Class Reflection

One of the things I learned in this class was the term "greenwashing," which I ultimately did my powerpoint presentation on. I am not an activist of any sort, I just find it funny that companies resort to trying to look eco friendly in order to sell their product or make themselves look better, knowing full well they are not environmentally friendly. This also led me to discover many "pinkwashing" scandals, which is when companies use breast cancer research as a means to push their product with making a significant contribution. Also, I found learning about the different type's of defamation lawsuits that their are. I always assumed libel and slander were the same thing. Finally, my third "aha" moment was from the chapter on electronic journalism. I had never heard of the term "stringer" for a freelance journalist. I would like to be a "stringer" at some point in the near future.

Media Ethics

This story from the times from back in April is about a court ruling in favor of Comcast internet service. The ruling allows for the internet service to make certain sites run slower than others and also allows comcast to charge certain sites like youtube to run faster with their service. Comcast also maintains that this ruling will allow to slow programs like Bittorrent to run slower. Bittorent is used to illegally share files and the court favors removing sites like this. Furthermore, Comcast is trying to buy up a ton of networks, which may be a case of conflict of interest in itself.

Ethics

Using the EBSCOhost database I was able to find a ton of articles regarding media ethics. One article that I found interesting was about how lawyers should use social media sites like twitter and facebook. Mainly, the article discusses what is ethical for lawyers to do and say over tweets and status updates in regards to confidentiality amongst their clients. The article can be found at this location.

Propaganda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Mh-3Lz4RM

I made a mistake and originally posted this to a different blog, here it is.

I'm sure everyone has seen the above NAPA auto parts commercial on TV at one time or another. In this commercial, many propaganda techniques are used. First, the commercials jingle repeats "Napa know how, Napa know how" over and over again, getting the jingle stuck in your head and their name stuck as well. It also uses the technique to appeal to "common man" in society by using two overweight, balding men in the commercial, showing that "anyone" could require the expertise of a Napa Auto Parts employee.

The Internet

I counted 191 sites that were listed. Of the sites listed, I believe the only ones I have heard of are tumblr, flikr, blogspot, myspace, facebook, twitter, stumbleupon, yelp, and stickam. I don't think that I know of any besides those. One of the sites that they listed was Avatars united. This site is dedicated to online gaming of all different kinds. I use Twitter, facebook, stumbleupon, and yelp. One time a social networking site got me into trouble is when I went out to a bar for a friends birthday and pictures were posted the next day on facebook. In the pictures I appear to have another girl sitting on/near my lap. This did not make my girlfriend happy and going to bars has not been allowed since.

Television

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ

This video from The Onion shows how the media tells and shows you what to buy.

Does media have an effect on society?

Yes. Simple things like commercials for products will convince people to buy things that they probably don't need simply by showing the public flashy pictures and spewing random meaningless specs.

Music and Recordings

My favorite song of 2009 would have to be goin' in by Lil Wayne and young money. This song gets me up for things. One of my favorite songs of all time is Hail Mary by 2pac. I think this is mostly a favorite of mine because I grew up being partially raised by my uncle who was pretty young. Every time I rode in the car with him he had 2pacs greatest hits CD and I love every song on it.

My Magazine

Magazine Idea:

Name: SHO (pronounced shough)

Concept: The concept of the magazine is to combine things that are popular in urban culture like music, sports, and even politics.

Readers: People who are fans of hip-hop, enjoy talking a little, and are interested in sports. Males between 15-30

Competitors: SLAM magazine, The Source, XXL, Playboy, Maxim

Advertisers: Clothing companies, Musicians, Shoe Companies, Video Games, Music Schools.

Articles: 1. The basics of "fruity loops" beat making software
2. Refining your jump shot
3. What you need to know about "Free" Healthcare
4. The Miami Heat...Yes another article on the Miami Heat.
5. The top 50 songs of all time.

The Cover: The first issue would have a picture of me standing in the middle of a basketball court dunking a baby.

The Most Influential books in my life

One of the most influential books in my life is The Bible. I went to church from age 0 to 18 every Sunday. As an adult I picked up the bible and began to read it and realized that I could not possibly believe anything that was going on in it. I was forced into believing in God, but the bible made me realize that I didn't believe in any of it.http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Bible-King-James-Version/dp/1565633253/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255314498&sr=8-1
Another influential book in my life is "Total Impact" by Ronnie lott. This was a book written by former All-Pro safety Ronnie Lott. The book talks about how Ronnie overcame many hardships to make it to USC and the NFL. This book motivated me from a young age to be competitive and try to be a winner at everything I do.http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Ronnie+Lott&x=0&y=0
A book that I read from a young age that stuck with me throughout the years is "Holes." This book taught me that bad things can happen to good people but if you work through it, you can make things better.

My Media Project

If I were to purpose a media research project, it would be on the effect of racial suggestiveness in advertisements on TV. Recently, it seems as though a lot of commercials play to certain stereotypes in races in order to be funny or ironic. For example, in this taco bell commercial, it portrays a Latin-American lady as being a nagging sandwich making woman in an office. The white guy in the commercial even mimics the lady when she says "5.50." I would like to conduct a study amongst my classmates to see if they notice things like this in commercials and if they are offended by them. Do you think it looks bad on the company making commercials like this? If so, why would they choose to take the risk of damaging their image just to possibly make a few people laugh?

My Media Autobiography

Hi my name is Matt Andrews. Growing up I have had experience with all the different types of media, some of them good, some bad. When I was growing up I always had a fascination with kids books like "Where the Wild Things Are" as well as all the Goosebumps and Anamorphs books. The one book that really sticks out from my adolescence is Holes. This book really had an impact on my childhood because it is the only book can remember thoroughly reading. As I got older I developed less of an interest in books and got more into television. From about age 6 I loved television.

When I started to get really into TV at about age 8 or so I developed a strong attraction to sports and ESPN. I would watch ESPN constantly as a youngster. As my mom recalls, I once nearly let the house burn down when I was 9 because I was intrigued by the Laker game I was watching. I also enjoyed watching comedy from a very young age and I think it played a big part in shaping my personality today. Still, I rarely watch anything but sports on TV unless my girlfriend is around in which case I end up watching idiotic reality shows like "My Antonio" or "A Real Chance At Love." I don't like these shows because it gives society, specifically American society a bad wrap.

My love for sports transcended television however and I became fond of the San Jose Mercury News. Every morning before school I could be found checking the standings of the NBA or figuring out who was getting traded where. I loved the sports, business, and comic section because that is the only thing that appeals to me.

I also subscibed to Sports Magazines growing up like "SLAM" and sports illustrated for kids. I loved these magazines because they had tear out posters I could hang on my wall and interesting stories about my favorite athletes. I still to this day subscribe to SLAM and love it.

I did not really start getting into music until later on, probably around 7th grade. The first CD I bought was Blink 182 Enema of the State. My music prowess grew in my beginning in High School when I started to become e a huge fan of Hip-Hop. I still maintain a variety of music in my collection ranging from the late Big L (Hip-hop)to Desecrion (metal)

The radio however hardly plays anything I like so I tend to stick to the somewhat dull talk-radio side of things. Basically the only thing I listen to is sports talk from the Bay Area, occasionally switching back to music for a few songs. I still feel lost without a radio in my car It is a necessity when driving alone.

My favorite and most used aspect of Mass Media is definitely the internet. Here I can post blogs, read about sports, check my fantasy teams, use Facebook to stay connected with all my friends. Also, it is a good way to research things that appeal to me on a whim using Google and Wikipedia. I love using the internet to see the perspectives of a wide range of people from all over the world.

Last but not least are movies. I generally watch an average amount of movies during the week and go to the movies once every couple of weeks. Comedy is my favorite thing to watch no matter what. Serious movies tend to bore me and I don't like to have to think a lot when I am being entertained.

I still use most media today besides books for the most part. My favorites are the Internet and Music because they can be so personal to me. I think all aspects of media have played and will play a role in my life.