Who here has taken a media studies class? All this dialectic is killing me..

[ThaRealness]

I mean Ive been in college for a long time.. I don't know if I can name any other field where the writing style is so monotonous.

A media studies essay is like a fukking pendulum swinging back and forth.

1 Author introduces the issue and why it's important

2 exxagerates and labels a specific strand of popular opinion as insufficient

3 goes on to describe the resulting antithetical conclusion as equally insufficient.

4 we must consider both these perspectives. No such thing as objective truth.

5 But that does not mean there is no right answer and all rhetoric is meaningless

6 author concludes the issue and reminds us why its important.

I don't see why people major in this shyt

 

[ThaRealness]

Media studies scholars love to straddle the line between postmodernism and modernism

life on the edge, I guess

 

[badvillain]

I majored in Public Relations at the University of Florida, which is/was ranked number 2 in the nation just behind Maryland. We never had "media studies", instead they broke up the curriculum into two focuses: Perception/Crisis Management and numerous AP writing/journalism classes. The most important thing they stressed was learning how the media works so you could later use it to spin for your advantage.

I would never work in the field of PR. However, it's helped me tremendously in filtering out propaganda/sponsored-content, while also providing good insights on how to position myself in an office environment(self taught programmer since about 2000)

 

[88m3]

sounds awful

 

[Serious]

I majored in Public Relations at the University of Florida, which is/was ranked number 2 in the nation just behind Maryland. We never had "media studies", instead they broke up the curriculum into two focuses: Perception/Crisis Management and numerous AP writing/journalism classes. The most important thing they stressed was learning how the media works so you could later use it to spin for your advantage.

I would never work in the field of PR. However, it's helped me tremendously in filtering out propaganda/sponsored-content, while also providing good insights on how to position myself in an office environment(self taught programmer since about 2000)

Put me up on some good books that are a Must read....

 

[Robbie3000]

As someone who hasn't studied the field, I have always been curious about the evolution of the "action news" or "11 O'clock" news format.

Particularly, the reporting of random crimes and murders in a city. (which I think serves to scare the general public beyond reasonable concern for safety)

When was this format created and when did it become the norm? My theory is it began in the late 1960s at the height of the civil rights movement and it fueled white flight, but I have not been able to find support for my theory online.

 

[badvillain]

Put me up on some good books that are a Must read....

About PR specifically? I don't really recall what the required readings were, but the main concepts that were regurgitated semester after semester were:

- Perfecting AP writing. Teachers stressed that an entry-level PR job requires writing numerous press releases (aka the grunt work). The success of your press releases are determined by how little the attributed journalist would edit your words. The more control you have of the narrative and words; the more you're able to control the public's perception.
- Media Gatekeeping
- Everything can be spun.
- Some absurd number like 90% of all news articles and video releases are created by the reported-on organization's PR department.
- Pepsi syringe scandal and Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol recall are both amazing examples of Crisis Management and media spinning.
- Crisis Management and their appropriate responses: accepting fault, apologizing, deflecting, blaming, etc.
- KFC in Asia(maybe China specifically, I forget) as an example of a PR disaster.
- Try to find the right meaningless words that will invoke emotions ("Yes We Can", "Support Our Troops", "Just Do It")
- Edward Bernays
- How it's impossible to determine the quantitative impact of PR to an organization's bottom line.

 

[Serious]

My bad I should have been more clear, I meant in reference to mass media / communications...

 

[badvillain]

My bad I should have been more clear, I meant in reference to mass media / communications...

Not off the top of my head. It did turn me into a news junkie though and I've made a sport out of spotting the PR tactics in it.

But I did watch this mockumentary the other day though(probably because of DKRP being all in the news). It's piffery.



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2279306/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

 

[Serious]

Not off the top of my head. It did turn me into a news junkie though and have made it into sport(trying to spot PR tactics).

But I did watch this mockumentary the other day though(probably because of DKRP being all in the news). It's piffery.



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2279306/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

Yeah I saw that a while back too

What's your take on how the media has portrayed the Ferguson situation, plays situations alike.

What's your take on the main channels of news: CNN, MSNBC and Fox News



And what your take on alternative news programming: pbs newshour and npr

 

[badvillain]

Yeah I saw that a while back too

What's your take on how the media has portrayed the Ferguson situation.

What's your take on the main channels of news: CNN, MSNBC and Fox News



And what your take on alternative news programming: pbs newshour and npr

News is a commodity, and the best salesman will yield the highest profit margins. I don't know of any major outlet, whether for-profit or non-profit, that doesn't have a bias or self-serving agenda.

Whether it be Ferguson, or any other headline-grabbing event, all the outlets do is pander and fear-monger their audience.

I personally try to read from far right all the way to the far left(with some really obscure alternative shyt mixed in). However, before reading anything from a news source, I first learn about that source's history and try to determine their bias. Once establishing the agenda of the outlet presenting me the news, I then try to only take away the facts and try to understand why it was spun from the angle in which it was presented. You do this for all the big stories and you can frame a much clearer and concise picture of what the real news might actually be.

----

Some of my favorite obscure theories at the moment (I don't necessarily believe these, but they are most fun to think critically about):

- Edward Snowden might be a "manufactured avatar" by the State. It's impressive how he stays on talking points and enunciates (it's like watching a pro athlete give a post-game talk or an actor giving an interview). Most programmers I work with tend to be a little socially-awkward and soft-spoken. Additionally his honorable military discharge, him stating he was at one point working directly for the CIA, does not match the description of a "tech-activist/freedom-fighter". Most other programmers I work with tend to be Libertarian-leaning. And Why not just upload every document to pastebin? Some even claim Glenn Greenweld's relationship with Pierre Omidyar is a conflict of interest.

Why would they be doing this? Well diving into that requires one to go deep into the CIA's history (Mockingbird, PsyOps, etc). If it was them, they were able to control the complete narrative of story with a good vs evil scenario. Either you think he's a traitor and become even more patriotic or else you declare him a hero. All the while the real story, the real facts, fade from importance and the media capitalizes on the polarization of the people.

- Alex Jones, David Icke and the like are all disinfo agents sponsored by our black budget.

- CIA involvement in the media for the last 60+ years.

- Will Google really become SkyNet (http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/17/google-boston-dynamics-robots-atlas-bigdog-cheetah, https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D000022008&year=2013, http://www.google.com/killer-robots.txt)

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

About PR specifically? I don't really recall what the required readings were, but the main concepts that were regurgitated semester after semester were:

- Perfecting AP writing. Teachers stressed that an entry-level PR job requires writing numerous press releases (aka the grunt work). The success of your press releases are determined by how little the attributed journalist would edit your words. The more control you have of the narrative and words; the more you're able to control the public's perception.
- Media Gatekeeping
- Everything can be spun.
- Some absurd number like 90% of all news articles and video releases are created by the reported-on organization's PR department.
- Pepsi syringe scandal and Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol recall are both amazing examples of Crisis Management and media spinning.
- Crisis Management and their appropriate responses: accepting fault, apologizing, deflecting, blaming, etc.
- KFC in Asia(maybe China specifically, I forget) as an example of a PR disaster.
- Try to find the right meaningless words that will invoke emotions ("Yes We Can", "Support Our Troops", "Just Do It")
- Edward Bernays
- How it's impossible to determine the quantitative impact of PR to an organization's bottom line.

BTW, how was KFC in asia a disaster?

 

[badvillain]

BTW, how was KFC in asia a disaster?

I wrote that list while resisting the urge to use Google. I totally recalled wrong, I just thought I remember a teacher ranting about KFC.

Edit: Maybe it was YUM that did some dumb shyt.

 

[ThaRealness]

I majored in Public Relations at the University of Florida, which is/was ranked number 2 in the nation just behind Maryland. We never had "media studies", instead they broke up the curriculum into two focuses: Perception/Crisis Management and numerous AP writing/journalism classes. The most important thing they stressed was learning how the media works so you could later use it to spin for your advantage.

I would never work in the field of PR. However, it's helped me tremendously in filtering out propaganda/sponsored-content, while also providing good insights on how to position myself in an office environment(self taught programmer since about 2000)

It's the kind of thing where Id recommend everyone at least take an introductory class...

 

[badvillain]

@Napoleon

I recall having to read some, if not all of this: http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/bernprop.html

In theory, every citizen makes up his mind on public questions and matters of private conduct. In practice, if all men had to study for themselves the abstruse economic, political, and ethical data involved in every question, they would find it impossible to come to a conclusion about anything. We have voluntarily agreed to let an invisible government sift the data and high-spot the outstanding issues so that our field of choice shall be narrowed to practical proportions.