In Response to Maya's "Three Types of Communication" Blog Entry

What I found most interesting about Maya's entry was the fact that she used FaceTime and Skype as examples of mass communication. They seem like such direct forms of communication it is weird to fathom that they are forms of mass communication. After I considered the fact that it was because you aren't physically present and the information travels through time and space, it made a lot more sense. Thanks Maya!

In Response to Piper's "Magazine" Blog Entry 

In Piper's post she talked about how interesting it was that the magazines motivated people to read. I also found this fascinating, but never really thought of it in modern day circumstances like she did. I never realized how much we actually talk about what we've read. Novels become well known from conversations and ratings that it makes you want to read them as well. They become so popular they are made into movies! Thank you for that new outlook Piper!

Media Critique

In the Rolling Stone last November, a journalist named Sabrina Rubin Erdely covered a news story describing a gang rape by a fraternity at the University Of Virginia. The article contained detailed descriptions of the rape from the victim, yet she refused to answer specific questions of the encounter. This one article had a major impact on the university. All fraternities were investigated and put on suspension because of the incident. The article drew a lot of attention to other rape stories and rape awareness at the university. 

In December of the same year, the Washington post released an article on the same incident with a totally different turnout. After the victim refused to talk to the reporters, they interviewed witnesses of the encounter and talked to the fraternities. The Washington Post had enough evidence to prove the victim did not get gang raped at a fraternity party. 

The Rolling Stone article is an example bad journalism. The only material Erdely had for her report was what the victim had told her. This is bad journalism because the article was one-sided, failing to look at the bigger picture and investigate other areas of the event. You never heard from the fraternity's perspective of what happened, and there was no specific evidence the incident as well. Her story was proven invalid by the Washington Post, consisting of a group of journalists that dug deeper into the story and found evidence against Erdely's claim. 

People rely on journalism to report truthful news. The University Of Virginia trusted the Rolling Stone article and applied it to their campus. After all the trouble, the article ended up being proven invalid by the Washington Post. Bad journalism doesn't just effect how people view an event, but it also effects lives as well. Innocent fraternities were suspended. The University Of Virginia was given a bad reputation. Erdely should have known she had to back up her claim before publishing the report. 

It is important to report a story from an unbiased standpoint, and to have various sources from different perspectives that back up your claim. An event that was misinterpreted caused chaos. It cast on future victims of rape. Prosecutors may be less likely to pursue these cases because of previous false allegations such as this. Not only has the Rolling Stone's false report effected the lives of people at the university, but future rape victims and reports as well. 

Mass Communication

I am considering many future jobs, some of which are forms of mass communication. Mass Communication uses technology to reach a mass audience through time and distance, without the communicator having to be physically present. Any one has access to mass communicated information. I am considering a sports broadcaster as a future profession. I would be presented on live television, and anyone around the world could tune in to watch my broadcast. That is a form of mass communication. Also, I would not be getting immediate feedback from my viewers because I wouldn't be directly broadcasting to a specific group or audience. I am also considering a profession of writing for the  Rolling Stone. The Rolling Stone is a very famous music magazine. If I wrote for the Rolling Stone, I would not have to be present in order to communicate my columns to people.  My writing could be accessed in printed magazine form or on the internet by anyone at any time. Copies of the magazine travel over a distance, and the website would be accessed on any computer. Those are just two examples of jobs I am considering as a future profession, and two of many that have to do with mass communication.

The Renaissance Movement 

The Renaissance Movement was an effect of Gutenberg's Metal Printing Press. The Renaissance Movement was the reborn of art, technology, science, literature, and political/religious views. Before Gutenberg, only the wealthy, priests, and extremely successful merchants could afford to own a bible. Since Gutenberg created a way to print more copies and at a faster pace, they became more affordable to everyone. Gutenberg also printed his versions of the bible in German, making it easier for everyone to translate and understand. This added to the Renaissance because people did not have to rely on priests to translate the bible and their views for them. People could develop their own opinions based upon what they read. This added to the religious/political rebirth of the renaissance. Since more newspapers could be printed for a cheaper price as a result of the Metal Printing Press, there was a rebirth of literature because more people could publish their work faster and in larger quantities. It was easier for news to spread and people to share their ideas!! Gutenberg started a REVOLUTION!

This lecture relates to me because I am jewish, and I consider myself a journalist. It interests me how people started voicing their opinions to larger groups of people. I love the idea of how people started developing their own ideas and beliefs, because I have many ideas of my own. Also, coming from a minority, it is important for me to express and publish my beliefs for everyone to see. Viewing the ideas of others have an effect on our own and provide us with different ways  of seeing things. If I ever become the author of a column in a newspaper, I will know how my opportunities became possible based off of Gutenberg's creation, and why people across the world are able to view my perspectives on on certain subjects.

7 Yardsticks of Journalism

There are certain things journalists should always keep in mind when publishing news stories. 

Is the news newsworthy?

People love hearing about what Justin Bieber has done to get himself in jail for the third time, but is that information actually newsworthy? Newsworthy information are stories that are useful to people. Newsworthy stories provide people with information that may effect them and their lives. This also leads into the concept of local relevance, because journalists need to be aware how the news effects the audience. So before publishing a news story, make sure it has a specific purpose rather than interest.

Is the news story fair?

When publishing news, you should never be bias unless it is an opinion column. If you are trying to inform the reader of a certain event or situation, they deserve to know the full story in order to develop their own opinion. They should receive the big picture rather than an isolated version, receiving all sides of the story. Adding onto that, you as well should receive information from more than one source to ensure your story is valid, and you are not conveying false information to the public. You should always remain truthful and want your readers to believe you are providing them with valid news.

This lecture reminded me of the prompt I chose as an audition for the Journalism and Communications magnet. The prompt was asking whether or not we should lower the voting age to 16. I was in favor of the proposal, and one of my ideas was that politics should be taught in school, but from unbiased standpoints so the students would have a chance to develop their own beliefs and opinions, and use them when it came to voting for president. I made it very clear that the teacher should in no way sway the students to voting how the teacher wants them to vote, and they should be taught to teach both sides of why a candidate would be best fit or least fit for president. The teacher in a way is a journalist, because they have to provide the class with valuable information. They need to get their information from valid sources, and teach the big picture instead of specific viewpoints. 

Binary Models: Information vs. Entertainment and Elitist verse Populist

The soul purpose of a journalist is to provide valuable and valid information for the common good of the people. Although this is the intention, there are many factors that may prevent this from actually happening. A binary model that represents those factors are information verses entertainment. Usually the most useful news isn't the most entertaining. Even though it isn't the most useful, people would rather hear about how many kids Kim Kardashian is having, than about political issues. Journalists struggle because they want to inform people about what is useful, but have trouble making the important information entertaining for people to watch. That is where entertainment comes in. Some journalists are blinded by the fact that their information has to be entertaining so people will be more interested. This is called infotainment. Although more people want to watch infotainment, a con is that they are getting less of the information needed because they are blinded by the entertainment factor. This is where another binary model comes in: elitist verses populist. Elitists are journalists that aren't focused on making their news interesting, they just want to convey important, useful messages to the people. They do not care about their income nor how many views they are receiving, just about informing the people on what they need to know. They fall into the category of information instead of entertainment. Populists are journalists that do want to inform people on current news as well, but are more in it for the money. Before they present the public with a news story, they consider how many views the story will receive and how many people will be interested. They share infotainment, because they want more people to be interested in their news and more people to tune in, creating more money for themselves. An example of a populist news station is "E! News". How many kids Kim Kardashian has may be interesting, but no it does not concern us. It isn't useful news. But people would rather watch "E! News" than tune into an elitist news source such as the newspaper, because their stories are more interesting.
I am someone that is a huge fan of E! News. I love hearing about celebrity gossip and seeing who was best dressed for the Grammy's. Before Mr. Miller's lecture, I never thought anything of it. But after, I started thinking to myself how the information was only interesting, and not at all useful. Now that we have started our current events quizzes in Journalism 1, it gives me a chance to go through Elitist news sites and use my own judgment to seek out the important news that may be on the quiz. I realized I love populist news, but I am having a new found interest on politics and news that effect myself, my country, and the world.