Topic 7 :: Media Imperialism

For this week's topic, we shall be looking in on Media Imperialism:

The documentary entitled "The Power of Nightmares (Part 3 - Shadow in the Cave)" by Adam Curtis was shown in class on Monday. How do you relate the information given to you in the documentary to the theory of Media Imperialism that we talked about in lecture?

To start off, the definition of Media Imperialism:

Media Imperialism is a theory stating that smaller countries are losing their identity due to the force-feeding of from larger nations. It can be equated to small community shops closing down due to large superstores moving in, taking over and having a monopoly. As the larger corporations begin to take over, smaller companies are either being forced out or swallowed up.

taken from here

In regards to the documentary,

First critical reflection would be how the US government tried to push the world into thinking how the extreme islamist movement was a threat to them and even tried their best to manipulate the audience into thinking it's a wrong thing therefore it's considered as a Media Imperialism into making us all think of the wrong thing instead of the contrasting truth.

Second critical reflection is how audiences perceives the information and yet takes the step to believe what is on the media due to it being widely subjected towards a big target audience therefore, they are brainwashed by the false information that was given. You could say that without people who are working on trying to dig out the truth, audience will forever be stuck under the influence of Media Imperialism and everything false that goes with it.



Reflection on the class:
Class was okay,
Only one thing.
I could see that everyone was shivering terribly from the cold.
I think it's because of the lack of students in the class due to submission the next day.
But i'd appreciate it if you could lower down the aircond level. Very very much will appreciate it because i'm bad in cold places. Seriously.









Couldn't concentrate because of the cold.

Topic 6 :: Tetrad of Media

As for this week's topic:

Using McLuhan's "Tetrad of Media" (see diagram below), choose a medium or media application or tool (e.g. newspaper, books, radio, tv, film, internet, computer games, handphone, instant messaging, blogging, online advertising, youtube, facebook etc.) and explain its media effects? Please refer to Week 9's lecture notes plus your own research to discuss this topic.



According to the Week 9 lecture and the notes included,

• "What does it (the medium or technology) extend?"

• "What does it make obsolete?"

• "What is retrieved?"

• "What does the technology reverse into if it is over extended?"

From there, it is understood that the medium holds many possibilities of uses to us and not to forget it's effects on us. Using McLuhan's "Tetrad of Media", we can identify the media effects of a certain medium.

In this case, i'll pick blogging.

Critical reflection 1:

"What does it (the medium or technology) extend?"
In the case of a car it would be the foot, in the case of blogging it would be the mouth trying to share stories among others.

"What does it make obsolete?"
The car makes walking obsolete while blogging makes writing in books or discussing/talking among friends and family face to face as something no longer needed or not frequently done.

"What is retrieved?"
In this case, what is retrieved is that blogging allows individuals to connect with one another without any hassle of meeting up for lunch or spending hours and hours updating each other on what has happened in said person's life and such.

"What does the technology reverse into if it is over extended?"
If blogging is over extended, people might not have a social life outside of the computer/internet range and the things written in their blogs might as well be truth or just made up to portray someone they'd want to be depending on the situation.

Critical Reflection 2:

Through McLuhan's "Tetrad of Media", we can clearly see how blogging affects us in 4 laws. First being that it replaces a way that we have come to use before the existence of the media itself where it replaces our ability to speak to people about what has happened as blogs allow more space for us to express..

Second, being that after using the said medium, it clearly shows how we are no longer used to doing something in a certain way and are more prone to do it in ways that are more connected to the growth of technology as blogging erases the need for us to write letters to people to tell about what has been happening, the need to write diaries to remind us of what has happened, as a form of identity for us to show to the society connected to us virtually.

Third, what is retrieved gives us more than what we retrieved from the old way of doing things therefore leads us to produce more productivity for a better lifestyle where in this case, blogging allows us to retrieve information of friends and acquaintances and even act as a form of information-sharing department among society.

While fourth leads us to the pros and cons of the medium whereby blogging might lead to an individual to being someone indoors rather than engaging in real-time conversations and meet-ups with various individuals in the society to share information about their lives. In this case, it might make us rely too much on blogging to spark excitement in life which leads to more spending time in front of the computer and maybe even more ridiculous blogging of something that didn't exactly happen at all. In contrast, blogging also helps us to connect with one another easily with just a click of a button and maybe even connect with people we haven't met for years. Or maybe you can just use blogging as a medium to stalk people on the net, which is, something most people would rather do and never admit.



Personal Reflection:

Sometimes, i find class to be very noisy.
And i dislike how the chairs are all.... erm. All over the place.
But in another case,
Class is fine, i have no issues about it.
I guess that's all.








Oh essay, how i need to finish you.

Topic 5 :: Obscenity, pornography and indecency

Hello again, for another blog entry in this Media Culture blog of mine.
My stomach is like a tumble dryer now for some reason and its full with things going round and round including subway biscuits.

Anyways:

Obscenity, pornography and indecency: What are the differences between these terms?

ob·scen·i·ty

n. pl. ob·scen·i·ties

1. The state or quality of being obscene.

2. Indecency, lewdness, or offensiveness in behavior, expression, or appearance.

3. Something, such as a word, act, or expression, that is indecent or lewd.

4. Something that is offensive or repulsive to the senses

por·nog·ra·phy

1. Sexually explicit pictures, writing, or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal.

2. The presentation or production of this material.

3. Lurid or sensational material

in·de·cen·cy

n. pl. in·de·cen·cies

1. The state or quality of being unseemly or immodest.

2. Something indecent(Offensive to public moral values; immodest).

In which, all definitions taken from here.

In regards to this, i shall try to explain the differences between these two terms in my own basic understanding.
First of all, let's start off in stages so i'll begin with indecency which derived from the word 'indecent'. Indecent is, something that is offensive to public moral values. Like, for example, someone who is wearing a short mini skirt going to a formal event, that is called indecent. Stuffing 10 types of cake in your mouth while everyone is eating only one is indecent. Kissing someone in public is an indecent act so from that, you can say that 'indecency' is something that is not usually subjected to the proper rules of us humans, something that you don't do in public.
Easier said, Improper or wicked or immoral behaviour.

Which leads to the second one, Obscenity on the other hand is when something indecent is done improperly which acts as something disgusting or just over the boundaries of indecency. Something that is disturbing in such a way like for example, watching a movie that deals with the dissection of human body, disturbing enough to make certain individuals cringe.
Or maybe something that relates to acts that are not to be seen public or just disturbing to an individual's senses.
Basically, obscenity is something that disturbs you. That deals with your senses and maybe even make you puke in a way. Depends on how you interpret it.

While Pornography on the other hand deals with both obscenity and indecency but more of towards the sexual part of it. Pictures that deals with nudity and even obscene/indecent images connecting to sexual ideas used to arouse individuals to provoke them into the world of sexually explicit content. For example, magazines that deals with naked women in it, movies that portray sexual activities or images, Visuals that depict any part of the human mind and body done in a sexual aspect.
Or maybe cow on cow action.

Somehow, in a way, all three of them connects together to form one big idea which pornography.
But at the same time, the three of them maintain a different sort of idea depending on the situation and how you view it altogether.

As for class this week;
There was no proper class, except for Mr.Radzi coming in and telling us we have this assignment on 800 word essay of some sort.
So i guess there's not much to say, ya?








Refrain yourself from watching obscene things.

Topic 4 :: Media Literacy

Well well well, here i am, once again, up for another go at the media culture blog.

And for this week, it will be something along the lines of media literacy.

You know, it's the start of the mid-trimester break and all i want to do is hibernate like a bear. In a cave. Maybe stuff myself with popcorn and all things good. Like cake.

Maybe after i'm done with assignments or so, yeah?



Let's see...:



What is Media Literacy and why is it important for you as FCM students to have it?



Media Literacy,

As far as i'm concerned media literacy is a form of knowledge someone holds in their understanding of the media around them. I mean, if you're surrounded by various media all around, it's kind of unacceptable for you to NOT understand a tiny bit of what is being presented to you all day long.

Media literacy is when a person understands and is able to interpret what is the media trying to present or portray to the audience regardless of whether it's a negative, positive or neutral presentation. To know the meaning behind it and why they are doing it and what is the motive to all of the media that is presented to you and the society around you.



Therefore, it is important for us FCM students to achieve this literacy in media due to the basic common sense that we are working with media itself so it's kind of ridiculous if you're saying that it's not important to have understanding in the media department.
We need literacy in media to help us create media that will deliver our message to our audience successfully so that we can tell our audience what we're trying to say, what we're trying to deliver, what we're trying to present in the context of media so that the audience will able to interpret and understand perfectly fine without being lost in the media itself.
Due to that, media literacy helps us to define media and work easily with media to present the media to various types of people and be understood by them.
And maybe influence them to a higher level and gain control over their minds.
Something along those lines, probably?
Or maybe i'm just too over-the-top with that one.


As for class this week,
Not bad. I found it very interesting, the deal with the representation of media and the whole stereotype thing. There's so many things to talk about when it comes to stereotype and sometimes the whole class doesn't even realize that they're being stereotype in their own ways.
Of course, i'm not judging anyone.
I mean, everyone's stereotype. It's just that we don't realize it sometimes.
So class was fun, the videos were interesting. I fear the whole throwing things at people to take turns. It was interesting still 8D










Enjoying the holidays, ya?

Topic 3 :: Media Stereotypes

Well well well, hello again.
For today we will be going into the third topic for the week which i suppose deals with stereotypes.
So i'm feeling blocked today for apparently no reason but at the same am feeling quite content but assignment calls for finishing so let's work on the topic for this week now, shall we?

Let's see...

Give a very short basic explanation of what media stereotype is? (Keep it short please!) From your personal experience, what other media stereotype (besides the example from the article) you have seen either on TV or in the movies?

Before that, there was a link before the question which had information discussing about the Arab representation in US cartoon.

To start, a basic explanation of what media stereotype is:
Stereotype can be explained as something that is fixed based on an impression a certain society exhibits. Mostly it is the way other people exaggerate and express their perceptions towards a community or a particular social group depending on their race, colour, religion, background, etc.
In this case, Media stereotype is how the media perceives the society. Being told back their background story in a stereotype point of view which lacks the information on their real background and telling the viewers or the users of media, their perception of the society stereotypically.
In a way, this could be very misleading depending on how society interprets the media.

In my experience,
From what i've seen, especially in the Malaysian media industry, i quite don't understand why a majority of the local cartoons are always based on the 'kampung' theme. I mean, it is possible to make it in a modern setting but i have yet to see one that is not stereotypically 'kampung'. I don't have anything against 'kampung'-themed media, it's just that it's overly used and some parts of society seem to have some difficulties trying to accept changes or something that is not based on that certain theme. I suppose they did it to show the identity of the country or to relate with the audience in a much clear and better way but they could have found a much more better way to relate it with the current progression of time in this country.

It's stereotype because whenever some people speak of Malaysian cartoons, it will always be something related to the 'kampung'-theme. It's not bad, really. But it's easily seen.

Somehow you could also say that in the media, there's always this stereotype on the living class between the rich and the poor, like for example there's always those high-class rich ladies showing off their jewelries and such, with their children who are businessmen who are top-notch in their own rich world. While the poor are the people who strive on selling nasi lemak on the side of the road. Why is that even there?
The discrimination of stereotype between something that should not be discriminated is shown in television shows and movies where people drive big cars and live in big houses in contrast to the lower class such as maids, young children, people who are not from the urban areas.
Don't you think so?
The way they speak also reflects on how shallow their knowledge on a society is because it is focused on the slang and accent of the society rather than the ability of the society being able to speak and communicate in a smart kind of way. It's like a one-way communication being portrayed where one person is smarter than the other rather than both parties being smart.
It's very stereotype.


As for class,
There's no class for this week since it's a public holiday so no reflections on the class.
Well, i did some reading on media so i guess that's sufficient enough for something not related to class.
Somehow i miss going to class even though it's only one day.
And am pretty tired for this week.
Let's hope that next week's class is good, ya?








Stereotype has pros and cons. And i'm a nerd.

Topic 2 :: Truth in the Internet

Well, another blog assignment for the week.
I somehow enjoy doing this in a way. Maybe because of the fact that i enjoy blogging in general. Or maybe simply the urge to type irrelevant and relevant things.

So, for this week, we are to discuss on this topic(i'll upload the comic strip soon):

Do you often take what is on the Internet as truth without thinking much about it? If yes, why? If no, why? Discuss this in your own words.

Let's take a moment to ponder about the Internet for awhile.
I mean, let's face it. Without internet, us young adults(i have the urge to call teenagers) would prolly suffocate and die from technology desperation, of course, not literally.

There's pros and cons to the Internet as truth.
Firstly,
If i were to answer yes, the main reason to this would be, due to the Internet being absolutely worldwide and accessible from any parts of the world since it's being used by practically everyone, it's sort of impossible to say that the source or information given on a certain site would be illegitimate. There's a possible chance that the information taken from a certain site to be absolutely true depending on which site you're getting from and wether the article is genuine.
In another case, since people are more likely to surf on the internet rather than read newspapers sometimes or even books, there should be real information on the internet written by those who really do want the truth to be told.

Second,
If I were to say no, this would be because the internet is a wide place filled with many types of people. Even in the real world society, people still lie and spread rumors or even speak of irrelevant information so i suppose if it exists in the real world, it should exist in the internet world too. You can't believe the things in the internet due to the fact that it's done in digital and individuals can just put up altered images and videos then claim that it is the truth. It's easily done, as easy as lying to someone about something trivial. At the same time, the information on the internet might just as well scam you with oh-so-many hazardous things and information so you just gotta be cautious when it comes to the internet.
Seriously, come on, people can even go all "I'm an 18 year old girl who likes apple pie and chocolate" but in pure truth, said person is actually a 79 year old guy who enjoys stuffing pizza into his mouth while reading porn. Or easier said, the comic strip says it all(not entirely all, in a way). You see? There's a possibility there.
If the real world is filled with lies and scams and such, then i don't see how it is not possible in the internet world too.

In conclusion to that,
I'd say that there's pros and cons. To the internet. Again.
The best thing here is to just analyze what you're reading and find out where it's from.
I would agree with saying no because usually you'd think first before you believe something or taking it seriously. So i would pick no. Because i am not easily fooled(but am still easily fooled sometimes, i admit lol).


Anyways,
As for class this week,
Well,
Honestly, i wasn't in class. Because i overslept and woke up at exactly 9am and it takes 30 minutes to get ready and another 30 minutes to drive myself to class.
I have the urge to punch myself in the face for missing class. Seriously.
So i can't exactly give out my personal reflection for the class this week, in which i dread, very very much.







Maybe Internet will help me overcome my oversleeping problems. Or maybe i just need sleep.

Topic 1 :: Social Media

In regards to the video up above, the main thing here should be:
Discuss how this new phenomenon is affecting your life and the lives around you.


There's actually a lot of ways to describe how social media actually affects people's lives in general.

In a way, Social media is a form of technology that connects people to one another based on one big general idea.
This, in reference to the video, is shown by the famous ice cream factory and the ice cream maker, which is, the one big general idea that brings everyone together. In this way, they're affecting people's lives including the ones around me as they are affected by the perspective of something new - the idea; thus allowing everyone to share and connect what they know and are able to create from the idea into something big which grows into a community of idea-using individuals.
From this, people are able to know and communicate more with each other to brainstorm ideas and say what they need to say about each others perception and usage of the main idea. Because of this, people can slowly progress and become better from the communication and support from others around them. This is a good thing because it provides feedback for people who are starting small to learn about ways to keep them going and going. Of course, there's the cons of others resulting in slander among others which is not exactly a good way of communicating with one another.

In another case,
Social media affects me in a way that i am able to keep up with what's happening in other people's lives and world(in this case, via blogs, social networking sites, etc), taking it in a positive way to apply to my life so that i am moving at the same pace as them. Or maybe moving at a faster pace.
This term of social media is like a progressive chain that makes an individual learn, so as to say it's helping me in a progression sort of way from the things around me by using media to socialize with the people around me.
Because of social media, i am able to learn new things from people and connect with them in regards to voicing out my thoughts and various ideas which helps both parties, me and them, to understand each other better and maybe even branch out from one small idea to one giant idea.
It's like a branch of possibilities through social media.
As long as you're learning and taking the good out of it.



For this week of class, hmm...
well, we learned about media in social context. Which translates into how media affects us all. I guess it's more of learning the power of how people are easily affected by the media around us which is practically almost everything here. I still have yet to read on sociological theories and such but i guess i can put some thought in here.
Of course, while listening to the lecture, i ended up drawing doodles in my book, still paying attention to the class.
But then a realisation came to mind. Since media influence us all, would it be possible to influence a whole nation simply by media? What would happen if the people influencing the media came up to a point of insanity to evolve their maniac ideas inside people's brains, embedding them via media, would people still accept that and let it affect them slowly? What would happen if people fought the media? Because i remember a part of the lecture stating the 'Anomie' which is the loss of direction that a society feels when social control of individual behaviour becomes ineffective - might lead to suicide. If that were to happen, would people still rely on media?
So you could say that media has pros and cons here in relations to the social world.
But all in all, media is simply a tool. Which can be interpreted in so many ways.




And so, media results to a bigger socialisation point among peers.