10 Media Revelations!

# 1 I would love to become a bad ass journalist. Value Messages have changed. 

The world needs more journalist like Amy Goodman. I typed into Google "women in journalism" and read about women like Nellie Bly who documented a trip around the world, and faked insanity to understand what it was like to be in a insane asylum in 1887. Ida Tarbell who was a pioneer of "muckrackers" journalism with her contribution to publications like Mclure's Magazine. She wrote a book in 1904 titled The History of the Standard Oil Company. The book continued on to the Top 100 Works of the Twentieth Century in American Journalism. I would love to be surrounded by these women of history today. I also read about Sarah Josepha Hale and she topped it off by writing "Mary Had A Little Lamb". The perfect tid bit to know for cocktail conversation? I found that funny to think I never would have known that, had I not learned through this class the importance of a media education and resources to give myself a voice in this reality constructed web 2.0 world.  In relation to the readings we did over the semester, page 70-71 of Feed, by M.T. Anderson is when they get hooked up back to the feed again while in the hospital. "It came down on us like water. It came down like frickin' spring rains, and we were dancing in it" Everyone respectively starts scanning all their favorite material things. The rain should be more of an individualized education to become a positive human. In Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death, he discusses early on the medium is the metaphor. We create what we are, now more than ever knowledge is power. 

#2 I have become mindful of distractions in my life. Pacing is slowing us down. 

After having watched films like the "Persuaders" and reading articles like "Is Google Making Us Stupid" I have been looking around society and feel like I'm witnessing people deteriorate in personal fitness and health. Harsh it sounds, I'm no angel, but with the abundance of "infotainment" available to us over almost any virtual platform we are spending more time sitting and less time moving. Endorphins are really good for you, and so is exercise. I learned it beneficial for personal happiness to stay committed to a work out as part of my lifestyle. Reminding myself how important it is to disconnect. "Americans have about 7 hours of "leisure" time per day, more than 41/2 hours of that is spent with mass media" The first part of Feed when they go to the moon because they are bored.  "but the moon turned out to completely suck." They live in a world full of distractions from maintaining their bodies and cultivating their minds with beneficial brain food. 

 #3 We Live in a denial rich country. Let's be honest about the situation here. What is Actually going on? The media use diversion and denial as persuasive techniques. 

In relation to our media readings over the semester in Media and Society "Mass Media messages, however, do not allow for the intimate interaction of sender and receiver that characterizes personal communication. Audiences, therefore, must rely on other resources to make sense of media messages. "(pg.24) I love how Postman quotes "Most Americans, including preachers, have difficulty accepting the truth, if they think about it at all."(Pg 116) It is important to be mindful of what you are observing with your eye, and changing perspective to work on understanding of how we all interact. 

#4 The visuals we see daily have aesthetically shifted from discrete to convergence. Make Art. With Paint. 

We have seen over the last decades, I think a shift in the images we are exposed to, which we have little control over in such a demanding tech savvy time. Especially with the web expanding my the minute. All of the companies need to make money and advertising is the source of their revenue. Individual meaning has been stripped clean as we are screening images of people we know nothing about. These companies have one shot to make millions and get millions of people to conform to buying their product or service.  Media and Society "Advertisers are doing the most important buying, the principal "products" being sold are the audiences, not the newspapers, magazines, or programs produced by media organizations." (Pg.64) 

#5 Our words have changed. We are communicating using less words, and less time actively engaging our mind. 

Not only that the language that we are hearing is completely counter productive. Example- don't say-indicate. answer-respond. issue idea. advice-recommendation. tell-advise. decide-determine. read-review. solved-moved forward. Some of those words all together in a certain order almost make it seem like you ended up right back where you started. Media and Society "ownership of media has become so concentrated, that by 2000 only six multinational conglomerates dominated the mass media industry." (pg..34) Another example we all explored as a class was the use of the language in the book Feed. Which a team posted on our class blog. Media Society also suggests that if we create diverse ownership we will diverse language as well. 

#6 The media use fear and defensive techniques. I'm the only thing I'm afraid of. 

I have noticed how the media can glamorize recruiting commercials. Another example of how the media can do this is the Dove Real Beauty Campaign. The readings from class  on page 114 of Media and Society "The experience in Vietnam led the military to take the offensive on two separate fronts. First, it developed a massive public relations machine to project a more positive image of the military. Second, the military began developing a strategy for controlling the dissemination of information through the media to the public. " I looked no further than my Censored 2010 book, I wonder how many Americans now that there have been more than 1 million people killed in Iraq. (pg. 121) 

#7 Production techniques are at an all time high. Images are often distorted. 

Media and Society on page 189 notices "one underlying frame of reference that defines America by its combination of consumer capitalism and political freedom." Postman brings up the fluff of news media. "Everything about a news show tells us this-the good looks and amiability of the cast, their pleasant banter, the exciting music that opens and closes the show, the vivid film footage, the attractive commercials..." (Pg. 87) I love the Dove commercial below, it demonstrates how simple it is to distort images. 

# 8 Commercials on TV are mostly subjective to either sex. Rarely do we see objective commercials. Discursive Shift

This could be the easiest way for the big companies to reduce cost and increase revenues, by making it so obvious who their products are for. The advertisements have also crept into every corner of our lives including the doctors office. Mentioned in Media and Society on page 71 "Rather than directly determining news content, advertising is a force that provides both incentives and constraints that influence the news in a generally predictable way." Postman on page 126 "By bringing together in compact form all of the arts of show business-music, drama, imagery, humor, celebrity-the television commercial has mounted the most serious assault on capitalist ideology since the publication of Das Kapital." 

#9 I have learned the resources to expand my investigative research methods. 

From the Censored 2010, Chapter 12 talks about "research for independent media and human betterment." (pg. 317) Our A.C.M.E. guide reiterates a Media Education: an educational approach that seeks to give media users greater freedom and choice by teaching them to access, analyze, evaluate and produce media. ACME-style media education emphasizes knowledge, skills, and activism. These two texts show how important it is for students to be aware of where their news is coming from and question ownership. 

#10 The cultural shift of web 2.0 is occurring right before my eyes. 

Postman 163 "but they did not know what they were laughing about and why they had stopped thinking." 

Feed 299 "Everything must go."  I am aware of myself and others emotions, responsibilities, thoughts and actions. I feel empowered to empower others with opportunity to share brain food and be an activist for positive change. 

Media Meditation 8

Of course it is important to fill in the boxes of our overly full and accessible online media world, but I must highlight what can be a healthy mediation that does not involve a screen and interactive facade. The world in which we have virtually constructed could go at anytime. Any chance of leaving a record, best to do it in hard copy. 

The History Channel and geo physicists, astrologist and scientists give us an in-depth look into multiple theories dating back before time, and deals with scientific cosmic alliance. We may have heard about the Mya and how they were interested in time and how they fit into it, giving us the date December 12,2012 for when the world might feel a little shook up.  It is all very interesting from a pure scientific standpoint, what multiple theorist have had in common when looking at the alignment of the earth and what role the galaxy, stars, and sun have in human existence. everything? making me think I might be better off trying to understand science rather than my own government. Today, I think it is important to keep a hand written journal also of your thoughts, fears, and aspirations it can be a very therapeutic routine. 

I took a picture to share all of the journaling I've done over my life and its a great introspective tool to have to remind myself of how fierce I was as a middle schooler in all aspects of life. Putting pen to paper can be a great way to reconnect with your thoughts, while disconnecting from online! 

The fun part about keep journals over the years is that if and when I find it necessary to write a book about myself  I will have most of it done. I have been able to mediate with my media and myself through these 8 indepth posts capturing all sorts of different information from many different sources, and opened a new door into becoming an educated media citizen, and created a platform through the making of my blog to join others in the conversation! 

Media Meditation 7

I wanted to look further into Noam Chomsky's- Manufactured Consent after two things happened. I was introduced to the movie The Insider, with Al Pacino. I also learned of a new tool that Twitter users can look into called Klout. 

I found a great youtube video that gave insight into how this has become possible in what is suppose to be a nation of democracy. He talks about influencers like Walter Lippmann, and the work of Reinhold Niebuhr in Moral Man, Immoral Society. Lippmann, in 1913 founded the New Republic Magazine, and worked as an advisor to President Woodrow Wilson. Also was the first to bring in the term "cold war" during the writing of an also titled book in 1947. Niebuhr, a theologist, wrote about how we need to take down that which allows injustices. Realizing that rationality belongs to the "cool observer" stupidity of average man then creates and follows a naive faith, not reason. Then of course needing a "emotionally potent illusion" to then just really become marginalized and breed apathy. Thanks to the work of public relations and propaganda going off into the sunset. 

To relate to the movie we watched with Amy Goodman and Democracy now, I felt it was important to know where we have come from to know where we might be headed. I began to paint myself a better picture of what was happening in the United States and also in East Timor when in August of 1975 civil war broke up and mass killings were taking place. The Propaganda News Model appears. 

Followed by the startling realization that it is mostly aimed at only 20% of the population the ones who are "deeply" embedded into society, the teachers, writers, students...where as the other 80% of the population are more trained to follow orders, not to think. Then of course...

FAIR did the study above. 

The website is a great tool to learn more about censorship in the media. In the case in East Timor, and many examples even in today's conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan my government is not allowing me access to a moral obligation I have because I live in a democracy. Chomsky notes that your responsible for your actions and to forsee any consequences of those actions. I am directly involved then in what current situations my government is engaging in and they won't give me the floor or knowledge of human suffering, taking from me my chance to act and to fulfill my responsibilities!! 

My final thought on all this and to link it back to web friendly 2.0 Twitter/Klout is when we are forming short bits of concision, like saying something in 30 seconds on a tv commercial, or 140 words via Twitter we then are only leaving room within that constructed constraint for conventional thoughts. Narrowing the scope, like Klout. 

Media Meditation 6

I wanted to continue my new insight into Noetic study in relation to media and found this book. I read the first chapter and thought it would be interesting to highlight what we all have...

The chapter helped to put into perspective what is going on up in your brain and how to become aware of it. When thinking of it in terms of media I felt like I had a million fire flies in my head at one, each individual one important but couldn't fulfill the role of connecting to all of them. I think I had it all backwards. I think of  Nicholas Carr, from the article is Google Making Us Stupid?  When he talks about how the Net absorbs a medium, the medium is re-created in the Net's image. Here is what I'll share from the book- 

We are in a continuous dialogue with ourselves that never stops. 

It is incredibly important for us to take time to listen, that can be difficult because we feel to close to it to be objective. We must then step back, and watch it converse as it takes on both sides of any thought. Frankly, then, why are you still listening? If all it does is disturb everything your doing! The chapter explains, how can you be talking and listening at the same time? You would know what your going to say before you say it, it is simply looking for a simple place to rest. The voice then can be a vocalizing mechanism to make it seem like there is a voice inside your head. So you are not the voice of the mind, you are the one who hears it. Your thoughts have far less impact on this world than one would like to think.  

Although through watching the Persuaders and watching clips from The Media Education foundation, we see that the world of public relations and marketing has done an amazing job keeping the voice in our head driving us to stores to buy things we don't need! Consume more than we need! Finally stealing time from us that could be used for greater human growth. I completely understand why you, Dr. Williams haven't had a TV in decades, and why my brother and I as kids were put outside A LOT by our parents. 

 Incessant internal chatter, and the commotion the mind makes about life is what causes problems, not life itself. The book uses a teakettle example, which I think I can relate to the web 2.0, 21st century of media. Basically when we are exposed to something we are hearing the voice inside narrating for how we-saw-labeled- and judged it. All occurring in a split second. Then this builds up inside and we become "not okay" we feel we have to release energy and we do that by talking. With what we are "fed" by media conglomerates today and 24/7 has the potential to set off a lot of steaming tea kettles, and quick. Sounds loud, and scary, and insignificant to human civilization. 

Lastly, I wanted to mention Rene Girard's work, especially his theory of mimetic desire, an aspect of behavior that affects learning and desire. We take our direct experiences into our realm of thoughts and they interact with our value system and historical experiences. Being aware of experiences with outside world, then interact with the mental world. In the thought world there's always something you can do to control the experience. Enters, Dr. Clotaire Rapaille, from the Persuaders. Calling the attention to our brains and how they function, he is certainly a genius for finding the white space of how to control the thoughts that occur when we experience the rush of purchasing products. This gave me a different perspective on mind media and allowed to me to make connections in the world of epistemology, branching off into other areas of study. 

Media Meditation 5

This media meditation came full circle for me. I went from one thing to the next and feel like I painted a full picture for myself. I was thinking about what meditation actually means and then wanted to look more into the brain part of this stuff, I find that to be really interesting. Here it goes. First I came across this book The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.  I picked it up and read what it was about, and for the sake of time came to the internet to see what audio I could find. I found this interview that aired on Dateline, NBC. 

I watched the interview online and learned of something called Noetic Research. This sent me back to the bing.com board to see what I could find out about it. 

First you should know that noetic refers to knowledge that comes to us directly through our subjective experiences or inner authority. I spent time on the Institute of Noetic Science website, and found it to be somewhat stimulating, and a different approach to thought. I heard the word noetic for the first time from the Dateline interview. I found this poem in one of the online publications by Bill Plotkin. 

The story covered some basic points I related to my relationship with media. 

Making choices offers

•  Creating an experience
  
•  Ending an experience
  
•  Maintaining or sustaining an experience 
  

We have begun as a human race to shut down or tamper heavily with the following systems 

1. Water cycles
   
2. Atmospheres
   
3. Soils
   
4. Oceans
   
5. Thermal Balance 
   

We have seen vast distractions from how our species originally held intimacy with the natural world and also our own unique individual nature of our own being. Here is the Wheel Of Life 

"The Forest, The World, knows where you are and who you are. You must let it find you" 

Then I was thinking how important it is to know the definition of inhabit, what does that mean, or look like? To inhabit a particular place is to have the potential to do and observe in that specific place. It is astounding to me now having looked into a more spiritual side of the brain and body and to think I am surround by noise, materials, and objects not helping me on my journey of psychological maturity. I also wanted to note that the author mentions also in the article how we in the Western world usually see things as a time line, linear visuals, where has in the image above it is circular. How important is it then to view the whole journey rather than one notch at a time racing forward instead of around. It in the end will come back to only you, you must then be comfortable and prepared for that moment. Media then, ultimately is creating a less desirable habitat for sure. To be living in a society robbing me any introspection to my moral compass. I knew I always wanted a tree farm...filled with books! 

Censored 2010 Continued...

This was at times a difficult process for me to understand, this video helped me to understand all the different types of mortgages their are, and helped define vocabulary at is commonly used in finance. 

T R U T H O U T 

• The Bank for International Settlements estimates that in 2008, annual trading in over-the-counter derivatives amounted to $743 trillion globally - more than ten times the gross domestic product of all the nations of the world combined.
• Just five super-rich Wall Street banks control 97% of the U.S. derivatives market: JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.
• Wall Street traders compete to design computer programs that can move many trades in microseconds, allowing them to beat ordinary investors to the "buy" button and to manipulate markets for private gain.
• Goldman Sachs, the uncontested leader in this game, was reported in September to be sitting on a cool $167 billion in cash. Meanwhile, a September survey of state finances found that state governments faced a collective budget shortfall for fiscal 2010 of $168 billion - nearly the same amount.

“'If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist,' said Sanders, a Vermont independent. 'We should break them up so they are no longer in a position to bring down the entire economy....-Bernie Sanders 

The Capital Eye Blog , that is part of OpenSecrets.gov is a great resource to find up to date information regarding what we most likely are not hearing form main stream media. Another great resource I have found useful is truthout.org. They offer a variety of opinions, interviews, and news. 

Examples of Political Cartoons 

This is an example of the revolving door. It shows lobbyists and politicians going in wearing one political hat, and coming out wearing a private/personal hat. It may seem they are taking into account our public needs, but when their pockets get fatter, and we may feel ours getting tighter, one should be informed about where the money is going. 

This video is an example of how we got into the mess we did, and how once we deregulated a financial sector of the government we got into such a big issue with banks not knowing how much money they had, and people running out of money trying to pay them, and the people who were responsible in the beginning are no longer, because they turned around and sold what they had previously been responsible for, with no accountability from the government. 

Censored 2010-US Congress Sells Out To Wall Street

Facts-

1. Since 2001, 8 of the most troubled firms have donated 64.2 million to candidates, as well as both Democratic and Republican parties. 

2. Top recipients receiving money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, were the same members of congress who chair committees charged with regulating and overseeing the effectiveness of the unprecedented government program. 

3. Nearly every member of the House Financial Services Committee in February 2009 oversaw hearings about the $700 billion dollar program, received contributions associated with these institutions. 

4. In 1997 and 1998 leading up to the Steagall Act, the banking, brokerage, and insurance industries spent $350 million on political contributions and lobbying. 

5. Newly created organisms in the Federal Reserve zoo have been quietly pumping not billions but trillions of dollars into the hands of private companies in loans and private investments. 

Lexis Nexis Search:

 Overall the most buzz around the bailout was how the money was going to be spent, not where or who was going to oversee the money. 

Daily News 

The Herald 

The New York Times

The Daily Telegraph 

Marshmallows

I feel like the marshmallow, in that I am one voice, what would two voices look like? If only the government didn't want to consume all my thoughts,I could have some rest with invasive media that surrounds me, and compile my resources.

Media Meditation 4

Why We Fight-I have been watching this movie over and over again for in depth understanding of my Censored 2010 story and it is still puzzling to me but for the sake that I can throw paint on my blog here we go. Starting with the architecture of the Pentagon, their opening line on their website states that "they are one of the worlds largest office buildings in the world" It houses daily, 23,000 employees. Here is a quick look at how the Pentagon participates in the Military Industrial Complex, which is the central argument around the production of Why We Fight. Lets break down the architecture of the Pentagon when it comes to buying weapons for the military. Boeing, for example, It starts at the contractors pitching to the Pentagon, they lowball the initial estimates, and over estimate what it can do or promise. Then it underestimates the burdens it will most likely impose. Once the Air-force buys it, there will be a flood of money to congressional districts as quickly as possible.  The revolving door steps in.  You see that when the people who run the government also are on the board of directors, or more in this case the people who produce the weapons and bombs that we go to war with, the politician needs those votes to keep jobs in his job. So they must endorse and support the fact we are buying all of these weapons. The powering of CONTRACTING at its finest! The more profitable something seems or can be, the more is will be used and distorted, like our foreign policy. Do you think they all face outward in hopes of thinking of others, or introspect into their own personal growth, if you hold such a high office position, the people you represent don't come first? 

Media Meditation 3

We have been talking briefly about Net Neutrality, the title implies that the internet is regulated by something or someone now, but this would actually allow big media conglomerates to charge their customers for faster access to certain cites they have control over.
This video is a good beginners step into understanding the new legislation that has been around for a couple years, but this is the first time I have been introduced to such policy. I am a perfect example of a future contribution (I Hope) to someone, or something in my life, and this makes me know there are multiple stories out there that I might be passionate about but need to navigate a way to find them.

Media Meditation 2

After reading the story about how the United States government sent 12 billion dollars in shrink wrapped bills to Iraq with no account of how the bills were being distributed, and multiple maskings of where and who the money was going to, I wanted to try and put the whole story in perspective. This is what $206 million looks like: 

Imagine what 12 billion looked like all packaged up and ready to go? 

 I went and found the article on the Guardian.co.uk.com it also let me know that this was the biggest transfer of cash in U.S. history from the Federal Reserve. You would think if you were at "war" with a country, you would have so much money floating around without proper management, but then again Ralph Nader might be on to something. There are only 17 buyers left. 

What does this all mean for a web/tech savvy constructed reality that we call the media industry? We need to move from collision of power, to philanthropy. I see it more productive to bring people together and diversify ideas, rather than secluding everyone even more. What is everyone so afraid of? Being honest with themselves? 

Media Meditation 1

I wanted to start out by showing this video of what I think is a perfect example of an overview of the concepts we learned from Rich Media, Poor Democracy . Which were in order to have a thriving society we need three things form journalist, and news outlets. 1. accountability of people in power 2. diversity of opinion so people may form their own 3. a way to check for the truth/facts. 

This video shows us how we as a culture are spoon fed through our TV screens completely subjective and useless material that helps in no way to us becoming citizens of the world. In case you ever had wondered how many McDonalds there are in the United States I would love to share a photo with you. All of the lights represent a location, what fascinates me most is that they are conveniently located around the boarders of the country, as if we pride ourselves in making sure we digest that Big Mac before heading off into some foreign country, where I can almost guarantee your final destination will have a lower obesity rate than the United States.  I must commend the great state of Vermont, for being the only state whose capital does NOT have a McDonalds!! 

October Snow - Smugglers Notch

t r u t h o u t- Censored

I am saving this so I don't lose it for when we talk about Censored 2010. I thought it was interesting, after what I have been revealed from reading it. 

The world has a better document to work by ‘The Communist Manifesto’: “Communism deprives no man of the power to appropriate the
products of society; all that it does is to deprive him of the
power to subjugate the labour of others by means of such
appropriation.”

Or compare the CEO’s outlook with that of modern Communist thought:

“[Bob]Avakian [Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA] shows how the sights and aspirations of people today, the world over, are funneled and hemmed into looking at things in terms which do not go beyond the outlook and values which capitalism engenders and thrives upon, and the social relations in which those ideas are rooted. Today these are deemed to be the result of “human nature.” But another, radically different world is possible, with a different and far more liberating conception of rights and freedom. Avakian paints a compelling picture of a world where people would have the right not to confront each other in antagonistic relations…where there would be the right to eat for every human being—and no one would be worked to death for the profit of others, but people would work cooperatively to meet the needs of all…where all of humanity would have the right to engage in the arts, or in science and in other intellectual thought, and where the research and discovery in medicine and science that today is subordinated to the economic, political, and ideological demands of capital would be emancipated from that. A communist world where people are no longer constrained by the narrow horizons which are the product of and demanded by capitalism.”

Lets Take A Break...

LOOK AT ALL THE OPEN SPACE! 

                                                        

Michael Wesch Explains Web 2.0

1. Give us, IYOW (In Your Own Words), a one sentence thesis for this text - what is this text's central argument?
2. Then, using one sentence IYOW, make ONE critical observation about the text, using the concepts and language from our four tool sets. BE SURE NOT TO REPEAT ANOTHER STUDENT'S OBSERVATION - read previous posts closely.
3. Finally, respectfully respond to another previous student's observation or comment in the C4 "thread" about the text. This must be at least 2 sentences long AND in the first person.

1) We can now due to Web 2.0 take words we are evolutionally only used to seeing on paper or rock to a virtual "space" changing the way we interpret the content, bringing up issues of rhetoric, identity, and image in todays media society. 
                                 
2)The aesthetic shift I noticed was seen multiple times in the video by the mention of television, cell phone, and web time. We now are able to get media on many different platforms. It is with us when we use our phone, turn on the tv, open up a webpage, and walk outside. We have gone from one way to get the news, when all we had was the newspaper in print to complete convergence of all media through multiple mediums. 

3) I agree with what Colt has high lighted when talking about how we have become the machine, and the machine has become us. Describing the shift in that we become flat and Web 2.0 becomes this think tank of information. While looking for supporting posting in my Postman research, I came across a new term I had never seen before, but I think we talked about something similar in class about how because we consume the media we ultimately create it. The term was prosumer. Something also to keep in mind while watching our class video The Persuaders.

A Vision of Students Today

1. Give us, IYOW (In Your Own Words), a one sentence thesis for the text - what is the text's central argument?
2. Then, using one sentence IYOW, make ONE critical observation about the text, using the concepts and language from our four tool sets. 
3. Finally, respectfully respond to another previous student's observation or comment in the C4 "thread" about the text.

1. The traditional classroom has been lost in a web 2.0 media world and become out of date and out of touch with teaching students about the media education they are surrounded by and tools to utilize and store in their tool box for a rainy day. 

2. The production techniques use plain folks, fear, timing, and group dynamics to construct a "reality" of college students today, highlighting epistemological, technological, and personal shifts all within the 21st century classroom. 

3. I agree with you Jackie, in that the way they display their findings from the study give us the viewer just enough time to read the text and about half of a second to see if we can personally relate.

Neil Postman- Amusing Ourselves To Death Part 2

1. Discuss THREE specific ways in which Postman explains how the medium of television transforms the epistemological nature of each of the following:

 A. Public discourse about religion

B. Public discourse about politics

C. A public discourse about education

A) When religion is transferred to the TV screen all sense of “spiritual transcendence is lost” pg 117 What Postman is saying here I think, that once you remove the ritual of having a service in place designated only for worship you lose that feeling of being in a serene, open space with whomever you go in front of in times of prayer. Also what ties in with transcendence is also translation. What happens with face-to-face worship is entirely different than what is heard on the television. The message may be harder to understand and what is trying to be portrayed through imagery and an audience can be lost in translation. Second, the concept of space is entirely different when you are watching a religious television show while trying to cook, clean, do cartwheels or fold laundry. Places of worship are specifically designated for that purpose only. We have now begun to turn our living rooms into worship areas and again it cannot be taken seriously when there are kids running around. Finally, we associate the screen of the TV to entertainment only. We turn on the TV and expected to be amused, how can one turn it on and wipe out everything in their mind previous to watching a show on religious topics. 

B)  Politics has begun to associate imagery rather than words with the public through commercials, that being problem number one. We are assuming our politician of choice has xxx amount of experience when all I have actually seen his him on a tractor mowing his lawn, telling me he is working on environmental issues. Secondly, because television is the world’s largest stage to convey a message we accept what we hear, on the basis we know that everyone else is seeing the same thing. It is very easy to accommodate what is being circulated throughout a country. Finally, which is very true I think today what the political commercial also asks of us is to think that problems can be solved quickly; we anticipate the drama over the exposition. Also you are associating the politician with movie stars, and comedians taking them away from their what we hope well-educated political background, and seeing them as an entertainer of the screen.

C) Education I think is the most important and interesting one to look at. Here we are simply playing with fire in that the television has the most hold on our youth today, and Postman identifies three very clear tactics. First being that the TV undermines the traditional way of schooling, we think desk, chair, and blackboard. Sesame Street offers, steps, a garbage can, and cookies. In school we are able to develop our strength in language through conversation with others. The TV only ask that you interpret images, not words. Finally the TV is a choice, where as school in some respects may be a requirement. The idea that we can turn on and off the TV does not translate well if young people are assuming it is the same with their education.

 

2. What specific solutions does Postman offer to improve public communication in our "Peek A Boo" world, and our challenges to communicate in a thoughtful and rational manner in "An Age of Show Business"? In other words, how might we prevent a world in which we are "amusing ourselves to death"?

  Prevention tactics that I found were his idea to ban political commercials, but also to make televisions programs about why watching television is so bad. Why hasn’t anyone thought of that? The second option, for which I feel lucky to be in this class, is to take it to the schools of our youth and educate them on what they think they have been educated on from watching television.

3. HARD Question: Does Postman's thesis about television still apply to our public discourse in today's Age of the Internet? Please explain your reasoning in 4-5 sentences.

YES! I do think his thesis holds true to todays over connected world. It is scary to think how many companies have access to what you are viewing and then cater to your needs. How much more self-absorbed can you be when everything you ever wanted to know can come from something that doesn’t even speak. The world of Web 2.0 has certainally held up to Postman's thesis about television. The net absorbs the medium, and is re created in image, therefore having qualities similar to television.  It will be interesting to see where the next decade will take us. 

Neil Postman- Amusing Ourselves To Death Part 1

I have been given the opportunity to read Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves To Death. Postman goes into what he believes will be the end all be all for humans referencing George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Siding with Huxley in that what we enjoy most will ruin us, not what we fear. 

1. Describe three specific characteristics of the "Typographic Mind."

 All three of the characteristics I chose to explain further can be found in the paragraph at the bottom of page 63. The first, is people of that time had the “sophisticated ability to think conceptually, deductively, and sequentially.” The only way to communicate at the time was thought the written or spoken word. This medium forced the brain to hear, process, and understand the words on the page or to what they were hearing from the spoken word. Postman mentions on the bottom of pg. 41 “The resonances of the lineal, analytical structure of print, and in particular expository prose could be felt everywhere. For example, in how people talked” This sentence reinforces the above in stating that peoples brains were demanded to function at a higher level of thinking than compared with today. The second characteristic would be their “high valuation of reason and order” This is seen through their high regard for being literate. They found great value in “reading and writing school” They were able to transfer and manifest knowledge though the printed word, and also felt a moral duty to school the young. An example of this characteristic from Postman can be found on pg. 34 “One significant implication of this situation is that no literary aristocracy emerged in Colonial America. Reading was not regarded as an elitist activity, and printed matter was spread evenly among all kids of people.” This shows that material was everywhere for everyone to be exposed to and as Boorstin mentions, everyone could speak the same language. The final characteristic is “the tolerance for delayed response” In today’s world we are over connected and expected to move at a quick pace in getting back to people who leave a message. There is no fun anymore in waiting for a letter in mail, 

It would be interesting to see if people go to the post office because they cannot be patient and wait for a package in the wired world. “The printed word had a monopoly on both attention and intellect, there being so other means, besides the oral tradition, to have access to public knowledge.” And that is why in those days people had courteous relationships with the butcher, the postman, the general store, and the sheriff. 

2. Postman suggests that the twin inventions of 19th century Telegraphy and Photography challenged Typography's monopoly on public discourse. How, specifically did each of these two new media/communications inventions do this?

 The telephone, thanks to Samuel Finley Breese Morse created a way for Maine to communicate with Texas for no good reason, but once you invent something it will get used if at the time the thought was for positive change, and innovation. Ultimately though “These demons of discourse were aroused by the fact that telegraphy gave a form of legitimacy to the idea of context-free information; that is, to the idea that the value of information need not be tied to any function it might serve.” Pg. 65 I think that is the most profound statement, to think that during that time people were communicating for no constructive purpose to helping their social and political world. In that sentence alone, is stating our biggest disconnect today. There is a lot of chatter but no conversation, and also hearing, but no listening. Photography just created more room for less important information. At the time though it was new and exciting, people were able to take ownership of time and space through photos. But it was deadly again to the mind in the respect that “Pictures, Gavriel Salomon has written, “need to be recognized, words need to be understood” I think that is a good culmination of how telephones, and photos changed our discourse. Impact in todays world. 

3. What does Postman mean by "The Peek-A-Boo World," and can you give an example of this world from your own media experiences?

3. The Peek-A-Boo world is what I feel I walk out into everyday. Things are moving at such a quick pace, what is new today, will be old tomorrow. It is almost frightening, you buy a camera and you will need a new one in a year because the technology will have completely changed, and here’s the kicker, when you go and try to get it fixed, they will say “ohh, sorry that’s out of date and we don’t make that anymore” talk about a short life span. The above video is an example of how I feel when walking through my "peek-boo" day. The media can be a heavy weight to carry around and expensive on your wallet. My example from real life would be that it fascinates me that companies change their packaging and wording often, especially in the grocery store. To the customer they want you to think, “oh new label, newer, better, bigger, less calories, more protein…ect” it could go on for days, but its their peek a boo method of advertising and packaging I think that gets them their customers. When really what’s important to peek at is the ingredients!