News, Truth, and “Truthiness”

 

Shows like RMR, SNL, and The Late Show are all examples of satirical mainstream culture jamming and have a huge effect on our public sphere. Not only do they change the way we view the news but they allow people who aren’t as interested in watching the news, such as teenagers and some adults get information on what’s going on in their world. Many of my fellow bloggers have very similar statements such as http://britshannon.blogspot.ca, She says “By using humor 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”.

 

Culture jamming through funny and satirical forms of media gives the viewers a different view on politics and big news stories going on at the time. For example http://boston94.blogspot.ca brings up how SNL opened up with a skit about Rob Ford and what is going on with his scandal. Things like this allow a lighter take and bring in some humor, rather than all the stress usually related to news and politics. http://boston94.blogspot.ca says; “The way the news is portrayed on these channels allow the audiences to look at the news in a comedic way and allow them to get a good laugh here and there when the news gets too stressful”.  As for the public sphere, not only I but also many of my peers agree that it is very important to have such shows as these in order to keep a relaxed and positive attitude towards politics and the news. It also helps keep the media interesting and as http://britshannon.blogspot.ca explains, “The public sphere is where we discuss and debate issues of social concern. Satirical news gives individuals a new perspective of current events”.

 

In conclusion, the majority of my peers would agree that culture jamming in this form is very successful and beneficial to the public sphere in many different ways. Not only does it give another spin on the news, but it also gets youth and people who would not normally be interested in the news more interested and aware of what is going on in our world today. 

Is The Fake News The Real News?

As discussed in many of my previous blogs, the controversy over news reports by large News companies has brought up a lot of questioning on whether the stories being told are true or in fact just that, stories in themselves. Culture Jamming is a process by which many anti consumers resist “to the norms and conventions of mass culture that exposes and opposes the medias underlying power structures and ideological messages”(Micheal O’Shaughnessy, Jane Stadler,. Media and Society, 2012, pp. 213).

 Culture Jamming started out as a way for the anti consumers to rebel and show their beliefs over the social norms portrayed by large advertising companies and brands, they use many different techniques such as re-figuring logos and using product images as a way to question what is ‘cool’. This forces consumers to question whether or not to support a particular product. As this idea of culture Jamming grew it became almost a form of social media in its own, shows like This Hour has 22 Minutes and The Rick Mercer Report were some of the first legitimate forms of culture jamming to be broadcasted. Rick Mercer is famous for his witty humor and fast remarks about Politian’s on his TV show, but that’s only half the reason people love him, the second half is the fact the he brings out the truth about untouched areas in parliament and isn’t afraid to rip on Politian’s if they do something wrong. Where as in the actual news, reporters avoid this due to the fear of being fired or because they were told not to. This is where culturing jamming is important, it allows us to get a second perspective into a certain situation and for the most part, it gives people a more legitimate source for the truth, and only the truth.

 As said in Media and the Society “the objective of culture jamming often include consciousness raising (raising awareness of social and political issues) as well as using the media to criticize the media and dominant culture” (Micheal O’Shaughnessy, Jane Stadler,. Media and Society, 2012, pp. 214). This little fragment from the text book pretty much sums up Rick Mercers goal though out his shows. Rick is famous for his back ally rants in which he discuses a topic in a very open form, these rants are the basics of culture jamming and are very important to the public sphere. I believe everyone should watch the rick mercer report in order to fully understand what is going on in our politics and communities.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjtPesLLE1c

One of Rick Mercers Famous back alley rants 

Demonstrable demographics

Through reading many of my peers blogs on hailing and interpellation techniques used by the advertisement teams for our demographics viewers, many of my classmates brought up similar points, a few examples include; sexism, humor, the norm and the use of celebrities, or the demographic being hailed. Something else I had noticed, was that there was a lot of manipulation and lies or deceiving techniques that were brought up in many blogs in order to gain the attention of the specific demographic being targeted. For example, Hank used the ad by Axe body spray called “Axe Apollo”, he said, “Because Axe guarantees the love of women in a can, many boys now think that one spray of axe is the equivalent of a full shower – a hygiene alternative that drives women away rather than towards them.” This is rather accurate, due to the extreme exaggeration by the advertisers young boys and even young men are led on to believe untrue and even unhealthy habits as alternatives.

 

Each day consumers are bombarded with a dosage of marketing media that will not only affect us as individuals, but as society as a whole. Jd11ow has a good point backing up this statement that comes from a crest toothpaste commercial pertaining to class, sexuality and normality. She says; “This is a very hetero-normative idea, and inertly states that heterosexual relationships are ‘normal’. This focuses on a white, white-collar, fiscally well-off demographic and ignores other ethnicities and working/social classes.” She then goes on to say; “How are women expected to advance or be taken seriously as a gender when children are being told that this is what is the ideal, natural, normal family.”

 

Many advertisers use a technique in which they sell you more than just the product itself, they claim that if you use their product not only will you have the benefit of that product such as smelling good or white teeth but you will also be extremely desirable (like the Axe commercial). Jd11ow has the same idea, she says; “It feeds off of the age ranges’ insecurities about being alone, and tries to sell them hopes of a relationship/future by means of selling the ‘solution’ to those insecurities.” This is where the deceiving/lying comes into play, these advertisers go to extreme lengths to sell a product and will pay people such as celebrities tons of money in order for them to promote their product. Christine brings in a good point when she says “in relation to the ad, girls will often form an ideology of expectation to look the same way as girls are that are advertised in the pictures.”  This however, is completely unrealistic due to the Photoshop and new technologies used.

Over all, the majority of topics and ideas touched on, related to ideas I brought forth in my own blog. The majority of our class has a very similar perception of how the media hails us through advertisement in our every day life, unfortunately due to the amount of advertisement taken in on a daily basis it gets to the best of us.

What The Hail?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

Our identity’s are not really our own, we are given a list of features and choices as children through cartoons, books, TV shows, the radio and more. Society views things through lenses that color what we see. Due to this we are really just product of the media.

Dove has recently counteracted the norms of society by introducing the Evolution of Beauty Campaign. The ad I have chosen to depict starts with a ‘normal’ however, not necessarily pretty (as defined by our society) woman who comes in for a photo shoot. She is placed under professional make up artists, as the video speeds through what is a considerable amount of time; anywhere from an hour to 2 hours. After the transformation is over, the photos, which have been taken by professionals, are fine picked and photo shopped by an expert. At the end it shows the same photo plastered on a billboard, with a picture of a woman, who in no way, looks anything like the lady at the beginning of the video.

This commercial has clearly gone against the norm of society by showing the extent and unrealistic lengths companies’ use as their marketing strategies, however, by doing so dove has created a new strategy that exposes the other companies and attracts more attention to them selves by being apart from the norms. Dove has been using these techniques in their commercials to attract to the reality of beauty rather than this fake beauty portrayed in the picture, no one in real life looks like the girl in the picture… not even the girl herself. Our culture and our values today have led us to believe we are supposed to look like this when in reality, it is unrealistic. That has been the strategy by marketers in order to get the consumers to buy all of their fancy expensive makeups and products.

“Our society does reward beauty on the outside over health on the inside. Women must not be blamed for choosing short-term beauty “fixes” that harm our long-term health, since our life spans are inverted under the beauty myth, and there is no great social or economic incentive for women to live a long time.”(Naomi Wolf, The beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women pp 269) Because of society’s perplexed ideology of what a woman is supposed to look like, we, both men and woman, have lost our sense of self-identity and we have become depicted duplicates of society’s forced images. This isn’t a new issue being brought up either, for decades young men and women have been immersed in such stereotypes that it has become a part of our culture. Naomi Wolf talks about the importance of inner beauty, in lieu of how we appear to the public, and that is exactly the message that Dove has put in place for us today.

 

To conclude, the ad created by Dove is very successful not only because it has gone against societal norms but also because it has done a great job at exposing the media for what it really is, a lying scam in which it guilt’s and forces people to feel the need to buy unnecessary product in order to feel like everyone else. This is similar to the point made in Media and Society; “if they do not they will not find themselves reflected in these stories. And children whose families are different from this normal, ideal family may perceive themselves as different, as not fitting within the norm.” (Michael O’Shaughnessy, Media and Society pp 181) This concept not only applies with children and their families, but also teenagers and young adults in everyday life. 

Wanted: the media that we need

Unfortunately there is no exact answer to whether the media we want is the same as the media we need, however, there is plenty of evidence that provides the necessary information to convincing of either yes or no. The majority of the blogs I read from my pears leaned towards the idea that we get the media we want rather the media we need.

Justin Gills gives a good example of this in his blog saying; “People are not told what to watch and how to incorporate from the media provided, but given options on what parts of the media they would like to follow. Media only survives if it shows what material people would like to observe, (for example: in reality on TV, pilots, and a few sample of shows are shown to the public, and if rating main high views, the shows continue to live, or die, based on if the amount of viewers needed are being met).” I very strongly agree with what Justin is saying, there is so much riding on the media providers to give something that appeals to the largest chuck of a population possible and to do so they must give the population what they want. Hs12un has a very good point by saying “we get the media the most people want.” This statement is most likely the best answer possible for the question of want or need, this is because everyone has a bit of a different taste and in order for the media to provide to everyone is nearly impossible, however, catering to a certain taste that is common among a large group is very conceivable.

Now a-days with the amount of media there is out there, it is easy for everyone to find something they want, whenever they want and from reading my peers blogs it feels like the majority would also agree.
 Because of the amount of money that can be made through the media (mentioned by HS12un) they are always trying to provide to the largest amount of people possible in order to make as much money as possible which is why, not only myself but the majority of my peers believe we get the media we want, rather than the media we need. 

Do we get the media we want, or want the media we get?

            In the past decade the development of the mass media has risen exponentially as a profitable organization competing against every other form of media out there.  This competition has created a outbreak of lies and deceit in order to get them on top of the media food chain. Many news channels, politicians, and media operators have been exposed for lying to the public in order to gain their interest and approval. Because of this, we get the media we want instead, of the media we need.

 

“As long as our insatiable demand for trashy gossip and comforting lies remains it will continue to be satisfied by any means possible” Robbins, M. (2012, November 28). The problem Leveson can’t solve; we want newspapers to lie to us. Human beings love to spread gossip and are always trying to be the first to know everything. Shows like TMZ, Hollywood Tonight, and many more are all built around creating rumors (for the most part) about celebrities and exploiting them to the public. However, the majority of these stories are exactly that… just fabrications and exaggerations of the truth in order to grab the attention of the gossip loving fanatics watching the show. The same is true with many other shows, even the news stations have been known to blow stories out of proportion on a ‘slow news day’. “The main Arguments against the notion that the media reflect the already-existing norms, values, and realities of society are that the media construct and change events rather that just reflecting them.” As mentioned before, the media will do anything in order to stay on top, even if it involves lying and fabricating false stories. There have been many instances in which something bad happens due to the construction or change of a story put in the news. This is mainly due to the fact that once someone hears something they don’t often research into the incident because they trust the source it came from. An example of lying to gain trust from the public is very obvious in elections, and there is tons of proof from when George Bush was in the white house that links the exaggeration by news stations of who actually crashed the planes into the twin towers to the public support of the war on tourist in Iraq.

 

            Humans are very gullible and because of this, we easily believe anything heard on the news with out putting in the effort to researching the logistics of it. There is always research happening trying to figure out what people want to see and when they figure out what exactly grabs our attention they will run with it and drag it out for as long as they can, because of this I believe we get the media we want, rather than want the media we get. 

1f25 blog response 1: Media Impact on Others

My Initial response to “How Media Impacts my Worldview” was jumbled and twisted with a lot of back and forth between now and then. I realize I barley skimmed the surface of how media really affects my peers and I in our daily lives. After reading blog after blog… after blog about how significant media has been in other people’s lives, and how inspirational or disastrous different aspects of the world have been on us which are all brought on through different social media’s really got me thinking and made me ask myself a ton of really intriguing questions.


For example, Khalil Stemmler brought up a very controversial issue pertaining to the children of our society and the kinds of things they are exposed to. He says, “The shows on the Family Channel are shows that are specifically directed at them and they feel a sense of belonging and the characters that are portrayed become their role models. I noticed how extensively the children on television are dressed in stylish clothes and makeup; this is harmful to our younger viewers who then begin to think vanity is important at their age.” (www.khalilstemmler.wordpress.com) I agree with Khalil 100%, you see these 10 year-old girls dressing in fancy clothes, wearing make up, and texting their ‘Boyfriends’. What happened to the days when boys and girls would play in the parks and get dirty, now everyone is on their smart phones and laptops at such a young age.


This addiction to technology, as David O’Connor says, “Going a day without an online presence would be like torture to loads of teenagers. I, much like my peers, want to constantly be connected. And that’s going to be extremely difficult to change.” (www.oconnormedia.wordpress.com) Is also connected to things such as Obesity and ADHD. The youth of today spend more than 7 ½ hours a day on social media alone!


Obesity and self perception was a HUGE topic discussed in almost every blog I read. Krista Chaddock says; “As I grew older, body image was the big factor corrupting all youth. The media said I should look and act a certain way, and if I didn’t then I wasn’t good enough and I should change.” (www.kc12bq.wordpress.com) Divya Sharma also said; “According to the media, a woman’s body shape should be one of two ways; tall, skinny and model-like or the classical hour-glass figure. A man is often perceived as muscular and tall.  Those who do not conform to the above stated norms are often outcasts.” (www.divyaasharma.wordpress.com) These two not only true, but very repeated points were said in countless numbers of blogs and I am positive everyone has felt this way at one point or another in there life.


From the blogs I read, I found a few very exceptionally insightful pieces of right id like to touch on before I end; Krista Chaddock said, “The information relayed to me from these media sources helps me to formulate my own opinions and beliefs.” She then goes on to say; “ It’s here that we have to realize that media often only tells one side of the story: Things on TV or the internet only spark my interest, then it is up to me to develop on ideas myself and justify them with experiences and personal encounters.”  (www.kc12bq.wordpress.com) This kind of thinking is the difference between being naïve, and knowing the truth of what is going on.  The last point I thought was brilliant was said by Patrick Simmons; “Even the mass media has become a victim of their own short-sightedness.” (patricksimmonsblog.wordpress.com) This Quote brings forth so many questions and realizations of how deeply absorbed we have become by the media.

How significant do you think the impact of the mass media is on your worldview?

In the snap of your fingers we have gone from rock carvings to handheld electronic smart phones. In this melenium the advances have been more dramatic than ever before.. Mass media has been around and has been growing for centuries, it is what has shaped our society into what it has become. In the eyes of not only myself but millions of people around the world, media has become the most influential aspect of societies all over the world. Media accessibility has recently sky rocketed with the mass production of television, computers, radios, smart phones, books and more. With this growth and development of modern technology, people as a whole have been exposed to more aspects of the world than ever before, and with this comes the good and the bad.

As a young child I was regularly subjected to images by the media; from children’s books and movies, to TV and ads on the street. I remember walking down the street with my mother and as we passed a poster for a makeup company I asked her why people would want something like that. I remember her saying “The commercials on TV and actors in movies project an image that people want to copy… they think certain products will help them to look beautiful”. At the time I never really understood what would inspire a woman to want to cover up her face with colored paints and powders.  However, if you consider all the beauty contests and photo-shopped pictures in magazines and on TV depicting what ‘beauty’ is, its easy to see why women of all ages try excessively to live up to these unrealistic expectations. Now I’m not saying makeup and dressing nice is a bad thing, but when it causes not only women but also men to become obsessed about what they look like on the outside it can interfere with personal growth on the inside.

We have explored some negative aspects of the media, but fortunately there is also plenty of good that comes from the media. The news is a very beneficial aspect of media as it allows us to warn people of natural disasters, record historical events and inform the world what is going on outside of your little bubble. Without media I would not know half of the details about the world that I know today. It allows people to prepare and recover from certain events. Everyone remembers the tragedy that happened on Sept. 11, 2001.  Because of the speedy media coverage people were able to respond to the crisis instantly.  My mom was supposed to fly out of the Buffalo airport the next day to go to Vancouver, however, thanks to the media she knew her flight was cancelled.

The television, radio, and the internet especially has made our world into a mediated culture. This means that what we do in our everyday life is somehow related to some form of technology. Our moods and attitudes are directly influenced by what we see and hear on these media channels, but this isn’t anything new. The media is a powerful thing. Take Adolf Hitler for example, he brainwashed the entire continent into hating not only the Jewish people but the handicapped, the Catholics, the gypsies, etc all by using radio and advertisement propaganda. These same techniques are still used, however, they are being used by multi billion dollar industries such as McDonalds in order to try and get people to use/eat their products. They are ultimately trying to brainwash us, which I personally am not okay with. To wrap up, my worldview is almost entirely based on what comes from the media, it has not only influenced how I see the world but also how I live my life and what I do day by day.