News, Trust, and “Truthiness”

To my surprise, my classmates generally had many different views and opinions on satirical news reports and their reliability. Personally, I know that these news reports are not to be taken seriously, but I still believe that they are very useful in our public sphere.

Jordyn made a great statement about drawing in a different group of viewers to satire stations. “Satirical reporting uses humor and sarcasm to draw in viewers, viewers who may or may not also follow traditional news reporting.” http://j92lo.wordpress.com I agree completely with Jordyn here because I personally find myself much more willing to watch The Daily Show rather than CNN news. This is an important statement because it allows for an entire population of viewers be up-to-date with current global news even if they do not follow traditional news reports. This is a great implication that our public sphere has a need for this type of culture jamming, as it allows for more of the public to be knowledgeable of the world around them.

That being said, the argument of whether or not the information provided through satire programs is useful or not is still apparent. “I wouldn’t consider them more resourceful or informative than a serious news source. I would however, consider these satirical news programs more honest, in that they’re not afraid to say what the real news is.” http://t7ums.wordpress.com Taylor and I share the same opinion when it comes to the truthiness of satirical news programs in that they still serve a purpose in informing the public on global news. The information may be bent or twisted to be comedic and attract viewers, but the basics of what is happening in the world are still present. In fact, the news reports are more likely to be the raw truth, as these reporters often have no boundaries in what is being said. The sarcasm used in shows like The Daily Show can easily be taken the wrong way, and for many people, it can give the impression that satirical news is less reliable than traditional news reports.

In Keith’s blog, he had a different opinion on the viability on the public sphere and satirical programming. “I don’t think these shows help our public sphere in any way, and should not be so involved within political issues.” http://keithsnell.wordpress.com I have to disagree with Keith here because as I said before, I believe that satire shows still have a unique and useful purpose. Keith does raise a good point in these shows bashing political leaders. He states that the jokes satire shows make towards politics can make a big influence on our youth, and how they view our leaders. I agree with Keith here because I feel as though the only information I personally hear about political leaders often comes with a joke attached, and that is not necessarily a good thing. Keith’s general point of view on this topic is that satirical programs are significantly less reliable than traditional news reports.

Overall, I’d like to think that my classmates and I are on the same page in thinking that satirical news reportage is slightly less reliable than traditional news reportage. This is true in many of the blogs that I read. For the most part the class thought that satire shows have a positive and refreshing impact on the public sphere, and some people disagree with good reasoning. 

Is the Fake News the Real News?

According to the authors of Media and Society, culture jamming is “a mode of resistance to the norms and conventions of mass culture that exposes and opposes the media’s underlying power structures and ideological messages” (O’Shaughnessy, 213) In other words, culture jamming is the utility of spoofs and other methods to denature the media and allow the public to question a hidden message. In my opinion, satirical news reports such as The Daily Show and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon are in no doubt a mainstream form of culture jamming.

I believe that satirical news reports are an excellent method of making the public aware of world news. After searching Youtube to watch a fragment of The Daily Show, it became obvious that these shows are using culture-jamming techniques to engage a different audience than the regular news outlets. “The objectives 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.”  (O’Shaughnessy, 214) The Rob Ford scandal that is currently occurring is a prime example of this kind of culture jamming. Satirical news reporters have jumped all over this topic, mocking the mayor and using humor to get the news across. The information that they feed to the public sphere may or may not be completely accurate, but it definitely informs the public of what is going on in the world and can therefore be considered useful. To be honest, I did not hear about Rob Ford’s mishaps from a traditional news report, I learned about the situation through satirical news reports making clever jokes about the mayor.

I consider satirical news reports a mainstream form of culture jamming because it is using “existing media texts (which normally reinforce the dominant ideology) to make an ideological critique” (O’Shaughnessy, 215) The public’s dominant ideology of the Rob Ford scandal is that he is completely frowned upon by all of society. The satirical news programs expose the story in humorous terms, lightening the mood and allowing their audience to form their own ideological critique. I find this form of communication very useful to the public sphere because it puts a limit on what they are being brainwashed to think, and gives them a chance to form their own opinions. Personally I would much rather watch a satirical news program over a regular world news program. I get the same information as the traditional news, but I get to experience it in a light-hearted way and get a chance to form my own opinions on the matter.

Demonstrable Demographics

          Advertisements use many techniques to grab the attention of the public, and hail all kinds of demographics. My classmates identified many ways in which they were personally hailed by an advertisement. Personally, I fall under many demographics; Canadian, female, teenager, music fan, and a student. Companies use these details to target their ads towards certain groups. Stereotypes are often the main method of hailing, whether it’s true or not is up to the demographic their self.

           First and fore most , I am Canadian. I am aware that other countries have many stereotypes about Canadians. In Austyn’s blog, he talks about Molson Canadian; a beer company hailing a Canadian audience by throwing stereotypes around and making them feel empowered. “The person who sees the ad spewing pride and nationalism has these past ideas and ways of feeling re-ignited within them and feel somehow that they are involved with the product and thus feel the need to buy.” http://austynbaril.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/what-the-hail/ This works because the commercial reflects Canada as a great country who loves their beer, and it allows the person to connect personally with the beer, and encourage them that since they are Canadian, they should drink it. I realize that Canada gets cold, and it does have beautiful landscapes, but as Austyn mentioned, I think it is important to stress to those who do not live in Canada, that not everyone plays hockey on the pond, or lives in the Rocky Mountains. In this case, the demographic represented was not completely accurate and agreeing with Austyn again, if you are not Canadian, it is hard to tell.

            Not only am I Canadian, but I am also a teenager. Teenagers are often represented as careless and irresponsible, and as Allison mentioned in her blog, this is not always true. Allison focused on a Taco Bell commercial that catered to a young demographic. Although the commercial casted old people, the actions they were doing resembled stereotypical teenagers. “This ad was extremely effective because it was a comedy, which is something we enjoy seeing in commercials.” http://allisonsparham.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/what-the-hail/ I agree with Allison here because as a teenager, I find that humor draws my attention. The representation that the teenage demographic is reckless is not completely true. I personally, have never snuck into a nightclub or gotten a tattoo (as seen in the ad) and I know that the people I hangout with are not like that either. Stereotypes have evolved for a reason, so there is no doubt that some teenagers are careless, but to have that as a representation for the entire demographic is wrong.

            In my last entry, I talked about how the company Proactiv uses celebrity endorsement to make sales. Natalie also wrote about an advertisement that uses celebrity endorsement, Diet Coke. Natalie focused on a Diet Coke ad that starred Taylor Swift, and gave a little inside scoop to her life. “Audiences can easily acquaint a light-hearted feeling with the product and the celebrity.” http://nk13ps.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/blog-post-3-what-the-hail/ I like this statement because Natalie draws attention to the fact that not only does Diet Coke receive the attention it wants, so does Taylor Swift. People of many demographics, not only teenage girls (the supposed “majority” of Swift’s fans) are being hailed in this ad. In fact, the representation that Swift’s fans are teenage girls is not correct. I recently went to a Taylor Swift concert, and although I did see many teenage girls, I also saw a wide variety of males, and adults in attendance.

            Advertising agencies are no doubt genius in their advertising techniques. They know whom they want their ad targeted towards, and they know how to appeal to that demographic. Although stereotypes are often a main method in this process, a simple comedic approach can diminish any offence taken, and also draw more attention. It just goes to show that the representation of many of the demographics the media caters too is not always correct. 

What the hail?

I think it’s safe to say that anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the past 10 years has seen or heard an advertisement for the anti-acne product “Proactiv Solution”. This product releases countless advertisements to the public, mainly addressed to teenagers both male and female. Proactiv uses many advertising techniques to hail and interpellate their audiences, many of which I believe is working.

Many of Proactiv’s ads use celebrity endorsement as a strategy to gain youth’s attention. Celebrities like Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne and my favourite, Justin Bieber, have all appeared in Proactiv advertisements. “In a capitalist society where money is power and success is measured by the accumulation of material objects, the media function to create desires for products that are associated with the trappings of success.” (O’Shaughnessy, 152)

This is a prime example of ads using products to measure success. It’s obvious that Katy Perry’s success doesn’t come from a bottle of facial cleanser, but Proactiv’s motives were to gain attention from Katy Perry fans. This is where “hailing” becomes apparent.  As soon as a fan sees their favourite celebrity, their attention is turned in that direction. Justin Bieber for example. He is my husband-to-be and has been endorsing Proactiv for a few years now. I personally turned my focus to a Proactiv ad solely because Justin Bieber’s face was there. In other words, Proactiv hailed me into considering their product mainly because they advertised that my faveourite artist, Justin Bieber uses it. Many of Bieber’s fans are pre-teens and teenagers, the main target audience that Proactiv is reaching out to. With his popularity and exploding fan base, Proactiv sales have only increased. It goes to show that if a celebrity says they use the product, their fans will immediately gain interest and cause product sales to increase.

“… ‘Hailing’ has the effect of putting us in our place or positioning the addressee in relation to the addresser.” (O’Shaughnessy, 185) Proactiv also hails their audience using a cruel but effective strategy:

The ad above is one of Proactiv’s older ads. The strategy of the ad is very cruel yet effective. It points out to the consumer that they have acne and, because of that, they don’t have a boyfriend. This is a strong strategy because most acne occurs during teenage years with teenagers being their largest market. Teenagers would also be more sensitive to the fact that they do not have a girlfriend/boyfriend. Proactiv’s goal here was to interpellate their audience in convincing them that they need the product to get a boyfriend. Proactive is bought for a rational reason as it ”solves” the consumer’s problem.

Proactiv has mastered their advertising techniques in hailing and interpellating the public with its messages. They have fed the public with its brand, and have become a household name. Their ads are successful in representing the norms and beliefs of the public, be it clear skin, or success in life. They’ve been so successful that they don’t even need salespeople at kiosks… they now have vending machines.

Wanted: The Media That we Need

After reading several of my classmate’s blogs, I have concluded that we do indeed, get the media we want. Although my opinion has not changed, I did read many blogs and opinions that differed from mine, and made me think from a different perspective. Another question I like to think about is; is the media we want the same as the media we need? I think that our media choices make a huge impact on our lifestyle, and they definitely effect our beliefs when it comes to social, political, cultural and economic matters.  As Brandon clearly states: “Media plays a huge role in pop culture in North America because it helps to inform society of fads and other influential events/styles in popular culture.” This is very true, but whether this impact is beneficial or not is a whole other matter.

Ryan’s thoughts on media are very thought provoking; “Anything the media airs directs us to believe that it’s the truth or its reality. The media can technically put anything they please or anything they might want us to hear on their news broadcasts or their “respectable” websites.” In my opinion, this is true on many levels of the media. You can see or hear something, and not even question its validity. This happens far too often in politics. This often-invalid information is very easy to find in the media. Sometimes its so easy if feels as though we are being force fed gossip, lies, and false promises (Politians).

The gossip is seemingly harmless, but it actually greatly influences your social status. In every-day conversations the “did you hear about –insert celebrity name—? As soon as you answer “no” you are probable to experience a small social isolation, as you cannot participate in the conversation. In Tori’s blog she explains that whether we want the media we get, or get the media we want, we cannot take our eyes off what is out there! “Everyone is talking about Miley Cyrus, her crazy life and how poor of a role model she has become, but yet we are so caught up in the media that we cannot stop watching it!” This is a perfect example of this. Almost as if Miley Cryus is a bad car accident – it’s awful, but you cant seem to look away.

It is clear to me that the media we want is not the same as the media we need. This is mainly because media stations are all in competition with each other, fighting for views and high ratings. This means that they will go through many lengths to win, even provide the public with false, meaningless, and useless issues. The problems being that these issues have somehow become important in our minds, and greatly affect social, political, and cultural matters.

Ryan’s blog: http://ryanmallat.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/the-media-we-want/

Tori’s blog: http://torigligic.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/getting-the-media-that-we-want/

Brandon’s blog: http://brandonlewis94.wordpress.com/2013/10/25/the-media-we-want/

The Media We Want?

The question “Do we get the media we want, or want the media we get” is a somewhat controversial subject for some. Do we decide what is being produced in the media? Or do the media control our thoughts on what we want produced. In my opinion, we get the media that we want. This is true for all kinds of things in the media that we experience on a daily basis, be it on TV, in the news, online, or even what advertisements we see.

“There may be an interesting contradiction between the values of media producers and their audiences’ desires, a contradiction that is revealed in the course of satisfying the imperative to popularity; there is thus a recognition of the powers of the audience/consumers to determine which media products succeed.” (Media and Society, O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, pp. 38)

 This quote describes how audiences can control what media is produced through their choices of what media to consume. For example, when pilots for new TV shows air, it is mainly the public audience that controls whether or not the show will be successful.  The views and ratings of the episode are ultimately what determine if the series continues.  The statement “we get the media that we want” is very accurate in this case, because by simply watching and enjoying the program, the program becomes more and more available to the viewers. This also works the opposite way.

The public television audience even has control over what time special events are aired at.

“Olympic Games coverage is organized around getting good television coverage and being able to present this across the world for peak-time viewing. Because of this imperative, the marathon has been run at times best suited to worldwide television audiences, rather than to athletes” (Media and Society, O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, pp. 45)

The Olympics, the 6 o’clock news, your favourite TV show. All of these things are catered to the audiences preferred viewing time. Of course, not EVERYONE can view these programs at the designated time; this is where “desire and demand” comes in.  Audiences were becoming frustrated when they were unable to view a program they wanted to. Media producers heard them and soon enough, the PVR was introduced to the public. The PVR allows viewers to record their desired programs if they are unable to watch it live.

Another example of “desire and demand” is when my Dad, thinking he is the coolest guy in town, bought a motorcycle. A Honda 750 cc Shadow ACE. To me this means nothing, but to him it opened up a whole new world of all things motorcycle. There were so many other consumers just like him who were interested in motorcycles, dirt bikes, cruisers, street bikes, etc. These consumers had no media outlet to purge on. No special TV shows or magazines about motorcycles, nothing. The group of cyclists grew larger and larger, and soon enough shows like Biker TV, and magazines like Rider Magazine became available to these people.

The public influences the media that is produced beyond belief. If there is a strong desire for something in the media that is missing, soon enough it will become available. Audiences have the main impact in what is distributed through the media, in other words, we get the media we want.

How significant do your classmates believe the impact of the mass media is on their worldviews, and does this change your impression of the media’s impact on you?

I began clicking through my class’s responses to our last assignment in hopes to find a few interesting blogs. Two hours passed without me even realizing that I had read about 30 blogs. I found them all so interesting, and I really enjoyed reading about other’s opinions. Many people had the same mindset as I do; media has pros AND cons. Most of the blogs I read focused mainly on the negative aspects of media influence, while highlighting the things they like about it as well.

Jenna, for example, shares almost the exact same mindset as me when it comes to mass media influence. As do I, Jenna finds the media to be great for communicating with family, keeping up to date on news and gossip, and staying ‘in the know’. She also addressed the same negative side to mass media as I did; body image. “…I’ve had a few friends who have suffered from eating disorders due to the images and thoughts put into their minds about what ‘perfect’ looks like.” Here Jenna is talking about how media has influenced her friends so much, for them to develop eating disorders. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. Magazines, television, advertisements, and movies all have the same idea of “perfect”, when in reality, that so-called “perfect” rarely exists.

As I was browsing through my classmates’ blogs, I found that many people, including myself, emphasized the negative impacts of mass media on society. It was almost refreshing to come across Christian’s blog, a blog that focused on the positive side of mass media. Christian made a great argument on what the media has done for us in today’s society. Mass media is indeed a form of communication, therefore, with it being everywhere we go, communication and knowledge is very easy to obtain. “…communication is key in our society as a whole, so why not continue to embrace it, but also use it to its full capacity.” Here Christian is stating that society needs communication; so instead of putting down the media and its influences, why not use it for what it is good at? I really like the point Christian made here. Although, in my opinion there are many negative aspects of mass media, it is also very remarkable! It is so easy now a days to talk face-to-face with someone living in South Africa through Skype or Face time. Or find out what Obama has to say about a world crisis. Fifty years ago, this would be unimaginable! That being said, my opinion has not changed, bias still exists, and I think great caution should be used when dealing with mass media.

In my previous entry, I did not mention bias or false news. This is simply because the thought of it never even crossed my mind. That is until I read Brittnay’s blog. She wrote, “…Some of the biggest news stations reporting the story on mass media were reporting false news”. This is referencing the news coverings of the Sandy Hook School shooting. News stations want to get their story out there first and will do anything to achieve that goal, including lie. This is a powerful negative aspect of mass media. People rely on the daily news to keep them informed and knowledgeable about the world around them. News stations generally only broadcast about 3 big headlines from around the world; usually something negative and depressing. Rarely do you find a nice, pleasant headlining story. This makes the news media very biased. Who chooses what the viewers get informed about? Why only a handful? Why are the stories always sad or upsetting? Are they telling the truth? These are some of the questions I now have to ask myself after reading Brittany’s blog. False news and bias news is something I never even thought of as being an issue; but with media coverage becoming a competition, stations will do anything for good ratings.

For the most part, my impression of the media’s impact has not changed. Reading my classmate’s views and examples, only made me think more about the pros and cons of mass media. A few blogs brought up new material that I did not touch on in my first entry. This was very interesting to me because some of the material did not even cross my mind. Like false news for example I didn’t even think that was LEGAL. This makes me criticize mass media a little more, and think twice before I believe anything I hear on the news.

http://jennakollias.wordpress.com – Jenna’s Blog

http://bs12tf.wordpress.com – Brittany’s Blog

http://christianbebisblog.wordpress.com – Christian’s Blog

1F25 Post 1: Media Impact

          As a young woman living in today’s society there is no doubt that the mass media has made a powerful impact on my worldview. Body image for example, is an issue many young women face on a daily basis. These young women sometimes have very low self-esteem, and constantly compare themselves to what they see in the media. It’s hard enough to look in the mirror and not like what you see, but when you find yourself comparing the person in the mirror to the person on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine, it can leave you feeling extremely inadequate. It is important to know that the stars and models we see in the magazines are portraying absolutely unrealistic expectations. Furthermore, the images of the people we see in the spotlight are edited beyond belief. Did you know that the clothing store Forever 21’s online “lookbook” has knee-less models? Yes, the editors photo shopped out the model’s kneecaps (See photos below). Apparently knee-less legs are the hottest trend. Anything to make us want to buy their clothing, right?

          Since I was born in the wonderful year of ‘95, I can safely say that I have been exposed to the media for my entire life. At the tender age of five I was diagnosed with astigmatism in my left eye, meaning I had to wear an eye patch for a few hours each day. I can remember that at five years old, I was embarrassed about wearing the eye patch and I was worried about what people thought of me. Five years old. I would throw a fit every day because I was so worried about what I looked like to other people. All of the shows that I watched and commercials on television taught me that only pirates wore eye patches, and little girls were supposed to look pretty as they played with their brand new Barbie dolls.

          Mass media isn’t all bad. It has a huge impact on my every day life. It is an extremely effective way to stay connected all around the world. I can message someone living in Australia right now in a matter of seconds. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check my Facebook and Twitter timeline. I don’t even care what half of the people on my newsfeed are up to, but the process of checking it has become routine. Some would say I have a problem or addiction, but I disagree. It is simply my way of staying connected. Others watch the news everyday at 6, or read the daily newspaper, but I simply log onto Twitter and check out what is trending. I literally have the whole world at my fingertips.

          I think that a lot of damage has already been done to teens and young adults suffering from low self-esteem, but there are still things that can be done to prevent more people from being influenced. Weight loss advertisements, for example, should stop being aired on teen oriented television channels. Instead, media and advertisements should focus on fixing what they have broken.