Lies, Truth, and “Truthiness”

It was proved in the last blog post that satirical news such as Saturday Night Live’s ‘Weekend Update’ can still effect the public sphere despite the fact that it is not ‘real’ news. Satirical news is successful because it expands the public sphere by introducing new demographics. People who would not normally watch the regular six o’clock news, such as Justin Gideon, Jessica Znaczko, and Brandon Kennedy all agree that satirical news is not only a successful type of news casting, but also that it positively effects the public sphere. These three testimonials support my previous claims that satirical news is not only an effective method of news casting, but they also agree that the news is more widely discussed due to this method. Their claims deepen this knowledge by proving how the use of satirical media positively affects the public sphere.

            When discussing the reliability of satirical news, Brandon Kennedy stated that “I see these shows as a reliable and more entertaining way of acquiring important information that I would not otherwise find out about due to the news’ aforementioned dull and depressing nature. While they are not always, of course, the most reliably accurate and honest source of information they take steps further than their serious counterparts by adding the element of humor and entertainment.” By saying this he affirms that not only is satirical news a viable form of broadcasting, but it affects the public sphere positively by supplying a counterpoint. This counterpoint proves to be a useful feature in the public sphere, allowing for conversation to deepen within it.

            The point about the public sphere expanding due to this content is not only because of the age of the demographic, but also forms in which it is released. I don’t know about everyone else, but if I were to sit down and watch the six o’clock news, I would not want to log onto the Internet after and rewatch my favourite parts. This is not true for satirical news, as I know many people who go onto YouTube after SNL and review the highlights of ‘Weekend Update’ this is to see if they missed any jokes, or maybe just to re-experience the laugh they had earlier. Justin Gideon states “The success of the comedy is well known within the industry and there is a surge of TV shows and websites that use this to their advantage.” This meaning that the news has extended to the online community, introducing it to a whole new part of the public sphere.

            To conclude, Jessica Knaczko sums up the argument with “In order to promote discussions of change within the public sphere, culture jamming through satirical news reports on television is the fastest and most reliable way to accomplish this.” Meaning that since satirical news introduces a new demographic, and a new community of online participants, the public sphere greatly benefits from this form of media. 

Is the Fake news the Real News?

 

In the last few years there has been a trend developing in regards to satirical news reporting. Shows such as the Daily Show, The Rick Mercer Report, or even Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update use this format. Often these shows poke fun at very serious news in order to gain some laughs, or media attention. Some consider this type of reporting to be ‘culture jamming’, which O’Shaughnessy and Stadler refer to as “a mode of resistance to the norms and convention of mass culture that exposes and opposes the media’s underlying power structures and ideological messages.” (213 Media and Society.) Culture jamming and satirical news reporting are both valid forms of alternative media, and both relate heavily to the public sphere.

It can be seen in Media and Society that “the objectives of culture jamming often include consciousness raising as well as using the media to criticize the media and dominant culture” (214) The objectives of satirical news are largely the same: to take a well known news story, and raise awareness about it in a comedic, satirical way. I believe that it is fair to say that satirical news is a mainstream form of culture jamming, due to the similarities between their goals, and they way in which they reach them.

Global News and Saturday Night Live have more in common than you think. Despite the fact that the nightly news has a generally older audience, and SNL’s demographic are young adults; Global News is famous for airing at the same times every day, and raising national awareness about events occurring globally. The ‘Weekend Update’ section of Saturday Night live is famous for turning those events into comedy. Although SNL is watched mainly for the humor, the political and societal sections such as ‘Weekend Update’ affect its viewers more than they realize.

The public sphere is the way people come together socially, and have discussions about issues in society, which influence each other politically. The SNL and Global News comparison relates directly to the public sphere because it joins together two completely different social groups. The young adults watching ‘Weekend Update’ share the knowledge of politics and society that the older generation gains from watching the nightly news. By reporting about Rob Ford, the nightly news has educated their demographic about politics, and by satirizing Rob Ford, the young adults have also been educated, bringing their common interests together.  

What the Hail Response

What the Hial?! – Response

The media constantly targets us by breaking the population into smaller demographics, such as age, sex, race, religion and lifestyle. The ad I chose targeted teenagers of any sex and race, who lived the ‘partying lifestyle’. By airing this ad during the super bowl, it was sure to reach people who fit that description. 

Although the ad I chose related mostly to age, one student chose an old spice ad targeting the members of a certain sex and lifestyle. The ad that Adam Tusim chose was one selling ‘Old spice’ targeted to men who are older then 13 and younger that 50. Adam Stated that all boys and men want to look great (as good as a male model would) and they want to feel as good as they look, “the male model ‘identity’ represents what the average Joe would want to feel like after using the product.” Adam recognized that they targeted men and what they hoped to look and feel like, and the ad manipulated these feelings.

            Advertisements are not always trying to sell things, like the drunk driving awareness ad chosen by Tori Gligic. The ad she chose is aiming to raise awareness about, and attempt to stop drunk driving. The ad is a picture, which features a girl laying in a bed, with faint unfocused images of doctors operating on her. Although the ad features a young girl, it is targeting all sexes. As stated by Tori “Many students are interested in alcohol and partying, so when they see this ad, it will be something they are interested in and will be willing to try to understand.” She recognized that, like Adam’s ad, the used lifestyle to attempt to relate to the target demographic; unlike Adam’s ad however, her ad couples lifestyle with age rather than sex.

            Worldwide sporting event’s target audience includes everyone old enough to understand the sport. In Anthony Olefuko’s blog, he mentioned an ad he saw for the FIFA World cup 2014. After analysis of the commercial he said “the ad tried to branch out to a wider range of audience by placing some female actors in the ad. If one were to further analyze the ad, it would be seen that even amongst the actors there were those of different backgrounds, class and possibly religion. The director even included a celebrity […]” By showing members of both sexes, all ages, backgrounds, and class, the commercial does not exclude anyone. Hoping for maximum attention on the event, the ad attempts to target everyone.

            Every single advertisement has a target audience or demographic. As seen here, people are targeted by their age, sex, lifestyle, religion and race. Old Spice targets men who dream of looking and feeling perfect. The ad promoting drunk driving awareness targets anyone who lives a lifestyle, which involves drinking alcohol, primarily teenagers. Events that are televised worldwide, such as the FIFA world cup, attempt to target the members of all possible demographics. Each company has its target demographic and attempts to shape the ad around what that demographic wants to see.

 

Adam Tusim à   http://at12nk.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/what-the-hail/

Tori Gligic à http://torigligic.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/1f25-blog-post-3-what-the-hail/

Anthony Olefuko à http://to12ls.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/what-the-hail/

WHAT THE HAIL?

What The Hail?

 

            While watching The Superbowl last year, there was an advertisement that came on the television for Taco Bell. The ad began with a group of old people sneaking out of a nursing home at night, and shows some of the activities they do. Over the course of the night they go to a nightclub, while there they make out in the corners, dance, party, and hook up in the bathrooms. They also break into a pool, set off firecrackers, do doughnuts in a street with their car. They flash people in a restaurant and one of them even gets a tattoo. The night is finished after they go to taco bell and eat it on the hood of their car while a policeman gives them a dirty look (as if he knows they are up to no good). After all of which they go back to the nursing home as the sun comes up. It isn’t until the end of the ad that we learn that it is a commercial for taco bell.

            It is clear right away that the ad is targeting teenagers and young adults. Teenagers are frequently hailed as ‘partyers’ and ‘rebels’ for sneaking out, and doing things such as going into nightclubs, and doing doughnuts in their cars (as seen in the commercial). This ad sees that teenagers and young adults are hailed this way, and they change the modes of address to suit this. Obviously elderly citizens are hailed differently- living in retirement homes they knit, and watch television… they don’t party! It is part of the identity of young adults and teenagers to rebel, but as quoted from Media and Society Michael O’Shaughnessy and Jane Stadler observed, “the possibility of playing with identity is seen as one of the most exciting aspects of the new technologies.” (184). This ad was interpreted as comedic because of the mode of address; it manipulated the identity that young adults were hailed as having, and manipulated it.

            It is no secret that after a busy night out with friends, Taco Bell is the perfect greasy hunger quencher. One mode of address which advertisements use towards the young adult population is to recognize our lifestyle, and try to relate to us through it. When ads reflect to us this way “[…] give us our identities and subjectivities.” (Media and Society 186) This commercial reminds us who we are, and relates to us through reflecting our lifestyle, and then parodies us. This ad was extremely effective because it was a comedy, which is something we enjoy seeing in commercials. It also reflected our hailed lifestyle, which gives us identity. Then it plays with our sense of identity by making the commercial about the elderly, it is in this part that we find the humor. 

WANTED: the media we need

Reward: and informed generation 

Have you ever hard someone having a discussion regarding politics, and you surprise yourself by understanding what they are talking about? This happens because we have such easy access to information that sometimes we don’t even realize that we are learning it. In today’s society it is very easy to learn about social, political, cultural, economic matters, as it can be accessed through the Internet, the newspaper, the television, magazines, and books, almost everywhere!

People today, especially teenagers and children are very vulnerable to the media. We have grown up with it constantly shoving things at us, telling us we need new bikes, toys, and computer games. Often times we do not even realize we are absorbing these things. Melissa Aichele stated “The influential industry has been able to sneak its way into our thoughts and emotions by what is called a conscious industry.” She goes on to state that ‘conscious industry’ controls the masses by manipulating their feelings, and then uses their control to make money.

Lets face the facts, few people my age sit down and turn the television on to the CNN or Global News. People who have not grown up with the Internet and smart phones may begin to think that we do not know what is going on in the world, but this is absolutely not the case. Cale McDonald expressed “I may pass up [the opportunity to] actually sit through a news broadcast to get my world wide news, there are many news outlets such as twitter or different news apps where I can instantly access top quality news that interests me.” This expresses the way many people access their news, personally I check my twitter at least once a day to see what is trending around the world. Although we may not be seen sitting down every night to watch the news, global occurrences still reach us through social media.

The generation before me remembers that if your friends moved away, you would for sure lose contact with them. By choosing to telephone someone, we are missing out on some learning experiences. Inventions such as skype have made it easy to learn about culture, you can actually see what your friends house looks like, how the weather is, or what clothes they are wearing. If your friends or family members go on vacation, skype and facetime allow you to experience parts of the world as if you were there. Classmate Tiziana D’Alesio recalls the iPhone “Apple’s technology […] has become a revolution of social networking. They have a simple policy: to bring global communication together.” When we are facetiming someone, we may not realize the culture we are absorbing.

Many of my classmates shared the same opinions as me, that we affect the media as well as it affecting us. The choices that we make everyday can determine how much we learn about political, the economical, social and political matters. The media makes every effort it can to reach us, but in the end, the choices we make effect which parts of the media reach us

 

Melissa Aichele- http://melissaaichele.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/1f25-post-1-media-impact/

Cale McDonald- http://cm11ll.wordpress.com/

Tiziana D’Alesio- http://tizid1995.wordpress.com                               

Do we get the media we want? Or do we get the media we get?

It is not uncommon for people to go to the movie theater, with friends, family or on a date… But sometimes when you want to go to the movies, you find yourself saying ‘there’s nothing to see!’ This is because the movies currently playing at the theater are tailored to a different audience. As a population, we get the media that we want to get- the music we like, the movies with actors we like, and the products we like.

When you are in your car listening to the radio, a song may come on and you might say “ugh! I hate this song!” and reach to the tuner. But then a passenger might say, “Stop! I love this song!” People often feel like media doesn’t cater to them individual, but rather assumes that everyone likes the same thing. But this is not true for the media released today, in the past information was broadcasted. Things on television for example, in the past you had to tune in at a specific time, to watch television shows tailored to the general public. In today’s society, through the use of Internet, and podcasts, there are narrowcasts- which cater to smaller groups of people. We get the media we want, the people who don’t fit into the main population have narrowcasts, tailored to their needs. They are for the people who don’t fit into the large subgroups of the population.

In order to be innovative, you need to notice a ‘need’ in the population. Inventors, movie and television producers, businesses executives, C.E.Os, everyone who gains success through the population, has found a need, or inconvenience in that population. The general model is “realityà media à audience”. Anything we receive in the form of media has started with reality before becoming media.

Media’s Impact on My Peers (post2)

It is no secret that mass media has somehow touched everyone’s lives.  The impact on my life is mainly through my outward appearance and the way I spend my time. After having my mind opened by reading my classmates blogs, I see that mass media has affected them, like it has me, but each person in the class has been affected differently.

            One of the blog entries that I read focused on body image. This poses a serious issue in today’s society, and I absolutely agree that mass media creates an unrealistic ideal of beauty. Being a girl, it is extremely likely that at some point in our lives we will be unsatisfied with our looks. When discussing the effect of the media on body image one classmate- Montana Highley said “it did not help that on the television you would see half naked girls dancing on all the boys. ” I am in complete agreement with this comment, what if boys only liked the really pretty girls? If there were not so many images of what a ‘perfect’ body looks like on mass media, then there may not be such high standards for the way a girl should look.

            Many other blogs focused on the social aspect of mass media. One blog written by Sam Dixon brought up the subject of communication through social networking. “I could communicate with my family more easily and effectively, which has made the transition manageable,” he wrote about maintaining friends after an intercontinental move. There are many huge advantages to social networking, it allows you to stay in touch with friends, or reconnect with ones you have lost contact with, and get to know new ones better. Mass media has low points, but social media is not one of them, because it makes communication easier.

            Mass media is unbelievably powerful, Ty Keca brought up a very true fact- by the use (or misuse) of mass media people can be ‘brainwashed’. Ty wrote “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.” This disturbing technique is still being used today, maybe not for world domination, but certainly for power, and above all else, money. Many fast-food giants use social media, as do high fashion designers, and almost every other business you can imagine uses commercials, or other advertisements.

            My original thoughts reinforced by the other blog entries I have read. Each one brings up completely valid points that I had not thought of. Montana, with the idea that mass media wrecks young girls self esteem by creating unrealistic goals for themselves; Sam brings up the positive side of mass media, which is how easy communication is using social media; Ty brings up a dangerously true fact that mass media has been misused in the past- with disastrous consequences. I remain vigilant that mass media has a giant impact on my life, and each of the other blogs I read further reinforces that idea. 

 

Sources

Montana Highleyà http://montanahighley.wordpress.com/

Sam Dixonà http://samsmediaandsocietyblog.blogspot.ca

Ty Kecaà http://tykeca.wordpress.com         

            

1F25 post 1: Media Impact.

Imagine yourself in a world without mass media. In order to do this you would have to take away almost everything- your cell phone, your television, computer, posters that you have in your room, books, the radio… the list goes on an on. In a world without mass media where would I be?

On a typical day, I spend five or six hours watching movies, and television. When I get bored of the screen I might text or Facebook one of my friends. Together we might go see a movie, look at magazines, or go shopping. What would a typical day without mass media look like? First of all, I would not be able to watch movies or television, so I would be forced to play with my sister, and pets. Then what? With no telephones or Facebook, I would have to go to my friends’ houses if we wanted to talk. We would have no magazines to look at, books to read, or Internet to end our boredom; we would have no clue what to do! My role as a teenage girl would be completely warped without my cellphone, television or Internet.

The reason I want to grow my hair is so it will look like Angelina Jolie’s in the movie The Tourist. I started to wear makeup because I watched the show Bewitched and thought that thick, long eyelashes were beautiful. Without seeing heavy eye makeup and long straight hair on television, would I even do my hair or wear makeup? If I didn’t see people my age dressed stylishly in magazines, I would not know what to wear. It is impossible to know how I would look, but chances are I would not waste my time putting makeup on if nobody else wore it. My role as a dictator of beauty would no longer exist.

The media influenced my entire future by showing me the rest of the world. My chosen career is in the tourism industry, but what if I had never seen the Taj Mahal on Slumdog Millionaire, would I know it existed? If I had to learn about the Taj Mahal through word of mouth, I probably would never have learned about it. My entire perspective of the world is based on what I have seen on television, read in books, watched in movies, or seen on Google. I would have no idea what the world was, because all I would understand is what I have seen with my own eyes.

Without mass media in my life, I would not look like I do today. I wouldn’t wear stylish clothes, makeup, or have an attractive hairstyle. My routine would be completely different, not being able to watch television, or movies. My perspective of the world would be so vastly opposite, because I would hardly know anything outside of my community. My roll as a ‘teenage girl’ would not be the same as it is today.