Product Placements

These are all examples of product placement in movies and TV shows. Product placement is when companies pay for their products to be placed in movies or TV shows to receive exposure. Some are subtle while others are rather obvious.

Jolly Rancher: Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

McDonald’s: The Bachelor

Dunkin Donuts: Orange is the New Black

Nike: Forest Gump

FedEx: Cast Away

Dr Pepper: Spiderman

Bed Bath & Beyond: Click

Subway: Happy Gilmore

Burger King: Transformers

Hyundai: The Walking Dead

Critical Blog Posting #2

As television and cable change their shape and size, do they remain the dominant way our culture tells stories?

Television and cable do remain the dominant way our culture tells stories. “Television remains the mass medium that can reach most of us at a sing moment in time” (Campbell, Martin, & Fabos, 2015). Television provides a place where people can watch special events live including everything from sporting events to national disasters. An example of this is President Trump’s rally in Florida yesterday was streamed live.
Today, television remains the main place, whether it’s the big LED screen or the handheld smartphone, where we go for stories. In what ways do you think this will change or remain the case in the future?

As seen above in this photo, there are many devices that people can watch television on but “according to Nielsen’s 2014 “Digital Consumer” report, 84 percent of smartphone and tablet owners said they used those devices as an additional screen while watching television.”(Campbell, Martin, & Fabos, 2015). This basically means that people are viewing more than one source of media at the same time and they are doing this very often. This is obviously a change from how things used to be. Maybe this means that people will be taking in more information from the media in the future.
Where do you prefer to get your stories?

As shown above, I like to watch Netflix. Since I’m not at home much to keep up with shows when they are shown on regular TV, I can watch shows at my convenience. The only disadvantage is that Netflix doesn’t offer current seasons so I will have to go on the internet and watch shows on the website of the network.
How do you think new technologies will further change T.V. viewing habits?

In 2012 the average daily household television viewing time was 7 hours, it is now over 8 (Campbell, Martin, & Fabos, 2015). This is a direct effect of new technologies and how the advancements have increased ability to watch more. I think this will continue to grow as more technology develops.

Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B. (2015). Media & culture: mass communication in a digital age. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

Track Your Listening Habits

How much radio do you listen to?

I listen to the radio about 1.5 to 2 hours a day if you consider Pandora radio. I think Pandora is radio even though it doesn’t have commercials. This is the same as when I listen to the real radio because I’ll skip to another channel to not listen to commercials.

When do you listen?

I listen on the way to and from school and work and at the gym. I will occasionally listen to radio at home while I cook or clean but that isn’t often!

What attracts you to a particular station?

Minimum commercials is what attracts me to a station more than anything. Of course this is within my tastes. I don’t mind listening to talk shows on the radio if they’re funny.

How has your music taste changed over the years?

I have had the same music tastes forever. I have a very eclectic taste. My programmed stations included classic rock, country, and hip-hop & R&B.

Is Anchorman a Comedy or a Documentary?

What are the advantages and pitfalls of the media’s appetite for telling and selling stories?

The media is a great way to get informed about what is going on in the world. It is easily accesible and fast to report stories. This is a big change from before the internet and television. Back then, it could take a long time for you to hear about news through newspapers or word of mouth. Our new technology has provided many benefits to the media but there are also other aspects to consider. With all the time avalibility to share stories, media will tell all kinds of things that most people don’t consider actual news. For example, celebrities’ lives aren’t the equivilancy to crime. It seems though that people love to hear this “gossip” and may be more interested in those kinds of stories then more important ones. I think this has caused the media to have to “sell” other news to make it more intereseting. This is where false information comes into play and viewers are taking in information that is not completely accurate. Are more entertaining stories worth the infedelity? This issue isn’t new to the world though. The ancient Greeks had the same problems. Socrates wrote about the dangers of how popular art forms and stories “without distinction” would affect people (Campell, Martin, & Fabos, 2015) and we are still skeptical today.
As we reach the point where almost all media exist on the Internet in some form, how have our culture and daily lives been affected?

Media convergence is something that has happened during our lifetimes. For people my age, we don’t remember a time before Internet. Today media consumption is always with us from our phones and very flexible since your can access it whenever you want (Campell, Martin, & Fabos). This makes things very conveinient but now we can’t distinguish the differences in what used to be separate media. This may not seem  like a big deal but I think we are losing appreciation for the different types of media. I can’t remember the last time I picked up a newspaper and read it. I don’t even watch the news on tv since I can just read it online. Economically, this could change the industry. It would be bad for printing companies but good for phone companies. I feel  like we would be susceptible to even more false information because anyone can post on the internet. We already spend a lot of time on our phones and our culture is very much revolved around information on the internet. I can’t imagine how it could get anymore involved with our lives but I guess we will have to see.
Do you feel Anchorman is a comedy or does it more closely reflect in the shift in what and how viewers/readers want information?

I feel like I can’t answer this question by chosing one option or the other. I think it is a combination of the two. Anchorman is  definitely a funny movie if you enjoy “stupid” humor so you can’t deny that it’s a comedy. I never considered it to be a documentary until the idea was put in my head through this assignment. When I considered the possibility after reading the case study, it made a lot of sense. Anchorman does a great job of portraying how consumers want information. We enjoy stories that are entertaining over ones that are boring and the stories in Anchorman are definitely entertaining as you can see in the following YouTube video.  https://youtu.be/sMSYmcJiOQI

Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B. (2015). Media & culture: an introduction to mass communication. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

Third Blog Post

“Technology Transforms Writing” Thinking and Writing Questions

4. Leibowitz reports that computers have also added to students’ inability to read. Students “strip mine what they read” (139). What does this mean? Do you do this type of reading? Why do you read this way?

When a student strip-mines what he or she reads they don’t fully grasp all of the characteristics of the literature. He or she misses the syntax and the ideas of the literature. It usually involves reading fast and maybe skipping of parts on the reading. It is casual reading. He or she is not reading in depth the way he or she is supposed to so that the ideas of the reading can be understood. The lack of thoughtful reading results in a lack of knowledge and understanding of what the student just read.

I do this type of reading quite often actually. I understand it is not good at all. I have some pretty good reasons why I do this though. I don’t really do much reading from a computer screen. I don’t think that strip-mine reading is limited to computer screen readings. I read the same when I am reading from a physical book or when I am reading off the computer. I do this kind of reading because sometimes I don’t have any other option. When a professor assigns 100 pages a night to read, I can’t thoroughly read all of that and do everything else I am supposed to do. I have actually had a professor to tell me just to skim over the reading and just get the main ideas.

 

 

 

Second Blog Post

It surprises me that the girl in the excerpt about the sororities doesn’t expect to be discriminated against for her weight. The stereotype of a sorority girl is a skinny white girl who looks perfect. I’ve never been around many sorority girls but this is how they’re perceived. If you’re not skinny you won’t fit in. That’s what society tells us anyways. It’s awful that its like that but in most cases that’s how it is. I hate that she felt like she needed to be in a sorority. She could have found friends who genuinely liked her without being in a sorority. Considering she was at Chapel HIll, there are a lot of things to think about. It is perceived that most people who go to Chapel HIll are stuck-up which in my experience is not always the case. There are stuck up people everywhere. Chapel HIll might of not been the best place for her to fit in. In my opinion its not about fitting in though. Its more about enjoying your life where you are. If you’re nice you will find friends where ever you are.

Initially i chose to write on this topic because we had the optional prompt to in class. It interested me so i took deep thought in free writing about it. I chose to revise it because it interested me so much I wanted to talk about it again. I might even use this piece for my analysis essay. 

First Blog Post

Thinking and Writing Questions: page 15

1. Why does Harrington let his students find their own subjects to explore? What do you think about this?

    Harrington lets his students find their own subjects to explore because he gets much more and better writing by learning what stimulates them to think and write. Through the free choice of subjects that Harrington’s students get to write on, he learns a lot about his students. As an example, he found out that one of his students and her children were being abused by her husband who was an alcoholic. Since she had the free choice to write about alcoholism, she was a very engaged writer. The writing was almost like an emotional relief for her. I think this is a wonderful idea. With my experience, I do find it easier to write on something that I choose. What I choose is something that I am interested in because then I don’t mind writing. I am more ambitious to research and investigate the subject. I love learning new things concerning the subject and the writing actually becomes a memorable experience that was surprisingly positive. I can still remember a paper i wrote in what i believe was second grade. Our teacher, Mrs. Reid, let us choose an animal that interested us to research and write a paper on. I chose the gorilla. I still remember some of the details of that paper and how i was so proud. Free choice in writing is definitely a good option for teachers to give to their students.

Below is a link to the band “Troublesome Creek String Band” that Dick Harrington is a member of.

http://www.troublesomecreekstringband.com/