How is the Digital Age Changing Us?

             The documentary Digital Nation highlights the idea that we are entering a new age of technology and we do not yet know the effects that this may have on us. People are beginning to incorporate computers and even digital games into schools for learning, which is causing some concern. This is especially because there are concerns about addiction problems with the internet and gaming in the United States and more prominently in other countries. So, we need to begin to ask ourselves if the digital age changing us in a harmful way in the long run or just making us different.¹

            In today’s world people are constantly on their computer or phones doing multiple things at once. They can be texting someone, checking their e-mail, writing a paper, watching a movie, or studying for a test all at the same time. This is called “multi-tasking” and many believe that they are good at it. While, they may think so researchers found that people who do this a lot are actually slower to react to changing media than those who do not really multi-task. Multi-tasking, however, has become a huge part of society today because it helps us get a lot more done. Apparently, things are just not getting done well which is a scary thing because I am a multi-tasker myself, but I believe that the problems associated with multi-tasking cannot be as bad as those associated with addiction. The problem of internet or gaming addictions are occurring more and more, especially in Korea. There they go so far as to have camps for addicted children to be treated for their gaming addictions. People can get too wrapped up in the games that they lose track of time and play for hours.¹ Games are made so that there are many different levels and so many different options that it is easy to get caught up in trying to finish the game and needing to get through it.² When someone is addicted to the games it is almost as if they do not know how to communicate anymore and they do not know how to stop. It can really take over a person’s real life because of the one that they are living in the gaming world.¹

            Technology is all around a person in their everyday life and because of this, schools are starting to incorporate this into them. In some schools kids are completely on their computers. This is a concern to many because of the addiction problems that we see in gamers and also the negative consequences of multi-tasking. In one school’s case, it saved the school by increasing attendance rates and test scores. I believe that technology is a way to keep kids interested. Many times kids do not understand why they have to learn some things, but I believe that by being on computers they are not only learning the material like math or writing, they are also learning a basic skill they will need in the work place. Another school has children learning through gaming. Gaming is a very interactive way of learning, but the effectiveness of it is not known yet. There are many online learning games that have been used to help children learn basic material they may be having trouble with even as I was a kid growing up. These games have been very successful, so maybe gaming will be a successful form of learning in today’s world. People have said in the past that alienation is occurring due to gaming and technology, but there are many developments that are actually bringing us closer together like gaming community sites where people can share ideas about the game. Many people have friends in these “massive multi-player” online games that they may never meet or even romances. These relationships can sometimes be brought into real life through conventions set up by the gaming companies where people from all over the world who are fans of the game come together.^1,2

            It is still too early to tell how the digital world will actually affect us. There are many different viewpoints on how it could, but no one knows for sure. The developing digital world will challenge us as humans to find out what is really important and what we value, but we cannot try and stop these developments. We could be losing some skills that we thought were important, but gain other, new skills that are just as good.¹

 

Works Cited

 

1. Dretzin R. Digital Nation. Available at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/view/. Accessed May 31, 2013.

2. Campbell R, Martin CR, Fabos B. Media & Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age. 9th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martin’s Available at: https://reader.cafescribe.com/reader/Reader.html. Accessed May 22, 2013.

Are Today's Films Just Large Advertisements?

        The documentary Behind the Scenes has a main focus of presenting the idea that the films we see today are slowly becoming all about promoting products. Just a few huge corporations own all of the U.S.’s film industry and use this to their advantage. What used to be a major way to tell stories and bring people together is now becoming another venue for the society of consumerism that we live in.¹

            Have you ever looked at a listing of movies and wondered why you hadn’t heard of one or two on the list? This is most likely because the movie was not produced by some of the major companies in the big five or little three.² These companies use so many forms of advertisement in order to get their films to do well at the box office, while independent films are not able to do so. Some of the films that we see that are advertised well through the large corporations may do better at the box office, but be horrible films. The films done by smaller companies may be fantastic pieces of work, but because they are not advertised everywhere and there are not products behind them they will not be known about. It is almost impossible to make good films now because there is so much involved. Once a company gets a story they have people figuring out where a product can be put into the film.¹ I have started to notice this more and more in movies that I see today compared to those I have seen in the past.

            All of this has a lot to do with something called “cross-promotion” which happens because huge corporations not only own film companies, but also certain products.² For example, Coca-Cola and Columbia pictures are both in the same corporation. Cross-promotion can happen by companies making books, soundtracks, toys, and other products that are associated with the movie. There can be product placement in the movie, like when the film E.T. used Reese’s Pieces.¹ Also, the product company can take clips of the film that their product is in and use that as a commercial for their product. This creates an association between the product and the film, which keeps both in people’s minds and is seen in this advertisement show below. There is a chain of ways that a corporation will make money off of films and it is by the box-office, selling DVD’s, going through internet media like Netflix, selling the films to foreign countries, and finally through merchandise and product placement. These are all things companies plan for and specialize their films around. It is no longer about culture and making a great film.^1,2 A company even said that they did not want a story for a film, no matter how great it is, that they would have to put a lot of work into to make it a great film. They want easy ideas that can be put together and altered in order to fit their plans and also, promotions. They want films that can make a lot of money.¹

 

            I do not think that we are stuck in this cycle because there are independent films that can still make it big. For example, the film The Terminator became a very popular film and that was done inexpensively and independently of large companies.² There was not a lot of advertisement for it like so many other popular films. There are ways to get around the large corporations and we as a society should not let them continue on the path of “hyper-commercialism”. Right now, not all films are about products, but someday, if this path continues, they could be. The documentary makes a point that the industry has taken over, but I do not think that it has yet.^1,2 Great movies can still be made and film can be saved if people are willing to do something about it.      

Works Cited

 

1. Soar M, Ericsson S. Behind the Screens.; 2000. Available at: http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=102. Accessed May 30, 2013.

2. Campbell R, Martin CR, Fabos B. Media & Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age. 9th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martin’s Available at: https://reader.cafescribe.com/reader/Reader.html. Accessed May 22, 2013.

How much is Music Affected by Consumerism?

           The documentary Money for Nothing provides insight into the music industry and how today, just a few large companies control every aspect of it in something called an oligopoly.^1,2 Every aspect of it being right down to what songs we hear on the radio every day. These large companies are not interested on what the songs are about, just about how much money the songs and their artists can generate. Everything about the music industry today is consumer based marketing.¹

            Today, because the music industry is all about money it has really taken away the cultural aspect of music. Music is supposed to be for the people and it is supposed to speak to people and speak about the world today and it has really stopped doing that. Big companies want to promote what will sell, so they find a popular sound and keep selling it to people over and over again, so we have found some sort of uniformity. We wonder why music all sounds the same and that is why. Also, radio companies are owned by just a few large companies as well and so we only get what they are willing to play for us. The music the radio plays is not because it is popular, but because it is being paid for to be played. We see this in our everyday lives, the same rotation of music over and over again. We wonder why they keep playing the same song even if most people we know do not like the song and that is because it is being forced on the air by money.¹

            Many people think that the music industry is a lot of fun to be in, but artists know that it is not because of the big business of it all. Companies can be very sneaky and the artists need to be careful of the costs for their videos and studio time, etc. because the costs are coming out of their pocket and back to the company after their record sales. The only way to make money off their records is usually by large companies promoting it because they can because they have the money to do so. They promote it through the radio, TV, live performances, and in retail. Through television companies like MTV, which is completely driven by promotion, a company can pay them to play their artists music video or have their artist visit a show. People think that MTV is all about playing what the audience wants and their popular pick, but sure enough, it is just another business and money driven company in the music industry. They show videos that make people want to look and act a certain way and that is another thing that promote consumerism because people will buy clothes that look like their favorite artists or certain make-up and so much more because of what they see on MTV.¹ This is something I believe is seen a lot in today’s teenage world that can cause many issues or even just kids growing up too quickly.

            When companies promote their artist through retail many times there is a “synergy” between the artist and a company.² The artist’s song appears on stores commercial and at the same time the artist’s album and single are being promoted, so is the store. There starts to become an association between the product and the song, so whenever the song is heard that comes to mind.¹ For example, Taylor Swift and the company Target. Her song and face appear in the Target commercial with a special CD only available in Target stores. Seen in the video below, people start to develop the association between the two and this adds to consumerism even more.

 

 

             Although I do agree with the documentary that in the music industry companies are all about a musician’s numbers, I do not agree that music has turned into just numbers and money. I think that people still do appreciate music and find songs by artists that do have meaning to them outside of just the songs that are paid to be on the radio. I think that people will look to music for culture and for hope or a deeper meaning no matter what. I do agree that it is more difficult with the music industry the way it is to find the culture and deeper meaning with every song sounding the same, but it can be done. There are so many independent musicians that get their name out there even with the industry being very difficult to operate around. A lot of this, I believe has to do with the internet. The internet is providing many opportunities to self-promote and get artists names out there with sites like youtube.com. There are even programs to record your music with like Apple’s garage band. ^1,2

            Music will always be an important piece of people’s lives. It can unite people through its themes and channel spirit. With the business being so powerful in the music industry it is more difficult to find that culture because of the money-driven aspect of it, but there are ways around it. ²

 

Works Cited

1. Jhally S. Money for Nothing. Available at: http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=113. Accessed May 29, 2013.

2. Campbell R, Martin CR, Fabos B. Media & Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age. 9th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martin’s Available at: https://reader.cafescribe.com/reader/Reader.html. Accessed May 22, 2013.

The Dangers of a Changing World of News

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            The documentary Part Three: What’s Happening to the News? displays the growing concern that newspaper companies are continuing to fail. The U.S. is looking for entertainment, like they would in other forms of media and losing interest in watching fact based news. They are also moving deeper into the internet world causing the traditional news media and the economics of it to need to adapt or eventually fail.²

            With news sources on the internet like Yahoo! And Google being the top two sources for the public it is important to recognize that people are demanding news when they want it. The internet allows stories to be put up and developed over time and allows people to follow stories.³ The top news sources also rely on newspapers, so if they were to fail there would no longer be a good source of information especially for Google, who supplies consumers with links to newspaper websites with the stories they want to see. These news sources know that people “info-snack” meaning that they look at stories or pieces of stories that interest them and then click on links leading them to other similar stories. They also know that people are more interested in entertainment news and stories like investigative pieces are more popular and stories that people have not heard before are the most successful.² People have short attention spans and so it is important to show short clips in order to get the point across quickly and keep people interested and coming back for more information like this short clip from CNN.^2,3

 

            People are able to get national news all over the internet with sources like Yahoo! and Google. However, they are not able to get local news and investigative stories, such as high school sports and problems or developments in their city or town. This is why many papers are beginning to “hyperlocalize” because they are able to maintain themselves and get more advertisements to support themselves.² The big national newspapers are losing their advertisements to Yahoo! and Google, but more and more are able to get online advertisements on their sites to maintain themselves. Because news media has become very profit driven over the years through advertisements and the realization that this information can be profitable it has become more and more competitive. Big companies began buying newspaper companies until the dramatic decline in sales and then they began to break up into smaller companies once again. They competitive nature for profit has caused the industry to need to adapt fast and maintain a profit through online “paywalls” because advertising is not enough for large national newspapers to profit.³

            To get more interest and viewers newspaper industries on the internet are competing with free blogs that are put together by citizen journalists. These are regular, untrained people who blog about issues going on in the world. These blogs are becoming more and more popular and are being recognized as the top sources of information. A popular one is the dailykos.com.^3,4 The newspaper industries need to find a way to keep up with these information sources. Although, this type of journalism might seem good to the public, are they really getting what they need to be hearing about the world or are they just getting what they want to hear? Is the U.S. just being entertained by the news or are they being informed? Many newspaper companies prided themselves in giving news that gave neutral, factual information to the public, but today the news media has become more and more about entertainment to keep up with that form of media.^2,3

            The news industry is very important for the public not just in the United States, but everywhere. If the newspaper industry was not able to stay in business then how would the public stay informed about many issues including politics? People need to be informed about the decisions that are being made for them and their country. Without newspaper companies the information we need to maintain our democratic government will become lost and more difficult to find. Even today, I feel that information is being mixed with entertainment as well as confused with it. Newspapers need to find a way to keep support and maintain their status through support from places like colleges or big companies.³ With this continuous decline in newspaper companies, where will these companies be in the future if something is not done?

 

Works Cited

 

1. McIlroy T. Future Of Publishing. Available at: http://thefutureofpublishing.com/industries/the-future-of-newspapers/. Accessed May 25, 2013.

2. News War. Frontline Available at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/view/. Accessed May 25, 2013.

3. Campbell R, Martin CR, Fabos B. Media & Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age. 9th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martin’s Available at: https://reader.cafescribe.com/reader/Reader.html. Accessed May 22, 2013.

4. Daily Kos. Dly. Kos. Available at: http://www.dailykos.com/#. Accessed May 25, 2013.

Is Freedom of Expression Becoming Too Restricted?

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            The documentary Freedom of Expression discusses potential issues concerning first amendment rights. In a world where censorship is continuing to take away from what we can and cannot say it may start to affect our ability to make informed decisions as well as taking away from our ability to develop new works of art. If our freedoms are not going to be defended, then our rights are going to continue to be taken away.²

            Throughout the documentary I realized there are many more serious issues to censorship than I had thought. As the media becomes restricted by censorship, so do we, the people. That is because we are losing our sources of information about our government.² The news media has the wonderful ability of being separate from our government system. This allows news to be reported to the public about what the government is doing, good or bad, that helps us make sure our government is doing what we want and so that we can make decision of what we want to happen with our government. It is a serious issue if information is being withheld from the public against the first amendment rights as well as if the government is censoring what the media can release.³

            The government also continues extending the copyright acts to increase the amount of time a work of art can stay protected under it. Copyrights are good because it creates an incentive to create something new to make money. They become an issue when they are extended too long because with a copyright on a work of art the public cannot use it.³ Without the use of art from the past it is difficult to develop new works of art because in the past many ideas and art were made taking pieces of many different works. If the copyright acts continue to be extended, keeping the works away from the public domain, the world will never see Mickey Mouse or even the song Happy Birthday. Right now, movies that use the song in them have to pay a lot of money to do so.² That goes the same for any work of art used or even heard in any form of media. However, the term fair use protects people or companies for the use of media without needing permission or needing to pay money under certain conditions.^2,3

            Fair use is a complicated idea because there are times when fair use can be pushed too far. For things like education, people can piece together clips from different movies, news casts, etc. in order to teach a lesson. People may also parody works of art like music because it is commercial and humorous taking of the art not direct copying of it.³ There are some cases when people take clips of artwork and piece them together and claim fair use. For example, a person claimed fair use on many Elvis clips pieced together. This is not fair use because they are not saying anything new. The people that do this are just taking credit for different pieces of someone else’s work.² Fair use is also allowed for things like research, critiquing, and other forms of work like those. Without things like critiques speaking their mind and quoting other works we would not be able to be in a democracy like we are today. This is what allows for the information we get and different ideas that we are exposed to.^2,3

            Every single day people stand up for free speech in more ways than one. Whether they are challenging free speech by pranks on the public or by participating in the website developed by college students called freeculture.org, they are standing up their rights. If we do not continue to stand up for our rights, then eventually they will be stripped from us.^2,4

 

Works Cited

 

1. Abram S. New Free Speech. 2010. Available at: http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/09/11/free-speech/. Accessed May 25, 2013.

2. McLeod K, Smith J. Freedom of Expression: Resistance & Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property.; 2007. Available at: http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=127.

3. Campbell R, Martin CR, Fabos B. Media & Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age. 9th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martin’s Available at: https://reader.cafescribe.com/reader/Reader.html. Accessed May 22, 2013.

4. Free Culture Foundation. Available at: http://freeculture.org/. Accessed May 25, 2013.