Media, Truth, Biases in Mainstream and Independent media-One Bubble

We understand through the functionalist theory how the media works. Their function is: to help, relate, play, inform and influence. Although these entirely serve a good purpose they also divert our attention, avoid social action and increases passivity. Within all this there exists bias in the media whether it is Mainstream or Alternative/Independent media. The mainstream media are more concern with garnering profits whereas independent media focuses more on issues and how to deal with them. Atton (2002) stated that there is controversy to exactly what alternative media is since they operate like mainstream working under the guise of independent media. Some see it also as a replacement or complementing mass media

I mentioned this since sometimes it isn’t easy to know who exactly stands where. As mentioned in the last presentation in class “today’s independent may become tomorrow’s mainstream”. However, it is wise that we become media literate so we as consumers can think on our own and know what to look out for when we view or listen to media put out there, as well as, question and make sense of it.

In Andrew Blau’s “Deep Focus” a study on the future of independent media we see the different changes and range in which technology operates to enhance the experience of independent media and provide new ways of seeing and talking through these devices and upgrades. Consideration must be placed though on how we use them. As put out by our lecturer we need to move away from our dependency on Facebook since our time spent on it allows us to procrastinate or not prioritize properly.

The question put forth is what are we going to do? Yes we can continue blogging but what else. I think it firstly begins with being educated. We must be aware of how something works in order to deal with it. We can start by being critical consumers of media messages.

·         Learn how media works-understand the construction and production of media, how it distorts reality and know the difference between information and persuasion and what truth is and what isn’t.

·         Ensure that your usage of media is extensive in terms of variety.

·         Check the media’s credibility

·         Exercise critical thinking-beware of stereotypes, know that there is always more to be said on a topic and look at how the media generalizes things.

AFTER THIS WHAT IS OUR STAND AND WHERE DO WE STAND.ARE WE GOING TO BE SILENCED BY INJUSTICE OR LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD.WE ARE NEXT IN LINE, SO LET THE BUCK START WITH US AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN MAKE THE CHANGE WE DESIRE.

WAKE UP CALLS- I LOVE T&T INSPITE OF

Last Sunday I looked at the Express on the issue of the killing of the young man Atiba who was shot by police. There seem to be alot of missing pieces in the story and there are of course two sides, that of the police and also the villagers. But also what is reported and shown by the media, does it have every aspect as is truly depicted by both sides. Like everything else I don't know what to believe.I don't know who is running the country and with uproar everywhere concerning different issues makes me wonder what is going on and where are we as a country on the scales of development.

So Dr kublalsingh  is lifted out of  EMA lobby by police, TCL and other unions are protesting, infighting within political forces, more children are being abused and killed,bad roads, shootings, robberies.When are we going to stop and address them. It is too bad that we play blame games, give promises and do not live up to them and still say we love our country. What are we doing for our country? More focus is placed on other countries and working with them. For good development start fixing our problems at home and let our country start showing some integrity in everything we do. So we will get that respect not only from right home but outside our country.

Journalist Mike Wallace dead @93

Characteristically defined as someone who had character and charisma and exercised integrity in his field of journalism.
Question: are there any others out there willing to continue in the same sphere as Mr Wallace?

Election=fixing roads

My daily routine is somewhat monotonous.

Wake up around five and have devotionals. By six or seven my computer is on to get some work down
I check my emails for whatever notifications I may have missed from group members and do research (once internet doesn’t fail me).
8:30 no radio in my apartment (cheap phone=no radio) so I have to look at the TV for news updates.
9:00 Realised that Elmo and Ernie have practically taken over Sesame Street and TV Six is changing shows as fast as you can say Jack Robinson.
By 10 I am getting ready for school and won’t be back until around 8:30 or nine.
It is the same day after day for me but not in the land of politics supreme, which is governed by politricks and bacchanalia.

 What stood out for me this week though, was that election was on the way for the PP. There have been protests from one sector to the next but the outstanding one is concerning the poor road conditions in certain areas of Trinidad. It seems that elections= fixing roads. There have been talks by the PM that PURE is back on the scene and roads will be fixed and they also have the resources. What has me distressed is that a few months ago, in a headline on the front of the Express, the PM said in response to her constituents, that her family was also in the same position. Not getting to spend enough time with her. There have been many past calls to her but now she is on the scene assuring them when fires are being lit. I have seen many times around election roads being fixed, unfortunately some months after it goes back to how it was before. Road works has been a big issue in T&T for some time now and we need to look at that. There are always some new structure going up but drainage is not being sorted out properly and the result flooding. But Mr. Jack is back on the scene. The population in T&T is big and many of us have voices that can be lifted. So what are we going to about everything that is happening?

Identity-how it's impacted

When uncertain of whom we are, making decisions as well as communicating creates problems. Knowing our identity plays an important role in shaping who we are as individuals. McEwen (2000) states, that it defines our values, beliefs, behaviour and influences our interactions with others. Our core (inside) identity consists of our personal attributes and characteristics while our outside is recognised through race, gender and nationality.

Gender and sexuality are two dimensions of our identity, which is at the core of how we think about our identity as is portrayed through the media. It helps influence public perceptions on various identities and how individuals view themselves. Also it can be seen that exposure to media images leads to formation of stereotypes. A woman’s body parts are used to sell everything from food, clothes and cars. They are then seen as femme fatales, and sex kittens. Jean kilbourne argues that these images shown of women a certain way means that women bodies have become invisible and they learn to compare and compete with other women destroying their awareness. Jhally states that ads only show representations of people in a structure-it does not show people who are real but products that can be bought.

The Technological Imperative links identity with culture and technology. For everyday or time we go into a social networking or virtual world site we commit “identity tourism”. Just as media gatekeepers decides what to allow us to see and how much of it, we in turn hold back or give certain information of ourselves in line of how we want to be viewed. Also some people use photos of celebrities as their profile pictures on social networking sites (guilty myself). Isn’t this a form of identity theft since we do not have permission from them?

With the creation of different identities on these sites, maybe to fulfil a need or fit in somewhere,  what does it say about us and what about the impact on our lives? Does it change anything? Does it allow us to accept ourselves more? With media stereotypes do we lose or love ourselves?

media consupmtion-dreamworld

 Other work has consumed me that I have not been studying my media consumption nor have I really consumed anything (other than book work). However, in coms analysis yesterday we were shown a video called Dreamworld 3 by Sut Jhally. Today I watched the second episode which highlights how women and young girls are depicted in music videos.

Jhally shows the links between gender and sexuality and its connection to pornography. He talks about how women operate and dress in the dream world. The roles they take and the elements used in the music videos  that serve the men's desires or fantasy.
when we look at many of these hip hop videos its mostly african women in some sort of undermining role showing them in wanton acts and mainly for money.

Jhally proposes that there are questions we need to take into consideration and as we know it also goes back to who owns the media and how it benefits them. He also put forth that it does not represent the reality of african americam masculinity but we must consider what role does the images perform for the media conglomerates.

Last week I stopped and consider how many teenagers are taken in by the philosophy and lifestyle portrayed in the music industry. My younger sister is prone to listen to all those music that I refer to as noise and she will probably get taken in (if it ent happen yet). We have a lot of cursing (i know it's here) and outrageous fashion trends promoted in these videos that they swallow without questioning. We need to become aware and make others aware even our kids. what will happen next?

No confidence motion

So there is a lot of huffing and puffing and chest beating by members of the People's Partnership in rally of the Prime Minister over the Opposition's Leader call.There have also been much speculation of things backfiring or Mr Rowley resigning.

I think that he made a right move in calling for this debate.The PP have made a lot of promises that they have not fulfilled as yet and some to which they have given a specific timeline of fixing. Also the mantra by the said members seem to be "crime is down" but yet everyday the news headlines  say differently.

What I have seen so far is a lot of back and forth blaming by both sides and not focusing on the current issues. This is probably the best game a politician can enjoy. I do not believe in casting blame on past rulers for their mistakes. Yes they had a few bumps and error along the way, but once you have a job to do ,get it done. Prove that you can do something good for the country and its citizens  because the blame game keeps you distracted.

So we have to wait and see what the results will be like. It's high time we start being accountable for our actions in T&T.What will all these meetings by the government achieve?  Another issue is the ethics of our ministers both government and opposition.The motive probably behind these meetings  is that an election won't be called.hmmmm

Is the AG lying?

In response to the article  AG: I don't interfere in police work published in Express newspapers on Feb 16 2012
From the inception of the PP, one can see that the AG has been trying to prove himself but with every step he takes,he puts his foot in his mouth without thinking and upsets a lot of people namely me.What is he trying to prove, that he can be a bad leader? Is it that he is trying to outshine Mr Rowley?
   In lieu of the matter concerning Mr Bagoo and the ACIB''s raid at the Newsday office, Mr Ramlogan has looked Trinidad and Tobago citizens in the eye and claimed that he never knew of their actions. Although it is under his ministry he has no jurisdiction with them. To distance himself he resorts to questioning the acts of  PNM in conjunction with the organization.
 Consider the articles in the Newsday regarding Mr Ramlogan's affiliation with the ACIB.

•  Newsday article  13 August 2010 :briefing in his office  on the matter concerning the billion dollar state enterprise investigation will be dealt with by a committe he has in place. That is the legal and forensic team and the ACIB.
• Mr Bagoo wrote article on 14 August 2010 concerning Ramlogan's "A Team" to investigate the books.
• Newsdays article  on 17 Nov 2010 reports that the AG gave the ACIB instructions to look into illicit acts by the URP and was unable to discuss matters since they were of a sensitive nature and may compromise the investigation.

I think it is useless to involve the PM in this matter since she never seems to know what is going on in the country so all she can do is give her backing. After all as she puts it thats not her portfolio but since she is running the country, they are suppose to update her on what's going on especially decisions made. So far all we seem to have is a bunch of politicians feeding us lies and mixing their stories up.
   I wonder what is the agenda of everyone involved in this fiasco and why the Attorney General has taken himself out? Why are they hard up on the CoP and  leaving him to hang dry?Is there any connection to the TV6 office raid last year?what are they trying to hide?

Closer scrutiny of situation needed.

Media Literacy

http://youtu.be/4W0GSI9v5t8

I found the first part of this interesting since its true that kids copy or imitate what they see. It becomes a problem when it is something bad, since it's likely to have a longlasting effect on a child's life. Consider the music alot of young people listen to that's available at the click of a button(ipod,net).This leads to them dressing a certain way or acting like those artistes they identify themselves with.
 I believe that being media literate is of crucial importance to everyone and prepares us for what is out there.We become aware of what we consume whether positive or negative. Although some contents maybe knowledgeable, it is wise to ask ourselves how our usage influences our thinking or our lives and  see where we fit into the scheme of things.

Your views are welcome.

Media Consumption Log

January 28 2012

10:00 am

So the idea is to make a log of our media consumption habits and monitor them by asking ourselves some questions, which should help us with media literacy. Most time I am occupied either by a paperback novel in my hand, school books or TV. I once thought that spending a lot of time on the internet isn’t healthy but didn’t consider asking what kept drawing me back, who profits or produces what I consume. I have been thoughtful though of my interpretation or understanding of certain messages as oppose to how others would react.

 My normal routine would be to check my emails for anything important as well as Facebook then make my exit. This time what I did was browsed internet for information on Rupert Murdoch and cyber-tech gaming. Then went on to do things I like which included: playing games, reading Harlequin novels and looked at some endearment quotes in Spanish and French. Also watched spoken word poetry on YouTube and downloaded some songs. I listened to radio and watched cartoon on the television. (Forgot to buy papers)

 The motivation behind some of these activities is the knowledge I gain from them and the enjoyment. It relaxes me. Reading novels help me increase my vocabulary and learn about places, as well as the traits in the novels that exist in reality. I love writing poems and hearing some of the things people say, their views on certain things and their creativity in bringing it out impresses me.

 I have realised though that staying long hours on these different media can cause a problem. My attention stays on that particular thing I am engaged in and I may forget something important that needed to get done. The procrastination syndrome I call it. My opinion is that whatever we are watching, listening to or reading might not be of grave importance but since it appeals to us in style and taste we then get hooked. For instance, I love reading. I was online reading novels for about 3hrs today. That’s what I normally do. I don’t stop until I am finished not even to eat. So in media consumption there are both pros and cons to it.