National Media Education Week

National Media Education Week

Before reading this assignment, I had no idea such a week existed. So going into it I thought it would be a good idea to research and find out what exactly it means to be “media literate”. By definition, media literacy is the ability access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in all its forms (television, print, billboard etc.). To be literate we have to understand our role as well as our relationship with the media in order to be a wise consumer, and good citizen.

To be media literate, we must understand a few things about the message.

We need to know:

Who sent the message?
The population needs to know who the author of this message is

What techniques were used to draw your attention?
Understanding what the message did to grab your attention is vital. Media is a beautiful thing so it could be something that was visually appealing, or just a hilarious line.

How can the message be misinterpreted?
Knowing that people view different things in different ways, we must be able to look at the message from another angle. For example, the Bud Light commercial our media class witnessed at the beginning of the year is a prime example of how a message can be misunderstood. Some of us may look at the commercial as a comical time line of men getting away from their wives to hang out with the guys, but others may see it as offensive, and get the message that throughout history men have been able to create events and objects to “out fox” their wives. The second approach is where heated debates come about. And finally there are those who take it for what it is, another beer commercial trying to get a cheap laugh (which generally works).

And finally,

We need to understand WHY the message was sent?
All media organizations are organized to gain profit, power, or awareness. Profit is very important to most companies, and I don’t think I need to explain why. Power is second to profit; many media organizations pride themselves in being able to manipulate consumers into doing exactly what they want. And lastly, gaining awareness is also why a message would be sent, whether it be a new ipod product, or a M.A.D.D commercial.

Knowing these things prior to media education week was essential for me. I felt that I was a pretty comfortable recognizing what the media wants from me exactly. Asking myself these questions helped me look at things from different angles and actually ended up with more questions than I had before.

Media Hememonies: Who owns What?

Media Hegemonies: Mapping who owns what

For this blog entry, I thought back to when we had a class discussion on who exactly owns Google, what does Google own, and how does Google become a profitable organization.Google is an amazing success story, created as a research project in 1996 by Stanford graduates. It has come a long way since then, as millions of people around the world recognize this site as their "go to" spot to find what exactly they are after. No longer do we search on the internet, we now "Google it". It is imperative in many people’s lives, including mine, who used GOOGLE to research this very blog I am writing (ironic much?) Google is said to own 500 domain names according to mydigmedia.com. The list of what exactly Google owns is below:

Deja.com
Pyra Labs-Blogger
Neotonic Software-for CRMApplied Semantics-for search
Kaltix Corp-for context sensitve search
Genius Labs-for bloggingIgnite Logic-web templates for law firms
Picassa-digi photo management
Keyhole Group-digital mapping
Where 2 Technologies-digital mapping
ZipDash-maps and traffic for mobile devices2
Web Technologies-spreadsheets
Urchin-metrics/analytics
Dodgeball-mobile social networking
Reqwireless Inc.-Java browser
Current Communications Group-broadband internet
Android-software for mobile phone o/s
Transformic Inc-search engine for deep/invisible webSkia-graphics software engineering
DMarc Broadcasting-digital radio broadcasting
Measure Map-analytics for blogs
Upstartle-Writely, document editor for the web
@Last Software-SketchUp 3D modeling
Orion-Referral search engine
Neven Vision-automatic information extraction from jpgs
Jotspot Ind-wiki platform for websites
YouTube-online video company
Endoxen-geomapping software
Xunlei-filesharing app for the web
Adscape Media-in-game advertising
Gapminder's Trendalyzer-presentation software
Doubleclick-ad platform for the web
Tonic Systems-document conversion technology
Marratech-video conferencing technology
Green Border Technologies-secure web browsing tech
Panoramio-photo site sharing for Google EarthFeedbumer-RSS feed distribution analytics and managementGrandCentral-mobile voice managementPostini-communications security and compliance


Now seeing what exactly Google owns is great, but 99% of those companies I have never heard of, nor used, so how the hell does Google turn a profit? And the answer to that from what I research was advertising. In fact, 99% of its annual revenue is from advertising. From what I can comprehend, Google receives money for each “click” or “hit” it receives from any given site. The money received may vary from a few cents, to a few dollars per click.

I am not sure if there are any negative implications of Google becoming what it has become. I believe it is amazing what they have accomplished. To be recognized as one of the world’s most successful organizations, as well as being voted best company to work for is difficult to achieve. I feel if Google can continue to provide their service as a reliable search engine, nothing negative can come of it.

Buy Nothing Day

Continuous attempts are made to get people around the world to stop something, just for one day. In reality though, it is just a false sense of optimism that a group of people share. It is impossible for everybody around the world to stop doing one thing; turn off the lights for an hour, don’t drive for a day, or even something as simple as buy nothing for 24 hours. In the grand scheme of things, it shouldn’t be a challenge to avoid consumerism, yet the world is continuously disproving this point.

Admittedly over 65 nations participate in this idea, yet how many people really participate? None of my friends were even aware of this idea, leading me to believe that “Buy Nothing Day” isn’t a very strong protest against consumerism. Sure, there are groups on Facebook, posters hung right below signs advocating the voice of Jesus, and random people preaching the horrors of consumerism, but really these aren’t helping. People have become attuned to ignoring simple posters and people waving sheets of cardboard covered in Magic Marker, there has to be a new way to get the idea out there.

Unfortunately, battling an idea such as consumerism is going to take a lot more effort – taking something out of everybody’s day-to-day life is no easy feat. If I am to ever take this notion seriously, something drastic has to be done about the presentation of the idea. Get more people involved, get higher organizations included with the ideas, but most of all, make it last longer than one day. Cutting consumerism out of your life for a day will not change anything, it will give people a sense of false hope that they are succeeding but that is where it ends. It has to last longer than 24 hours for anybody to take it seriously, once this group can put these notions into effect, more people can finally take this idea seriously

Media image : Hydroxicut Weight Loss Suplement

This is a magazine advertisement that is very common in popular magazines throughout Canada and the U.S. This ad is promoting yet another weight loss product that claims to have fast, effective results with minimal side effects.

You can easily find this ad or a similar ad in magazines such as People, US weekly, Men’s Health or Cosmopolitan. This is prime location for this advertisement because it covers a wide target market. For those who read fashion or magazines about celebrity gossip, and see this ad, it may encourage them to try this product so maybe they can fit into that size 0 dress they always wanted from Guess. And it is also a perfect ad to be placed in any health magazine, because you now have revealed this product to those who are health conscious, but may want to lose a bit of weight. In North American culture we are exposed to these types of ads everywhere we look.

Media has brainwashed us to believe we are not good enough the way we are, and especially target teenagers due to their vulnerability. Personally, I see this ad and laugh. In the before picture, we see an image of a man who looks to be about average, but is alone and obviously not happy with his physique. Then we see the after image, and look at those “results”. In just 8 weeks we can all have great abs, a tan, a new haircut, and a Carmen Electra look alike on our side. It just goes to show how happy anyone can be if we just try this weight loss product. Sadly, millions will buy into this thinking they will be able to be as happy as this chap.

Culture Jamming

Culture Jamming: Whirl Mart


So to be honest I had no idea what exactly culture jamming was, and so I did a bit of research I found it is actually many things and can be defined many ways.


I have selected a culture jamming example known as “Whirl Mart”. The “Whirl Mart” ritual was created in 2001 in response to Adbusters magazine’s call for foolish action on the first day of April (fools day). What started as a very small act in Troy, New York, has spread worldwide. Whirl Mart is a culture jamming ritual targeted towards big box stores such as Wal-mart, K-mart, or Zellers. Those who participate in this ritual define it as an art or action. The participants gather at the superstore, and slowly/silently push empty shopping carts throughout the store. The participants will not purchase any items in the store, and often will attempt to get others in the store to do the same.

Those who engage in this activity claim their actions are “a collective reclamation of space that is otherwise only used for buying and selling”.Those involved are advised to not describe their actions as a protest. They simply wish to spread knowledge about consumption awareness, and want to look around to see if they want to actually do any shopping. Since this is a non-violent form of protesting, there is not much these mega stores can do. They are not harming anyone, but do occasionally get asked to leave. Police have shown up once, and only formally warned them, but this was seen as a good thing to the “whirlers” as it only strengthened their performance. Whirler’s main goal is to utilize strategies of occupation and reclamation of consumer-dominated space for the purpose of displaying a meaningful spectacle.

It would not surprise me if I heard of any of these acts happening in Guelph, primarily at the Guelph Wal-Mart. I say this because activists in the region fought long and hard for the city to not allow a Wal-Mart to be located in Guelph. After over a decade of being able to resist the stores entry in the community, the battle was finally lost. This is why I would not be surprised if the Guelph Wal-Mart deals with “whirlers” from time to time.

Net Neutrality

Net neutrality is a standard principle that is applied to broadband networks, and possibly all networks. Neutral broadband networks are those free of restrictions on types of equipment that may be attached, on the types of communications allowed, which does not restrict content, sites or platforms.In this battle of rights, there are two sides. One side is known as the “pay for use” and the opposing side is the “equal access”.

The pay for use group argues that many types of traffic differentially affect the network, and therefore should have the ability to charge for higher-impact traffic. This can be compared to the way postal services charge more for heavier packages, compared to small letters or even how highway tolls charge more for transport trucks in comparison to a family sedan.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the equal access group. They claim there should be no discrimination based on what the traffic, or which direction the traffic is headed. Their argument is that the same postal service does not charge any additional charge for a car payment, compared to a birthday card. They say no one has the right to charge more for yahoo clicks or hotmail hits.

The most important feature of this conflict is who is entitled to control ones internet activity? Regulations set in place to mandate net neutrality have been debated for some time now with no real answer to who is in control of our activity on the web.

So in this heated debate, who is right? Well, both sides are. Specific types of activity (voice, video and interactive applications) do in fact stress the network, and severely impacts last-mile broadband links (where congestion is common). But having telcos (pay for use) dedicating themselves to some sites over others contradicts several centuries of historical net neutrality.

The Ecology of Media

The Ecology of Media : The Invention of the Computer

The invention of the computer has had an impact in North American culture ever since they have been released on the market. It is arguable when the first computer was invented, but to my knowledge, the first computer that resembled a modern day computer was mid-twentieth century (1940-1945).The original purpose of the computer was to calculate data that humans could not process and were massive compared to what we have access to today (back then computers were about the size of a room). The original purpose and functions of the computer have changed drastically, and are continuing to evolve even today. Back then, processing numerical data was a computers main purpose, and it had very limited functions. Today it is difficult to determine a computers main purpose and function, and it may vary well depend on who you ask. Since this is my blog, I will assume you wish to know what I feel the real purpose and functions are of a modern day computer.

I feel the sole purpose of a computer today is to have the ability to be interconnected to the world around us. It is amazing to think and hard for me to admit how I rarely use the computer for its original purpose. It seems aside from school work, I do very little that is productive on the computer, and I believe I am not the only one (I hope anyways). The computers functions have also drastically changed over the years. Its functions have come a long way when you realize how limited its abilities were in the past, compared to today, where we can have computers in items the size of a watch, and have computers in kid’s toys. In my opinion the computers primary function is to be able to access the internet. So many people depend on this function, which is why I would argue that a computer must be capable of allowing us to connect to the outside world. To sum everything up, the computer at one time had very useful purposes and functions for its time, where now we see the abilities are never ending, but all for stuff that is not so meaningful.