Fake News

Is it not a surprise that there are fake news in the media. All news that are being broadcast are not necessary news or real. This happens more in celebrity magazines than newspaper. Majority of celebrity news are fake news especially in magazines you find on stands. The tabloid either twist the story around or make fake news just to sell their magazines. As we all know Jonas brothers are a very hot topic today especially to the teenagers. Whoever a Jonas is seeing hanging out with, the tabloid and gossip sites automatically assumes their dating, it is like they can't have friends that are females or they can't have friends either because tabloids will assume their gay. I find that extremely ridiculous because people sometimes forget their humans too. Another recent fake news is David Letterman incident. Although it is not completely fake as David Letterman confessed that he had sexual relationship with someone on his show. He got the news out in a humorous way that the audience cannot be against him. The news started when someone wanted to sue him for this action by making the storyline worst but as a smart man himself, he directly spoke about the incident before it got to fake news. Humorous news appeals to the audience more then news that are strictly facts. Satirical news is a way of informing younger audience into whats happening today but in a more humor way because that is how we will remember it. I think it is a great strategy to get younger audience into the news because I know that I do not watch news nor reads the newspaper but I will read humorous stories on events happening.

Media Litercy

Not everyone is Media literate. In fact, I was media illiterate before I started my schooling at University of Guelph Humber. What the media puts out there is not always fact. As a media student, I tend to analyze and question some advertisement I see thrown in front of me. Is that real? Does it really happen? Questions like this runs through my mind very often and reality check is, most of it are just to attract the viewers by putting out the most ridiculous signs or pictures. There is always a hidden message behind an advertisement but majority people don't notice it and falls for what is presented. This explains why companies makes millions by simple advertising because there is not enough media literates in the world. To be a media literate, is to understand the message behind every ad and to look past the image. Most advertisement use sex to sell the product since it is the most efficient way. "All publicity works upon anxiety. The sum of everything is money, to get money is to overcome anxiety." (Berger 143) Companies that are advertising using sex is all about money, once the audience is attracted to the ad, they will automatically buy the product and this explain why such companies are millionaires.

Work Cited
Berger, John. "Ways of Seeing". 3rd ed. Toronto,Ontario: Penguin Books Ltd,, 2008. Print.

Pepsi Commercial

Even though this advertisement is pretty ancient, it is still relevant to the topic I will be writing about. I am pretty sure everybody heard of the saying "Sex Sells" and I believe it does to some extent. As a media student, I look past that but unfortunately, not everyone out there is a media student and cannot look past that. This advertisement is for a soda company called "Pepsi". Pepsi is a competitive company because there is also Coke, which is very similar to Pepsi. Pepsi's strategy is to get Britney Spears to advertise their product. Britney Spears is a huge pop sensation and by asking her to promote the product will not disappoint the company. Let me start by saying that Britney Spears does not play soccer, so where did the skills come from all of a sudden? Truth is, it is all computerize. "Publicity images often use sculptures or paintings to lend allure or authority to their own message." (Berger 135) Back then, they used paintings to deliver their message but now, painting has turned into photoshop. Advertisement company are using photoshop to airbrush a person to make them look perfect. Majority of the models on print ads are photoshopped because no one can be that perfect. Look how things have changed due to technology. Another thing, she is not even wearing proper soccer uniform. How is this promoting a drink when half of her body is showing? It is more like promoting her body, right? The commercial is focused on Britney's kicking and singing rather then promoting the drink. Sure, the logo was shown a couple times but it was not the main focus. The main focus is Britney Spears and her singing. Many people buy into that, especially Britney fans. The audience must educate themselves by looking at the connotative and ideological aspects of the advertisement rather then the denotative. There are much more then just a minute video.

Work Cited
Berger, John. "Ways o Seeing". 3rd ed. Toronto,Ontario: Penguin Books Ltd,, 2008. Print.

Mass Media

Mass Media, what is it? To my understanding, "Mass" means a lot or big or enormous and "Media" means Televisions, Magazines, Radios etc. So, to put those two words together it literally means the media taking over the world since it's so big. Think about it, we are surrounded by media, we see media everywhere even if we are not searching for one. TTC advertisements, Billboards, the advertisement on your juice box. Humans can't escape from media but we can interpret media. As Marshall McLuhan would say, “media mogul”, saw the increase in European printed materials, which eventually led to an evolution in the continent’s languages, as a “variant of what we call mass media”. (Playboy Magazine) His definition matches mine but in a more complex term. It is very ingenious of television, telephones, computers creators on how media has expanded because of the technology we have today. Mass Media is also refer to as connecting to the world by a medium. That medium has enough power to transport the information around the globe and making sure everybody is heard. An example of this can be twitter. Twitter is a way of letting your "followers" know what you are doing at that moment. This is good for celebrities to connect with their fans but it can be negative as well. Take Miley Cyrus as an example, she deleted her twitter not too long ago and it instantly became a trending topic. Fans are upset their idol no longer connect with them anymore but Miley stated herself that she needs privacy and does not want to live life for the tabloid. Privacy is something celebrities don't usually get so in a way, it is good idea for her to delete it so her life is not on gossip sites everyday.

Our generation is not so isolated anymore because with the high technology, we can know whats happening anywhere. Mass Media is endless, it will always expand to to fulfill humans needs.

Work Cited
Playboy Magazine. The Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan. Playboy Magazine. 1994. Web. 1 October 2009.

The Ecology of Media-Televison

Television has been around for decades and it never gets old unlike tape recorder or VCR recorder. This is because television programs are constantly changing to suit the society's need and want. The technology gets more hi-tech that attracts many audience into buying a new television. If I am not mistaken, everybody has at least one television or knows what a television is and it's function. Many people don't know much about television besides entertainment. Well, those people are wrong. Television is more than just entertainment, although that is a big part of what television shows are all about but it can also educate, inform and impact the society. When people watch TV for purely entertainment, they are missing out on the real message some programs are trying to deliver. I will state some examples of shows that either entertain or education but, most shows do both in order to attract the audience, there needs to be some sort of entertainment involved.
Discovery channel is an educational program that teaches both adult and children about nature, space and supernaturals. Then, there are reality shows like Degrassi, Gossip Girls that people don't see it as educational but it can be. Shows like this teaches us about life and culture, and it can also show a minor on what to expect in the future.
Besides those entertainment shows, there are CBC, CP24 and CTV news channels that inform us on the events happening surrounding us and can also inform us on the event happening on the other side of the world.
Media today has expanded dramatically that in minutes we can know what happened in China.
Many may say Radio can do this job as well. That is in fact true but according to John Berger, "Seeing comes before words". People understand better by seeing a video on the News about a Tsunami than hearing about it on the radio. People are more touched by the story once the tragedy is shown in motion pictures. "TV was able to deliver the bare bones of information at a much faster speed." (Klosterman 206) News travels fast with the high technologies humans have today. All we got to do is turn on the television to know what is happening in the world instead of feeling excluded from the outside.

On the other hand, there are shows like American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars that can be categorize as influential shows and entertainment at the same time. You may ask, Influential? My answer to you is Yes, because it has impacted me in the past. Competition shows can make one think that they have a chance of achieving their goal and succeeding in what they want either dancing or singing because everyone started by joining the competition and ended up being superstars. When I was growing up, I never wanted to be a dancer, I was more into sports but once I got into the show So You Think You Can Dance, I gave dancing a try and to this day, I still love dance and wants to pursued it in the future. Without television shows like this, I would never try dancing. Depending on how a person perceives it, all shows can be taken as negative or positive.

An obvious negative factor about television is "Nothing too much is good".

To end this off, I believe Television is the best technology a human has ever created as it serves many functions to the human population.

Work Cited
Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs*. New York: Avenue of Americans, 2003. Print.