Activism

A cause that is truly dear to my heart is domestic violence, because my aunt and grandmother have both endured and overcome abusive relationships. An organization that brings tremendous amount of attention to the problem is www. dvam.vawnet.org, Domestic Violence Awarness Months official website.

My grandmother left her abusive marriage and decided to raise five children on her own despite economic difficulties. I was not alive at this time but I admire my grandmother’s strength and courage to become a single mother during the 1960’s (the height of the nuclear family).

As a child I can remember my aunt spending nights at my home, lying on the floor in the fetal position, crying violently until she vomited while my mother tried to comfort her and provide her with help needed to leave her abusive relationship.

My aunt eventually did leave her abuser, but as I’ve grown older, these images continue to haunt me. I have consciously made an effort to educate myself about domestic violence and make others aware of the problem. During my last year of high school I decided to create a self-help guide to leaving an abusive relationship as my independent study unit. I decided to create the book in the form of a self-help guide because research indicates and I truly believe that one must truly help themselves in order to safely leave an abusive relationship. During high school I also helped create announcements, that we`re played throughout the school to during October to help bring awareness to domestic violence awareness month.

Domestic violence constitutes any of the following physical aggression (or threats, sexual abuse, emotional abuse; controlling behaviour, intimidation; stalking, neglect and economic deprivation.

It is essential that people also realize that abuse is not love and that abuse can happen to anyone regardless of gender, age, race, religion or socioeconomic background.
Domestic Violence Awareness Month is recognized every October internationally. DVMA is also represented by purple bracelets and ribbons. The Domestic Violence Awareness Month`s website features information about domestic violence, how to identify if you or someone you love is in an abusive relationship, resources for battered persons and how to raise awareness within your own community.

For more information regarding domestic violence please visit

http://dvam.vawnet.org/index.php

If you or someone you know is afraid or have been beaten by a partner please contact

Emergency services- 911

Or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800- 787-3224

Works Cited

The Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

Culture Jamming

The term Culture Jamming was coined by a collage band Negativland in 1984 and derives from the term radio jamming, but the practice of culture jamming has been around since the 1950’s when activists in Europe referred to themselves as situationist’s. Culture jamming is a radical revolt against mainstream corporate advertising and social conformity. Naomi Klein explains Culture Jamming as parodying corporate advertisements and changing their intended meaning. Culture Jammers believe that consumers should be able to participate within the media rather than passively absorb disseminated material.

Culture Jammer’s take advertisements a hot medium and transform them into a cool medium.Communication theorist Marshall McLuhan coined the terms hot and cold medium and describes them as:
"Basically, a hot medium excludes and a cool medium includes; hot media are low in participation, or completion, by the audience and cool media are high in participation ".

Absolut Vodka verus Absolut Impotence

The pictures above both feature bottles of Absolut Vodka. Absolut Vodka is an easily recognizable alcohol due to it's name, variety of flavours, 40-50% alcohol content and distinctively shaped bottle.

The picture featured on top is the parody of Absolut Vodka created by popular culture jammer’s Adbusters. The picture featured on the bottom is the advertisement created by Absolut Vodka's advertising agency TBWA worldwide.

The advertisement created by Absolut Vodka is to enforce the prestige, sexiness and elegance of the brand through the use of a seal, cursive writing, colour and the word imported in a large, black and bolded print.

The spoof by Culture Jammers features the Absolut Vodka crumpled and leaning over to the side. The cap is sitting in a pool of spilled vodka beside the bottle. The bottle's position is reminiscent of a sloppy drunk staggering person. Underneath the bottle there are two quotations one reading “Absolut Impotence". Absolut Impotence is a play on Absolut Vodka’s brand name. Merriam Webster dictionary defines the state of being impotent as “not potent: lacking in power, strength or vigour as well as obsolete: incapable of self restraint”. Impotence is not a desirable trait

Underneath of the 'impotent jab' theres is an infamous Shakespearean quote, from his play Macbeth "Drink provokes the desire but takes away the performance".
The imagery used by Adbusters reiterates that drinking excessive amounts of hard liquor seriously impairs one judgement. Adbusters advertisment suggests that there is nothing sexy about that girl we’ve all seen. You know THAT drunken girl, hunched over in a corner, about to pass out while spilling her alcohol all over the place.

Works Cited

The official ABSOLUT website. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

"The Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan." Heim.ifi.uio.no. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

"Naomi Klein : No Logo : Ad Nauseum." Spike Magazine: Book Reviews, Interviews, Music, Art, Self Publishing, Travel and More. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

"Spoof Ads | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters." Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters | Journal of the mental environment. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

Participatory Culture

During Neil Postman's keynote address given at the Inaugural Media Ecology Association Convention, Postman references Stephen Vincent Benét’s poem, John Brown’s Body. Postman quotes the last lines of the poem, "Say neither, it is blessed nor cursed.
Say only “It is here.” Benét’s poem was published in 1928 and was speaking of the Industrial Revolution, but more than 80 years later the words continue to ring true when we speak of new media particularly the participatory culture that is social networking.

A social network is an online community of people. Social networks provide users with the opportunity to interact with users with similar likes and interests in various ways.
I spend quite a lot of time on social networks for recreation. It was not until this year that I began to participate in one regarding academics (our class wiki: ways of seeing YAY!)

I began using Msn messenger when I was in grade 5 when I saw my older brother who was in grade 7 using it. At first I probably had 6 friends using msn messenger at the time (if I was THAT lucky) but by the time I had entered grade 7, my brother and I began fighting over computer time. I had the majority of my friends from school as well as my cousins from the US and Caribbean as contacts.

I first joined Facebook in December of 2006 after receiving invitations from several friends. Facebook is on the surface is simply a social networking website that allows its members to interact with family and friends but the online community helps to provide me with perhaps the most fundamental human need, the sense of belonging.
As I even write these blog entries I find myself distracted by my msn messenger ( my contacts continue to message me although I’ve set my status to busy and changed my msn name to working on mass communication blog entries!). I also have several tabs open on my web browser perhaps most notably Facebook. I have to remind myself to remain focused on the task at hand and not get distracted by the constantly updated live news feed.

The Phenomenon of social networking’s popularity has led to researchers studying the impact social networking has on its users lives. Studies have found that there are differences in the way people of different genders, races and ages use social networking websites. A particular study stood out to me. Researchers at Ohio Dominican University claim that college students who use the social networking site Facebook have significantly lower grade point averages in comparison to their peers who do not have Facebook accounts. Researchers studied 219 undergraduate and graduate students and found that Facebook users grade’s are typically a grade lower (3.0- 3.5 GPA) than non- Facebook users (3.5- 4.0 GPA)

The findings of the study are ironic, even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerbeg dropped out of Harvard in 2004!

So does this mean I can blame Facebook for getting a bad mark on an assignment I left to the very last minute?

The answer is no.

The results of the study indicate that Facebook has replaced many of the “tools” college students have used for years to procrastinate such as hanging out at a friend’s house. Facebook has allowed us to enter our “friend’s homes” from the comfort of our own homes.
It is not only students who use Facebook that get lower grades it is all students who waste their time have lower grades. That is only logical.

Social networking is addictive and distracting, just like every newly introduced medium. I’m sure my mother experienced similar problems with television while attending Humber College in the late 80’s early 90’s. Engaging in participatory culture requires responsibility. We must always remember that when we are overwhelmed by the benefits and distractions of these mediums we can simply log off!

Works Cited

"Facebook users get low GPA in college | CJReport." Citizen Journalism Report - News Stories. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

"The Humanism of Media Ecology :: MEA Proceedings." The Media Ecology Association. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is fundamentally the belief that all internet usage should come with no restrictions. Users pay a fee to use the internet and once that access is gained internet service providers should have no input on that usage. Within Canada Network Neutrality is becoming a highly debated topic between internet service providers and neutrality supporters but the public is mostly unaware of the brewing “war”.
Internet service providers currently use two main methods to control internet usage, bandwidth throttling and IP blocking. Bandwidth throttling (also called traffic shaping) consists of internet service providers slowing done the speed of a customer’s service if there bandwidth usage exceeds a certain amount. IP blocking is when an internet service provider deliberately blocks access to an IP address (Internet service providers often do this to websites featuring child pornography).

The issue of Network neutrality truly became an issue in Canada in 2005 when TELUS blocked its subscriber’s access to labor union blogs during an employee strike. TELUS alleged that website suggested that striking workers sabotaged the company by jamming phone lines and posting pictures of employees who chose to cross the union’s picket lines. TELUS agreed to unblock the website once all pictures and postings were removed that threatened and intimidated TELUS workers.

On April 3rd 2008 The Canadian Association of Internet approached The Canadian Radio-Television Commission in regards to Bell Canada. The CAIT claimed that Bell Canada was favouring other applications by intentionally slowing down internet traffic generated by peer-to-peer file-sharing applications to reduce network congestion; the CAIT requested that the CRCT force Bell Canada to stop the practice. In November of 2008 The CRCT ruled in Bell Canada’s favour and claimed that the status was not discriminating.

This ruling is intensifying the fight between private and public interests in regards to internet usage. The CRTC has given internet service providers the right to control the internet. Not only will this affect our internet usage but also our freedoms and creativity.This will enable providers to introduce tiered internet service, providing higher paying users with faster use of the internet and thus disenfranchising the “little guy”.

Law professor, Lawrence Lessig's book, Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity expresses that "This punitive system of regulation will systematically stifle creativity and innovation. It will protect some industries and some creators, but it will harm industry and creativity generally”(Lessig, 192).

Internet service providers currently have the freedom to place toll booths, speed bumps and congestion on the “information highway”.




Works Cited

"CBC News - Technology & Science - FAQ: Net neutrality and internet traffic management." CBC.ca - Canadian News Sports Entertainment Kids Docs Radio TV. Web. 22 Nov. 2009.
.

"CRTC denies CAIP application, but will examine Internet traffic management practices." Site Web du CRTC - Bienvenue | CRTC Web Site - Welcome. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture. United States of America: Penguin Books, 2004.

Media Hegemonies

During a lecture in mass communications class we watched a clip of an episode of 30Rock. The episode featured Tracy Jordan (played by actor Tracy Morgan) approaching Jack Donaghy (played by actor Alec Baldwin) with a proposal for "The Tracy Jordan Meat Machine" Jack Donaghy green lights the proposal after claiming it was not the worse celebrity endorsed idea he had heard, but informs Tracy Jordan that General Electric will not produce "The Tracy Jordan Meat Machine"due to the products uh "uniqueness". Donaghy then pulls down a corporate food chain that maps General Electric and all of its subsidiary companies. After mapping out the companies to whom General Electric are major shareholders such as Winnipeg Iron Works, Pokerfastlane.com and NBC, Donaghy concludes that AHP CHANAGI PARTY MEATS in North Korea will produce the product.

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d114/simbadogg/?action=view¤t=asdf6.flv( Link to the video)

The purpose of this parody is primarily to entertain, but after this clip was played I realized that 30Rock is broadcasted on NBC and decided to further research the factual content featured in the clip.
cjr.org is the official website of an organization called Columbia Journalism Review and their resources page enables people to enter the names of fortune 500 companies and map their far reaching ownership.
By selecting General Electric from a list of companies, it is revealed that GE is a primary shareholder and or owner within many industries. As of 2008, General Electric is the proud owner of:
• 14 NBC stations in the USA
• 14 Telemundo in the USA and Puerto Rico
• NBC Universal Television Studio
NBC Universal Television Distribution
• CNBC
• MSNBC
• Bravo
• Mun2TV
• Sci-Fi
• USA
• Sleuth
• Oxygen
• Universal Pictures
• Universal Parks and Resorts
As well as their primary GE products:
• GE Aircraft Engines
• GE Commercial Finance
• GE Consumer Products
• GE Industrial Systems
• GE Insurance
• GE Medical Systems
• GE Plastics
• GE Power Systems
• GE Specialty Materials
• GE Transportation Systems

General Electric was founded By Thomas Edison and initially was viewed as a power generation company, but with its growth GE has been able to acquire the ownership of various companies in various sectors. General Electric has a huge impact on what Americans view throughout the day. Viewers who believe that they are receiving a subjective opinion by watching MNSBC news and a local Spanish Telemundo newscast are receiving information from the same source. General Electric has a huge impact on what Americans view throughout the day. General Electric has a huge impact on their consumer’s perception. This type of media hegemony allows General Electric to promote its agenda and potential biases through the media usually undetected.
Due to the fact most people are not aware of such media hegemonies many people are under the impression that they are exposed to a wide array of views when they are in fact passed through the same filter and provide viewers with the content and biases corporations deem as appropriate to their audiences.
Fortunately in Canada the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (an independent media "watchdog" has introduced laws barring Canadian corporations from the same level of media hegemony prevalent in the US. The law allows corporations to only have shares in two major broadcasting mediums.
Although Canada is trying to prevent the monopolization practiced in the United States, I highly recommend that everybody educate themselves about media hegemony so as viewers and consumers we can filter the information being served to us and think objectively.

Works Cited

"CRTC denies CAIP application, but will examine Internet traffic management practices." Site Web du CRTC - Bienvenue | CRTC Web Site - Welcome. Web. 22 Nov. 2009

Who Owns What |." Columbia Journalism Review. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

Buy Nothing Day

Buy Nothing Day is an international day protesting consumerism and overconsumption. It was founded by Vancouver native and artist Ted Dave in 1992 it was held in September but was changed to the Friday after American thanksgiving in North America and the day after that internationally in 1997. The Friday after thanksgiving is referred to as "Black Friday" within the United States, it marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. "Black Friday" draws consumers with big sales and is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. On Occasion injuries and fatalities have occurred due to consumers rushing for the chance to acquire unprecedented bargains. Organizers of Buy Nothing Day have used such incidents as an opportunity to reiterate the negatives associated with consumerism.

Buy Nothing Day is not only about not purchasing items from stores but organizers encourage participants to turn off their lights, television, phones, computers and not drive their cars. Choosing to Participate in Buy Nothing Day is choosing not to participate within our consumer driven culture for at least one day.

But what is really accomplished by participating in Buy Nothing Day?

Truthfully A limited section of our society choosing not to spend money one day a year is not going to gravely affect retailers or big business. Or undo the damage done to the enviornment by our consumerism.
Buy Nothing Day is truly about consumers reflecting on the affects of their own consumption habits, the problems overconsumption causes and sustainability.
Within the Western world we are constantly being encouraged to keep wanting and buying more than we actually need. Our overconsumption is wrecking havoc on the earth’s natural resources and will ultimately destroy our environment.

This year Buy Nothing Day will be subsequently celebrated on November 27th in North America and Israel and November 28th internationally. In the spirit of the upcoming Buy Nothing Day I decided to calculate my carbon footprint as it is directly related to my consumption practices. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines a carbon footprint as "the negative impact that something (as a person or business) has on the environment; specifically: the amount of carbon emitted by something during a given period".
I completed a quiz featured at www. Myfootprint.org after completing several questions regarding my eating and shopping habits and use of transportation, the results revealed that my consumption is excessive. The quiz estimated that it would require 5.21 worlds in to sustain everybody living on this planet if they lived my lifestyle. Unfortunately, we only have one planet. Buy Nothing Days mission is not to save people a few extra dollars, but to educate them about the negative impacts of consumption and the need to make lifestyle changes to ensure sustainability.

Works Cited
"Buy Nothing Day | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters." Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters | Journal of the mental environment. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

Ecological Footprint Quiz by Redefining Progress. Web. 22 Nov. 2009. .

Propoganda

Fox news is a news corporation owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Fox‘s very own logo says fair and balanced, but does this truly stand true?

Fox’s CEO Roger Ailes worked as a former image consultant for several former republican presidents. Fox news has been accused of being biased towards the right wing several times by organizations such as Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and Media Matters in America.
As a corporately funded news station, Fox news has the right to reflect the views of its owners. But by doing so, they have compromised their journalistic integrity. Journalists are supposed to present the masses with the facts without any bias or personal opinion included and by refusing to do so I believe that Fox news has tarnished their image as a reputable source of information. We must ALWAYS remember that it is the journalist’s responsibility is to sell the truth.

Work Cited
Fox News." Fox News. 13 Oct. 2009 .
"The Most Biased Name in News." Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). 13 Oct. 2009 .

Are you a media illiterate?

According to Jane Tallim of Media Education in Canada, “media literacy is the ability to sift through and analyze the messages that inform, entertain and sell to us every day. It's the ability to bring critical thinking skills to bear on all media”
That question leads me to question, am I a media illiterate? Most of the time, I do not take the time consciously to dissect the information presented to me daily by the media. But since beginning classes at The University of Guelph-Humber, I believe I’ve begun the journey to becoming media literate.

Every single second of everyday we subconsciously decode messages presented to us by magazines, billboards, television and print. We are bombarded by these messages beginning in childhood on what’s cool to play with, eat and wear as we age these voices appear to become louder and louder. And we usually blindly follow like lost sheep.

According to Chuck Klosterman in Sex, drugs and Cocoa Puffs, most of the messages are to influence the consumer (us) to spend our hard earned money on something we don’t need because we believe that it will make us feel better about ourselves.
On October 6th 2009 we discussed in class the similarities between Toy Story and Manchester United. Although seemingly different at first glances they both share the same fundamental principal, money. Both of these corporations main interest is to get the consumer to spend their money.

It is essential to learn how to navigate and decode the messages we are bombarded with in order to better understand media and ourselves

Works Cited
Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. New York: Scribner, 2004

Decoding & Deconstructing Advertising

Abercrombie and Fitch was founded in 1892. The brand is synonymous with youth as its target demographic is 18-22 year olds whom posses the ‘All -American Look’.In recent years Abercrombie and Fitch have come under a firestorm of controversy due to their overtly sexual and sometimes racist advertisements.

This ad features three nude young people engaging in what appears to be group sex. One of the young men is presently the young woman’s lover while the other is the spectator.

John Berger’s Ways of Seeing discusses nudity and the role of women in European oil paintings. Over time few things have changed in the way women have been depicted in the media. Of a painting featured on page.54, Berger says “But the way her body is arranged in the way it is, to display it to the man looking at the picture. This picture is made to appeal to his sexuality. It has nothing to do with her sexuality”. Interestingly enough this applies directly to this Abercrombie and Fitch ad. Although the young men’s bodies are on display, their bodies are slightly tilted in the young woman’s direction. Whereas her body is facing forward, providing the consumer with a full frontal view.

In my opinion this advertisement like most Abercrombie and Fitch is terribly misleading and very provocative. Abercrombie and Fitch is an apparel company yet most of their advertisements feature models in no clothing! The brand is also self-described as a lifestyle brand possessing the ‘All -American Look’. Taking America’s Christian heritage/ history in to consideration I find there’s nothing All-American about Abercrombie and Fitch’s brazen advertisements. Well all know that sex sells, but Abercrombie and Fitch as an apparel company how about you try selling clothes?

Works cited
Abercrombie & Fitch." Abercrombie & Fitch. 13 Oct. 2009 .
Berger, John(Author). Ways of Seeing [WAYS OF SEEING]. London: Penguin Books, 1991.
“Public Relations Problems and Cases: Abercrombie & Fitch Discrimination Case Study." Public Relations Problems and Cases. 10 Oct. 2009 .

Mass Media

The Merriam- Webster dictionary defines mass media as a medium of communication (as newspapers, radio, or television) that is designed to reach the mass of the people —usually used in plural

I will use the following imagery to help convey my own personal view of mass media. Mass media is like a giant, interconnected web that connects individuals through the use of technologies like the internet, television and radio.

In Neil Postman’s speech The Humanism of Media Ecology, Postman explains that the media make us aware, gives us the opportunity to reflect, discuss and provides the basis for action this is evident in how media outlets are able to make us aware of occurrences happening far away. Media outlets help to provide us with a global sense of togetherness similar to Marshall McLuhan’s term global village. We all exist in this global village. The world is now intricately interconnected, In the matter of mere seconds I am able to communicate with someone as far as Australia. We all contribute to mass media.

Works cited
"The Humanism of Media Ecology :: MEA Proceedings." The Media Ecology Association. 5 Oct. 2009 .
"The Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan." heim.ifi.uio.no. 5 Oct. 2009 .
"mass medium - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. 9 Oct. 2009 .

The Ecology of Media

I’ll begin by defining: What does media ecology mean?

In communication, media (singular medium) are the storage and transmission tools used to store and deliver information or data. It is often referred to as synonymous with mass media or news media, but may refer to a single medium used to communicate any data for any purpose(Wikipedia)
Ecology as the environment as it relates to living organisms; the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms and their environment (WordNet search)

The ecology of media suggests that our relationship with media is so complex that we exist in two environments our natural environment as well as a ‘media environment.’ Media theorist Neil Postman argues that in order to properly study and comprehend media it is essential to investigate it within a moral and ethical context.

In a keynote speech given to the media ecology association in June of 2000, Postman states:

“And so we must keep in mind, first, that people differ about what is good for them and what isn’t, and second, that changes over time will make us see things differently from the way they might have first appeared. In keeping these factors in mind, is one taking the position of a moral relativist? Not necessarily. It is possible, for example, to say that when people have differed over the moral implications of a new medium, one group was wrong. And I think it also possible to say that although time may change the way people judge the effects of a new medium, time can be wrong. I mean, let us say, that the negative effects of a medium might still be a problem and remain one in spite of the passage of time. In other words, time does not always erase the disadvantages of a medium. Neither does it necessarily weaken the advantages.” (1)

The specific technology I will be focusing on is the cell phone. The modern day cell phone has evolved into something far greater than a device simply used to make phone calls. The cell phone doubles as an address book, an organizer, calculator, calendar, music player, camera and so much more.

This brings me to the iPhone commercials(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szrsfeyLzyg) that show all the “wonderful” applications available to iPhone users, featuring the catchphrase “There’s an app for that”. I can’t help but ask myself, is this all necessary? The cell phones intended purpose is to make and receive calls, but is this what we really use our phones for? Are cell phones as wonderful as they seem?

I conclude that yes, cell phones are wonderful inventions but we must realize that cell phones like any medium has its faults.

Works cited
"Media (communication) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 5 Oct. 2009 .
"The Humanism of Media Ecology :: MEA Proceedings." The Media Ecology Association. 5 Oct. 2009 .
“WordNet Search." Http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=ecology
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szrsfeyLzyg

Academic blogging?!

On Tuesday September 8th 2009, I can honestly admit that I suffered many tiny heart attacks. I sat in my first university lecture as my professor told the class that we’d be creating academic blogs. From my previous experience, I had never equated the words academic and blogging. I viewed blogs as a leisurely and somewhat narcissistic activity (a la Perez Hilton), and with the exception of my teachers, parents and few friends I have never shared my work with the public.

As I sat in class, apprehensive. I questioned if I had anything of value to share with the world, which can now access my work with the click of a few buttons. It honestly scares me to know that anyone with internet access now has access to my thoughts, opinions beliefs.

Although I have never had a problem expressing myself in the past, I have always viewed myself as a verbal communicator. The task is now to take what I’ve learned and present them in a way that expresses who I truly am and what I know in a written form. Now that’s HARD! Blogging itself is hard! The process of blogging is completely brand new to me, and like anything new it’s a process I hope to grow and learn from. To those of you now reading in my work,
how about you embark on this brand new journey with me?