AHA MOMENTS: Final Blog

1. There is always noise in communication. Noise is anything that interferes with the communication process. Examples of noise include: music being up too high, television on, other people talking around you, racism, stereotyping, prejudging of others, and assumptions.

2. There are Seven Canons of Journalisms.
---responsibilities - must always consider the public's welfare.
---freedom of press - upholding the First Amendment
---independence - Independence from sources, politics, and advertisers.
---sincerity, truthfulness, and accuracy - foundation of journalism.
---impartiality - free from opinion or bias.
---fair play - should be free of mistakes and show the both viewpoints.
---decency - avoid "deliberate pandering to vicious instincts: such as details of a crime and vice.

3. The Titanic's involvement in the requirement for radio's on ships and birth of 24/7 radio. Radio Act of 1912. The Titanic sank killing 1500 people. The radio operators of other ships turned off their equipment for the night, thus the Titanic's distress calls could not get through to other ships. So if the other ship's radios had been left on then there is a chance that the Titanic disaster would not have been as severe in terms of lives lost. The Radio Act of 1912 required that all ships leave their radios on all day and all night no matter what.

Media Ethics/Media Law

The Media Law case I decided to talk about is from Boston College's EagleiOnline. EagleiOnline is a website for students of BC that are studying Law.

The article is titled: "FCC Appeals Adverse Ruling in Censorship Case". The case took place in 2010.

First off I just had to say something interesting about Fox. Whats funny is, Fox is a big Republican news station, yet there regular Fox channel actually appears very Liberal, and many Fox adult shows make big jokes about Republican news anchors and politicians. Funny huh.

So anyways this case is between the FCC and Fox. The FCC asked the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, to reconsider one of their court decisions. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit stated that the "indecency policy of the FCC was unconstitutionally vague and it created a chilling effect on normal non-offensive broadcasts in general" (Noah)"  This was ruled back in July of 2010. Basically this case came from a case originally in 2009, and then brought to the Second Circuit in 2010 by way of the Supreme Court, to decide whether the case was in violation of the 1st amendment, basically violating freedom of speech. Basically the main argument in this case is that the FCC is trying to trick television stations and companies by not being clear about what they prohibit. It is believed that the Second Circuit will require the FCC to rewrite some of their laws to be more clear, and explain not only what is considered obscene and profane, but why they should be censored. It is believed that the Case will go to the Supreme Court sometime this year.


It will be interesting to see how this case turns out because based on the article it sounds like the FCC is going to tell the Second Circuit, how dare you for not siding with us. In my opinion the FCC is good for allowing young children not to view content not suited for them, the problem is when it comes to adult oriented shows, not including sexual content, the FCC has too many violations of freedom of speech. I think what might also help Fox's adult cartoon shows is by moving there time slots to later at night so that younger children wont be able to see as many of these shows, as long as they go to bed on time.

Propaganda in Advertising/PR

So I know I already completed a blog for this assignment earlier, but it felt weird having the same ad that was used in class for an example and after seeing this commercial on Youtube, I just had to do it.

The commercial I chose to use is Coca-Cola's "Hard Times" commercial. It is starring the Simpsons television show characters. I will admit I am a Pepsi fan, but I do love three things about Coke; their commercials, Vanilla Coke, and Cherry Vanilla Coke.

The first technique used is bandwagon: which is where you have to do something to be popular, or in, because everyone else is doing it. Mr. Burns is a billionaire who just lost his entire fortune. As he walks through the park he sees the rest of the Simpsons' characters enjoying their bright sunny day with Coke. This commercial is saying have a Coke and you will make lots of friends and be happy.
The second technique used is black-and-white fallacy: which is where are person is given two possible outcomes, you are either with us or against us. Now Coke is not coming out and flat out saying this in their commercial, but what they are saying is you can either have a Coke and be happy or do not have a Coke and  be miserable.
A third technique used is Beautiful people: this is where a product gets a celebrity or beautiful person to endorse their product. In this commercial it is not a real life famous person, but a group of famous cartoon characters who are known and loved by many for over 20 years.
A fourth technique used is Common man: this is where a company tries to convince the everyday person that a product is for them. Now Coke is already a very popular brand, but they still use this commercial to prove that they are every person's drink.

Propaganda in Advertising and Public Relations

Although Wikipedia's "Propaganda Techniques" site is really good, I have found the best Propaganda website to be Propaganda Critic. Just letting people know if they want to look up more about Propaganda.

This is an old ad during WWII which encouraged people to drive with others to work. Basically carpool. This advertisement uses several forms of propaganda. First, Black and White Fallacy, which is where the advertisement says you are either with us or against us. This advertisement is telling people that they are either going to join a carpooling club or else they will join Hitler. The second, Reductio ad Hitlerum, it is when an advertisement tries to get a group of people to disapprove an idea by making those people feel that the ones who support the idea are to be feared or hated. In this ad they are saying the only ones who ride alone follow Hitler, therefore they are Nazis which are feared and hated by the American people. Another propaganda technique used is appeal to fear, where an advertisement tries to scare its audience by using deception. This advertisement is obviously trying to scare the American public into believing that they are American if they car pool and Nazis if they drive alone.

http://www.jonathannewberry.com/blog/blog/tag/propaganda/ - link for advertisement

Internet

I am doing this blog early because I will be down in Los Angeles next week and I will not have the opportunity to do any homework during that time.

I have used the internet for shopping and gaming, but I have never used it for dating. To be honest I do not know anyone who has used an online dating service, at least as far as I know. I have shopped on various sites such as: ebay.com, amazon.com, lids.com, bestbuy.com, and various other shopping websites. As far as internet gaming I have never been an extreme internet gamer; I have only played basic games online such as: Chess, Pacman, and Snake, most of my video game time is spent playing on the Playstation 3 and not using the online interface.

I can think of a good example of a friend or family member who has an addiction to gaming, shopping, or dating sites on the computer. One of my cousins up in Oakland has been a big time online gamer for as long as I can remember. He has played many different online games, but he is addicted to WoW, or simply World of Warcraft. To be honest I don't see the point in it, but he cant put it down. Even his parents say that he gets up at 6am to start playing before school and first thing he does when he gets home is turn on his computer to start playing. Over the years I have noticed that he has developed quite a temper since playing and he is one of the most unsocial people you will ever meet, that is why I don't like being around him. However over the years I have noticed that he has become a little bit more social as he has stopped playing WoW as much because his school schedule and amount of work don't allow him to play as much these days.

Television

Length: 5:22
Description: Hollywood stereotyping Native Americans as blood thirsty savages. It says how not only were Native Americans depicted negatively, but the white cowboys were depicted as being very positive figures compared to reality.
Chapter: 6
Quiz Question: Why were Native Americans depicted in such a negative way in Hollywood films?
Answer: Hollywood films were aimed at Euro-American audiences.

Movies or Recordings: Movies Obviously

Lets see know I have to think about what movies I saw in 2010: "Alice in Wonderland", "Twilight: Eclipse", and "Toy Story 3".

My favorite movie of 2010: "Toy Story 3". I went and saw "Toy Story 3" on my birthday, June 22nd, just 5 days after the movie was released in theaters. I went out and bought the movie as soon as it was released in its Blue Ray, DVD, and Digital Copy combo pack.What makes "Toy Story 3" so good is that it makes me feel like a kid again whenever I watch it. And the fact that it is arguably better than the first two films. First of all its animation is much improved over the last two films with the advancement of technology. Another reason it was really good was the story, I think it was a really good ending to a trilogy, or perhaps a good beginning to another film? Many people complain how Disney's Pixar waited too long to make the third film, well I beg to differ. It was really good timing because it allowed Pixar to make many award winning animation films between the first movie and the third and it brought in an older audience that grew up watching the first "Toy Story" film.

I have many favorite movies: "The Dark Knight", "Toy Story Trilogy", "Gangs of New York", "Boys N The Hood", "A Bug's Life", "The Godfather Trilogy", "Chinatown", and "Bonnie and Clyde".

My favorite movie, or movies. Is the "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" ("Fellowship of the Ring", "Two Towers", and "Return of the King"). To be honest I can not select one of the movies to choose which one is my favorite because I consider them to be all one movie as they were intended to be. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the books as if they were one book just split into three smaller books because of the length, and that is how the movies were intended to be. Why do I like the trilogy? Well these are among of a few of the films that sparked my interest into the film industry. I enjoy the actors chosen to portray the characters, the musical score, the special effects, and the changes it made from the books. This coming from someone who read all the books.