Chapters 13, 15, and 16 Posts

Chapter 13:
1. Are you exposed to popular culture from other countries? Why or why not? Give some examples. I believe I am exposed to popular culture from different countries, but I think I just do not realize it. I know one popular culture that is from another country and that is the dance workout known as Zumba. I like it because it helps your body move around and work the cardio and lose weight. Another is that it feels like I am at a night club dancing with other people around me and just having fun. I have looked at some of the websites and videos of people doing this workout program and they do this in the United States and in foreign countries as well.

2. Do you read international news? Why or why not? I do not read international news. The main reason is that I cannot understand some of the languages that put on the websites of the international news stations and their newspapers. But also, I try to keep my focus on the things that are going on here in our own country because I like to know the facts that go on here in the United States. But I do think that it is my duty to start reading some of the international news that could possibly be printed on the local newspapers that are distributed in towns and cities that are here in the U.S.

Chapter 15:
1. What are your main concerns or criticisms about the state of media studies at your college or university? I do not have a lot of concerns or criticisms about the media courses here at my school, but I do have one little concern about it. I always wondered if one media course was about horror movies and one of the students became a complete psychopath and started killing people on campus just that he could make a point about some theory about horror movies. I saw something like that happen in a movie, and that could not possibly happen, but what if that really did happen? But I have to say that some of our media courses here are outstanding classes and that the professors know what they are teaching to the students.

2. One charge that has been leveled against a lot of media research-both the effects and the cultural models-is that it has very little impact on changing our media institutions. Do you agree or disagree, and why?

I agree to this. Mainly because that there are a lot of cultural models that will affect the media institutions and that it can be hard to change on some of the things that go on the world. I think that impacts to the media institutions would help things move along in the world.

Chapter 16:

1. Have you ever had an experience in which you thought personal or public expression went too far and should be curbed? Explain. How might you remedy this situation? I might not have had an experience but I do believe that personal or public expression can get too far when giving out news or gossip. One thing that I do not like is the personal expression is about someone that I am very close to and would hurt me very bad to hear something like that going on during the news. I believe that personal or public expression should be curbed, especially if it is spreading false statements about people and it ends hurting them and giving them bad credit. That kind of stuff would hurt their reputation with the public and make them lose the respect that they had.

4. Who is Judith Miller? Should the United States have a federal shield law to protect reporters? Judith Miller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist. She was later involved in the disclosing of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA agent. She spent three months in jail for claiming reporter's privilege and refusing to reveal her sources in the CIA leak. I believe that the United States should have a federal shield law that would protect reporters, but the reporters should be required to give their sources if their stories involve a murder or a very serious crime. The police should have the information that could help them catch the bad guy behind the crimes but if the reporter had stories that were about embezzling money for different companies, then they should have the shield laws protect them.

Chapter 12 Posts

Chapter 12:
1. What do you think of when you hear the term public relations? What images come to mind? Where did these impressions come from? When I hear the term public relations, it means to me that the public gets interactive in the community through the media. Some images or ideas that come to mind are people taking pictures and posting them on the Internet. The pictures would be photos about the community and there would be news reports from about the things that go on in the community. I imagine that there are people who are in charge of letting the public know about the organizations that want to let the community about them and to franchise about them. My impressions of public relation agencies came from just watching about these on the television.

3. What steps can reporters and editors take to monitor PR agents who manipulate the news media? Some steps that reporters and editors can monitor PR agents that they are not manipulating the news media, is that they can have the agents present what they would do in the news briefings and be able to understand how they want to present. Another step is by making sure that they present the facts and not any stuff that would ruin the organization. They editors can make that they are highly informative to make sure that the PR agents do not manipulate or take over the paper company or the magazine. I believe that the reporters and editors can make sure that PR agents do not manipulate the news media get taken over.

Chapters 10 & 11 Posts

Chapter 10:
1. What are your earliest recollections of books? Do you read for pleasure? If yes, what kinds of books do you enjoy? Why? My earliest recollections of reading books was back when I was around 7-years-old and then I started reading just plain children’s books. I will read books for pleasure on occasion and then I will read books for reasons that I need to do for assignments. I’ll read all kinds of books. I’ll read some horror and science-fiction along with drama and romance books. Those kinds of books always catch my attentions whenever I read them. I like to read horror books because they really keep me in suspense whenever I am reading and they give exact details that are going on in the book.

6. Would you read a book on an iPod or a Kindle? Why or why not? I would not read a book from either an iPod or a Kindle. I like to read books with them just sitting on my lap and just turning the page. I like to save the spot where I am in a book by just folding the corner of a page and marking where I was on that certain page. If I was reading a book through an iPod or a Kindle, I would have a hard time looking at the screen and would start having headaches. Plus, I can’t mark where I stopped reading and I would have to recharge the batteries of iPod or the Kindle.

Chapter 11:
1. What is your earliest recollection of watching a television commercial? Do you have a favorite ad? A most-despised ad? What is it about these ads that you particularly like or dislike? My earliest recollection of watching television commercials was when I was about 5-years-old. My parents always allowed me to watch television when I was younger, just as long as I didn’t watch anything that was not inappropriate for me. My favorite ad was seeing the advertisement for the new iPhone that would be available from Verizon. The ad that I didn’t like so much was the ad the T-moble phones. I don’t like those ads because they try so hard to get people to buy their phones but people end up buying phones from Verizon and AT&T. I like the ad for Verizon’s iPhone because I always wanted an iPhone but was unable to because my phone plan was to Verizon.

4. Should advertising aimed at children be regulated? Support your response. I believe advertising aimed at children should be regulated because there are ads on television that children love. Some of the ads that are provided for the children, especially for the younger aged children, are about toys, stuffed animals, children’s clothes, and services for children. The advertisements for toys or stuffed animals really catch the children’s attention because children will want to have toys and stuff animals and want these items. Every time the children go to the stores with their parents, they spend money on the toys and the profits for those toys will go up and make the advertisement commercials become even better.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9
1. What are your earliest recollections of magazines? Which magazines do you read regularly today? Why? My earliest recollections of magazines were when I was around 9-years-old. I always got subscriptions of National Geographic almost every month. The funny thing was that, I hardly ever read the magazines. But I also read some of the interesting articles that I was interested. The magazines that I read today, is People magazine and read on what is going on with the celebrities in today’s society. I do not get the subscriptions in the mail like everyone does; I would usually read them while I am sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office or at a local book store.

7. Do you think the Internet will eventually displace magazines? Why or why not?

I think that the Internet will displace magazines because all the magazine publishing companies are now posting the articles online to the magazine’s website. It just like the newspaper companies now going online and posting their articles it would not have been long before magazine publishers started doing the same. Another thing is that if the magazines could not have put enough stories on the magazine subscriptions, then they could at least put the stories that were unable to be put on the subscriptions on the Internet. More people look up things and articles on the Internet more than they do from reading the magazines.

Chapter 8 Posts

Chapter 8:
2. Why do you think people aren't reading U.S. daily newspapers as frequently as they once did? Why is newspaper readership going up in other countries? I believe that people are not reading many U.S. daily newspapers that frequently is because they are now getting use to watching the news in the mornings while getting ready for work or for school. Another reason is that some people really don’t want to keep paying the subscription to their newspapers anymore due to the fact that they are turning their attention to the television news stations and that the newspaper companies also post their news articles on the Internet on their websites as well. Newspaper readership goes up in other countries because they people in some of those countries do not have news stations and that all they have to know about any of the world events that go on during today’s society.

5. Will blogs and other Internet news services eventually replace newspapers? Explain your response. I do believe that blogs and other Internet news services will replace newspapers sometime in the future. The reason I believe this is that a lot of people in today’s society post blogs about the events that go on in the world today and they post new blogs up almost every hour or so and they keep posting about a certain event until another news worthy event happens, then they blogger will just move on to that event. And also, some of the newspaper companies like The New York Times and USA Today have their own websites to where they just put up the articles on the Internet and it could make it easier for people to read instead.

Chapter 7 Post

Chapter 7:
2. Do you remember seeing a movie you were not allowed to see? Discuss the experience. My parents were very strict on me about watching movies that had some of the stars in movies almost taking their clothes off. It was many my mother who was strict on me about that, because I was just a young child and that she did not want that to ruin my personal mind and have any situational thoughts. As I got older, my parents did care about any of the movies that I watched as long as I did not do anything that would get me into trouble or anything that would hurt me. I really liked the Jackass movies and my parents didn’t mind me watching them, as long I didn’t try any of the stunts from the movies.

3. How often do you go to the movie theaters today? How often do you play DVDs on a television at home, or watch movies on a computer? Which experience do you prefer and why? I go to the movie theaters about two or three times a month. I do not go every week because the ticket prices for the movie theaters are just high and would kill my checking account. I play my DVDs both on my DVD player and on my computer. I would play movies on my laptop whenever I am on a trip or I am not near my television. I watch movies on my television almost every week whenever I am not busy with homework or any other work that I have to get done. I actually prefer watching movies from DVDs because the ticket prices at the movie theaters would put me in debt in my checking account.

Chapter 6 Post

Chapter 6
1. How many cable channels do you watch regularly? What programs do you watch? What attracts you to a certain channel? I watch about at least about 12 different cable channels regularly but not all in one day. Some of the different cable channels that I watch are CBS, TBS, SciFy, TNT, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, and the CW. Some of the programs that I watch on these channels are Friends, CSI: NY, Justified, Supernatural, Family Guy, iCarly, and Spongebob Squarepants. What attracts me to these certain channels is because of the shows that they stations broadcast and what goes on during the programs. I love to enjoy what comes on the programs and how they keep me in suspense when they show clips of the new episodes that premieres the following week.

4. CNN and MTV have changed our society as well as the global culture. Have these changes been positive or negative? Explain. I believe that the changes of CNN were positive because CNN gives people events that are going on in the world today. It also presents even the small events go on in the world. But they talk about the major news stories on the television and they keep talking about them for almost a half hour. I believe that the changes for MTV were negative because originally it was a music station for people wanting to listen to music. But now the station was changed to have reality television shows that are just plain stupid and barely show music videos done by some of our favorite artists and make their videos shown early in the morning. After that, they just show programs of people doing normal things in their daily lives.

Chapter 5 Post

Chapter 5:


1. Describe your earliest memories of watching television. What was your favorite show? Which, if any, shows did your family watch together? Were there shows that you were not allowed to watch? Which ones and why? My favorite television show when I was young was Stargate Atlantis. It is a spin off from the original Stargate SG-1 to where an expedition team goes to another galaxy and encounters the lost city of Atlantis. The expedition also finds new technology and deals new enemies in this galaxy. This show always kept me at my feet. One show that my family would watch together was CSI. We always watched this show to help us understand science much better and also to see some of the laughs and the crime scene investigators would solve the crimes and would get puzzled after each case. There were not a lot of shows that my parents didn’t want me to watch, so I was able to watch anything before I went to bed.


2. How much television do you watch today? Which programs do you try to watch regularly? What attracts you to your favorite program(s)? The amount of television that I watch today is around six hours during the day. The hours will vary throughout the weeks due the amount of time that I am away from my room. I love to watch a lot of television in order to keep up with today’s society. The programs that I watch regularly are Friends, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY. What attracts me to these shows is that I like what they are about and that they give me wonderful entertainment. For example, Friends is a comedy show and the stuff that the cast do and whatever they get into makes me laugh and brings me joy.

Chapters 3 & 4 Postings

Chapter 3
1. My favorite music group that like when I was younger was actually N*SYNC. I know it sounds completely childish, but I was a child and I was interested in music. I was about 9-years-old when I first liked them. I even went to one of their concerts when they were in Charlotte. It was around when I was about 13-years-old. The reason that I think that this music was important because it got me started into listening to more music and get me started into singing chorus for seven years in middle school and in high school. I know it also got me into listening to more of not only their other CDs but to other popular groups and musicians.

5. I think that the Internet does both hurts and helps musical artists in many different ways. The Internet can be used to help promote their upcoming concerts and to advertise their albums. Also, their fans can also post pictures of them while they are at premieres or at awards shows. One thing that can hurt them is that if they are caught doing something that is against the law and the news broadcast it on the television, then there will be videos of them being publically embarrassed and it will make their fans lose interest in them and will think that they are just a joke and that they do not deserve where their reputations as musical artists.

Chapter 4
1. My earliest memory of listening to the radio for the very first time was when I was a freshman in high school. I was actually 15-years-old when I first listened to the radio while getting ready for school. Then after that, I was paying attention to the morning show on 107.5 and that they were doing the secret sound contest. I also liked some of the different phone calls that they were getting and hearing the different stories that were coming in and whatever the stories were about. The stories were really funny and some were just hurtful to hear on the radio. But I also liked the music that they played on the station and that they did some games that involved the music, including playing the music that was written by an artist that went to my high school who graduated a year before me.

5. I think that the radio could be used to improve the social and political discussions in the United States by making sure that the radio station show’s hosts try to stay on topic on whatever they are talking about. There are radio talk show host who can easily get off topic on the discussions that they are talking about while doing their shows. I have experienced this while listening to one radio show on a station back home. They can even get off topic when they have a guest on their shows and do it while they are in the middle of an interview with them. I believe that would be a way to improve the situation.

Chapters 1 and 2 Posts

Chapter 1
1. One television program that I used to like when I was younger was the Nickelodeon TV show Rugrats. Every Saturday morning, I would wake up to watch it in our living room and would always laugh on how those babies would make the simplest things an adventure. When I got older, I started getting over them because it was becoming more of a child’s television program. I think that I started getting over Rugrats was because that I was becoming older and that I started to think that the program was best suited for a young child to watch. I believe that watching the Rugrats as a child has really helped me shape my identity because I really like working with younger children and helping them out with whatever problems they need help with.

4. One thing that I will condemn on is the television show that is on Comedy Central, South Park. A brief description of the show is that it is based on a small town called South Park, Colorado and the town’s people get into all sorts of situations that deal with things that are currently going on in the world today. I really do find some of the things that are displayed from that show really offensive. I’ve analyzed that this show has been shown on television for almost 15 years and still continuing. My interpretation of the show is that it just makes fun of the things that go on in the world today and that it makes offense of people and ridicules them. My evaluation on this is that I am really surprised that the producers of this show have not been sued yet. I would say that some people should not be fully engaged to watch this show because it would really hurt their feelings and that they would wind up hurting some people.

Chapter 2
1. My first encounter with the Internet was really outstanding. It was much better than my experiences with my CD player and with my calculator. It hardly compares to my experiences with my other devices because through the Internet, I was able to view web sites that gave information about upcoming movies that came into theaters and about what products from certain department stores’ web sites were available. When I discovered YouTube on the Internet, I enjoyed it more than listening to my CD player, but I still used it at several occasions. Discovering the new ways of looking up information for research projects also helped me better than looking up the books in my school’s library. Learning how to use the Internet was the best thing ever.

2. Some of the possibilities of the Internet’s future that I am excited about are discovering new ways to make the Internet run must faster in our homes and that we will be able to retrieve our information much quicker than ever. The reason for this possibility is that reason is that most people receive information from their computer real slow and that there are people want the information to come faster. But one thing that is troubling is that the computers in the world could come alive or a simple computer virus suddenly starts to think for itself and starts taking control of all the computers in the world. Just like in the third Terminator movie. With the way the Internet works and how computers can be set to times to run certain programs, it could become possible.

New Blog Now Open!

Hey there! This is to say that my new blog page is now open!