Fake News

In today’s news, we’ll hear about the falling economy, unemployment rates, the war overseas, politics and nuclear weapons. Satirical news downplays the seriousness of news in the form of entertainment with humour based on irony. Although satirical news is a parody, occasionally it is mistaken for real news. The objective is not to be factual but to create laughs; it is not a source to educate viewers on political issues.

Satire news is not influential on political points but it gives the viewers a perception of politics. In class, we learned from John Berger that, “We are not born perceiving. We learn to perceive and not to perceive.” (Berger) A lot of people have no standpoint on political issues, neither left nor right but fake news analyzes a politician’s background as oppose to her/ her views. We learn fake facts from fake news and we perceive it as the emphasis of our attitude towards the politician.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin , 1973.

Media Literacy

Media Studies is the educational process of attaining media literacy. Media literacy is the ability to scan and analyze the messages that inform, entertain and sell us everyday. (Tallim) Being media literate is to critically engage yourself by looking through various forms of media and asking questions pertaining to how it was constructed, what are the purposes and what details have been hidden? (Tallim) These forms of media span from newspapers, music videos, internet journals, video games and advertisements.

Media literacy can be demonstrated in viewing famous icons such as The California Dancing Raisins. (Stauber) A media illiterate would view it for pure entertainment value. But a media literate would ask questions. One who sees these ads would ask who produced the ads. Who is the targeted audience? Whose perspective is it told from? What techniques did this ad use to get my attention? Why does it concern me? And what’s the purpose of this ad? By asking questions you engage yourself in critical thinking, analyzing every aspect that’s present and hidden.

The objective of asking questions is to see the truth, to view the bias, the censorships and the behind-the-scenes plot. “All documents... are confidential.”(Gullickson) In the foreground The California Dancing Raisins were singing and dancing raisins animated through claymation. In 1988 they ventured through a 27 city tour, performing at children’s hospitals and at supermarkets and numerous charity events. (Stauber) This lead to a revenue increase of 17 per cent as well as a growing fan base. Pretty great figures, right? Wrong, now media literacy would pertain the view to ask questions beyond the facade of dancing raisins and see the real objective. In the background behind the dancing raisins was a plot lead by public relations firm to cover up a crisis, foods such raisins to yogurt to beef had been contaminated with industrial chemicals and pesticides. All this was lead by the California Raisin Advisory board to bypass the release of Diet for a Poisoned Planet, a book which exposes the negative effects of pesticides in raisins. (Stauber)

Rampton, John C. Stauber and Sheldon. Toxic Sludge is Good for You. Monroe: Common Courage Press, 1995.

Tallim, Jane. Media Awareness. 06 10 2009 .

Ch-Ch-Ch=Change

Barack Obama said he’s going to bring change but who would have guessed he was also bringing Chi-Chi-Chi-Chia. A Chia pet is a clay figure where you place within it grass seeds, then you watch the grass grow as it mimics hair. In this advertisement, Chia Pets has launched a new special product, the Chia Obama. It’s a clay model of Obama’s head and his scalp grows hair. This new product is said in the commercial to have been launched to commemorate Obama’s inauguration. When Obama was elected as the President of the United States in 2008, he was praised for being the person who will change the world by bringing change, opportunity, liberty, prosperity and hope.

When I first saw the advertisement, I felt it was ridiculous and silly that the president has been demoted to Chia status. This product is obviously marketed towards impulse buyers who feel by purchasing this, they’d attain a piece of history. Just like how a sword symbolizes truth, Obama has become a symbol of change. What’s ironic is that such a prominent and respected political icon has become an icon of entertainment and pop culture with the Obama brand name. It’s sad and ironic that American companies feel they can manipulate people into buying their products with their presentation filled with patriotic music, speech, sales tactics and the president’s face.

Examining this commercial spawns a greater outlook into the current state of America, where politicians are being taken as a joke and how pride and patriotism can be manufactured for consumers. The Chia Obama is sold as a symbol of what the president represents, change, opportunity, liberty, prosperity and hope. Being a proud American never has been so easy, before you’d have to fight in wars, fly your flags, sing the national anthem and vote in elections but now Chia has made it so simple, anyone can be a proud American for just $19.95 plus shipping and handling (Chia Obama). Maybe this will stimulate the economy.

Chia Obama. 02 10 2009 .

Mass Media

Mass media is any medium used to communicate to an audience. It can be through the TV, internet, radio, newspapers and etc. (Lane) An example would be from McLuhan’s Playboy Interview, the printing press which stretched mass-produced books and printed matter across Europe. A modern form of mass media would be the internet, which is a platform for news, gaming, music, video and communication. As the printed matter travelled through Europe it turned the vernacular regional languages of the day into uniform closed systems of national languages.(McLuhan) I agree that mass media tends to nationalize the local, especially with new media as it overrules existing forms.

In the past we’ve seen television dominate households as the new medium and even before that, the radio, but since the arrival of the World Wide Web, former media powerhouses have taken the backseat. Before you’d receive audio from radios, visual from television and communication from the telephone but the internet has captured those elements into one uniform system. The Internet has become our national language as numerous of citizens use it worldwide.

Lane, Beth. Suite101.com. 29 June 2007. 02 10 2009 .

McLuhan, Marshall. The Playboy Interview . 02 10 2009.

Media Ecology

The technology I chose to put under the microscope is the Iphone. It’s a “multi-media” device with the ability to play music, video, browse the internet, photos, play games and a phone. Basically it’s taken over everything.

Neil Postman says “A medium is a technology within which a culture grows,”(Postman) if that’s the case, I would say the iPhone is a clear representative. Actually it has outgrown any technology in our society with its numerous functions and efficiency. It has taken over the CD player, radio and other mediums of music, taken over the TV and the computer with its visual aspect and the phone as a form of communication. A culture has sprouted from the iPhone due to the vast marketing of the product, from subway ads, television commercials and word of mouth. People buy it to stay tech-savvy, for all the capabilities, for communication and even to be cool.

Postman praises the internet for its efficiency, calling it the “Niagara of Information” (Postman) which I find similar to the iPhone, as it is the St. Helens Volcano of functions. Postman later says the internet has turned us into internet junkies, in comparison to the iPhone, I’d say it has made us “application junkies” downloading everything you can find.

The purpose of the iPhone is to take your life on the go, bring everything you need anywhere and that’s what it’s successfully doing. It’s taken over our life and has made it faster but definitely like the typewriter, it has undermined us. From storytelling and memorization to printed text and now to saving everything you see on an iPhone. We’ve become too dependent on our little devices that where ever we go we need to bring it along. Apple intelligently marketed the product so everyone can find a use. For example, the map application, people who physically look through maps or people who are open to discovery used to travel and explore to find a route to their direction but now in the iPhone era they resort to their map. Now all we needs is an application to help us live our own lives.

Postman, Neil. "The Humanism of Media Ecology." Inaugural Media Ecology Association Convention (2000):