Week 6 blog post

We come across advertising at least once a day. It might be on TV, newspapers, magazines, websites, grocery stores, shopping malls or schools. Advertising is important not only for sellers but for buyers, because they keep us updated with new information and trends. However, I cannot help feeling that recent advertising tries to brainwash us by feeding us fake and exaggerated images.

The place I usually see shady advertising is TV. The most common advertising in the US media would be weight loss products. These range from exercise DVD, exercise machines to some low-calorie foods. They usually advertise that everyone can lose pounds in just a few days to few weeks without any eating restrictions. How could this happen? Be calm, and think about it. If we can lose weight this easily, there would not be any people who go to the gym regularly to lose or maintain weight. A person actually needs to burn 7,200 calories in order to lose 1kg/2 pounds. Even if you reduce 250 calories a day, it would take 1 month to lose 1kg/2 pounds. If you need to lose weight fast, what makes it possible is decreasing the calorie intake everyday or doing exercises excessively.

Another suspicious advertising field is cosmetics. They make a pitch that their cosmetics make acne, scars, or rough skin disappear; however, their products are categorized cosmetics. Many people who have serious skin problems would have seen a doctor and used a medication which dermatologists have recommended. If cosmetics are superior to medicines, nobody would need dermatologists.

Kitchen tool advertising is also popular. They could be knife, blender, or pan, and very delicious looking food is the results of these demonstrations. Kitchen tools might play an important role for the dish-quality, but I think cooking skills are much more important. Sometimes food in the advertising is colored artificially and they cannot be eaten because they are made from paints or clays.

These advertisements are wrong and must be regulated by the law so that consumers would not fall prey to false advertisement. In my opinion, if people have media literacy skills and calmness to judge advertising, nobody would be deceived by advertising.

Week 4 blog posting

Internet and electronic news have become part of our daily life and have made our daily and school life more convenient and comfortable. However, it is a controversial matter how much information we are allowed to get from them and how our privacy is protected.

In my opinion, “e-commerce” is beneficial both for customers and sellers. Consumers enjoy shopping whenever they want, and sellers start online business with less costs. However, is our privacy is protected? Of course, the information of credit cards and bank accounts is protected, but what about our email addresses and home addresses? Why do we receive spam and letters from the companies we don’t know? I am trying not to buy anything from the websites that I cannot fully trust, but I’m still afraid that some information is leaked out to unknown people. There is some terminology that I don’t know in chapter 10. My concern is that, if a computer develops way too much, we may not be able to track how our privacy is protected.

As for news, it seems to me that right to the privacy and the right to access information contradict each other. As the text book points out, victims and their families are afraid that the information revealed to the media might cause a similar tragedy somewhere else. Also, they might think that the media infringe on their privacy, because the media asks for an excessive number of interviews.

On the other hand, some people claim that the privacy of suspects and their families is also protected, which means the media should limit reporting about suspects. People who are not involved in an incident may want to know what happens in their country, claiming that it is their right. The textbook uses the examples of the spree on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The suspect was actually a man who moved from Korea when he was a child. It was shocking and a little bit annoying for me when I read some articles saying that Korean students in the area called themselves Japanese when the incident occurred so that they would not be discriminated against and mobbed. Some Asian countries were afraid that the suspect would be a person from their country. The incident might have been shocking to a Korean American community, but what we can learn from the incident is that there are still racial problems around the US. It is very difficult to how to report and issue.

Week 3 reading response

Movies, music, radio, and television are new types of media that have emerged in past hundred years. Although these media are popular and part of our daily life, there are controversies over licenses, censorships, and contents.

I doubt that the movie ratings protect children and teenagers from harmful movies. As the text points out, many underage children are able to get in a movie theater without being accompanied by parents. Not every movie theater asks customers to show their official ID to check their ages because it is not required. Even if there are restrictions to watching certain movies in public theaters, a lot of movies are available online and in stores, so children can access to many kinds of harmful media. As long as pornography, violence, and alternately other kinds of harmful media exist around the world, you can access to them. Television is the same matter. Even if all the televisions have V-chips, it does not mean all parents access the system so that their children are protected. Parents who cannot discipline their children would allow their kids to be exposed to harmful media. It seems to me that excessive television programs are broadcasted even during the prime hours. Modern kids at least stay up until 11 or 12; South Park and Family Guy, which air around this time can be offensive to many people.

On the other hand, I think music is treated more leniently. In the point that music does not convey images, it is less harmful to listeners, and lyrics are more like a book. It is interesting to me that Sheryl Crow included the phrase which suggests Wal-Mart deals with guns and refused to change the part. I think there are many alternative words that sound better than “Wal-Mart.” I am wondering why her management company or record labels did not persuade her to change the word. Here, I see the picture of American media; they express and behave however they want regardless of the criticisms. In my country, for example, one young female actor was reluctant to be interviewed in the movie preview, and the media was very critical of her. Later she gave comments on her blog, saying that everything she did was bad and she needs to take her responsibility for it. She rarely shows up the media after that incident. If Sheryl was a singer in another country, her behavior might have damaged her career. Cultures and behavior of celebrity are closely related.

Week 2 blog

Chapter 3, 4, and 5 discuss how books, newspapers, and magazines have developed from small media publishers, included individuals.

It seems magazines are the most difficult media among the paper media to appeal to readers because of America’s diverse population. However, are the people in the US different just because of their ethnicity? The tastes of readers are diverse even in countries’ where a population range is less obvious. The example of Latina makes me wonder whether they identify themselves as an American or a Spanish American, if they are asked to choose one. If they consider themselves American, the media which is targeting a specific ethnicity, would need to makes sure why this types of magazines are important. We are too much exposed to a media where blond and brunette female models with good figures are featured. They are absolutely beautiful, but it does not mean they have to be the standard of a beauty. The fashion industry completely restricts women in terms of ethnicity. International versions of famous fashion magazines, such as VOGUE and Cosmopolitan, are actually different in terms of contents because the articles are focused on readership. However, many of the pictures feature white models.

Another topic that makes me interested is the attitude of the media toward teenagers as a marketing target. According to the page 156 of the text, “The typical teenage girl isn’t quite sure whether to worry about her pimple or whether to go out and win a Pulitzer. That’s in part why you can have so many magazines.” I doubt this idea. If the modern teenagers have no idea about their future, a lot of messages from the media would unfortunately end up confusion confusion for many teenagers because of information overload. Each magazine has different issues, so teenagers are not sure which information they need or they may get the information and misuse it. If a sexual harassment, racism, and schools violence is featured, teenagers may be interested in these articles rather than being aware of the risk. Interpretation of articles completely depends on the readers.

I hope that the purpose of the media includes not only conveying accurate information but also giving readers a skill to judge which information they need and what they have to learn from the information given.