media has on us both consciously and subconsciously and it describes each form of media criticism.
ReplyDelete2) “True media criticism analyzes the media as social, cultural, historical, political, and economic content and form. It is not about whether the writer likes or doesn’t like a particular genre or show, but about what the writer thinks are and do – in particular and in general.” (13) The three approaches to media criticism are reflectionist, constructionist and narrativist. A reflectionist perspective talks about the ways in which the media portrays the real world. The constructionist criticism describes the ways in which media shapes us after spending hours in front of media. The narrativist discusses how the media is all about storytelling.
“We ‘shouldn’t’ like some media so much, the reasoning goes, because it’s not good for us” (20) This sentence talks about the fact that we all enjoy things that aren’t very good for us and the media is one of them. I feel like we all spend way more time absorbing media than we realize and therefore we are subconsciously affected.
“Our goal in writing this book is to help you become media literate.” (24) This quote talks about the idea of media literacy. There is so much information that the media spews out and it is hard for people who are not media literate to decipher whether or not it’s true. If we all were somewhat media literate, it would be easier to protect ourselves from the overbearing media messages.
3) Chapter one talks about media literacy and the problem of listening to the media if you are not media literate. I feel like a lot less people than we think are media literate. I know even I will spend a lot more time than I think absorbing different kinds of media and subconsciously it’s affecting me. Even after realizing how the media bribes us to buy certain things, I still go out and buy what they are advertising using all those different techniques.
4) What is the average age when people start to become media literate?
1.) The first chapter of Media in Society acknowledges how people misinterpret the different kinds of media on the internet.
ReplyDelete2.) Rejectionist Criticism represents the distorted images that we see every day. This view of media changes the way you think about certain styles or art because the items are meant to look more appealing and in reality are fake. There are “inadequate sources of information because they offer us distorted images” (p.14).
Narrativist Criticism is similar to a short commercial ad that tells a story to connect you to their product. Media is like this in that you can be informed of everything in a time line.
Constructions Criticism is the importance that media has when affecting people in society. This mostly focuses on the ‘construction of individuals and society’ and how media is constantly the top fad.
3. This chapter relates to my life mostly because of he part regarding the rejectionist criticism. One of my teammates from high school was a model who was overly concerned about how she looked. Shocking. The story is however, that every day when I would see her at practice, she would be mesmerized by different magazines that had pictures of photo-shopped women. Every day we would tell her that the pictures are fake, she would ignore us and was fixed on the idea that skelatore was healthy.
4. Which medium showed the most impact on society?
1.The media is widespread, manipulative and can take various forms which changes our view of things to the way that the media wants us to view it rather than how our conscious mind would react to it and how we need to analyze what the media presents to us.
ReplyDelete2. What is our true reality? Everything we come in contact with is placed there for a specific purpose, to make you think a certain way or perceive something a way the person presenting you the information wants you to see it. “A reflectionist perspective focuses on how well or badly the media represent the real world.” (13). In the news and other forms of media, they want you to believe in their beliefs. They want you to believe that their information is more accurate than the other news. “new media technologies can be instrumental in fostering and sustaining democratic practices” (7). Lastly, the purpose of Media in Society is to make us more aware of the media and its manipulative ways. “Our goal in writing this book is to help you become media literate.” (24)
3. The way things are presented to us today are misinterpreted because things are methodically left out or carefully presented to us so that this “reality” seems real. Reality TV shows are meant to show that these ‘normal’ famous, multimillionaires are just like us, but in all actuality it is fake and recreated to be more dramatic and more entertaining for the viewers. It is hard to accept that certain shows that you always watch are more scripted and staged than most movies, but why do I still find myself tuning into the latest episodes of reality TV shows when I know they are all a sham?
4. How has our sense of ‘reality’ been distorted since the media has become such a large part of our day-to-day lives?
1) Media in today’s society is often taken for granted and misconstrued to be harmful instead of helpful to society and growth as a whole. In addition, it can also alter viewpoints of consumers and create opinions and ideas, which is why it is crucial to analyze all forms of media.
ReplyDelete2) The book describes the critical process of interpreting media, to “gather information, look for patterns, figure out what the patterns mean, make an informed judgment, and then, if possible, act on that knowledge” (8). This has a five-step process to fully understand what media portrays. A reflectionist criticizes the way media portrays the world. They believe television and news stations especially make everyday life “more violent, more sexual, more formulaic, and less diverse” (14). In addition, many consumers tend to put down the media they love so much and create a paradox. We say that there should be more serious stories on TV and less “junk” but media is driven by commercial companies who analyze what consumers want, which is overwhelmingly what is on TV now.
3) For me, I’m always fighting with myself to use my phone less, or to stop using the internet so much because I think its “bad” for me or unhealthy. However technology is a part of my daily life, so why do I try to fight it so much? People use the words “addicted” or “dependent” which I think can be true for some cases, but I use technology for school or socially so I don’t think it’s something I should be resisting as much as I am, as long as I’m being critical of what I’m consuming.
4) How can one avoid being “constructed” into members of a specific society?
1. The modern media consumer must learn to form an unbiased critique of the media and its effects on society as opposed to condemning it for society’s degeneration.
ReplyDelete2. “So when we seek to understand the role of media in society, we need to be aware of the established technological forms that today’s media incorporate, as well as of the origins of the content that today’s media purvey” (p. 4).
Media literacy enables us, as consumers, to evaluate what we are watching, reading, or hearing all around us. We must learn how to process these intentions in an unbiased way, acknowledging how media affects us and our behaviors. To do this, the general public can look to the origins of media and how they have grown and increased their influence over the course of generations.
“To be fully media literate. We must actively work to create a media world that represents broad interests and tastes” (p.11).
Modern media does not represent the truth of our society. However, this over-dramatized “reality” has influenced our culture in such a way that we feel the need to act above and beyond what the media tells us to do. Breaking this cycle mean consciously analyzing what about the media makes us act in ways we would not normally.
“We can consider ourselves safe from the worst effects while still worrying about the younger or less educated or informed who, we fear, take tabloids seriously, or imitate violent movies, or get addicted to the Internet” (p. 21)
Everyone has said or thought at one time or another that maybe it’s video games that are causing school shootings and increasing crime rates. In blaming media, the other, perhaps more true causes are pushed aside, and are allowed to continue altering social behavior. Though media may have some hold on factions within society, it is important to realize that there are many reasons for abnormal social behavior.
3.
4. How can we decide who makes the media we consume, and what messages we take from them?
3. 3. I have heard from many older generations that my generation, The Millenials, are not as ambitious and are less respectful than past generations. They feel that this is because we have everything handed to us, and that we have all kinds of information and products at our fingertips. However, maybe we are less ambitious because the corporations who control our media smother our voices, and perhaps we are less ambitious because we have been repeatedly told that we can make no difference in the grand scheme of things and that no matter how hard we study we will not get jobs. Rather than pointing fingers at the media we are fed, it might be more useful and more honest to look at who were raised by, and in what political and social climate. (Oops! Didn't get copied with the rest of it!)
Delete1. The first chapter of “Media in Society” concentrates on the idea that media technologies influence and control our society allowing us to take in and react accordingly.
ReplyDelete2. People are surrounded by media every day. “And technological forms aren’t just the gadgets we use to access media but the mass communication networks we use to stay connected to others. From this perspective, writing can be considered a communication technology… and the Internet.” (6)
A narrativist “views the media as society’s central storytellers.”(17) People can experience media in many different ways, whether it’s through stories that are fact or fiction. A lot of the time people don’t know about this type of media platform because “Stories can be simple complex, shallow, or deep, confirming or challenging, depending on the context in which they are told.” (17) There are many different stories told in the media more than any point in time.
We realize that we are in a world surrounded by media technologies, “A reflectionist perspective focuses on how well-or badly-the media represent[s] the real world.” (13) People react differently depending on the different platforms used to present the media. “The media do not accurately mirror the world as it is…the media are inadequate sources of information because they often offer us distorted messages.” (14)
3. Media often has distorted messages or wrong information. In certain types of stories where there is a murder or killer the press sometimes releases information about the incident that is untrue. Reporters want to get the information out as quickly as possible but that is not always the best. Reading information about an event like this can sometimes misleading and as the readers we need to take a reflectionist perspective on things like this to try and decipher what is true and what is false information.
4. Why is it that we as consumers believe everything advertisers tell us, magazines show us and stories we read on the internet?
Excellent Chapter #1 meditations here, colleagues.
ReplyDeleteWe'll explore your stories in class.
MIA: Aaron and Jane - don't be bashful!
Dr. W
1) Media are now an intrinsic part of our daily lives and should be studied and analyzed closely.
ReplyDelete2) I don’t think media can become much closer linked with our lives if we can call media “extensions of man” (6).
“We ‘shouldn’t’ like some media so much, the reasoning goes, because it’s not good for us” (20) The fact that something which is so big in our lives could be harmful means it must be studied.
“We need to be aware of the established technological forms that today’s media incorporate, as well as of the origins of the content that today’s media purvey” (4).
We need to go in depth when analyzing media.
3) The concepts of media literacy are surprisingly not always practiced by those who study and rate the media. I have often seen critics our reviewers rip content for being crude and offensive because they didn’t take the time to realize the sarcastic or multi layered meaning behind some content. E.g. Grand Theft Auto, The Boondocks, Southpark.
4) When and how did media become so deeply linked to our society and us.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1) Media changes our views every day in life mainly because there is always a new media or technology being created.
ReplyDelete2)
1. In the section about Understanding Media in Society, it says that “today we take for granted what used to seem miraculous-our ability to use mass media to extend communication across time and space” (3). Throughout this section, it explains how we have expanded our ways of communication. Instead of sharing our experiences through speech when we lived in an oral culture, we now share our experiences through the media.
2. Media have and can change very quickly, hopping from one new media to the next new media. “Older mass media like print, sound recording, radio, movies, and television were once fresh and amazing too” (3). Our perspective of the latest media unintentionally makes us expect and hope for the next “new” media that will be created.
3. There are many different views and levels of importance of each thing that is displayed in the media. “…If we look at the story of reality TV and have determined perhaps that some of these programs do indeed exploit their participants while others reveal some meaning about human experience or are more socially relevant…” (10). Overall, what the section about Interpretation is capturing is that all lives are changed because of the media but the ways our lives are changed are different from one another.
3) I remember when I was in middle school, it was uncommon to have a cell phone and if you did have a cellphone, you were seen as brag. Now with the media and technology, it is rare to not have a cellphone. Throughout my whole life I have experienced the quick change with technology. By experiencing these changes, it has made me realize that there will always be a new media and because of that, it is nearly impossible to keep up with the latest technology because of the rapid change of media.
4) What/who decides the importance of what should be displayed on the internet?
ReplyDelete1) Without seeing the effects and benefits that media have on our society, there is no way we can fully understand how much they really contribute to our lives, technology, capitalism, and see that media is not always the problem, but can be easily blamed.
2)
• “Some media criticism treats various forms of popular culture as scapegoats for social or political ills. In doing so, the media are blamed for causing what they may only mediate or reflect… once the media are identified as a cause of a problem, no one needs to explore alternative explanations” (19). It has become so easy to blame media for everything because they are an easy scapegoat.
• The way in which our society perceives people today is a result of the media as well. “…Showing how advertising messages are supposedly ‘killing us softly’ by using varieties of techniques to distort women’s actual looks in order to sell products” (15). This tactic has shifted the public mind in such a way that we think everyone is supposed to look like the heavily photoshopped people we see in these types of ads.
• “Not only does advertising support news and entertainment programming, but we are categorized by media as consumers and as markets” (7). In recent years, media has shown that they have the power over who watches what or who uses which social media site the most based on social standards. Media have learned the ins and outs of our society and know how to manipulate the public and predict the sorts of people that will fall into these categories they have provided for us, all usually without us knowing.
3) The media are always coming up with new shows, new sites, etc. all based on what the people want, and while it may seem that they have our best interest in mind, it is only because the media are “business men” who know how to get what they want, and if they want more viewers, they will give the public what they want for their own benefit. For example, when Facebook and Twitter and other sites became the platform for sharing pictures, Instagram came out. From Instagram came all sorts of apps that distorted pictures, edited them, etc. all because the media sensed that that was what the public wanted.
4) Is it dangerous to be exposed to this kind of media that manipulates the minds of our society and gives us what we want or is it a good thing?