BP6: R&R

I found this blog to be very eventful and eye opening.  I never realized how much and how many times we are exposed to so many different kinds of advertisements. I am now more aware of all the different advertisements that we come into contact with since doing this blog post.

When I first started doing research for this blog post I was on campus. I never realized how full of advertisements campus was filled with until I actually started looking for them. There are so many advertisements all over campus whether they are in the SUB building or posted on poles outside on your way to the different buildings. Some of these advertisements I found to be pretty useless because they did not have enough information on them to make you want to be interested in the club or event. When posting an advertisement I think it is important that you put enough information on the poster so that whoever is reading it will want to partake in the event or join the club. The whole point of advertisements is for us to become interested in the product. Another form of advertising that I saw on campus was with what people were wearing. There were so many different logos on shirts that really no two shirts were similar. Brands want to make their logos distinct and unique so that people will want to wear the brand. The cooler the brand and the more people know about it the more profit the company will make.  

While watching television I felt that I was seeing the same advertisements over and over again. Proactiv was one of the most common advertisements and was played about three times every time the show went to a commercial break. No matter what time of day I was watching television I always saw this ad being played. Some of the advertisements were really clever and funny and actually made me want to go out and buy the product. For me if the ad is funny and catchy then I become interested in the product. Some of the advertisements were straight informational and made me want to change the channel because they were so boring.

I learned a lot from this blog post and I realized how many advertisements we are shown everyday. I think that advertisements do what they are put out for and get people interested. 

I also think that advertisements affect us wether we want them too or not. Advertisements have a control over everything that we do from what we eat and buy to what we wear. They let us think that we are making our own decisions on what we purchase when in reality we are not because the advertisements have molded our minds in thinking about what we should and should not buy. In a perfect world, I think advertisements should not play such a huge role in our everyday lives.

Blog Post 5

When it comes down to downloading music, everyone does it and most of the time it is done illegally. When it comes down to it we just download the music and don’t think twice on whether it is right or wrong. For Sissela Bok in order to find out if something is right or wrong you must break it down into a three-step system. The first step would be to consult your conscience. In order words, listen to the little voice in the back of your head telling you that it is probably not a good music to download music illegally since it is illegal and you can get in trouble for it. The next step would be to seek alternatives. When it comes to getting music there is always a legal way you can get it. You can first go out and actually buy the cd from the store because this way you are helping the economy because you are spending money. Another option would be to buy the song from a sponsored website or program such as Itunes. Sissela Bok’s final step it to hold an imaginary ethical dialogue with everyone involved. In the case of downloading music, you would have a conversation with a police officer (if you got caught), the artist who you are stealing the song from and probably parents because you would have to explain to them why you are getting arrested. When you take the time and think of it this way, downloading music is not the smartest thing to do when you think of all the consequences and people that would be involved if you were to get in trouble. This goes hand in hand with John Stuart Mill’s theory, The Principle of Utility. He believes that when it comes to media ethics you have to think about the greatest good for the greatest number. You have to think about if it is really worth getting caught and loosing everything in your life that you have worked so hard for to pay for lawyer fees and anything else, all because you did not feel like spending a dollar on a song. 

Blog Post 4

I found this blog to be very eventful and eye opening.  I never realized how much and how many times we are exposed to so many different kinds of advertisements. I am now more aware of all the different advertisements that we come into contact with since doing this blog post.

When I first started doing research for this blog post I was on campus. I never realized how full of advertisements campus was filled with until I actually started looking for them. There are so many advertisements all over campus whether they are in the SUB building or posted on poles outside on your way to the different buildings. Some of these advertisements I found to be pretty useless because they did not have enough information on them to make you want to be interested in the club or event. When posting an advertisement I think it is important that you put enough information on the poster so that whoever is reading it will want to partake in the event or join the club. The whole point of advertisements is for us to become interested in the product. Another form of advertising that I saw on campus was with what people were wearing. There were so many different logos on shirts that really no two shirts were similar. Brands want to make their logos distinct and unique so that people will want to wear the brand. The cooler the brand and the more people know about it the more profit the company will make.  

While watching television I felt that I was seeing the same advertisements over and over again. Proactiv was one of the most common advertisements and was played about three times every time the show went to a commercial break. No matter what time of day I was watching television I always saw this ad being played. Some of the advertisements were really clever and funny and actually made me want to go out and buy the product. For me if the ad is funny and catchy then I become interested in the product. Some of the advertisements were straight informational and made me want to change the channel because they were so boring.

I learned a lot from this blog post and I realized how many advertisements we are shown everyday. I think that advertisements do what they are put out for and get people interested. 

Blog 3: Magazine

The magazine that I read for this blog post is called Outside. Outside magazine focuses on all of the things that people like to do outside, whether its baseball or climbing a dangerous mountain. One thing that I noticed about this magazine is that it is filled with advertisements. The first couple of pages are advertisements before it finally gets to the table of contents page.  Most of the advertisements dealt with nature obviously because it is an outdoor themed magazine. Some of the advertisements shown were for running sneakers and mountain bikes. Other advertisements were for cars and cameras but they were themed around how great they are for outside use. The magazine is targeted for adults because it is not an easy read. The articles are very long and use terminology that most children would not understand. This magazine is directed towards people who are interested in extreme outdoor sports. The magazine also shows different types of gear and some of the best prices for that gear.

The website is also set up very similar to the magazine. When I first saw the website I instantly thought of CNN because it is set up in a news format. The website includes everything that the magazine does but more because it also includes videos. On the website, Outside states how you can also receive the magazine directly to your email, your Ipad or Kindle, or via Facebook and Twitter. By them doing this they are able to reach a bigger demographic of people and make it easier for there targeted audience to be reached. They are making sure that no matter what whether people pick up the magazine through a newsstand, subscription or online that their magazine is being read.

            The website has a link that advertisers can click if they want to advertise with the magazine. They are given the choice of whether they would like to advertise strictly online or with the printed version of the magazine. In order to advertise with them online you have to send them an email. The website makes its very easy for advertisers to contact them. 

CNN vs. Al Jazeera

The two articles that I read were about the recent death of singer Whitney Houston. Right away, the first thing that I noticed was the different length between the two articles. CNN went into greater detail regarding the death and the days before her death. Al Jazeera covered the story but not the days before. Both articles seemed to have a neutral point of view. Both articles also covered the recent Grammy awards and how Whitney Houston was honored during the award ceremony. However, CNN went into much greater detail when talking about the ceremony and quoting many of the celebrities that recognized Whitney Houston during their speeches. None of the authors put their points of views into the articles. The articles stuck to covering the news and presented all of the facts that are known so far. CNN seemed to try and attract more readers who are Whitney Houston fans. CNN described the confusion that her friends are feeling because of her upbeat and joyful spirit that she was in nights before her death. She was quoted as singing and dancing all night and was not drinking since that was a theory on what caused her sudden death. Al Jazeera on the other hand targeted an audience that was more interested in reading about her death because it is one of the biggest stories going on rather than being one of her biggest fans. They simply stuck to the facts instead of going into great detail about the Grammys. Since CNN is an American news network that could be why their article was much larger and in greater detail because of the freedom that they have being based in America. America is known has having a social responsible theory of press, which allows them to have freedom when publishing and covering news. On the other hand, Al Jazeera is more controlled when it comes to the press because they are considered to have an authoritarian theory. They have many heavy regulations that prevent what they can and cannot publish. Overall, CNN covered the story much better then Al Jazeera. 

Favorite TV Show

I would have to say that one of my favorite shows is Jersey Shore, the show that everyone hates yet I am totally addicted to it. They say and do the dumbest things that everyone wishes they can do but don’t. They live such a free spirited life with it seems like no worries while we are all struggling to get by with out boring jobs and classes.

I will admit that this show probably does not have that much realness to it especially the amount of fights that they get into. I don’t think a normal person who goes out and parties gets into as many fights as they do. Every episode they guys are calling taxis to take their random hook ups home. You can’t help but think that the only reason they are getting all these hookups is because they’re famous. I mean their attractive but not that attractive. They get paid to travel and party while being filmed. Normal, average, everyday people do not get those kind of opportunities.

However, I do think they live that life that most people do when they are in there 20s. Whether your famous or not you like to go out to the bar, drink and party with your friends. That is manly what our social lives consist of. We also to some extent even GTL. We want to look out best so we go to the gym and workout. If you feel pale in the winter you sign up and go tanning. And of course we all do laundry because no one wants to have smelly clothes because that is gross.

It is hard when watching reality TV not to get sucked into it and think that it is real life.  You get so into the show that you think that this is normal life and people do this on an everyday basis. In reality they make their money from the TV show and being famous not from working at the t-shirt shop a couple days a week. A normal person working there would have to work full-time or more just to semi survive in life. It must be nice to be famous.