Week 5 Individual Blog Task

Who owns the newspapers and TV stations in your country? Do you think this has an effect on the news that you hear?

Broadcasting is a global phenomenon. As an essential aspect of any nation’s social and cultural life, its significance cannot be overemphasized. Combining audio, vision and motion, the broadcast media’s effectiveness in communicating information with speed and accuracy to audiences has been proven over the years. Moreover, the broadcast media have helped the individual to share ideas not only within his immediate environment but also beyond his social surroundings. So by that means of broadcasting the individual can partake of ideas and experiences that can enrich his life and help him live in a complex, dynamic and humane society.

I personally think that most of the broadcasting media in Malaysia is owned by the government. This is mainly because they will have to control what is being published or broadcast to the public. Government ownership of the media, perhaps even as a monopoly, is desirable for two reasons. First, information is a public good, once it is supplied to some consumers; it is costly to keep it away from others, even if they have not paid for it. Second, if consumers are ignorant, and especially if private media outlets serve the governing classes, then state media ownership can expose the public to less biased, more complete, and more accurate information than it could obtain with private ownership.

The very reason that newspapers and broadcast outlets are under one owner makes economic sense, which is the ability to maximize the productivity of news staffs by sharing resources, reducing competition, and cutting costs. But that means it often fails to serve the public interest when it reduces the amount of independently produced news and information available in a local community. Because of that, a government-owned media outlet would distort and manipulate information to protect the necessary politicians, preclude voters and consumers from making informed decisions, and ultimately undermine both democracy and markets. 

A responsibility of the media is to ensure fair, accurate and impartial reporting. A set of codes of ethics is essential to maintaining standards for media professionals and organizations. Everyone in the organization should uphold the standard with a sense of responsibility, equality and accountability. Information ethics is not just a matter of written values for the broadcasters; it must be practiced in their day to day operation.

Week 4 Individual Blog Task

How often do you read the paper or watch the news on TV? How important is it for you to keep up with current events?

First and foremost, what exactly is news? News is information about recent events or happenings that are reported through a media, whether it is the newspapers, periodicals, radio, or television. But nowadays you can also have access to news that probably wouldn't be announced in other media from the internet.

As for me, I wouldn't say I would often read the newspaper on a daily basis or even watch the news on the television. My parents would often only buy the newspaper on the weekend to read about any current happenings so that is the only time I would actually pick up the newspaper and read it. This is because I stay at a hostel and would only come back home during the weekends, if I could. Furthermore, with that being said, watching the news on the television would consider close to impossible. So how do I keep up with current events that are happening? Well I usually depend on the internet to get all the information or news I need to know, especially in all those social networking sites due to other people sharing the news on their feed.

With that being said, I think it's very important to keep up with current events to be aware of your surrounds and what goes on that affects your life, or to know what is going on in the world. For example, if there was an earthquake you would want to know about it. There are many reasons why we should keep up with what’s going on, and one of the reasons is so that we may be able to build informed opinions. Gaining knowledge in world affairs and current events allows you to decide where you fall on key issues impacting your city, region and country. It also provides you the ability to influence legislators in a meaningful and thoughtful way.

Other than that, by being aware, you are also able to spark engaging discussion. If something big has happened in the news then this is a sure fire way to spark up a conversation with someone. At the same time in a group of people talking about the news you won't want to be the only one who isn't aware of what's going on as this can make you feel very isolated and out of touch. At the same time you might lose respect from the other people who value the news and current affairs more.

Of course the news is also just interesting and while there will be a lot you're not interested in, there will always be something that catches your attention and that is related to one of the fields you find interesting. If you like celebrities and gossip then this always finds its way on to the news, while meanwhile you'll also likely find information about sports and cutting edge science.

Week 3 Individual Blog Task

What is theatre? How do you think theatre, as a media form, communicates messages to its audience?

What is theatre? Theatre is a building, a room, or outdoor structure for the presentation of live plays, films, or other dramatic performances. Theatre could also mean a room with tiers of seats used for lectures or demonstrations. There are as many types of theaters as there are types of performance. Theaters may be built specifically for a certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as a theater. However it is interpreted, theatre was originally used mainly as a media to provide entertainment to its viewers. But nowadays, people are using theatre as a media form to hopefully bring awareness on serious issues that the society faced and can therefore play a key role in community education and development.

Most people refer to performers in the theatre as people who just make your miserable day a bit lighter through a good laugh. But what most people miss out in the middle of the jokes is the kind of message these artists will be trying to put across. Most of the plays performed by these artists are mainly influenced by the social-economic and political events being experienced by people at the current time. Social change builds community based responses that address underlying social problems be at community, national or global level and theatre has become an effective tool for social change. 

Theatre is a non confrontational way of addressing problems. It makes talking about sensitive and even normally taboo subjects. After a performance, people can discuss the actions of the people in the play instead of criticizing individual members in the society. They can test potential ways of problem solving on stage in front of an audience and then discuss them. Furthermore, it helps shape public opinion about certain topics and molds the public opinion in the desired direction. Theatre provides the space for us to question assumptions and create new ideas.

In conclusion, theatre is more than a tool for entertainment but also a tool for social change. Theatre for social change has transformed theatre from being entertainment to edutainment. Theatre is one way of making people think globally and act locally.

Week 2 Individual Blog Task

Identify at least 4 social/cultural groups and what media you think they use.

First and foremost, what is a social group? Well a social group has been defined as two or more humans who interact with one another, share similar characteristics and collectively have a sense of unity. A social group displays some degree of social attachment and is more than a simple collection of individuals, such as people waiting at a bus stop, or people waiting in a line. Characteristics shared by members of a group may include interests, values, representations, ethnic or social background, and kinship ties.

One of the social groups that exist is the peer group. A peer group is a group with members of approximately the same age, social status, and interests. Generally, people who are relatively equal in terms of power when they interact with peers. Most of the media they used are the internet, television, mobile devices, as well as video games. Peer group especially at a young age are very concerned with fitting in, so they are also using the current, modern media or technologies as a form of communication.

Besides that, another common social group that has been formed is a club. A club is a group, which usually requires one to apply in order to become a member. Such clubs may be dedicated to particular activities such as sporting clubs or the ones at school or college, for example. A club uses media forms mainly to promote and attract other people to join into this social group. Some of the media forms include newspaper, magazines, the internet, radio as well as the television. Basically any form of media which the public is mostly utilizing, in hopes that they will stumble upon their advertisement.

Another social group would be a gang. A gang is usually an urban group that gathers in a particular area. It is a group of people that often hang around each other. They can be like some clubs, but much less formal. They are usually known in many countries to cause social unrest and also have negative influence on the members and may be a target for the law enforcers in case of any social vices. Gang uses media form to either contact one another, or to send out a message to the public or society. These media include mobile devices, outdoor billboard and very common nowadays, the internet.

Other than that, another social group that exists is a franchise. A franchise is an organization which runs several instances of a business in many locations. Some of the most popular franchises include Subway, McDonald's and 7-Eleven. Just like a club, a franchise sole purpose of using the media is to promote and advertise their brands to the society. Utilizing the media can come in many form and ways such as using the television, radio, newspaper, magazines, the internet, and also outdoor billboards.

All in all, different social group may have different purposes of using media, but more or less they are using the same media forms in order to communicate with people around the world.  

Week 2 Task

Get pictures of 10 different types of media forms and describe them.

1. Magazines

A publication containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject.

2. Newspaper

A printed publication consisting of folded sheets and containing news, feature articles, advertisements, and correspondence.

3. Yellow pages

A volume or section of a telephone directory that lists businesses, services, or products alphabetically according to.

4. Radio

The transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves of radio frequency, especially those carrying sound messages.

5. Television

The broadcasting of a still or moving image to receivers that project a view of the image on a picture tube.

6. Outdoor media

An outdoor sign or poster you usually see on freeways, highways and streets.

7. Internet

An electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world.

8. Video games

An electronic or computerized game played by manipulating images on a video display or television screen.

9. Mobile phones

A portable usually cordless telephone for use in a cellular system.

10. Painting

The process or art of using paint, either in a picture or as decoration.

Pictures source: Google image

Week 1 Individual Blog Task

Describe your thoughts on media use.

I find that media usage is a necessity in this technology-driven era. The way the world is constantly developing through the usage of media has led to many new possibilities and has definitely changed a lot of the society’s lifestyle.  Everything we do these days involves some sort of media usage, whether it’d be digital media or print media or even social media.

Not only does media benefits and improves the country’s economic system, it is also very useful to the society. For instance, with the new and improved technology we have right now, people are able to stay in contact with their loved ones through one of the media form called the internet. People no longer have to use old media methods like writing letters which we all know will take a much longer time to reach the receiver compared to sending an email. With that said, people are now able to get instant replies through the usage of media, which is what people seek for nowadays. Other than that, media usage such as web usage is constantly changing daily life from cell phone use to broadband and wireless internet access to forms of online expression such as blogs and podcast.

More and more people are depending on social media to communicate with others around the world. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are essentially tools which are used by folks to communicate with each other. Of course, since they’re social media it’s possible to do much more in terms of social interactions as well. For example, many companies are now using social media sites like these to promote their brands to the society. Because people are spending so much of their time on these sites, companies decided to strategically use it to their advantage.

With that being said, misused of media or over usage on a specific media can bring negative effects to everyone. For example the most common one is social media. People nowadays are so dependent with their gadgets because of their obsession with social media, it may take a toll on their lives. Other than that, I find that social media can also influence or manipulate the society’s perspective on many things, such as the definition of beauty, education or even life itself if media was misused.

So basically, we need to know how to balance or control our usage of media in a more meaningful way in order to have a better outcome in life. Last but not least, I believed that without the usage of media, countries would very much be undeveloped and be in recession.

Week 1 Task

Define the terms:

1. Cross disciplinary: An education; linking two or more fields of study.
Source: http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/cross-disciplinary
Retrieved source date: 27 Oct 2012

2. Inter disciplinary: Involving two or more academic, scientific, or artistic disciplines.
Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/interdisciplinary
Retrieved source date: 27 Oct 2012

3. Trans disciplinary: Describing a study which runs across traditional subject boundaries such as arts and science.
Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/transdisciplinary
Retrieved source date: 27 Oct 2012

4. Qualitative research: Qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (Denzin 1994).
Source: http://www.mrcbsu.cam.ac.uk/cochrane/handbook500/chapter_20/20_2_1_definition_of_qualitative_research.htm
Retrieved source date: 27 Oct 2012

5. Ethnographic studies/research: The observation of and interaction with persons or a group being studied in the group's own environment, often for long periods of time.
Source: http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/ethnographic+research
Retrieved source date: 27 Oct 2012