You Sold Your Soul To the Devil!

“ You’re in Public Relations?”

“ Yes and why does that sound so bad?”

“You sold your soul to the Devil, that’s why its so bad!”

That was the response I got when I told a complete strange that I was going into the field of Public Relations! … I sold my soul to the Devil, I transferred onto the dark side are the number one phrases many people say about people in PR. I have actually learned a lot about the world of Public Relations, however I really realized the extent of how powerful corporations are, especially when it comes to the news and media distribution. When reading the COLD HARD FACTS in Toxic Sludge is Good For You by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, It opened my eyes to a sneaky world that is controlling and spinning the news.

                  This controlling and spinning news is what we know as Fake News; the news that gets right to the point. There may be many negative aspects of Fake new, the number reason it being all ‘fake’ and nothing else but fake, but when you look at Public Relations and the media corporations’ side of Fake news, you can actually notice the benefits of it all.  It’s  people like Stauber and Rampton that take matter into their own hands and write a book like Toxic Sludge Is Good For You and expose messages like “ little known mega-firms such as Hill and Knowlton, Burson-Marsteller and Ketchum PR- the ‘invisible  men’ who control our political debates and public opinion, twisting reality and protecting the powerful from scrutiny.”[2] This is when groups and companies that do not get enough coverage by the media expose themselves by the attention of irony and satire (Fake News).

                  One example that was mentioned in a lecture by Ian Reilly was the Bhopal Crisis. I never really heard about what it was nor what Fake News was until I watched the short YouTube clips that he presented, but the one that stocked me the most was a group called the Yes Man, that actively speaks on major issues that have not gotten coverage on- this being the Bhopal Crisis.

                  In 1984 there was a chemical gas leak containing more than 40 tons of deadly methyl isocyanine gas that was, “ released from Union Carbide’s pesticide in Bhopal… cost-cutting had ensured that none of the six safely systems designed to contain the leak were operational, allowing the gas to spread thought the city of Bhopal.” [1] In 2001 Michigan based chemical corporation Dow Chemical purchased Union Carbide thereby acquiring its assets and liabilities. The Dow Chemical Company refuses to take responsibility and clean up the mess they bought into. More than 120,00 resident of Bhopal live with illness and suffer from injuries from the chemicals that they have implanted and yet each of these individuals have no yet been treated because Dow will not release the other accompanying chemicals that were released, which allows doctors to easily treat. When looking at The Stanford Amnesty website it details the procedures that have not yet been followed by the Union Carbide or by the Dow Chemical Company.

                  Now this where the Yes Man plays it’s role. They provide us with a fake website called dowethics.com with articles that fold cutting edge satire which expose more about Dow Chemical. Now this is where the BBC news has asked for a Dow Chemical Spokesperson that would reiterate the same stuff they did when they had first bought out Union Carbide.  The Yes Men sent one of their “reps”  that was accompanied with a fake news name  Finisterra that spoke about how Dow will take full responsibility of their actions. 

  After watching that video  it has left me and many other viewers with high hopes of basically nothing. Although in some ways the Yes Man can be true in what they say but at the same time, as written in the website: “ There are some risks to this approach, it could offer false hope- or rather, false certainly…” [1]

                  When the lecture of Fake News was over and after learning and researching more about the Dow Chemical Company is has left me to think that all these major corporations and PR companies do is protect their companies from the mistakes and faults that they once do. So when I read Toxic Sludge is Good for You and researched Fake News, I really thought about PR, and looked back what that stranger once told me, about selling your soul and now when thinking about, I am selling my soul, maybe not to devil but to the company that I represent!

     “ The Public Relations industry has stolen our dreams and returned them to us packages as illusions.” [2]

Work Cited:

[1] Amnesty, Stanford. "The Bhopal Disaster". Amnesty International USA. 05 25 05. 21 Nov 2008

[2] Stauber, John, and Rampton, Sheldon. Toxic Sludge Is Good For You! Lies, Damn Lie and the Public Relations Industry. 1st ed. Monroe, Maine: Common Courage Press, 1995.

 

 

2008.

The World At My Fingertips!

“… the Internet is so big, so powerful and pointless that for some people it is a complete substitute for life…”  - Andrew Brown

I have realized as I looked back on my pervious posts I touched based on technologies that I mention “over power” my life. Well luckily for me I was missing one more thing… the Internet! (boom boom boom) Yes that’s right, that overpowering can’t get off, still searching something feeling! Believe it or not guys, the Internet is worse then you really think it is.

            When I actually began to think about the Internet, it truly is terrifying how much the Internet takes over my life. Whenever I am near any sort of computer the very first thing I look at is… does it have Internet? If it doesn’t, well let’s just say you will no longer see me sitting there! However, let’s just say this computer was well equipped and did have the internet up and running, then you would a) see me there, and b) right click that mouse and log into the high-speed internet. And come on; don’t think i am the other one who do this! You are all at one point in life, spotted at the same position I was in! We all feed for this new, highly equipped media! And the funny thing about this all is that you, whoever ends up reading this is on the Internet! Weird eh! But, this is the new and advance way to do assignments… just post them up on the Internet!

We all know is that technology works in such mysterious way! Don’t you think?

Well, McLuhan mentioned in the end of his Playboy Interview that the he couldn’t have thought about any better media than the Internet! Very true, the Internet allows us to search the worldwide web on anything, and I mean anything! And it’s just from the click of a mouse. In addition, it gives us the opportunity to communicate with people around the world! However, when you really begin to think about how great it is you begin to think how bad it can be! We are completely isolating ourselves to this simple way of communicating, this easier way of getting information! It is has led us to be inactive, and uninvolved with ourselves. It is a segregating medium, but at the same time an integrating one as well.
Like I’ve said, we can search anything on the worldwide web and just sit alone with no care around us, because technically we are getting ‘informed.’

            Well as I think about it, when I go onto the internet I feel more update to on my life, but other times I feel as hopeless ! And that’s when I can’t decide; can I live with out it? I don’t think I can, because it has becomes a necessity of my life, I check the Internet weather it may be on anything or everything I want to know about something! And yes I suppose it can be very helpful, but it just becomes another medium that takes up another part of my day!

So I guess in the end we really all know the Internet is so big, so powerful and yet so pointless!

Cheers … the 6 are final completed! Roger that!  

The Footprints of My Life!

The journey of life guides you through experiences in which you live and you learn; you win some and you lose some. Every step taken is essential when deciding which path you want to eventually end your journey in.

            I have taken many life changing steps in my life which have lead me to different paths. As I am about to take my next step in deciding what I want to do the for the rest of my life, I look back at the footprints I have made. They are steps which have shaped my life and if I hadn’t taken them, I wouldn’t be the person that I am today. So, here is a little piece of advice, to all the people that are reading this blog, that are moving on their next step into life: Get involved! Yes this must seem like a very broad statement, but it is the concept of life that allows an individual to be engaged with not just themselves, but the world around them too. I’ve been involved with the community my whole life, if it’s not the small food banks that my local community does, then it is to the community events that I have created for many.

Volunteerism is defined as: “the policy or practice of volunteering one's time or talents for charitable, educational, or other worthwhile activities, esp. in one's community.” This is the concept of being able to help others in any way you can. Haven’t you heard of the saying, “Give a helping hand to the people around you”? Well if you haven’t already, then here is the time to start! It not about putting your needs first, it’s about taking time out of your own life to help someone in theirs. It truly is a policy of practice; weather its holding the door open for someone, or serving soup at a homeless shelter, these are all acts of getting involved.

Personally, volunteerism has played a big part in my life ever since I was little. I was brought up in a community in which helping others was not something you had to think twice about doing; it was more of a reflex in our subconscious. Sure, I get involved with the small things, such as donating to charities, or giving my time to this up coming election. However, looking at the big picture, I am involved with even bigger organizations, for instance my youth group. This service includes many different concepts all within itself such as communication and publication. The concept of volunteerism itself is so universal that it applies to so many different aspects of the world. 

So just as I said before, every step you take in life is crucial in choosing which path you will end your journey in. As my elementary teacher once told me, “To be smart will leave you with one door to open, but being social and getting involved will leave you with the option of choosing which door you want to open.”

 Cheers... to orange juice! 

     Happy Blogging!

 

The What and How of Advertising!

*In order to view this post... YOU MUST Go to this LINK***

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U  

Here is an advertisement that many viewers can relate to. I decided to choose this certain ad because not only did I find it meaningful but how this certain commercial can convey so many different meanings.

However I decided to over look what the real message was and to simply think about what is it main focus and main point! Yes we all know when watching this commercial, we see a women becoming transformed and how we are becoming fooled with the technology we live in, but like Neil Postman said “ How we know is what we know,” So maybe we know what already is known, its just accepting what we know is the challenge.

      When having to analyze this certain ad I had no idea what direction I should take, but having watched it over and over I began to think about what, what is really the message? and how do I see this message?  Well relating back to Ian’s lecture on Semiotics and the terms connotation and denotation. These two words convey two important purposes of interpretations, of what is said (denotation) and how it is said (connotation). Alright so, when looking at this commercial I thought about these two words and noticed that what was being conveyed was the fooled notion that each viewer would get when noticing an ad of a beautiful person and how it is conveyed by an example showing how our perception of beauty is distorted.

In this case the signify is the viewer (me) and how I use this certain commercial to understand what I think about it, and the signifier is the concept that we imagine or think about.

So when looking at this commercial we can take it in many different approaches, how we see it and what we see in it!

Each little thing shown in that commercial means and contains meaning. The different hands that are shown can be seen as the different ways our society is always changing, how each hand symbolizes a change; if its them changing her changing, or applying make-up to her face, it symbolizes a change in what we see and how change is everywhere! Also take the word that is mentioned: Evolution, and how it is recognized for its powerful portrayal of unrealistic views of beauty in the media.

So this simple ad is portraying a protest to stop this unrealistic view of what beauty it supposed to be but the mindboggling thing about this all is that it is still a commercial or advertisement that is selling … Dove! Now what can we say about this? Is it really just an ad that is portraying one thing but supporting another, or its portraying two things but none really know? So what is being advertised?

Now that is a question that only you can ask yourself! What catch’s your attention? All I know, is what I see, is how I see it… so what do you see and how do you see it?

 Hope All Is Well! =) Kudos ! 

 

The Gate of Mass Media!

  For this third post, we were asked to example our understanding of the simple and general term mass media. Well didn’t this take me long to understand! It took me about 3 days to really look into what this term meant to me. I completed all my other posts and this one was the very last one I came back too. So here I am, thinking about this simple, but broad term and what it means to me. So my first insistent was, what is the definition for Mass media? :

Dictonary.com states:

-         Noun, plural mass media.
- Any of the means of communication, as television or newspapers that reach very larger numbers of people.

       Well according to that definition, mass media is any medium used to transmit mass communication. From the radio, to the Internet, mass media is used to transmit mass communication. So now the real question is, what is Mass Communication? Well what we do know, is that mass communications is usually understood to relate to newspapers, via radio, television, magazines and film, as they are all used both for disseminating news and for adverting.

But when I think about the term mass media, I generally think about media taking over the world. Look at our world and what do you see? Media. Okay, but now what type of media? If it’s not an average day- to-day cell phone in one persons hand, then it’s the newly modernized Mac pro in then other. I look at the word Mass media, and quickly think about the different types of media that over powers our world.

   As mentioned in Week 3 in our Lecture, Ian talks about how technology is everywhere. We create our own technology, our own certain type of media. If its from our digital alarm clock that wakes up at 5 in the morning, to our morning news. Media over powers our life and we all know it!  As McLuhan claimed “ We ought to take the same point of view about media: they are neither blessed nor cursed, only that they are HERE.” Exactly, media is here and it’s not stopping, but why? Simple answer, us! We create this new over powering life, we are the cause as to why media over powers our lives.

   However, we are just the simple characters that impose and create mass media. When is someone using their cell phone, to someone seeing the news on television, to out teacher showing us clips on youtube, we are being presented to the masses of mass media.

    So what is confusing about this term? Why did it take me so long to understand? Well the question isn’t simple. My way of looking at mass media might not be right, yes its why own opinion, but not everyone’s opinion can we right. So what is mass media? That’s where the confusion lies. None really thinks about the term “mass media,” because we generally think that whatever is brought to us or even discussed is media. In Playboy Interview, Marshall McLuhan speaks about his definition of media and mentions “ Media is broad, includes any technology whatever that creates extensions of the human body and sense….societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media with which men communicate.”  And there lies the great power of mass media, it has the power to change and shape a society and influence a great number of people.

   So now I go back and ask myself, do I understand this term? Well I think I touched based on many things, and made an attempt, however what I found out is that I am aware that I am apart of this mass that this media reaches out too.

   So in the end I come to an understanding that mass media is the gate that opens the channel of communication, but that we are the masses that choose which channel of communication we want!

Aur Revior!

Happy Blogging! 

"Technology will NOT stop us from feeling!"

From Toronto to Hong Kong, Singapore and New York, devices such as the cell phone are familiar icons of modern culture. Overtime I have realized, people all over the world are hungry for contact and communication with friends and family; which is a universal human quality that helps explain the cell phone’s popularity. These so called "devices" don't need a fancy keyboard, or even a person who is educated; they're simply ways to talk to people in whatever way, form, or language they want - an activity that well translates well across culture. 

When looking at the "cell phone" and honestly thinking about what's it's purpose, I simply thought - interaction with everything and everyone. Its purpose is to reach the needs and desires of everyone. The word purpose means “ the reason for which something exist or is done, made, or used,” the purpose of a cell phone is the reason of why that certain piece of technology is made; it exists because it was made, it is used because it was created. This piece of media serves to million, maybe even billions of people as either their main purpose in life; without them they would be dead. This little piece of technology over powers life, because really it becomes life.

 Speaking from experience, my cell phone is always attached me to, without it I would be totally lost. Why? That question I think might just be the hardest to actually answer, but if I had to come up with something to explain why, it would be simply, because I have been sucked into this “media ecology.” Neil Postman mentioned in his novel  “The Humanism of Media Ecology,” that, “ Technology would not stop us from feeling…it will allows us to grow,” and that is exactly what is happening. Technology becomes us, it is us, and it will continue to grow inside and outside of us, because when our world grows so does everything around us.

- With one piece of technology a whole world is created around us. 

Cheers!

 Happy Blogging! 

Finally an Academic Blogger!

Finally!! 

I just like to congratulate myself for officially getting my Blog up and running! See, it took me roughly 30 minutes to think of a display name and then another 30 minutes to get my Blog name created! Man was it difficult! I think creating a blog might just be one of the hardest things i have ever done! But not only did those names take long, but knowing that i am going to be an Academic Blogger and having the opportunity to right posts on various topics just made me so much nervous! Yes sweat did drop down my face, and yes my heart might have been pumping at many miles per hour, however to look on the bright side of it all I am now creating my first post and everything is going well for the most part! 

I believe that i say with out a doubt that this process looks extremely easy BUT it does fool you and it does it well! So the sweat is gone and the heart has slowed down it's pace! And i can officially say with pride that I am an Academic Blogger and very proud!