Producer: Dia Darcey

To be a blockbuster hit, the movie would be cited as new, the biggest of the century, "you won't believe your eyes," huge effects, and would include familiar and talented actors/actresses. It wouldn't have sex--you don't need it if the dialogue and tension in other places is involving enough!

However, if I were to make a blockbuster hit for this year, it wouldn't matter as much what the movie was about as how well I would promote it. Regardless of whether it was a film version of a book, a comic, or another film, or a sequel to another blockbuster, or a completely new script--the promotion would be the point.

I would put out a 10-second exciting preview about a year before it released--NOT earlier. Audiences forget about things if they are further away than a year release date. 6-months before, promotion would go crazy. I would use the Internet to get audiences involved like the Blair Witch Project and Batman: Dark Knight did, and the theatre previews would be filled with my teasers. I would follow a few other surprisingly hot movies' examples in putting fliers and information into the hands of normal people like taxi drivers, waiters, etc., in order to get the word of mouth moving. I would NOT make a McDonalds toy. Ughh, lame.

Mirror Over Water

Do media's ever degrading values reflect society's opinions, or does society's opinion reflect the ever degrading values shown in media?
Both, my friend.

In my junior year of high school, everyone--the ACT, the AP English Exam, the EOIs, the BOIs, the SAT--and their dog thought that this would be the most unique and enlightening essay question. By the end of the year, my class could write an answer to it in their sleep.
Therefore, I only thought about this seriously once--the first time I wrote the essay. I went over a couple examples of morally decrepit media in my mind (Gossip Girl, King of the Hill, Desperate Housewives, C.S.I. , Halo 2), concluded that they were worse than the society at the time, and wrote a absolutely convicted opinion that media's degrading values have put society down the tube.

But is that really so?

Mass media are businesses. They like to make money like any other businesses. They will not make something that will not sell. They will go for shock value--people don't want to watch other people being normal--but they cannot shock past what the audience will accept and adore.

The Lowest Common Denominator is a new idea to me and seems to explain this. Maybe the media is shockingly and unacceptably morally decrepit to me, but I am a white, upper-middle class, partially-college educated female. I can look at the morals included in such programming with a critical and educated eye. We explained in class that most of programming is NOT for my type of television watcher--it's for those who watch television as their only outlet for entertainment, relaxation and catharsis.

As the media puts out more and more degrading material, audiences see it as the norm, and demand even more shocking programming... leading to the media putting out even more filth. Thus, a mirror over water... which is reflecting which?

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Book Survey

The results of my book survey were probably skewed. I asked my grandmas, who are both librarians, and other members of my family who read A LOT. Most of them said that they'd read more than 10 books in the last 6 months, and all had read at least 2. Most of them read fiction, religious or humorous books. A few read nonfiction, and a few read mostly textbooks, cookbooks or manuals. The most regular responses were "Twilight" (bleh), Harry Potter, the Book of Mormon, and gluten-free Cookbooks.
My survey group was probably not a very good sample of society! My family members have similar interests and preferences, and all are well-educated and intellectual. I don't think most of America (probably?) reads as much as my sample indicated.

ebooks

I cannot stand e-books for leisure reading. Reading on the computer screen hurts my eyes and drives me nuts! I really don't like that the computer is so non-portable, too.
E-textbooks, however, is a totally different matter. The fact that an online textbook costs me about 200 dollars less than a print copy TOTALLY makes the headaches and inaccessibility worth it! I hate it, but it's true. My roommates, though, hate online textbooks because they cannot highlight or annotate them. The thought of saving 200 dollars usually makes this fact less important for me...

Radio and Its Personal Nature

Radio has always been about the music to me. I don't care, really, about the morning personalities, the give-aways, the contests, the jokes, the "office gossip"... I just want to listen to Queen (or Journey, or Bon Jovi, or Callie Callait, or Regina Spektor, or Boston...) OK?

However, I can totally see why radio is seen as the most personal of media. My friend's mother HAD to listen to the morning personalities, Kevin and Callie, on my local radio station (K97)every moring between 8 and 10, or her day just wasn't the same. These DJs were personable, funny, and made it seem that they were talking directly to YOU. Radio stations personalize the music, of course, to their audiences, but less obvious is that they personalize the TALK that goes on. Family stations will mention the harried mess of getting kids off to school while more edgy stations would NEVER mention children.

Radio stations are familiar, comforting, local and personal. Though our excuses vary (it keeps me awake, it makes it fun, it keeps me from hearing the noises the CAR is making), car rides almost require this constant talk or music. It keeps us company. Radio is a friendly presence-- it does not intrude, we can turn it on or off, and when ads come on, it's very simple to find a new frequency.

Music is all-important because it shows us new things, connects us as audiences, and is so personal. I often hear a new song on the radio (well, "new" for me is still from the 70's... but it's new to me) and if I like it enough, I'll go buy it online. When I hear a familiar favorite, it connects me to the radio station--as if they had played it just for me!

Talk radio is popular for several reasons, but I'll focus on the reason my Dad does not go to work (even on his bike...) without listening to NPR. Talk radio is a companion on the commute and a way to keep up on the news, economy, or humor without requiring full attention like television, newspapers or the Internet. It has great personalities that people get VERY attached to, creative programming and unique takes on the everyday news. My favorite program on NPR is "Fresh Air", and I like it enough that I will often look it up online and listen there.

Newspapers-- Booming, Busting, WHY?!

Large newspapers are going under fast. I know this personally, because I used to work (well, volunteer) as a teen staff writer for "the Tulsa World", Tulsa's paper. It is a relatively large "metro daily", and its sales have been decreasing steadily and rapidly. The teen section, "Satellite" was started a few years before I joined its staff as one of the efforts to turn around the declining trends. While I was at the paper, several huge changes were made. They started putting display ads on the front pages of sections, which, according to our editor, was a sign of the Apocalypse. They also really worked on the paper's website to pull readers--especially younger readers-- through that medium.
The paper was really declining because it had to cover so many areas. The Tulsa county area is growing, and the suburbs of Tulsa (Broken Arrow, Jenks, Sapulpa...) are getting larger. As they grow, they depend more upon their own local papers for news. The Tulsa World has too broad of an audience to focus its news.
The Internet also has a huge effect. Readers, especially teenagers, are increasingly going to the web for news. The Tulsa World has, I feel unsuccessfully, tried to increase its online presence with added blogs, podcasts, video interviews and montages of photos on the website.
On the other hand, the Jenks Journal and the Broken Arrow Ledger (local papers) are growing so quickly that they don't have enough staff to cover the need. I almost worked at both of these papers (at different periods), but, honestly, I was put off by how unprofessional they were. They have a long way to go to be as "legit" as the Tulsa World... but maybe that's what the locals like about them. These local papers contain a local sound and feel; they usually aren't stuffy or boring at all. They have local news and events and have more room for personality profiles and local flavor.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=2754&Nav_Sec=77225

Radio Stations

I'm not from Utah, so this was a whole new experience for me...

103.9 Mix (and 107.9)-- This is a young adult oriented station that plays 90's and new alternative music. It is geared to a younger crowd, but is not vulgar or profane. The commercials are... annoying. I hate radio commercials, and it drives me nuts to listen to them.
FM 100--soft Sunday Sounds is to a Mormon audience (crazy!) looking for music to play on the Sabbath. The commercials were normal,though, which is weird to me. It was obnoxious to listen to on Sunday and made me want to turn off the station completely.
My 99.5-- This station plays mostly artists like Jason Mraz, Coldplay, and Maroon 5. They are mostly tween to young adult, but I'd say that they have some kind of family following too because of the commercial content.
97.1 ZHT--This station is definitely geared toward families with tween to teen kids. Jesse McCartney, the Jonas Brothers, and Disturbia reign supreme.
980 AM KSVC-- a talk, news, weather radio station. There is a counselor named Dr. Laura who talks through problems with listeners and an exciting male personality on in the mornings who talks about the drive and weather, as well as politics and news.

outside magazine

I read through "Outside" magazine. Here are some of the tag lines:
"Beat this: 59 real food secrets to get fit and live longer"
"Nutrition Special"
"Why Your Workout Is All Wrong"
"Winter Gear and Travel--Ski, Sports, Style and North America's 15 Best Resorts"
"The World's Fastest, Lightest Mountain Bike"
"My Ski Trip Disaster"

These tag lines say to me that normal readers of this magazine are interested in outdoor sports and everything connected to them: biking, skiing and hiking, along with working out and eating right so they'll be better at them and going to the right places so they'll have the most fun in our sports. They also probably live in the Midwest, because the magazine is loaded with skiing and hiking, and is skewed toward doing these activities in the Rockies.
Readers of this magazine are also willing to shell out the cash in order to enjoy their sports the most! Ads were VERY specialized to this audience of (mostly) single or just married 30-something year old men with a penchant for adrenaline and the great outdoors.

Advertisements:
Timberline Boots
Columbia Ski and Sport Wear
Eddie Bauer ski and sport wear
Dare Fragrance by Adidas-- it's interesting that there IS a "cosmetics" ad, but it's for a "daring, exciting, edgy" cologne (that will apparently make you better at your sport??).
Patagonia clothing
Sprint
Figg--waterbottles, Swiss
REI
Whistler ski resort
Orbits travel site
Northface ski and sports clothing
Invisiline invisible braces-- this is such an odd ad, but really makes sense if you think about it! The target audience, if they are told that they need braces, are not going to want to get those lame, teenager-y metal mouths... but this new, hip technology is totally fine!
Soyjoy nutrition bars
Ski resorts in Utah 10 pages
Suzuki cars-- very "wilderness friendly", perform well in snow.

I think it's interesting that the magazine can tell the reader what the best equiptment and clothing is, and the reader will not only believe them, but BUY the magazine to see what they think!

Addicted?

I think that there is a great possibility of people over-distancing themselves from the real world in the all-encompassing entertainment of the media. I read somewhere that media in itself is not evil, it is a tool, only a means. It is the way that people use this tool that can become evil. In the same way, I think that not all people who engage in a large amount of media-consumption will become addicted, but I think that a large amount of media-consumption can be VERY scary and negative to some people.

Children are very sensitive to becoming addicted, I think, because video games or television has more potential in this age group to become their reality.
"According to the Media Research Lab at Iowa State University, about 8.5 percent of 8-to-18-year-old gamers can be considered pathologically addicted, and nearly one quarter of young people—more males than females—admit they've felt addicted." This was a 2008 study.

There have been some really powerful examples of kids being too-consumed in the media. The scariest ones, to me, have to do with the school shootings and bombings.

This study discussed a theory about the Columbine shooters: "More recently, a US psychiatrist, Jerald Block, has differed with this opinion, arguing that the killers' actions are not well explained by such diagnoses. Rather, he states that Klebold and Harris were immersed in games like Doom and that their lives were most gratifying while playing in the virtual. As they got into trouble, the two teenagers started to get their computer access restricted. Anger that was being projected into the games was now unleashed into the real world. In addition, the computer restrictions opened up substantial amounts of idle time that would have otherwise gone towards their online activities. They increasingly used that time to express their anger and their antisocial tendencies likewise increased. This, in turn, generated more restrictions. Finally, immediately after being arrested and banned from their computers for about a month, the two teens became homicidal and began documenting plans to attack the school."

One of the photographs in the Virginia Tech killer's "multimedia manifesto" may have been inspired by a bloody South Korean movie, "adding to the debate over the influence of pop culture on heinous crimes".

I'm from Oklahoma, so I have always been familiar with the Oklahoma City bombing and Timothy McVeigh. I wondered if he had been at all affected by media, and I found this during my research:
"Apocalyptic and anticommunist Hollywood films also captivated McVeigh, including The Omega Man, Logan's Run, the Planet of the Apes series and especially the 1983 Cold War screed Red Dawn (directed by right-winger John Milius)—about a group of small-town teenagers who become guerrilla fighters when “communists” invade the US—which he rented four times. He also favored militaristic fantasies like First Blood, the first of the Rambo films, and Missing in Action, in which Chuck Norris rescues American prisoners of war. McVeigh began collecting guns and firing them, going so far as to purchase a 10-acre piece of property in southwestern New York with a friend where they could fire their weapons in peace."


Though these examples are not absolutely true or false (each is arguable), I think it's interesting that each of them has a media connection.