"Now They Tell Us" by Michael Massing

After reading this book, I have learned that even the Times is not the most reliable source of information. It is often mentioned in this book how the Times are either reporting certain issues, such as the abuses against Iraqi prisoners, days later after other publications have published them, or they often ignore the importance of the case and have them printed on the inside pages.

Not only that, Massing also mentions the portrayal of the war through the American media versus European/Arabic media, in which the American media always portray the bravery of the soldiers and the so-called success of the war, while the European and Arabic media, al-Jazeera for example, are covering the unseen/other side of the war, such as unedited tapes from Osama bin Laden or the Palestinian casualties. The problem is that the American media is showing the Americans what they want to see.

First of all, 9/11, be it a terrorist attack or a demolition job, has given Americans fear and panic. That, in return, manufactured a consent from the Americans to allow the administration to do anything that will stop terrorism and keep the country safe.

On August 6, 2002, VP Dick Cheney made a speech claiming that there is no doubt Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, and is preparing to use them against the US. With this information, the Americans are sure to support the hinted war. The problem is that there is no evidence of Cheney's claims.

Meanwhile, journalists Judith Miller and Michael Gordon are getting information from Iraqi defectors who are telling them about Saddam Hussein's investment on nuclear weapons and mysterious aluminum tubes that were imported – tubes that could be possibly used as a part of an atomic bomb. On September 8, 2002, a story was published on the Times based on this finding, written by Miller and Gordon themselves. This story was something the administration was not ready for and hence caused quite a spark that opened the doors to the possibility of a war.

Although Iraq itself had claimed that the tubes were to be used for building rockets, doubts were still raised and there was an ongoing analysis on the tubes. An article was written by Joby Warrick of the Washington Post, describing how the administration's claims about the tubes were challenged by "independent experts" who questioned the intentions of the tubes. This article was one of the first public mentions of the administration's possible misuse, but since it appeared on page A18, the story only caused little stir.

While more and more experts started to find that there are no existing nuclear sites in Iraq and the tubes were most likely intended for the rockets, the press were trying to keep these reporting on the down-low. On February 5, 2003, Colin Powell's speech at the UN on Iraq's nuclear issue and linking Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda received high approval ratings in American polls, even though most of Powell's claims were already proven to be unlikely, showing that the Americans will believe everything they saw.

Because of the journalists' tendency to not challenge the administration and try to not make the administration look bad, the false evidence in Powell's speech was not taken into importance. Since the war was launched, the press has been trying to show the "successful" side of the war, keeping stories about increasing casualties in Iraq away from the front pages and instead are published on page 10 or 12. Hopefully, the American media learns a lesson from this unnecessary war and should stop worrying about challenging the administration because clearly the intelligence unit was not doing such a good job, and instead start informing the people about the truth.

Media & Culture (Part 4)

"Democratic Expression and the Mass Media"

Chapter 14: The Culture of Journalism
There are so many types of journalism in today's world, that we can get information from the world wide web besides TV and print. Although I understand that journalists are responsible for reporting the news, I think it is unnecessary that some unimportant issues are blown out of proportion and over-analyzed, such as the Obamas' fist bump as mentioned in the chapter. This chapter also brought my attention to public journalism. As much as I support the idea of the participation of "readers" and journalists in responding to the issues that are addressed, I feel that it will skew the purpose of journalism in order to satisfy what the readers want to know about. One of the other aspects of journalism mentioned in this chapter is the ethical predicaments. I think that journalists should deploy deception only when the case is very serious and needs awareness and change, such as the Nellie Bly case. Chasing celebrities around and invading their privacy in order to get a story, or fake a story, is certainly immoral and unprofessional.

Chapter 15: Media Effects
Media effects research sounds like a mission for the government to brainwash us. Even if they confirmed that violence in the media has an effect on the aggressive behaviors, will they ban violence in the media? A line from the chapter reads:

"Because most media research operates best in examining media and individual behavior, fewer research studies explore media's impact on community and social life."

Well, I think researchers should start researching more on the different issues that effect a larger population, such as smoking and drug use in movies, which I think have a bigger effect on more people than violence does. Cultural studies research, however, might be a hopeful solution for solving issues of race, gender, class and sexuality in the American society.

Chapter 16: Legal Controls

"When students from other cultures attend school in the United States, many are astounded by the number of books, news articles, editorials, cartoons, films, TV shows, and Web sites that make fun of U.S. presidents, the military, and the police."

I was one of those students, who grew up in Malaysia. I remember walking through the city one day and seeing various political posters, one in particular saying "Impeach Bush!" with a cartoon version of Bush. I remember thinking "Wow, how dare they make fun of the president like that." It was then I realized that the American citizens have the freedom of expression.
One thing from this chapter that surprised me is when I read that the "Happy Birthday" song is owned. And copyrighted! It is such a popular song that I've never even thought about that. Although FCC is in control of the media, the internet is such an accessible medium that it has become a home for freedom of expression, just read the comments from YouTube or read a forum.

Party Crashers

White House Party Crashers Cause a Hangover

"Some media analysts blame incidents like the Salahis' apparent gate-crashing on a broader cultural shift: Americans' willingness to exploit themselves for fame and the hunger for ratings-grabbing events by cable-news shows, talk-show hosts, Web sites and magazines.

The enormous popularity of reality television also has given people the idea that being a celebrity is possible for everyone, they say."

...

"The media business is the new Ellis Island: Give me your talentless, give me your hoaxes and I will put anything on my air," said Robert Thompson, professor of television at Syracuse University.

Wall Street Journal


Although I am, and I'm sure most people are, still not sure what in the world Michaele and Tareq Salahi were doing crashing a White House state dinner, the paragraphs above show that I'm not the only one thinking the same thing. Another possible "Balloon Boy" story.
I still cannot fathom how people bear to watch reality shows. While some shows still have potentials, such as "American Idol" or "America's Next Top Model" because at least the winners can get a contract and become additional famous celebrities, most reality shows are just.... horrific? Horrendous? Terrible? Embarrassing? Just bad.

I took the courage to watch a few clips of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" the other day. After watching it, I found myself in awe of how these rich, talentless, uneducated, undisciplined, self-absorbed, famous-for-nothing people can have their own show about their dramatic boring lives. And what makes it worse is that the mom is just as clueless as her daughters.
Here are two clips, and let me just say that YOU ARE WARNED.




Watch her go to jail, Celebrity style!

Communication

Illustration by Ji Lee

The digital age has transformed the ways in which we communicate with each other. The combination of technology and power of information brings new ways on HOW, WITH WHOM and WHY we communicate. We are connected with more people than ever before. Do more options to communicate with each other connect us or alienate us more?"

Media & Culture (Part 3)

"The Business of Mass Media"

Chapter 11: Advertising
I enjoyed reading this chapter a lot because I am an Advertising major and I learned a lot more about advertising after reading this. However, I still have a love/hate relationship with Advertising. I wanted to pursue art direction as a career because I think it's exciting to make creative and clever advertisements to inform people and sell products, but advertising is such a powerful and scary form of medium that I'm hesitant to be part of this business. It is also appalling to learn about the amount of money that is put into advertising. However, without advertising, businesses wouldn't do so well and more importantly, our culture would not have been a consumer culture.

Chapter 12: Public Relations
This chapter provided me with a more negative view towards PR, especially after reading about Edward Bernays and Lucky Strikes, how he was able to deceive the public mind, women especially, that smoking is alright; while hypocritically, forbade his own wife to smoke. Sure, public relations has helped businesses and inform the public on various issues through tactics like public service announcements. Although I understand that it is important to give businesses and organizations a positive image to gain public support, I feel that it is immoral to try to cover up an organization or company's wrongdoing or distort it in some way in order to keep a positive image.

Chapter 13: Media Economics
The section on Disney being a media conglomerate is certainly mind-blowing, especially when it's not even the #1 media conglomerate. I also enjoyed reading the section about hegemony and "common sense". It just goes to show how the American culture is only run by a few giant media corporations, and furthermore, the American media is doing very well in cultural imperialism. As the chapters go on, I begin to learn that we as citizens really have not much of a choice or power but to live by what these media markets offer us. Lastly, I'd like to end this paragraph with a quote that I thought was quite funny to be found in this chapter.

"It's a small world, after all." - Theme Song, Disney Theme Parks

Media & Culture (Part 2)

"Sounds and Images"

Chapter 3: Sound Recording and Popular Music
I enjoyed reading this chapter on how sound recording was developed, starting out with analog recording with phonographs and audiotapes to digital recordings with CDs and MP3s. Also interesting was the major part of this chapter on how the American popular music has shaped our culture and bring social changes to the country, such as the integration of the white and black cultures and blurring the boundary between masculinity and femininity. It goes to show that music has been and still is an important form of media that speaks universally that has the power to bring changes to the world.

Chapter 4: Radio
After reading this chapter, I've learned much more about the radio, like it's origin and how big of a role it played as the nation's first electronic mass medium. It's interesting to learn that telegraphy has helped saved lives in seas, such as the sinking of Titanic. Radio has since then became a part of the American culture, and before the arrival of television, was used as an electronic form to broadcast news, talk shows, short stories, and music. I feel like radio today acts as an electronic form of magazine, targeting different listeners with format specialization.

Chapter 5: Television
The arrival of television was probably the most important cultural change in America. It offered not only sound but also visual, visual that has given Americans a glimpse into the world outside their own home. Since then, Americans turn to the television for news and entertainment. It became a major medium to televise important events such as the presidential election and also a medium which Americans can sit down and be entertained by its various shows and programs. The internet now allows us to view and download TV episodes, and with that, we can multitask on other things and come back to the computer later to catch up on the shows we've missed.

Chapter 6: Cable
Let's start out by saying that my household is not subscribed to cable TV, therefore I rarely watch television. This chapter gives me an insight of the history and impact of cable. What I found is interesting was how MTV and Michael Jackson's Thriller broke down the barrier that prevented music videos by black artists to be shown on television, and as a result, also introduced the hip hop culture to the world.

Chapter 7: Movies
Movies have brought a great impact to our culture, it not only introduced pictures in motion for the first time, it became a form of entertainment, and also a medium for social, cultural change. Just like the impact of internet on other media forms, the arrival of internet has drawn people to watching movies online, illegally or through purchase. Furthermore, with the rise of YouTube, people can now easily make their own movies or shorts and promote them without the need of Hollywood and such. I believe, however, people would still go to theaters as the experience of watching it on a big screen is more satisfactory.

You're Fat...

... if you weigh 120 pounds and wear a size 4.

And that god awful photoshop job. What is this world coming to?

Ralph Lauren Model Gets Fired for Being Fat

Media & Culture (Part 1)

"Mass Media and the Cultural Landscape"

Chapter 1: Mass Communication
From this chapter, I learned a brief history of how the media form came about, and why they were developed in the first place, for every thing invented has its purpose. Media innovations emerge, from the development stage, to the entrepreneurial stage and finally the mass medium stage. Of course, businesses take these inventions and try to market them. Thus, mass media have been shaping our culture, and consuming our lives. This chapter also discusses the media culture, the American culture specifically. Our culture is so diverse that it can be categorized into high culture and low culture, represented by a skyscraper metaphor in this book. Although the mass media have been criticized for their influence on culture such as consumerism, they also play an important role in bringing about social changes and informing the people about important events. However, with the Electronic and Digital Eras and the Age of Convergence, nothing seems impossible anymore. We will be constantly bombarded with images, sound and information. We are slowly being consumed and brainwashed by mass media, and yes, that includes me as well. Pretty sad. The future sure looks pretty bleak to me.

"Words and Pictures"

Chapter 8: Newspapers
Ever since the printing press was developed, newspapers became a major medium for people to read about the latest news and events. Although the penny press era allowed more people to afford daily newspapers, it's interesting to learn that different publishers would use different tactics to attract readers and sell more newspapers, leading to the age of yellow journalism. And being a brainwashed citizen, I'm glad to finally know where the Pulitzer Prize originated from. After reading the section about William Randolph Hearst and the New York Journal, I was appalled by the fact that he would do anything like inventing interviews and faked pictures just to sell his papers, especially when newspapers were such a powerful medium form. The rest of the chapter talks about the other different forms of journalism and also discusses the ethnic newspapers, such as African American newspapers which became a way for African Americans to voice their opinions despite racism. As television and radio, and now the internet, slowly becomes the major sources of news and information, newspaper readership declines. I feel that printed newspapers will all become digital soon and everyone will be reading the news via internet or Kindles.

Chapter 9: Magazines
This chapter on magazines talks about the history of magazines, and the introduction of magazines targeted a female audience, and how illustrations became a major feature of magazines. Photojournalism was also introduced later on, providing readers visuals to actual account of events. Today, magazines are specialized and target smaller audiences, from men and women to sports, entertainment and leisure magazines, just to name a few. Just like newspapers, magazines are also now available online. However, I feel that magazines will still be around longer than newspapers because magazines are published weekly or monthly, and the contents, colors and use of different glossy papers provide readers more pleasure in reading leisurely.

Chapter 10: Books
Books. The oldest mass medium. The chapter starts with the history of books, and how the invention of the printing press led to mass production of books. Different types of books then emerged, from trade books to religious books to textbooks. Also like other writing forms such as newspapers and magazines, the rise of television and film brought an influence in book publishing by advertising the books or making books into TV shows or films. Mentioned several times in this chapter, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series not only attracted a huge group of readers, it also found its success in the movie adaptation series. And in this electronic and digital age, books are also available in electronic form (e-books), and the Kindle becomes a new medium and a new way in reading books. Because more and more people order books online or purchase e-books, the number of bookstores are declining. Regardless, I was particularly interested in the last section of this chapter, and I wholeheartedly agree with the last paragraph of this chapter.

"Since the early days of the printing press, books have helped us to understand ideas and customs outside our own experiences. For democracy to work well, we must read. When we examine other cultures through books, we discover not only who we are and what we value but also who others are and what our common ties might be."

Babes and Bitches

Babes and Bitches: A comparison of Maxim and Cosmopolitan (from a guy’s point of view)

Where do I even begin?

Girls. That’s a good start. This month’s Cosmopolitan is the “Bad Girl Issue, For Sexy Bitches Only” (sorry ladies), and it features Kim Kardashian (whom I only know about from the media coverage of her sex tape with R&B singer Ray J) on the cover. Almost the entire magazine is filled with articles on beauty and fashion tips. And most importantly, how to impress the guys, to say the least. I mean, it says it all on the cover. “What He Thinks During Sex”, “8 Things Guys Notice Instantly”, “Foreplay Men Crave” and “The Silent Clue Men Give Off When They’re In Love” etc.

I find that there really aren’t any interesting articles in the magazine. The more serious article that it contains besides looking beautiful and getting hot guys is how to not die from getting drunk. The advertisements in this magazine are mostly selling beauty products such as celebrity endorsed perfumes and skin care products, though there are a few car ads here and there. After all, it is the “Bad Girl Issue, For Sexy Bitches Only”. On the bright side, the magazine smells really good from all the perfume ads (Yes, I did open the fold and find out how they smell.)

Unlike Cosmopolitan, Maxim targets the typical male population, who is all about babes, cars and sports. However, the articles and content in Maxim are more interesting than Cosmopolitan, and I’m not being bias because I’m a guy. Besides a few interviews with actresses and actors and Lebron James, there is a jokes section, a food review section on restaurants from different cities, and also a few articles on entertainment/movies. These contents are clearly lacking in Cosmopolitan. Would these not interest the female population? Other than that, there are also sections on the latest gadgets and gizmos, style, sports and cars. And advertisements wise, men want babes, cars, video games, drinks and style. Of course.

There is a section from each magazine that I found particularly funny. They are the “Cosmo’s 2009 Bachelor Blowout” and Maxim’s “Hometown Hotties 09”. While Maxim has all the hotties lined up in one row on a full spread, Cosmopolitan has 16 pages booked up for all the bachelors from all across the United States (I think). And while Maxim only includes each hottie’s name, occupation and a question with a dim-witted answer, Cosmopolitan’s bachelors described themselves, their occupation and interests and even included their custom made bachelor email addresses. Another difference is that all the hotties in Maxim are wearing bikinis, while most of the bachelors have a shirt on. I guess my point is that girls who read Cosmopolitan would really get a chance of meeting these bachelors if they sent in an email, but the guys who read Maxim are expected to just stare at these hotties and do nothing about it. Well, they can vote for the winner.

I think that Cosmopolitan makes woman seem so desperate and shallow, and Maxim just further implies the stereotype that all guys care about are sex, cars and sports among other stuffs.

Oh! Here’s an ad from Maxim. See my point?

"Media Unlimited" by Todd Gitlin

Todd Gitlin’s take on media is very informative, feeding us with facts and opinions through eye-opening statistics and popular culture references.

I especially enjoyed the chapter on speed and sensibility. It is very interesting to learn how the pace of our lifestyles today is so much faster compared to times before technology. In one part of the chapter, Gitlin talks about speed in films, and he mentions how a scene with barely a cutaway or camera movement for more than eight minutes would probably feel like an eternity by today’s standard. It is true for the most part and I feel that people will just grow more and more impatient because of the fast-paced lifestyles we live in today.

Is supersaturation of the media a good thing? Maybe. We now have multiple resources for knowledge and information, be it true or false. Because our lives are surrounded by the media, we cannot do anything or go anywhere without being distracted by images and sound. Therefore, our minds must be trained to be sharper and quicker because the media overwhelms our lives.

While and after reading this book, I become more and more conscious of the media surrounding me and everyone else. And how it has affected our lifestyles. For example, I visited my little cousins the other day, and I noticed that I couldn’t even talk to them anymore because they were busy watching television shows and playing games, having already entered another dimension.

However, what upsets me is that with all the media and technology surrounding us, we are still not satisfied with what we have; we expect more and we are craving for something better, something more exciting, something to further upgrade this lifestyle we live in now.