Zeiner, blog 34, Media honesty

Today in class we discussed media ethics – a major part of the mass media industry. Daily readers of all sorts of newspapers, consumers of radio programs and TV programs may don’t constantly think about the importance of media honesty. However: that is probably the most important part of a writer’s job. What is ethic, and what is not?

            One rule or quote which is used more or less much all over the world in most contexts is: Do to others what you want others to do to you. This can be applied to media as well. It’s important to be respectful, decent and honest, and it all more or less depends on what you feel comfortable doing in terms on how you would react if someone did the same to you. But the most important thing within media ethics is honesty. As long as you’re being honest, no one can really take you on what you write. There has been several incident over the past decades where publishers have published or written stories which has gotten a lot of attention nationwide (occasionally worldwide as well), but later they are proven to be wrong, or not even existing at all. For example, in 1981, a Washington Post writer wrote a story about an 8 year old boy who was a heroin addict, and told all these things about his life, added a photo of him and made a big deal out of this case. It got a lot of attention, people were touched and interested, and the writer even won an award in 1981 for this particular story. However; a few months later it all turned out to be a big lie; the boy she was talking about didn’t even exist. This is probably one of the worst things you can do within media. Do not go beyond the truth, and stick to the facts you can be sure about. Be critical towards your resources, and be sure to check an extra time if you’re writing about something of a serious matter.

 Many claim that the people have the right to know what’s going on, and that it is news reporters’, editors’ and writers’ job to deliver this news. But should it really be so, that all stories get full cover no matter what character it is of? I definitely think that there should be up to a certain degree, and the media writers have to be very critical towards what they write; especially if it is of an important matter. For example, if there is an incident which can put people’s lives in danger, of course there is no option to write about it, or cover it. They simply have to use common sense.

But is it really so, that the public has the right to know everything? Let’s look at politicians within media. Nowadays, they basically have no privacy. Whatever they do gets attention, and they have to explain themselves out of the weirdest situations, which wouldn’t even be a minor detail in the lives of “normal” people. Now, being in the middle of the election campaign for our next president, this whole notion of “gotta know it all” becomes central. Does it matter that Hillary Clinton got a speeding ticket more than 30 years ago in the decision making whether she can be the next president of the United States or not? Does it matter that Obama spilled his coffee on his friend’s suite when they were in college? No, I most definitely not. Too often nowadays the notion of “have to inform about everything” has become too well used, and is almost a joke from time to time. Why do people write about stuff like that? But then again, why do people actually bother to read stuff like that? What’s being written is a result of what’s being read, so I assume we can’t only blame the writers. If they knew no one was going to read it, they wouldn’t have written it. But: it is not right that the matter of whether Hillary Clinton is a good president candidate or not is being influenced by stupid and irrelevant stories from the past. Many notions within the media have become over used recent years, and I think that we have to focus more on what’s important and relevant to our daily lives, and not to mention what is true and ethical.

           

Zeiner, blog 33, music downloading

Today in class we discussed the theme of copyright and downloading from the internet, with a focus on music. After softwares such as Limewire and Blubster became popular and common used programs, the music business has faced tougher times. The CD sales have decreased dramatically, and one out of three record companies is gone. These programs let you download music files for free, something which actually is illegal. However, most people don’t care about this, and do it anyway. What’s the point of paying money for something you can get for free, when everyone else does it? This has become a big problem in the music industry, and what also is a problem: every person who downloads a song without paying for it does something illegal. With other words: Millions of people from all over the world do something prohibited, and can technically get in trouble for what they do. What is the solution to this problem? How can we solve this? How can we decriminalize, and make people pay?

            Many people wonder why these softwares don’t get prohibited in the first place. Why can’t they just be taken off of the net? The answer to this is that these programs are used for file sharing as well, not only illegal downloading. For instance, if two people within the same business want to share their files, they can do this through programs such as Limewire. The problem is just that most people don’t use the software only for this matter; it is most commonly used for illegal music downloading.

            So, how can we solve this problem? How can we make people pay for these files? Obviously, arresting every single person in the whole world who does this is not realistic at all. iTunes is a very popular program which charge you for every single download, and that is great. However – there are still too many who use the free versions. Some softwares make you pay a fee of something like 25 dollars, and you have free downloads for a certain amount of time. However; how can we make sure that this money goes to the right persons? I think what needs to be done is some kind of invention which will not let you download a file from the internet without paying for it, no matter what programs are used. I don’t have the technical knowledge needed to create such a thing, however; I do believe that this is a realistic idea, at least in the future. To add some kind of charge to certain files that make you pay for them no matter where you find them.

            I think that criminalizing downloading not really would work. I don’t think it would be effective. I would assume that a certain amount of people would stop doing it for the moral side of this issue, however; I don’t think the majority of downloaders would stop doing what they do right now. How on earth can it be controlled who downloads what without paying for it? And how can they be punished? This is such a worldwide problem, so I don’t think criminalizing would be effective. I think we need to focus more on the morals and values involved, and really focus on what affects this has on the music industry. If people stop buying CDs, and only a small portion of people decides to pay for music online, the music industry will only continue to go down…

Zeiner, blog 32, dangerous development

 

This past weekend I heard about a boy whose favorite videogames were all about shooting and wars. And all of a sudden, he somehow got hold of a gun and shot his father in his foot. The father got badly hurt, and actually had to amputate his entire leg because the bullet hit such a bad place. On a question about where the boy had gotten this idea about shooting his dad’s foot, he answered: “I learnt on my videogame that people don’t die from being shot in the foot. And I wanted to try shooting someone; therefore I realized that shooting someone’s foot couldn’t be too bad!” How on earth can a theory like this develop in a young boy’s mind?

            I think this only shows how big influence media devices such as videogames can have on children. The children become part of a world which doesn’t exist, but through playing and acting like the people within the games, they start adapting certain characterizations and thoughts. They have more or less grown up being able to escape into such a fantasy world, in which nothing is what real life is all about. Some children have problems setting the real world apart from this fantasy world, and their behavior shows signs from that.  

            I don’t think that videogames should be abolished or anything like that, but I think there should be stronger restrictions. It is not good that young children play games where everything is about shooting your enemies, making war strategies, finding out how you can kill as many people at the same time etc. I am fully aware of the fact that not all games are like this, but I am saying that there should be stronger restrictions on the games that actually are. If we so badly need these war and fighting games in our society, I suggest that only those of an older age, such as 16 or 18 and above, are allowed to use them. By seeing what happened to the little boy and what he did to his father in the short story above, I really do realize how bad influence these games can have; “he had learnt that you wouldn’t kill someone by shooting their foot, therefore he tried to do it on his father”. How crazy is that? And what will be the next step? We need to change our habits and some of our hobbies, before this goes out of control!

 

Zeiner, blog 31, the use of media

As I also wrote in my pervious blog; I was in Washington DC this past weekend. The days before I went was very stressful, and in some way I managed to go to the airport without having any form of ID on me; not any credit card, student ID card or even a movie rental place card. I had nothing. Obviously, this made me rather concerned before I was about to head over to the check in point. There, I learnt that getting on the plain without my ID would be no problems, however; I knew I would face bigger challenges while in the Capitol. I had gotten tickets to tour the White House and other interesting places, all in which I was required to bring a photo ID. (note: only written requirement was “photo ID”)

            Therefore, at 4.30 pm while at the airport, I called my friend on campus asking if she could mail me my credit card over night. Since being from Norway, I have a different credit card from what they use here in the States. It has a picture and all of our personal information on it, and we use it as our ID. Only a few hours later; at 10 am the next morning, my credit card was delivered at the place in which we stayed! It was quite amazing, and I was impressed by this process.

            However, I later learnt that this ID had to be government issued; therefore my credit card was not going to be enough. I had no idea what to do, and was very upset that I most likely wouldn’t be able to get into the White House. And if this had been about a decade ago, I wouldn’t have had the chance to either. But smart as I was, I decided to let the world of media help me out…

            I called my friend on campus, and asked if she could help me out. And fortunately, she could! She went into my room, and scanned all the documents that I needed. Then she e-mailed it all to me, and I printed them via a wireless printer. With other words; I had all of these documents in my hand within a few minutes, even though the originals where miles away! I think this shows how helpful and convenient the new world of media has become, and if we use it right, it can do wonderful things for us!

Zeiner, blog 30, Lost ID

This past weekend I was in Washington DC. I got to tour the capitol, and visited all the famous places I have always seen on TV. Being there was very special, and I was thrilled to have the chance to do this. But, I almost destroyed it all by one little mistake…

            I left Thursday morning, and the few days before was really stressful. I managed to pack everything I needed in time, and was excited to finally be on the airport, ready to leave. Oh wait; did I write “everything” that I needed? This is not quite right. I managed to forget a picture ID! In fact, any form of an ID. Since I got to the States, I have become aware of all the security that is all over; especially when it comes to airports and plains. Therefore, I got a little stressed out about how I was going to work this out! But caught by extreme surprise, this showed out to cause no trouble at all; I got through everything rather easily, and didn’t need anything that actually confirmed that I was the person I claimed to be. The only thing that was a bit different was the fact that they searched my carry ons somewhat more than usual.

            I find this rather ironic. First of all; the fact that they searched my bag a bit more than usual doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense, even though I understand that they do so… If I actually was a terrorist or someone who wanted to bring something illegal on the plain – would I ever go to the airport without any identification? No, I don’t think so… Second of all; they could have checked more properly that I actually was the person I said I was. With today’s media systems and developed technology, they could easily have found some information on me which I could have confirmed, so that they actually knew that I was I. Especially since I am a foreigner, I think they should have put in a bigger effort, and make use of the resources we are equipped with today!

            Well, I should also mention that when I went back from Washington, they did a whole lot more research. They took me aside, and searched all my carry ons very carefully, and at that point in time I also had some more documentation to verify that I was me. But still; the fact that I could get on these plains so easily, especially from Atlanta, is a bit disturbing. You would believe that with today’s technology and media, they should have been more capable of doing a closer research.

 

Zeiner, blog 29, downloading

 

Today in class we talked about copyrights, and how we nowadays can download all kinds of stuff from the internet. More or less anything is out there, and with a few clicks you can have it on your computer. And in most cases, this is free. There are multiple programs on the internet with which you can download files to your computer completely free, or pay a small fee. For example, the program Lime Wire allows you to search for music files, audio files, pictures and all other kinds of stuff. And all of it is free. iTUNES is another program, which charges you for everything you purchase. You can buy albums, songs, new and old releases and videos which you can have on your iPOD. And somewhat surprisingly to me, a lot of people use their services, instead of downloading for free from any other program you can have.

            There are no doubts that artists and record companies lose money on how today’s industry has developed. Earlier, when there was no such programs on the internet where you could find anything you wanted, people had to go to the stores in order to get the different media files they wanted to consume. Of course, there are multiple laws and restrictions on this whole issue about legality; legal and illegal downloading from the internet. But honestly, most people don’t really care about this whole thing. Practically everyone that I know uses programs such as Lime Wire, and get what they used to pay money for in the stores, completely free.

            But are there only cons about this whole issue? No, for sure not. I mean, of anything: the artists get downloaded from the internet, and obtain popularity and a growing fan base because of this. Maybe they lose money on the amount of sold records, but at least they get publicity and attention for their work. The music business has completely changed over the last years, and artists and record companies are the ones having to work out the challenges that come along with such a change. The music business has most definitely not moved to the end – it has only moved into another phase.

Zeiner, blog 28, transmedia storytelling

Today in class we talked about transmedia storytelling. This is something I have always known of; I have been familiar with the basics of it, but never thought of it as the actual phenomenon that it is. Actually – you can wonder why this term isn’t more known than it really is. But I assume it’s because everyone just knows about it, without really thinking of it as an actual notion. But what is transmedia storytelling?

            Transmedia storytelling involves telling the story through several different media channels and selections. For example, the movie Matrix is being promoted and told through multiple different media, such as films, television, novels, comic books, video games, web pages, online chat rooms, board games etc. Stories can also be expanded to amusement parks and other attractions. And the whole point of this phenomenon, is that each individual story within the diverse media has a complete story that makes sense and drags attention. But as a whole; all the different selections together, a unique, in depth and comprehensive story is created.

            “Cult movies” is another term you can read about in this chapter of Jenkins’ book, and it goes under the term “transmedia storytelling. Cult movies are movies that people enjoy seeing several times over and over, they have one or more followers, and they are often being quoted by their fans. You can actually almost think of cult movies as an own genre, because they have so many similarities and can easily be grouped together. Cult movies are true to their loyal fans, and let them have experiences from the movies that the “normal” fans don’t see. For example, having an ongoing joke throughout several movies which the loyal fans recognize, while the remaining viewers don’t get the in depth point of it. This makes them motivated to spend even more time on the movie and all about it, and they appreciate it a lot. But at the same time, cult movies allow the “normal” fans to have good experiences from the movie as well – they can still see good points and interpret things from the story. It is just on another level for the loyal fans.

            Synergistic storytelling and collaborative authorship are also terms within transmedia storytelling. This whole chapter flows together, and exemplifies how one story can be created, developed, improved and “alive” through so many media selections at the same time. The authors, artists and producers collaborative in order to achieve success. And in the spirit of media convergence: an individual medium can never achieve as much success as several media cooperating together.

Zeiner, bog 27, American Idol fans

American Idol is the most successful reality show on American TV. It has run many seasons, and the ratings tend to grow and grow. They experienced a little down period for a couple of seasons, but are back on top at the moment. American Idol is concerned with maintaining their current viewers, as well as doing what they can to get new ones.  They give detailed recaps of what’s happened earlier, and they allow people who aren’t very familiar with the show to learn more about it. And what makes American Idol to be American Idol is the significant audience participation. Idol would certainly not be the same today if the audience didn’t decide the outcome of the show. The audience basically forms the show. But who is this audience? Who watches American Idol? Who are their core fans?

            The media divides the consumers into 3 different categories: zappers, casuals and loyals. Zappers watch several snippets of different shows, loyals watch less TV all though they tend to stick with a few shows that are their definite favorites, and the casuals fall somewhere in between. Loayls are described to watch series, while zappers watch television. Of course, American Idol wants to appeal to all these groups, in order to keep and increase their ratings and popularity.

            The unique thing about American Idol is that the show appeals to all ages and all groups of people. The strong diversity within the show drags fans from all groups; that being young and old, black and white, minorities and so forth. I have done some research, and different sites have different core audiences for American Idol. Some sites say it’s the ages of 10 to 20, while other sites claim the gap to be even bigger. American Idol is a family show that the whole family enjoys together, and therefore different ages are dragged to the show. Personally, I would assume their core fan base to be from about 10 to 20, and then the parent’s group is a good number two. But as stated earlier: the uniqueness about American Idol is its diversity, and the amount of diversified fan groups that watches it!

Zeiner, blog 26, media convergence

So far in this ”introduction to mass media” class, we have mostly discussed the so called “traditional media”. Arthur Berger mostly sticks to the traditional media use the way it has been for last years. But Henry Jenkins, on the other hand, sets the media in a new perspective, in which we can understand how it works in the contemporary society. He talks about media convergence, and a synonym for convergence is meeting. In media convergence, multiple media coexist, and a flow of content circulates between them.

            The chapter “buying into American Idol” in Jenkins’ book paints a picture of advertisement, advertisers, consumers and programmers/producers that places each entity in a media convergence type of model. They all work together, and converge with each other.

            Programmers and producers rely on participation culture – a culture in which the participation of the consumers is significant. The old media model places producers and consumers on two different sides, and the viewers has no further interaction but tuning in their TV, and then watch passively. But the new model explains the importance of audience participation, and converge producers and consumers together. You can both produce and consume at the same time!

A show like American Idol is a perfect example of media convergence. First of all, the audience actively takes part in the show. They are the ones participating in the contest, they vote, and they decide the outcome of the result. Also, they become huge fans, who all discuss online, speculate, upload videos, write blogs etc. They promote the show by making such a big deal out of it. Newspapers write as well, and there are also shows on TV only about American Idol. At the same time, advertisers have a big part of the show to. Coca Cola sponsors the show, and they use this promotion for all its worth. They have product placement, a red “green room” and so forth. At the same time, Coca Cola uses Idol in a lot of their advertisements and campaigns to get even more positive publicity. And this benefits American Idol further more – it all works in a circle. So: what we can see from all of this is how it all converges together. American Idol has TV presence, online presence, the songs go on the radio, and the newspapers write about it. With other words: it flows between multiple media. It also converges producers and consumers, and the participatory culture is significant. There is a lot of interconnectedness. And last but not least; the advertisers and producers converge together, and use each other for all its worth. So as you can see: this one show called American Idol converges an entire culture together!

Jenkins writes that the American public is becoming harder and harder to impress for advertisers. $ 8 billion a year is being used on commercials, but do these really have the affect the advertisers are hoping for? Digital Video Recorders are the next phenomenon in our culture, and allows the viewers to skip all commercials on TV. This only means that the convergence is even more important to the advertisers! Jenkins refers to a convergence strategy, in which content providers and sponsors have greater collaborations in order to shape the total entertainment package even better. And this is really important!

In the past, media producers spoke of making an impression on their audience, while they today are working with “expressions”. And the marketing community has moved towards an established “brand community”, and increased brand loyalty. The loyal consumers are the most important ones; and in the sense of media consumption – the biggest fans. Fans can literally go crazy some times, and have a significant meaning to the shows. For example, the drama show Jericho was taken off after their first season because a misunderstanding about its ratings. The show didn’t have high ratings on TV, but was one of the most viewed shows online and through TiVo. Its active fans protested, took initiative, and actually had the producers make a second season. However, now it’s seems as if it’s being taken off again. But the fans still know what to do – they go to other networks and try to make them continue the show! With other words: the participatory culture is really showing an extreme effect.

I think we have only seen the start of media convergence. It is most definitely the next phenomenon which will dominate our culture, and collaboration between all entities grows significantly. What had American Idol been without the participatory culture? What had it been without its producers? What had it been without its sponsors? Or most importantly: what had it been without the media convergence?

Zeiner, blog 25, TV interaction

A few weeks ago, I talked with my grandmother back home in Norway on the phone. I hadn’t talked to her in a long time, therefore the talk went on and on. Suddenly, she told me that she for the first time ever had actively participated in a television show. I became surprised, and didn’t really understand what she was speaking about. I asked her if she had been in the show, or worked behind it or something like that, but that was not it. She told me she had participated actively together with millions of people in this one show. I still didn’t really get it, but finally she told me what she meant: she had voted for one of the singers in the Idol final!  

            To my grandmother, this was a huge deal. She told me how she had called, and how they had responded to her phone call. She seemed surprisingly excited about the whole situation, and was satisfied that she had been able to accomplish such thing. And that is also what made me think.

Television consumption has changed rapidly the last years; only a few years ago, most of us preferred a relaxed and sit-back possession in front of the TV, watching a show from the beginning to the end, with no further interaction. But today, all kinds of reality shows rely on the active participation of its viewers! What had shows such as Idol been like if there wasn’t for high interaction from the people? Either as contestants, or as voters in the final rounds.

Now, even my grandmother has decided to join this new form of watching TV. For most people, casting a vote in such a show isn’t a big thing at all, but to my old grandmother who didn’t even grow up with a television at home this is a great deal. I can understand her excitement, and finally she will be able to participate in this new culture. The way of watching TV has changed from real-time interaction to an asynchronous participation.