Media Meditation 4: Electronic New York Times

Due to the Internet and other media newspapers are becoming more and more obscure. However, the Internet can also be a tool used to benefit newspapers when used to deliver the content in an electronic version to its viewer’s e-mails. This is how I started reading the New York Times. I needed a way to get the paper and found it easiest to have it sent directly to my computer. This way I didn’t have to go out and buy it, and even if it was sent directly to my apartment it would still be a hassle to carry it around with me when I could just have it on my computer. Having it on my laptop is easiest because it is already a tool that I use everyday, so it is incorporated into my daily activities. The electronic version of the New York Times is also easier for me to read. This is because I am able to scroll down the page and skim the headlines along with the first few sentences of the stories below their headlines. If I am interested in the article I can click on its headline to get the full article, or move on to the next story. Having the headlines with the first few sentences under them also allows me to understand the main points of the story without having to read the entire thing. Postman may point out how the electronic newspaper is changing the way I take in the information, which is true. Now I don’t need to read through the entire stories and my attention span doesn’t need to be as long. He may also say that by reading the New York Times I am exposed to information that it ultimately meaningless to me because it isn’t local, and therefore I am not able to do anything about the issues, or news that are being reported. This makes the news a form of entertainment as it ends up being simply something to talk about.

Tribune Brain: The electronic newspaper mostly engages the Neocortex part of the brain. There usually isn’t any visuals or sound, which are strong tools used to involve the Limbic brain. Readers use their Neocortex to process and understand the information. When thinking about the electronic newspaper one should consider the Internet and paper newspaper. The Internet engages both the Neocortex with the information it provides, which must be processed by individuals and the Limbic brain through the images and film it provides. Newspapers also engage both the Neocortex through conveying information with words, and the Limbic brain by using images and descriptive words. Overall the electronic newspaper engages mostly the Neocortex, but because it is on the Internet it has the ability to involve the Limbic brain through links to images and videos.

7 Principles…

Reality Construction: Whether it is electronic or on paper the newspaper has the ability to engage in reality construction. They can do this from the material that they put in the paper as well as from the advertisements it shows. Because newspapers depend heavily on advertisers they must direct their papers to people who have the money to buy the products that are being advertised. This affects the content included in the newspaper as editors ensure that it is interesting to their target audience. This forms a certain reality for the readers as the information they are given coincides with their points of views.

Ownership: Most newspapers are part of conglomerations where the smaller/local newspapers are owned by the big newspapers. For example the New York Times is owned by the New York Times Company and publishes 18 other newspapers including International Herald Tribune and The Boston Globe.

8 Trends…

Technological shift: The electronic version of the New York Times is a primes example of technological shift. It is not only on paper, but also on the Internet as well. Shifting to the Internet has made reading the New York Times easier for many people because it takes little effort for them to access it since many are already using the Internet through out their days. M.T. Anderson would say that the only problem is sometimes technology doesn’t always work. In this case if the Internet wasn’t working then people who get the New York Times e-mailed to them would not be able to access it.

Economic Shift: Newspapers are also experiencing an economic shift. Corporate consolidation is taking place due to larger newspapers buying the smaller local newspaper. This is true with the New York Times as it publishes 18 other smaller newspapers.

Discursive Shift: All newspapers claim that their stories are objective and simply state the facts, but this doesn’t always happen. Journalists view the event/issue and its facts, which construct the article from their points of views. Because of this the stories are slightly subjective.

Cultural Shift: Electronic newspapers also allow their readers to comment on the articles for other people to read. This means that anyone who reads the article is able to see all of the comments that the other people have written. This is shown with the top story in today’s New York Times with a comment section that has 777 posts that anyone can see.




Persuasive Techniques…

Flattery: Newspapers in general persuade people through using flattery, claiming that they care about their readers and want to bring them stories that they think they should know about. The Media Society Book may say that at times this isn’t always the case and that many newspapers along with other media bring people information that they want to know and not what they should know.

Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a major persuasive tool used in Newspapers. Most people say that writers have only the first sentence and sometimes just the heading of their article to catch their reader’s attention. If they are not able to do that then the reading moves on to the next article or newspaper. Because of this they must has headlines and sentences that are exaggerated to catch their reader’s attention. In today’s New York Times the headlines of the top stories are, “Fearing Obama Agenda, States Push to Loosen Gun Laws,” and “On Eve of Health Meeting, Big Questions Still Linger.” The words “fearing,” “big,” and “linger” are all exaggerated words to catch people’s attention

Testimonial: Almost every article in newspapers has direct quotes from people to support the content and main message of the article, which can also be seen as testimonial. The New York Times includes a quote from Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association in the article about pushing to loosen gun laws.

Media Meditation 3: Why Women Wear Hijab

Islam is a religion that most Americans know little about. Many of the controversies that people have with Muslims are a result of either lack of information about Islam, or from viewing the faith from a western secular society perspective. If people had a better understanding of Islam I think there would be less conflict and Muslims would be viewed in a different light. One controversial aspect of the faith is women wearing the hijab. When understood from a western point of view many people believe that it oppresses women as they are forced to wear one, when in reality often times this isn’t the case. Many Muslim women freely choose to wear hijab for reasons such as to respect God, or to ensure that they are judged by their character and the type of person they are. The video below begins to help people understand the wearing of the hijab from the people who actually where them, Muslim women. After seeing this media I think people may view this Islamic practice in a more positive light and not as a symbol of oppression against women. This highlights the power of the media in molding our impressions on society and the rest of the world.

Tribune Brain: I think this media does a good job of engaging a person’s Limbic brain without them being aware of it. There is no music or extreme images, which are common tools used to evoke emotions. Instead they only use the Muslim women and the hijab to involve the Limbic brain. They are able to do this because most Americans automatically feel sad and sometimes even curious just from seeing women wearing the Hijab since it is something that is seen as a sign of oppression to Americans and a practice that most don’t see in the United States. The Neocortex is also engaged during the entire film through listening to the Muslim women’s reasoning’s for wearing their hijab. When viewing the women’s stories people use their Neocortex to understand and analyze what they are saying. Most Americans are surprised at what the Muslim women are saying from being unaware of their points of view on the hijab, which causes them to involve more of their Neocortex brain to rethink their pr-conceived notions.





7 Principles:
Reality Construction- The media is intended to address the reality construction that has been created among Americans about wearing the hijab. Due to the media many Americans view it as a symbol of oppression, but this media creates a different reality where the hijab is a religious practice that is meaningful to Muslim women and is something that they freely choose to do.

Production Techniques- By using American Muslim women to explain the hijab this media is more credible and persuasive. This is because people are more likely to believe the ideas being expressed if they were coming directly from the people wearing the hijabs rather than from a secondary source.

8 Trends:
Epistemological Shift- the only words in this media were the written out question of “Why Hijab” that starts the film. Because of this, viewers gain information from this media through film and not through the use of words.

Technological Shift- I was shown this media on the computer instead of the television. By viewing this on my computer I am able to watch it whenever I want, and can stop and re-play any part of the film that I want. These luxuries would not be able to talk place with the television media.

Discursive Shift- One of the main purposes of creating this media is to address the subjective opinions of the Hijab among Americans. The film itself could also be viewed as subjective because it only includes the Muslim’s who aren’t forced to wear the hijab points of views. This may lead people to believe that all Muslim women who wear scarves do so because they want to, not because they are forced, when some women actually are forced to wear them. However, the reality is that many Muslim women freely choose to wear their hijab making American’s concepts of the practice the strongest example of subjectivity in this media.


Persuasive Techniques:
Testimonial- The whole film/documentary consists of Muslim women explaining why they wear the hijab, which is a form of testimonial. In a way the film could be viewed as entirely testimonial.

Untold Stories- One of the reasons for the creation of the film was to make people aware of the untold stories of Muslim women wearing the hijab. Many Americans view it as oppression, but by viewing the untold stories of the people in the film Americans may form a different opinion about the Islamic practice.

Simple Solutions- The film demonstrates the persuasive technique of simple solutions when the Muslim women claim that wearing the hijab ensures that people won’t just like them for how they look, and that their personalities are what make people like them.

Group Dynamics- The Muslim women use words like “we” and “us.” When talking about wearing the hijab so that people don’t judge her based on her looks she says, “…I think that is what we as Americans strive for.”

Plain Folk- The film/documentary uses everyday normal American Muslims to explain why women wear the hijab. On one hand they may not seem like plain folks since many the Muslim population in the United States is small, but the fact that they are Americans establishes some common ground with viewers.

Media meditation 2: Reel Bad Arabs

I found the film Reel Bad Arabs to be very interesting as it shows how throughout American film history the Middle East and Arabs have been consistently portrayed as villains. More importantly the film also highlights the power of the media in terms of influencing American’s stereotypes and perceptions of Islam, when perhaps the messages and information it transmits is a false conception of reality. I personally have experienced this concept specifically with the Middle East and Muslims. Until recently my only knowledge on these topics was from what I saw on the news or from what I read about in the newspapers, which are regulated by the government. The information I retained from the media was only from the perspective of a smaller group of people who are in control of what is shown to Americans, and usually that material supports the American government, which has great power over the media. But after learning about the Middle East and the Islamic culture from a perspective other than the media’s or governments the knowledge I gained was quite different from what I was taught before, causing my perceptions to differ on these topics. The film Reel Bad Arabs highlights this idea of the media presenting mis-leading information to shape our perceptions on the Arabs and on almost any other topic and it is something that I think every American should watch.

Tribune Brain: The film starts out immediately involving our Limbic brain with sad Arabic sounding music that symbolizes a struggling feeling. The Limbic brain is consistently being evoked through out the rest of the film with scenes from movies depicting Middle Eastern people as villains. One part that especially involved my Limbic brain was the part where it showed Middle Eastern people who were protesting being shot by American soldiers who are standing above them on the top of a building. Then later in that same film a girl without a leg from being injured at this protest was shown. The scenes like this one that take place throughout the whole movie make viewers sad and feel sorry for the Arabic people through engaging the limbic brain. The Neocortex is also continuously engaged throughout the film as Jack Shaheen shows examples and makes analogies of how Arabs are vilified and stereotyped by American film. One example of the Neocortex is when Shaheen asks us why we can’t unlearn the stereotypes with the Arabs as we did with the blacks. Over the course of the film viewers are constantly thinking about they ways film has shifted their perspectives on the Middle East, which takes place in the Neocortex.





7 Principles…
Reality Construction- This principle is heavily demonstrated because the film is all about showing viewers how media has constructed a false reality for Americans about the Middle East and what the people are like.

Emotional Transfer- This film also contains a great deal of emotional transfer. The movie clips that it shows demonstrate how Arabs and Muslims symbolize and are connected to bad feelings and emotions.

Production Techniques- Production techniques are another large part of the film as it shows how the media has used production techniques to influence the way their audience’s views on Muslims, and how they should think and interact with them. In this case, it influences Americans to have a negative view on them, and to be condescending and rude to Arabs.

Value Messages- Value message is one of the main concepts of this film. One of its main messages is to be aware of how the media influences they way people think and to not judge the Arabs based on the way they are falsely presented in film.

8 Shifts…

Epistemological- Instead of learning about the Middle East and Arabs by reading, we learn about them through film and visuals. Viewers originally gain false information about Muslims through film, and are also shown those mis-representations through film too. There is very little to no reading in this media.

Personal Shift- The film also has personal shift in it from showing clips of the earlier films that portrayed Muslims and Arabs negatively. Seeing these clips causes viewers to reflect on their own personal experiences that they had when watching them. This occured with me when I thought about watching Aladen as a child.

Finally, Reel Bad Arabs contains several persuasive techniques including…

Big Lie: Big lie is demonstrated when the government and the different films persuaded people to have a bad impression on the Arabs through false and mis-leading information.

Repetition: There is a great deal of repetition as the entire film consists of examples of how film mis-represents Arabs in a negative light, to reinforce this issue to viewers.

Group Dynamics: The film includes a great deal of group dynamics. When talking about breaking the Arab stereotype Shaheen uses words such as “we” and “us” that are directed towards his audience stopping the false reality of Arabs.

Untold Stories: Untold stories is another technique that ties into the main theme of the film. It is used from the mis-representation of the Arabs, which causes them to have untold stories. This is because Americans are not provided an understanding the Islamic people and the Arabic culture from their point of view, and often times Americans are only told the bad things about them.

Media meditation 1: Nolan's Cheddar Cheese Ad

This ad for Nolan’s Cheddar Cheese, a product that doesn't exist, evokes every part of our tribune brain. Our limbic brain is immediately involved as the ad starts with happy music in the background with a little mouse scurrying across the floor. At the same time the neocortex is engaged when viewers see the mouse in the house, which they know is a problem and they begin to think about what should be done to fix it, which leads to the trap with the cheese. Although viewers know that it is a problem to have a mouse in a house, they can’t help but smile or smirk at the mouse from him going strait for the cheese and the happy music. As the mouse nibbles at the cheese he looks directly at the viewers and winks with a sound effect to highlight his wink. This makes viewers laugh and even think that he is cute as their Limbic brain is in full power dominating the Neocortex, since traditionally American’s view having a mouse in their house as a bad thing. Then the Neocortex and Limbic brain become involved at the same time again as the mouse puts more of his body on the trap causing viewers to slightly panic because they know what is coming next. SNAP goes the trap, kicking the reptilian brain into full gear as viewers jump from the noise. Then the ad quickly goes back to the limbic brain with the sad music and an image of the mouse caught under the trap struggling to breath. Suddenly the audience is relieved and excited when the music quickly cuts to motivating music that symbolizes strength as the mouse pushes the metal bar off of him and starts to use it as if it were a weight. Finally the ad ends with involving viewers Neocortex and Limic brains as it continues to lay the motivating music and cuts to the mouse eating the cheese on a cutting board with an image that says the brand name and other text saying “seriously strong.” Nolan Cheddar’s advertisement, which was created by John Nolan, leaves it audience with a positive and memorable impression of their product and reinforces the strength of their cheese through engaging all three parts of the tribune brain.

This ad also highlights many of the 8 shifts of our 21st century media culture…
Epistemological shift- This ad is strictly image until the very end where the only words it uses are the name of the brand and two phrases to highlight the brand and product. The audience interprets and understands this film mostly through the image, which highlights and in a way, helps give meaning to the words at the end.
Technological shift- I viewed this advertisement from my computer, rather than on the T.V. By viewing this ad of the computer I was able to play, and stop it as many times as I wanted.
Personal Shift- This media was personal to me because I was shown it from my boyfriend who posted it on my facebook wall. The advertisement went from being shown to the mass, to only me by being on my own personal social media account. I view this concept as positive because with it I am only shown advertisements that I would be interested in. However I also think personal shift can be bad because it can narrow the information a person receives to only things that support with their views or that are of interest to them. I think it is important that people are aware and understand others view points.

Nolan’s Cheddar ad also highlights the seven basic principles of media education, especially emotional transfer. It operates mostly on emotion with the music in the background and the character of the mouse. The emotional of strength from the mouse is transferred to the cheese. By doing this it causes the mouse to be associated with the cheese, and the cheese to be symbolic of strength in terms of being a very sharp cheddar.




Finally, the advertisement uses many of the persuasive technique tools. The most obvious is humor. Over all the ad was humorous and was intended to make its viewers laugh through the music and the mouse using the trap as a weight to show how strong he was. Timing was also one of the main techniques that the advertisement used. It persuaded through the orchestrating of various story elements of production techniques to enhance the media’s meaning and power. It used sound effects to highlight certain parts such as the mouse winking and the trap snapping. The advertisement also used music and the character of the mouse to become more powerful through deriving certain emotions from their viewers and to enhance the meaning of the ad.

Obama's State Of The Union Adress

View Obama's State Of The Union Address

1.)TRIUNE BRAIN



This media text connects a great deal to our limbic brain because it appeals to our emotions. Much of Obama’s content are exaggerations and stories about the effects on the American people. His speech doesn’t include a great deal of specific facts and statistics, and he also doesn’t talk about the specific details of his plans and how they are going to be executed because it seems that he wants to connect with the people through emotions.
Examples: When Obama talks about the struggles that people have from the state of the economy. When he talks about the letters he receives from children and adults.
When he tells the stories of the people who have been helped by the Recovery.

2. EIGHT TRENDS
Personal shift: This media is personal to me and I am able to participate in it because it is on the Internet. By being on the Internet I can watch it, stop and re-play parts whenever I want. By having Obama’s speech on the Internet it becomes less of a group activity because I have access to it at all times, and I can control it however I want. If this were not the case then I and everyone else would be more likely to watch it when it was talking place in person and would be around others.

Technological Shift: Can view Obama’s speech whenever I want from my own computer. This means that I have full control over Obama’s speech as I can access it, along with stop and re-play any part of it that I want. For me personally, I am able to better analyze his speech because I can play back a part that I didn’t understand and notice every detail of what he says and does.

3. SEVEN PRINCIPLES
Emotional Transfer: This media transferred emotions a great deal because it was all about connecting with the people through emotions. Obama taps emotions of his audience that have to do with the hardships and successes of individuals and society as a whole. These include emotions of helplessness, struggle, loss, gain, achievements, triumph, relief, and strength. When thinking more deeply about this media and considering the extent of its emotional transfer it makes me question whether or not Obama’s plan’s are realistic and how well they will really work. I noticed that my attention was diverted away from asking these questions and I want to know more about the specifics of his plans.

Individual meaning: Every American is able to construct their own meaning of Obama’s speech. Most people have access to view exactly what he said with the Television and Internet. This means that many people don’t learn about the event through another person’s interpretation of it, which allows them to create their own means of the media.

4. 29 TECHNIQUES OF PERSUASION
Plain Folks: Obama persuades the American people by appealing to the Average Americans and making them feel like he is apart of them/ is aware and understands their problems.
Example: when referring to the problems of the American people he said, “Working longer and harder for less, not being able to send children to college- for these people change can’t come soon enough.”
Warm and Fuzzies: Obama is persuading his audience about how bad economic problems are when he talks about the letters he reads from children who don’t understand why their parents cant find a job and want to know when they can go back to work. This causes people to view the economy as a large problem because it is affecting children. If it were not affecting children then people may not think it is that bad, and therefore may think that Obama should direct his attention to other issues. This also aids in people viewing Obama as a person who really cares about the people of America, and that he is taking the correct actions in focusing on this problem.
Scapegoating: Obama tries to divert attention from mistakes that he may have made by holding other people responsible for the poor economy. He blames the economy crisis and the loss of jobs on Wall Street, and Washington for not being able to solve the economic problems.
Strength: Obama persuades by using strength to show American’s that he is a strong leader, and to make them feel that their country as a whole is strong.
Examples: When he says, “The union is strong.” He said that he wouldn’t just do what was popular, he would do what is necessary and if he didn’t do that then unemployment could have doubled, more businesses would have been closed, and more homes would have been lost.
When he refers to the American people and says, “We do not give up, we do not quit, we do not let fear or diversion break our spirit.” –makes people feel that their country is strong.
Group Dynamics: Obama uses group dynamics to persuade people to make them feel like they aren’t alone and that he is apart of them. He creates a feeling of togetherness. He does this by addressing Americans as “we”-- he says, “we face big and difficult challenges.” “How together we can deliver on the promise…”
Flattery: Obama uses flattery several times when he talks about the government that the American people deserve to make his audience think better of themselves, and persuade them that his government will make their problems better. He makes his audience feel that they are strong and he cares about them.
Examples of this: when he says that the American people deserve is for both democrats and republicans to both work through their differences.
When referring to the American people he says, “They share a stubborn resilience in the face of adversity. People re-main busy, building cars, teaching kids, starting businesses, going back to school, coaching little league, helping neighbors.” Because of this Obama said he “has never been more hopeful about the nation than he is tonight.”
He says, “American people gets a government that matches their decency, embodies their strength.”
Humor: Obama uses humor to make himself personable and to make the people laugh. This also distracts the people from the bank bail out, which was very unpopular. When referring to the bank bail out he said, “It was about as popular as a route canal.”

5. Thesis: Jobs will be the number one focus for 2010 because the economy is what has put American’s in the crises that they are in.

6. Facts:
7 million American’s are jobless/ 1 in 10 people can’t find work.
He proposed a fee on the biggest banks, to help recover the money the government had to spend of the banks.
Extended or increased unemployment benefits for more than 18 million Americans.
Passed 25 different tax cuts.
Haven’t raised income taxes by a single dime for a single person.