Blogging Assignment for Media and Society- Entry #5 and Overall Summary

Veteran's Day: A day that we ALL should remember and overview of media contacts and overall summary

On November 11, 2010, the United States of America celebrated Veteran's Day, a day that we ALL should remember. It was a day of remembrance and love for our past, present, and future military men AND women. It was a day that we should remember our loved ones that resemble what our country is all about and also to remember our loved ones that fought for our freedoms but never came back from overseas. Some people in our country just go through Veteran's Day like it's any other day, but not me. All day on Veteran's Day, I will turn on the TV and see the news broadcasts proudly supporting our troops and veterans and even the ones that passed on. Even Google replaced their logo with the Iwo Jima statue on it. It is SO good to see everyone remember what these veteran's have given to us. I remember every Veteran's Day about my Grandpa. He served his country PROUDLY in WWII when he fought very hard and even earned the Purple Heart. He passed away in the late 70's, so I never got to see my Grandpa in person. But from what my Mom and Grandma told me about my Grandpa, he was so amazing. I just know that I will see him when my time from Earth is gone and he will tell me all of his life stories that I really never got to hear, especially from him. But he was a GREAT man and I will ALWAYS remember him.

This next paragraph is my overall summary and overview of my media contacts and what I learned about my exposure to and interaction with the media.

The first media contact that I chose was ESPN and how just by a single text message, I received breaking news on the Wade Phillips firing in Dallas. My second media contact was also through text messaging but this time, it was from Blanche Lincoln's camp and how they always told me how important it was to get out there and vote. My third media contact was of how NBC promoted the George W. Bush interview with Matt Lauer and how much they promoted of it, even during Sunday Night Football, one of the most watched events of every week. My fourth media contact was through Facebook of how Facebook is the ultimate social network. And my last media contact was through television and how the news broadcast covered Veteran's Day and how that influenced me to always remember those veteran's and troops. I learned so much about my exposure to and interaction with the media. I see of how the media transforms our lives HOURLY. It can change so quickly and it keeps you very informed. I sometimes don't like how our media can be so biased in there coverage but that's how the cookie crumbles, mostly in Politics. But overall, the media is so important to us and people that don't see the media the way I do, should see it in a whole different, new perspective.

Blogging Assignment for Media and Society- Entry #4

Facebook: The ultimate social network

For my past three entries, I have talked about different way that I get certain things through text messaging, like a text message saying that Wade Phillips has been fired from ESPN, or political updates from Blanche Lincoln to tell me to go vote and such. I have also talked about how advertising can be too much but in the end, be great advertising to get viewers to watch a certain show or movie, (for example, the George W. Bush interview with Matt Lauer). In Entry #4, I'm going in another but kind of same direction. This time, I'm going to be talking about Facebook. Pretty much everyone I know in my life as a Facebook. I call it the ultimate social network. It's very addicting and it stays with you throughout the entire day. For some people, they base there lives on just this very website. Whether it's sending a Friend Request to a person that you haven't seen in 40 years or deleting a person that thought was your friend or changing your relationship status, sometimes constantly. But for me, it's a great tool to use to see what your friends and family are up to and just to have fun. I personally love Facebook and I can be addicted to it, especially when I'm in college and need a stress reliever. In Conclusion, Facebook is the ultimate social network. And it deserves that recognition. While I'm typing this, I am making a Status Update saying that I need to write in my Blog. Oh wait, did I say Facebook was addicting??

Blogging Assignment for Media and Society- Entry 2 & 3

How I got my political updates & Bush finally speaking

I'm sorry that I'm doing two entries for one day. I was REALLY tired yesterday and I didn't even think of doing this. That's what college does for you! You got to do something this minute and then totally forget about the other things you got to do. And it's called STRESS. Anyway, my last entry, I talked about the Big D controversy in Dallas and how I got the breaking news about Wade Phillips getting fired through a simple text message from ESPN. Well, this entry has to do something with getting and receiving text messages but this time it's for political updates. This past April, me and my Mom went to Little Rock to go see Bill Clinton speak on behalf for Blanche Lincoln. I registered with Lincoln's staff and I signed up for text messages to see where Blanche was going to speak at, money donations, etc. About every week, I got a text message from Blanche's camp telling me all of this information. And since the elections were last Tuesday, I got one everyday from her telling me to go vote for her, early voting information, etc. This was just ONE text message and it told me a whole lot of important information that I needed to know as a teenage voter. These are one of the ways that politicians and celebrities use to further their campaign and keep there followers updated with information and that is very essential to our democracy.

Staying on the political aspect, George W. Bush has finally come out of his shell in Texas and talked to Matt Lauer, from NBC, for his first interview since leaving the White House. Bush has a book/memoir entitled, "Decision Points," so he had to make interviews and make appearances to promote his new book/memoir. So, I'm watching Sunday Night Football on NBC and it was the Dallas Cowboys versus the Green Bay Packers and on this one commercial break, it promotes Matt Lauer's interview special with George W. Bush the next night on Monday. And on the halftime report, they even give us an excerpt from the interview, DURING A FOOTBALL GAME! Anyway, NBC heavily promoted this special interview for prime-time the next night. And after the game was over, Al Michaels, the main commentator for Sunday Night Football, was saying to make sure and check out the interview special with George W. Bush. So with all of this, it is good for the NBC network to promote this special when a bunch of viewers are watching the football game and they did it on a good time because Sunday Night Football is one of the most watched events for the whole week. So for NBC and George W. Bush, this interview was a "win-win" situation. Personally, I thought it was too much promotion but good promotion and this was shown to about 20 million viewers and it got me to turn into the interview special. So good job, NBC.

Blogging Assignment for Media and Society- Entry #1

The Big D controversy

This season for the Dallas Cowboys has taken a turn for the worst. But after today, could it just get better? After being 1-7 this season so far, the disappointing Dallas Cowboys and the ashamed owner and CEO, Jerry Jones, has fired Coach Wade Phillips after being with the team for 3 and a half years and having a 35-23 record with the Dallas Cowboys. I found out this Breaking News story through a text message from ESPN that was sent to my iPhone. I am subscribed to ESPN text messaging anytime that there are breaking news for sports or any important scores that I am subscribed to. This is very helpful for me in so many ways. I love sports and I don't know what I would do without it. And to think that I can get news and scores through my phone by a simple text message is just simply unbelievable.

Book Review- The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini, who is the author of The Kite Runner, has created one of those unforgettable stories that stays with you for years. He created a heart-warming character, Amir, who finds himself in the most agonizing war-like situation. Amir, who is a teenager from the war-torn country of Afghanistan, has managed to be a little pickle with his friends, Baba and Hasssan. This can affect everybody in their own lives, no matter where you live. I enjoyed this book very well and if you are a fan of big-time drama books, this read is a HUGE must.

Book Review-Feed

“We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” M.T. Anderson’s Feed is a mysterious book but yet, confusing in an oddly way. Feed was unlike any book I have ever read before because of the odd and confusing world the book takes place in.

The rating that I would give it would be 3 and a half stars because of a couple of things. At some points in the book, it was very confusing. The main character is Titus and he has a transmitter implanted directly into his brain, called a “Feed”. In the real world today, it is highly unlikely that a human being has one of these “feeds” but it is very interesting to know that this could happen in the very near future because of the developments of new technology. This makes Anderson’s writing style very unique but it might be sometimes hard to read. This book cusses a lot and it is recommend for ages 14 and up but that makes the book interesting to read. It is sometimes very humorous. The setting mostly takes place at the Moon. Yes that’s right, the Moon. Titus, the main character in the book, and his friends, go up there to party on the Moon. He knows all of the main attractions to eat and party because he is “feeded” with places in his brain. But when he meets Violet, a girl who cares about what’s happening to the world with all of these “Feeds” and she challenges everything Titus and his friends hold dear to. And she decides to fight the “feed”. This can connect to real-life situations in the world today. This is because sometimes, technology can be good and bad and it might make human beings a little less smart than before because humans rely on technology a whole lot today than in the past and that could be a problem.

My recommendations for this book is that is can teach you a lot of life lessons and it makes you realize that technology can be used for good and the after effects can be bad.

Response to the Salem Witch Trials

What caused the Salem witch trials of 1692? This question has been asked for over 300 years. Although it is a simple question, it does not have an easy answer. The answer is difficult because there are numerous factors and events that helped create and influence the trials. The main factors that started and fueled the trials were politics, religion, family feuds, economics, and the imaginations and fears of the people.

The aftermath of the Salem witch trials was severe. Even with the witch trials over, many were still in jail because they could not pay for their release. Unless the prisoners or someone else could pay for these expenses, they could not be freed. Additionally, those who were convicted of witchcraft had their property confiscated by the government. This left their families without money and, in some cases, a home.

No one died as a convicted witch in America again after the Salem witch trials. It was also the last of the religious witch hunts. For over 300 years, It continues to serve as a reminder of how politics, family squabbles, religion, economics and the imaginations and fears of people can yield tragic consequences.

Doing this project, I learned something that I have never known. I knew briefly about the Salem witch trials and couldn’t have told you enough to amount to anything. I learned that there actually was a trial determining whether to prove whether the girl is a witch or not. Altogether I thought this activity was very resourceful and helpful..