10:30 am |||Food and Propaganda|||

When I think of food production in the United States, my mind automatically goes to the fast food industry. And when I think of fast food, the first thing that comes to mind is McDonalds. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this fast food franchise over the years. One big piece of propaganda against McDonalds was the movie, Supersize Me. The documentary was a way to reveal to America the harmful impact of eating fast food. This caused McDonalds and other fast food chains to put up healthier choices on their menus and even now, most places show how many calories are in each of their items. Propaganda is used on the side of these industries as well. Mostly, it is used to target toddlers and children by showing commercials where the children are happy and even get a toy along with their meal. This form of propaganda is used to lure children into buying unhealthy meals at places like McDonalds and Burger King. Another form of propaganda used against food production are the posters, pamphlets, and videos produced by PETA and their daughter organization PETA2. Who could forget the plummet of KFC sales when a video was released by PETA showing the disgusting and inhumane treatment of the chickens used for KFC’s food. We are bombarded every day with commercials and images on the television and on billboards enticing us to eat at certain places and buy certain foods.

10:30 am How Media Shapes Reality

Media is very much a part of what we perceive as reality today. It can definitely be seen as an omnipresent being in our daily lives. Media is simply something that we cannot escape. We are targets of the media every time we turn on the television or the computer or even while we walk down the street. The thing that first comes to mind when I think of media is the use of media in regards to advertising and marketing as well as how news is delivered to the public.
Media is most certainly a large role in what we shape as our reality today. One thing that makes the connection between producer and consumer so strong is the accessibility to the technologies of today. We cannot avoid the media in our day-to-day lives. Of course, when referring to the technological advances that allow media to access us so easily, I am talking about the use of computers, and more specifically, the Internet. Every time a person logs into their email or goes to a website, they are bombarded with a various number of ads either directly on the website, or in a pop-up window. This is an example of how media shapes reality today because it is shaping us in to a consumer society. Advertising companies use a series of different stimuli online such as use of color, sound, and visual effects, to appeal to the viewers’ senses. Through these sites, media is subtly getting in the heads of the consumer, making them feel that they need what they are viewing.
Another way in which the media shapes reality is through the way news is delivered to the public. People get there news in many different forms. Some examples of the ways in which most people receive news are through television, print, and virtual access. It is important to note that all of these forms of news are censored. Television newscasters, especially those in local news, deliver news approved by their producers whose stories are approved by the network on which it is broadcast. When we turn on the television we see more and more stories about human interest pieces and weather than we do about politics and current world issues. They leave those stories to national news such as CNN. It seems to be the same with newspapers, with the exception of a few more deaths and war stories. The virtual world gives the public news mainly as a secondhand source, further filtered. These ways in which the news has gone through a large filtering system shows that media shapes our reality by putting us slightly at ease. They do not really lie to us, but they leave out important stories or stories that that would upset the public. More importantly, they run stories that do not require the public to think. By doing so, media is able to tell us that we live in a slightly safer or nicer world than we actual do live in.
It can be seen that media is always present in our lives. They use a number of tactics, whether it is in advertising and marketing or through news sources, in order to draw the public in and keep them interested, but necessarily informed. These things shape what we view as real, but do they show us what is true? It is not until we begin to question what we are viewing and realize who we truly are as individuals and not as a demographic, that we filter out for ourselves what is truth and what we believe in.

October 12, 2010 10:30am |||Anything|||

I suppose since this free write is on the topic of my choosing, and I’m not feeling particularly creative this morning, I will write about what I did over this past weekend. I thought it would be boring since most of my friends went away for the weekend, but it was actually really fun. On Friday we went to the DAC coffee house thing to see our friend, Jason, do an acoustic set. It was his first time performing in front of a room, so we thought we’d support him. After that we went to LASO’s dance-a-thon for a little Latin dancing. At first I was somewhat reserved, but then realized that I did not really care about who was looking at me and danced like a fool. We were there until about midnight and on our way back to the dorm, my friend and I decided to sit down while we waited for the others to catch up. It was there that we met a couple of people from Hollis, numbers were exchanged and plans were made. We ended up hanging out with them over the weekend just talking and lounging around. Unfortunately, my friend hooked up with one of them, not drunkenly, and when we saw them again yesterday, he completely ignored her. It was a sad and awkward sight to behold. We resolved since she was hurting a bit, that today would be a girls’ day. That means chocolate and chick flicks.

October 7, 2010 10:30 am |||propaganda|||

Propaganda is all around us. Just think about it. Every time you turn on the television or watch a movie, it is there. Companies pay to have their ads shown or clothes worn in order to further their sales. Whenever someone buys a shirt with Obama’s face on it or a PETA shirt, they are furthering the support of Obama or the PETA organization. It is on billboards, plastered on walls, and in the subways. It is on the clothes we wear and shows we watch. Propaganda is handed out on street corners. We can choose to either buy into it, or not. The spread of propaganda has been around for such a long time. The first things that come to mind are posters made during wartime. Especially during World War II with Nazi propagandas spreading hate for anyone other than the master race with terrible depictions of Jews and gypsies. Propaganda was around a lot during the 60s as well. The peace sign, itself, is a piece of propaganda. A single symbol representing an entire thought.

October 4, 2010 10:30am |||Tyler Clemnti|||

First of all, I would like to express my shock at what was done to this poor peer. As well as shocked, I am disgusted at the thought of people thinking that it is okay to do something like that and get away with it. They invaded something private and should definitely pay the consequences. That being said, the Internet had a major part in the death of this young man. Internet, obviously, made it possible for students to see a live stream of the encounters of Tyler Clementi. His roommate was able to use the popular social networking site, Twitter, to make sure that everyone following him had the chance to see Clementi.