Chapter 13 was particularly interesting to me. I mean I heard most of all of it before but I have never actually read about it. A lot of people think that media, namely television and movies, have a huge influence on our own day to day behavior. Partially I believe this too but only partially. It is sort of nature vs. nurture where the media is nurture. You grow up watching violence or any other negative and or positive behavior and the chances of you copying that behavior become greater and greater. So if a child grows up watching shows and movies with a very heavy amount of violence in it than yes the possibility of that child also being a bit violent is very much likely. I’m not sure about violence, and consumption, at such an extreme scale such as shootings and addiction can be blamed solely on media but you never know. It was cool reading about the different theories that are out there and the breakdown of each but, as much things are, it was much like taking something you already know and breaking it down to its simplest form, which is not so much a bad thing but just a thing that I noticed. Now on to chapter 14. I did not want to read this chapter at all. It looked long boring and history which is a triple combo I’m not so excited about experiencing. The chapter was interesting where it could be but overall I could have done without the read.
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You know, every time I read one of these chapters, I always think, do I want to be that? Do I want to spend the rest of my life doing that? Every single time I consider the possibilities and this time is no different. The history actually helped me this time in understanding what public relations is and what exactly the job entitles. Advertising on the other hand… well I’ve read about it enough throughout the whole book to know its value. I think I may like public relations even with its negative connotation. It seems interesting enough to get into and enjoy. Advertising on the other hand seems to deal in lots of money and who doesn’t enjoy money? I know I do but I still do not think it’s specifically for me. Public Relations may not be all it’s cracked up to be but that just tells me that I need to do a bit more research. I’m sorry if this reflection is not up to par with my others but after reading those chapters this is all my brain was reflecting on.
Okay I'll be perfectly honest here, I really want to be done with this reflection now so sorry in advance in it seems kind of... flimsy? Okay so chapter 10 was about the internet a subject that I am very VERY familiar with. So yeah at some points it did seem like I was reading a manual and not a text book but then again what exactly is the difference? No shade. Besides that, what’s the deal with war? Why did everything basically depend on it to be able to start up? I don't think I have read a story yet that didn't have World War 1 or 2 in it and that is not so much distressing as it is intriguing. Do you think that these mediums today would have ever been as popular as they are today without war? Probably, but what really knows. Right? It's strange that there are advocates that actually relish the lack of control people have on the internet but then again it does make a lot of since. I mean how much more free can you get when you throw anonymity into the mix? Not much, but I'm not so sure we should see that as a good thing. I mean there is such a thing as to much freedom in some cases and maybe the internet is one of them. There have been plenty of horrible cases of cyber bullying and creepy stalking to prove that much but then again what do I know? I won't get into that debate because, knowing me, it'll just be another one of those arguments I can't actually take a side on. So yeah, that's going to be it for me on this reflection. Till next time. See ya.
A chapter about gaming... oh joy. That was my initial sarcastic reaction to this chapter. Then I discovered the chapter was actually shorter than the others so I reeled in my sarcasm, but only a bit. The actual reading was tolerable and even interesting in a way were I didn't completely pull out my hair while reading the history. Except for the section titled Rapid-Fire developments. Who could possibly follow all those dates and new technologies in one paragraph? No me that is for sure. I reread that paragraph about 4 times before I finally gave up and moved on. Good riddance! Also, quick question, is the game Odyssey the same as the game Pong but on different systems or what? I was thinking that maybe it was but knowing me I probably got that completely wrong. Another random thought, I'd like to meet the guys and gals in TMRC. I need to actually see with my own eyes a person who writes programs for the military for fun... in college. Not to poke fun but to see that there are college students out there whose idea of fun doesn't revolve around Mary Jane.
Chapter 8 was actually very interesting. The history was…. Okay but why do commercials cost so much? Really, that makes no since. The super bowl commercial in 2013 cost 4 million for only seconds. I don’t understand why. It’s only 30 seconds after all. I suppose it would be because of all the attention the super bowl get and as a result the advertisement would get more attention and that attention would bring more money. Even so why 4 million? That’s ridiculous. Crazy ridiculous. I can’t even imagine that much money. It does make me want to get into the television industry though. I see there is a lot of money in it if you are good at it. I’m not so sure I would be good at it but if I am I’d definitely make the big bucks. Also, I’m not so sure how ratings make money. I understand how you get the numbers but how do the industries actually get the money from the ratings.
I feel like conglomerations had to be the biggest problem with radio because they just keep having to make these people sale off they're stations. All of these regulations and acts are just a lot. Really was that needed? I mean I understand the military need or want to have some kind of control over the radio medium but what about everything else? Why was there so much of an "everything else"?! Furthermore, can we just take a moment to discuss the difference between AM and FM signals. Maybe I'm being a bit difficult here but how one is wider and another longer? Does that mean that one only travels in one direction? If not then honestly that makes no since to me. If one thing is longer than the other than that thing in reference to the first must be just as wide, if not wider, than the other. Also I'd have to say that the advertisement revenue radio had in the early 1950s was crazy. It seemed like each decade the ads would jump up about 100 million for no good reason. Being a DJ or a radio operator back then must have been a great job. Speaking of DJ's, I never knew that DJ stood for Disc Jockey but that's a pretty weird name.History, history, history.... why? Since I see the beginning of every chapter is going to obviously begin with a not so brief history in ANY given subject I'll try not to complain every time but I probably won't succeed. Surprisingly, the history in this chapter wasn't so bothersome other than the fact that half the time I really didn't understand. That's sort of a trend with this book though so again I'll try not to complain. I feel like the author is sort of trying to rush through the history as well, spitting out dates and names from left to right. I mean, sometimes I get what he is trying to say but most of the time I don't. On a more positive, less complaining, note this whole time period where movies had no sound, editing, or even captions amazes me. It makes me think about the people who much have lived in those times. I compare movies back them to flipagram and it's weird thinking that people were actually amazed and entertained by that for a whole 12 minutes. Speaking of 12 minutes, there was a time when a whole movie only lasted 12 minutes? What? Also, why were people such sticklers? I mean what's the harm in a little on screen lovin'? Was the Kiss so sensually erotic that there had to be a law made against it? Prohibiting the use of certain words and costumes? Sounds a bit over dramatic to me. Lastly, what the heck is the deal with communism?! To my understanding it's just, in a pretty small nutshell, a society that shares everything. Why put people in jail for believing in that?
I think you've read enough of my reading reflections to know my obvious distant for all history related things so I'll spare you the rant. In other news this chapter was much like the newspaper chapter. Although I see that magazines survived the emergence of television much better than newspapers did. I think that might be because of the visuals magazines bring to the table. Newspapers look tedious and boring while magazines aim to look more fun and entertaining. I understand that newspapers are serious and are very important in order for us to obtain "hard news" but have you ever really looked at a newspaper? It's font? It's not appetizing. While magazines are entertaining and different news papers are boring and stick to that same routine. I was thinking this the majority of the time while reading this. Also, have you ever thought that maybe the yellow journalism idea came from magazines in an effort to be more appealing to readers? I certainly think that may be a definite possibility.
Before I start this reflection I'd like to give you a bit of information about myself... I hate history. Well more like I strongly dislike reading history. So the beginning of the chapter that talks about the history of newspapers was not my favorite. To this you may say, "but last week you almost drooled over books and their 'diurnal's'" and to that I'll say, "the book bias is strong in this one". Seriously though the history on books did not bother me as much as it bothered me in this biography on newspapers. Honestly, it's like it would never end. Of course it did, eventually, but while I was reading it I thought I might die before that last sentence finally presented it's self. Besides that the chapter was okay. It was cool to learn (not read) about how newspapers organized themselves in specific groups for specific audiences. It's weird because I knew most of this stuff but I never really paid close attention to it's intentional use in my life. While I was in high school there was a time when I was on the track team and every once in a while my coach or teammate would boast about one of us ending up in the paper. At the time I'd only took brief moments to wonder about who actually read the paper. Is this a sports newspaper? Does the whole state of Maryland get this paper? Then I read this and found myself to connecting to that time and realizing that Fairmont Height, or maybe Capital heights, had their own newsp
aper company that collected and distributed news in that area. I know, common sense, but I really didn't connect those dots. What I did know about though was the decline in newspaper readership. Doesn't everyone? |