Response To Sky's Blog: "Response To The WDRB Homepage"

You can read her full post here: http://reachforthesky25.blogspot.com/2016/10/response-to-wdrb-homepage.html

Sky recently wrote an article responding to the homepage of the WDRB website. Throughout her post she expressed her opinion that they have too many stories about crime, and I definitely agree with this statement. She said that 9/23 stories on the homepage were about or related crime, also when you look through our data there is a large amount of crime stories coming from WDRB and all of the stations.

Sky then went on to talk about a particular story that caught her attention, "Louisville women reportedly hits step-father with broom handle in argument over Donald Trump". She said that this article violate the yardsticks local relevance and newsworthiness. After reading the article myself i agree with this. A woman hitting her stepfather with a broom handle does not affect other people in any way, and will not have a long-lasting effect on people's lives.

Overall I really enjoyed Sky's post, and how honest she was with her opinions on the excessive amount of crime stories in the news.

Response To Ella's Blog: Parts of a Newspaper Coming Full Circle

You can read the full post here: http://newsviewsella.blogspot.com/2016/10/parts-of-newspaper-coming-full-circle.html

This particular blog post of Ella's really stood out to me. I love the connection she made between parts of a newspaper and our digital design lesson on alignment. The fact that she was able to connect the two shows her complete understanding of this topic and I believe that it even goes above and beyond. The connection between the two shows even more the importance of learning the parts of a newspaper and how it can help us in J1, Digital Design, and the publication we will join in the future.

Overall I think this post was very well written and it shows her understanding of the topic very clearly. It also was very interesting to read, and that her post has to be one of my favorites so far.

Response To Lauren Hunter's Blog Post: News Critique #3

You can read the full post here: http://laurenhunter77.blogspot.com/2016/10/news-critique-3.html

After reading through Lauren's posts I agreed with a lot of what she has to say. Her posts are enjoyable to read and her depth helps me and hopefully others better understand class discussion

In this particular post she said something that I did not fully agree with. "They have really gone in depth of the debate which is very important at this time in society" I disagree with this because I do not feel that the Courier has gone in depth enough about the debate and the election. She went on to say the it’s important to write about the candidates because if affects everyone in the United States. I agree with this statement which is why I don’t think the Courier has enough stories about the election, this is an important part of time in society like Lauren says and people should be as informed as possible about the election and the candidates.

Overall Lauren’s posts are informative and clearly show her understanding of class discussions and the data we have collected from our news source.

Courier Journal: Observations

Our class is really close to being done with observing our news sources, and us just finishing our 7th data record I am starting to notice some patterns that I would like to share.

One thing I have noticed is the the Courier has a significantly larger number of stories then all the other news sources which is to be expected since it is a newspaper, so this didn't surprise me. But what did surprise me was the large amount of sports stories that the Courier has. Looking back at my data I noticed that only once out of the 7 issues that we have looked at has the sports story count not been in the double digits, also from the data my group has collected there has always been more sports stories than any other category. This surprised me because I don't understand how sports are really that newsworthy and because I don't think they really are,  why would they take up so much space in the paper? But at the same time I get how a lot of people like to read about sports for entertainment.

Another thing that I have noticed is that there are not as many political stories as I thought there would be. Because it's an election year and the presidential election is fast approaching I would have guessed that there would be more stories about the candidates and the debates.

Lastly I have noticed that there are rarely any stories about war and diplomacy, not just from the courier journal but also from all of the other news sources we are observing. This caught my attention because aren't we technically in a war right now, and don't we have troops overseas fighting for our country? I don't understand why there aren't any stories about this because it's been going one since 2012 and I believe that it’s really is a pressing issue. This is breaking the element of inclusiveness because the sources and courier journal focus too much on one subject like crime and sports and not enough on another subject like war/diplomacy and the election.

Class Discussion: The Effects of T.V

(10/12) We discussed the effects that TV had. Mr. Miller showed these relationships by helping us create effect "tree" to organize our ideas.

One of the aspects of TV that had an effect on us was the life-like depiction that it gives us. Because of televisions lifelike qualities the idea of stereotypes and violence emerged. An example of this is how people always think crime rates are higher than they actually are because TV focuses so much on violence.

Another thing TV had an effect on was the economy. TV allowed businesses and corporations an easy way to reach mass audiences through advertisements. These advertisements influence us a lot more than we actually think, also they fuel consumerism.

TV also affects political ads. Because advertisements are so expensive it requires a lot of money to run political ads on TV. this means that only wealthy people can really run a successful campaign which gives us limited candidates. For all we know there might be amazing options of intelligent people out there who could make much better presidential conduits then who we have, they just don't have the money or the support from wealthy corporations to run a campaign.

Along with ads and lifelike content TV has also kept us indoors. This has lead to less face to face communication. We spend so much time watching consumed in our phones and watching fictional shows that we never really talk to each other, or experience real life. Along with less face to face communication obesity is a large issue because we get up and move around less.

This lesson really intrigued me because i never really realized how much Tv really affected us and how much it has impacted our lives. I don't really watch a lot of TV but knowing that the average american keeps their TV on for 7 hours a day doesn't really surprise me, i was actually expecting a lot more because of how much TV consumes our lives

Class Discussion: The Demassification of Radio

(10/10)  Today in class we discussed the history and the demassification of radios. Before this lecture I didn't really realize how important radios were to creating our culture and how TV really took over what radio used to do.

Mr. Miller talked about how radio was this major form of mass communication that had a little bit for everyone. One of the main reasons it was so popular was that it was the first live medium, where people could listen to the news while it was actually happening. While to us this seems like an everyday thing, it was a really big deal back then.

When TV became popular the first thing to leave was the talent. Radio stars wanted people to see their faces. Once the stars left so did the audience, then the advertisers. Because of this radio had to start playing things that TV didn't have. That's why when you listen to the radio you hear mostly music and talk shows.

After learning this I was actually really surprised because I never really knew the history of radio and why it plays music. Also one thing that was very surprising was the fact that radio helped create the idea of the teenager.

Courier Journal: For $975 A Month You Could Live In A Caboose.

You can read the article here: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2016/10/18/975-month-you-could-live-caboose/92377812/

(10/18) Today I was on the courier journal website in the news section looking at stories. What surprised me was that the first story that popped up was "For $975 A Month You Could Live In A Caboose" The article is about how a local real-estate company brought these train cars from Illinois to German Town and that you can rent them to live in.

After reading this I was confused. Why would this be considered news? I don't agree that this story meets the 10 elements and 7 yardsticks of journalism. My issue with it was that it just isn't relevant. This does not effect a large amount of people and its not going to have a long lasting effect on peoples lives, this violates the yardstick "newsworthiness" which I can argue is the most important. The one thing I could appreciate was that it was somewhat interesting to read, due to the fact that you can live in a caboose which reminds me a lot of "The Box Car Children" but I was not able to see how this story is newsworthy enough to be one of the first things you see in the news section of their website or how it really effects the audience of the Courier.

Class Discussion: Why Do We Still Go To the Movies?

At the beginning of the 2nd 6 weeks we talked about movie theaters and how they were a large part of American culture. Even though they were very popular in1945 when theaters would sell 90 million tickets per week, now they just seem like a waste of money due to all of the modern technologies we have at home like DVDs, on-demand, internet streaming, and cable/satellite TV, so why are movie theaters still a large part of todays culture?

During Mr. Millers lecture we learned that one reason movie theaters are still popular is that it’s a social event. Kids go to the movies to hangout with their friends and to be around other people. Going to the movies is a way to get out of the house, and to hangout with your friends without your parents being around. Another reason is our cultural need to be first. When a movie comes out it goes to the theaters months before its available on DVD, online, or on-demand. We like to be first, so when a movie comes out we feel the need to see it as soon as possible. Another reason is the technology of the theaters. Because people have access to all of this modern technology at home, theaters are adding things that you can't get at home so you'll still want to come to the movies. Theaters have HD screens that completely fill your vision, along with high quality pictures and sound that you just can't get at home.

After discussing this class I realized that these are the exact reasons that I go to the movies. It’s amazing to me that so many people don’t realize why we are usually drawn to movie theaters.

WDRB News Media Critique

You can read the full article here http://www.wdrb.com/story/33092641/drug-and-gun-cases-inside-jcps-schools

This article breaks 1 elements of journalism- inclusive and 1 yardstick- fairness

This article was about the investigations of drug and gun cases in JCPS schools. While the content is locally relevant the article was not in-depth enough to show the relevance.

In this article the reporter briefly covered each recent gun case, stating only where the incident happened and how the weapons were confiscated. "Then on Aug. 30 a Noe Middle School student was arrested for having 2 guns...one was loaded." This is not a description of the event, the reporter did not include any further detail on the event. If this is supposed to be an investigation shouldn't they include all of the important details?

Also the article barley cover the drug cases, only giving 3 schools that have a drug case and saying "Since the 2011-12 school year, there were 776 incidents. That number dropped to 726 the next year, then jumped to 935 for the last school year. There were 71 incidents so far this school year." If you are going to include drug cases the people should know when it happened, what kind of drug, and what happened to the students.

The article was unfair because it only gave ONE side of the story, Katy Zeitz, the JCPS Achievement Area Superintendent. While the superintendent is an important part of the story the article did not say anything about students, parents, or staff members of the school. 

Overall, the article left out major details and many sides of the story. The students perspective on the event should be one of the most important because they are the ones there when these events are occurring. This shows that WDRB's ability to get all sides of the story is not where it should be.

Response to Sky's "The Keys To Journalism"

You can read her full blogpost here: http://reachforthesky25.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-keys-to-journalsim.html

    After reading through Sky's piece, I began to understand the keys of journalism more. Throughout her post she expressed her opinion, views, and understanding of the topic. Not only did she show her understanding but was also able to connect it to real world examples. I found myself agreeing with everything she said.
    I loved how well Sky's piece flowed together. When she gave the NPR example and tied loyalty into the story, I thought this was great thing to add to her post because it showed her understanding even more.
     Overall, I throughly enjoyed Sky's post. It gave me an insight into her thinking and understanding of the topic, which helped me understand it more.

Magazines

In class (9/7) we discussed the history of magazines. During the discussion I was really surprised at how much magazines effected and helped to shape american culture.

The first weekly newspaper started going out in 1821 it was called "The Saturday Evening Post". This magazine had a little bit for everyone in it. Overtime it lead to what people called a "shared american culture" Because magazines became such an important part of american culture congress created the Postal Act of 1879, which made a pound of magazines only 1 cent to ship.

The fact that the goverment subsidized magazines shows how important magazines were to us at the time. They created a national culture and a national identity. They were able to do this because they were the first medium to reach a national audience. This shows that magazines really helped shape our country's culture into what it is today.

Response to Mia's "Medium Effects Message!!!"

You may read her full blogpost here:http://miamazingthoughts.blogspot.com/2016/08/medium-effects-message.html

After reading Mia's entry it was not hard to know how she felt about the lesson. Her entry not only described the activity we did in class but also showed that she understood the content and that the activity helped her gain a deeper understanding. I was also very interested in the subject of "Medium Effects Message" and it was nice to read someone else thought and opinions on the topic.

She stayed on topic and was able to make her ideas flow together in a way that was easy to understand.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Mia's piece, and I liked the way she was able to clearly express her understanding and opinions on the topic and was able to show that she knew the content well

The Positive And Negative Effects Of Conglomeration

Last week in class we discussed conglomeration. This lesson made me realize how big certain companies were, and how powerful they actually are.

For example Time Warner Cable (TWC) TWC is the third largest media company next to Walt Disney and Comcast. They own major internet, television and film divisions. Because they own all these different medias they can control what is said about them. Since they own CNN they can make sure that nothing bad is ever said about them on that channel. Another negative to conglomerations is the lack of diversity in content, because most of these conglomerates are populist, they only show what the people want to see, meaning that every show/movie/book are going to be very similar (The Hunger Games and Divergent for example) After this lesson I realized how few independent media companies there were and how these companies are becoming too powerful.

Even though there are some negatives to conglomeration, there are also some positives. Conglomeration positively effects corporations more then it does the people. Because conglomerates own so many platforms of media, they can make more money. Also because they own so many platforms they can expand over all of them. For example, Harry Potter. Harry Potter started out as a book, then it became a movie. Overtime it became so popular that companies noticed that they could make a lot of money if they started to create toys, video games and costumes. So they did. Now you can access Harry Potter themed things everywhere, over all platforms of media.

The Effect Of Gutenburg's Printing Press

Today (9/02) we discussed the history of print technology. When we started discussing the effects that print technology had on society, it really surprised me.

Before print technology was efficient, literacy was a privilege. The only people who knew how to read or had access to books were the powerful people like kings, queens, and most importantly the catholic church. Because the common people did not have access to the bible the church would lie to the people to maximize their power. Once Gutenberg invented his printing press, he started making copies of the bible in common german so that the people could finally have access to the bible. Once this happened new ideas and opinions on religion/politics started spreading. This was the beginning of journalism. Also, these ideas and opinions started spreading more rapidly because they could efficiently create many copies. Without Gutenberg's printing press, revolutions may have been a less widespread and fueled belief, also many important ideas/opinions could have never been heard, our world would so different. I realized that print journalism has effected our world so much and that it is really important

Demassification

We discussed this topic in class on Monday the 29th.

When companies start losing their audience, advertisers, and/or staff, they have to demassify. This is when corporations start creating media for “niche” audiences, instead of trying to create content that will reach the largest mass audience possible.

After listening to Mr. Miller's lecture, I realized that the movies I love are made for teenage girls to watch and the tv shows I enjoy are made for people who love sitcoms. A lot of what I watch, read, buy, and like, has been created for a niche audience that I am a part of. Without demassification, not as many mediums/networks would be creating content that certain groups of people enjoy. If they were still trying to reach the largest mass audience, then they would only create things that are popular among everyone, and I probably wouldn't have read/seen some books/movies that I truly love.