HERE is the link to the opening lecture slides.
Please post here your reflections/opinion/arguments/questions pertaining to the Introductory Lecture. Again this is a free space for discussion. Feel free to raise anything relevant to our lecture.
As nudge for further reflection, you can address some of these questions (however, feel free to raise any idea that you may have):
1) We used the example of Ugly Betty in class and how the show can be studied in different ways. What other media products are you interested in studying, and what might be the possible questions/approaches that you can take in studying them?
2) Do you agree with Silverstone's assertion that the media is becoming environmental? How is it becoming environmental?
3) What other grand promises of the media can you think of? Give examples from popular advertising, film, etc. Why is it necessary to be critical of these promises?
4) Silverstone argues that the screen is five things: a) interface, b) frame, c) window, d) mask, and e) barrier. Give examples how it can be one of these five things.
5) Why study the media? Why study the media critically?
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I can’t give a stand on whether media is a bane or a boon. The ideas of media having both positive and negative effects to its audience have always been contradictory to me. However, I realized that the purpose of studying media is not to decide if it’s good or bad; I think it is all about awareness – awareness on how to react towards what is presented to us as the audience.
I agree to Silverstone when he says that media is becoming environmental. As Jerome said: “Media is everything except.....it's everything.” Aside from being everything, it is everywhere. You can’t face anywhere without seeing media or its product.
Another promise of media is giving us the power to defy time and space. With media, we can “extend” time or be in several places at once. An example of “extending time” is the commercial of an internet service provider which conveys a message that your business may keep running even as you sleep. And an example of defying space would be the broadband commercial wherein the father says jokingly that his daughter be wed in the foreign country she’s in while her audience witness their wedding through a webcam. It is important to be critical of such promises so as not to be fooled by any media propaganda; after all, their primary concern is profit.
The screen as an interface can be seen in various ways. It is the primary thing that catches our attention with the visuals of text and images that is supposed to appeal to us. For instance, food advertisements would present their products as big, juicy, luscious and tempting which will make our mouths water. Sometimes, they flash words which are too, appealing to our senses. But once the actual product is served to you, it will seem as if they cut its size down to half.
So why study media? As I’ve mentioned earlier, I believe that this is all about awareness. When we know what media is, what is presented to us, we will be able to know when and when not to fall for media’s message.
^ that post is kinda intimidating. HO HO HO HO!!!
anwyway, im just gonna answer number 5 question~
why study media? because they are like this strong structure that greatly affect people's "everything" such as lifestyle...and decision. knowing media, we will be able to know who or what controls them and at the same time why we are controlled by them. Sometimes, I wonder if we will be ever free from it? It seems like our whole lives has been built by media since we sometimes rely too much on it (esp for capitalism). All the standards...the dictations... it will forever influence our decision. I guess the only time it won't affect us is if we're already dead. HAHAHA! So studying media, we will be able to find out some reasonings about their power...and i dunno... somtimes I just find media bad and sometimes good. I guess I want to eliminate the bad media...like the ones you see in commercials... like skin whitening or hair products..those things kinda create this standard of beauty which really disgust me. HAHAHA!
Hi, gri3v3r. Please include also your name/nickname. :) I can't tell who you are! :)
Gri3v3r = kata
wehehe! sorry po!
hi sir!! this is RA Angeles from Com11-E
For me, media has been giving a lot of grand promises to its audiences, particularly the masses. I shall use the program "Wowowee" as an example. Why does this show rate high and cause a great impact to many Filipinos? - It has been offering and promising escape and immediate solution to poverty through its grand prizes, games, and even because of the host's charisma. In reality, it is really impossible for the show to uplift its avid audiences (the masses) from poverty (except for the show's winner). What it offers is somehow only psychological and deceptive for its viewers, who are mostly not critical with shows such as this. What the media gets from it of course is profit with its increased viewer ratings and advertising sponsors.
1. I'd love to study advertisements. I find them very interesting. Also, I think that they are the most inescapable form of media. Even if you don't regularly watch tv shows, you'll probably end up watching a commercial every once in a while when you're channel surfing; you always see billboards when you're driving; there are even washroom ads nowadays. :)
2. Yep, definitely, the media is becoming environmental. Like the examples I gave earlier, even going to the washroom doesn't spare you from media. Because of modern technology, printing huge billboards and producing big budget commercials become easy. We are surrounded and constantly bombarded by the media.
3. Promises... hmmm... since I've been talking about advertisements, let's continue on that topic. I just noticed that in shampoo commercials, they would promise straighter hair or dandruff removal but you would always see a disclaimer in small print at the bottom of the screen saying things like: *with continued use, *for natural straight hair only, *removes only visible flakes.
The media, like any other product, is colored with the producer's biases. As the consumers, we must watch out for ourselves because THERE'S ALWAYS A CATCH.
4. Answer to this question to follow. Still thinking. :D
5. I agree with Esme. It's simply about awareness. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. Media will always be around us and it will always be colored with the producer's biases. As consumers, it is our duty to ourselves to be aware so that we can make intelligent choices. We owe it to ourselves to protect our interests as the audience.
*Maan Bernardino, Section E*
media is indeed becoming environmental. I was intrigued in class when you mentioned that even are eyes are considered media. And, for me that just shows how environmental media has become.
As humans, we don't feel complete without our eyes. As social beings, we are lost in today's world without the media. In this light, we need media as much as we need our eyes.
As for media promises, I think my M&M example in the week 4 post is also relevant here. I guess not all media promises are true but the power media has makes their promises very believable and we get fooled by them also.
Because not everything media presents is true, we really have to be critical in identifying which promises are real or not real. The added fact that media is everywhere and everything,the more we have to be critical of media.
-nate yu, com 11 E
Hi! :)
As for me, I agree with Silverstone’s assertion that the media is becoming too environmental. Being environmental means how huge an impact the media creates on us, the audience. We cannot seem to argue the fact that media is dominating us. Every morning, we usually read the newspapers. Then as we take a bath, some would turn on the radio for some music. In going to school, we always encounter billboards of consumer’s products. Of course, at the end of the day, we usually open our computers and check our mails. We also use our cell phones all throughout the day. All of these, newspapers, radio (songs), billboards, internet, cell phones- are products of media. Media surrounds us each and everyday, therefore media is really becoming too environmental. :)
Vanina Chua/ Com11- B
2) Do you agree with Silverstone's assertion that the media is becoming environmental? How is it becoming environmental?
I do agree with Silverstone that Media are becoming environmental? Why? Simple. It's becoming environmental because it surrounds us without us knowing or being aware of its presence.
It's everywhere. In the water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, even the air we breathe.
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