The article starts off by telling the story of a 26 year old named Emanuel Pleitez running for the 32nd California congress seat  held by the much older Hilda Solis. The article explains how Solis used facebook pictures from Pleitez facebook profile showing him out partying with different women. Eluding that Pleitez was a womanizer and an alcohalic. Instead of denying and attempting to hide the photos, Pleitez did one of the oldest political moves known to man and “hung a lantern on it.” Inviting everyone to become facebook friends with him and explaining every one of his shunned upon pictures.

I believe that anyone who is in politics or any type of occupation that involves direct contact with the media should take special care when reading this story. This specific incident shows how the advacement in media technology has played a direct role in the foundations of our government. We have just recently had a discussion in class of how President Obama used the multiple aspects of social media in his campaign to give him a distict advantage over McCain. As the world becomes more and more adapt to using media, candidates are going to have to try harder and harder to keep their social lives out of the limelight. applications such as Facebook and Myspace have left no rock unturned.

I must say that I am not a fan of keyword search blogs. You spend so much time researching the topic that you find trouble on finding what exactly the teacher is looking for. Although, with this assignment I have to admit that I was rather intrigued by this Gary Vaynerchuck.

When I first googled the name I was caught off guard at what came up on wikipedia.com. An enormous amount of information came up on how he was a guy who tasted wine for a living. I thought to myself “Is this the right guy?” I kept reading and was instantly nullified when I came across what all he had done with marketing himself and his wine tasting ability. Rob Newsom, a Washington state wine maker, is quoted as saying “outside of Robert Parker, [he is] probably the most influential wine critic in the United States”

But Gary Vaynerchuck has made a real name for himself in preaching the art of self advertising and personal branding. Gary used the tools of social media such as twitter and facebook to promote his daily video blog about wine called Wine Library TV.  Gary speaks at countless seminars on the aspects of transforming your business to fit today’s web 2.0 lifestyle. Gary has appeared on televison shows such as Ellen and Late Night with Conan O’brien for his business insight and retelling of his true life American dream story.

Gary’s recently released book titled “Crush It!” has gained world wide attention and reestablished the modern idea of the American dream. The book discusses the idea of how people can turn their hopes in dreams into cash using the internet and their own homemade form of publicity and advertisement. Gary has just signed a book deal with Harper Studio reportedly worth more than a million dollars.

Gary’s advice and guidance to new and upcoming entrepreneurs has put Gary’s ridiculously long last name in history to be referenced and remembered for everyone to see.

Now on the subject of the Brazen Careerist I was completely surprised to find out that it was actually a very interesting social media website developed by Penelope Trunk to manage your professional image and use networking opportunities to improve your overall professional career. On this website you are able to create your own personal profile that showcases your resume as well as your thoughts and ideas.

Employers are able to see your information on your ideas based resume and connect with you at a far more personal level than ever before on an internet based career website. Through this website you are able to follow members of your blog and have real conversation with these members and truly start to network the way networking should be done.

This kind of website is the beginning of the future for the ever changing job marketing plane. With the development of new technologies, employers are evolving to the landscape around them and using the new forms of social media to their advantage.

The advantages of today’s’ social media networks give the business world a new playing field that has just began to effect the economical world of today.

 This is a commercial that aired in the 2005 Superbowl for Careerbuilder.com. I chose this ad because it symbolizes how slap-stick humor has made its way through modern television and all other aspects of mainstream American media. I like this ad because everyone can relate to and laugh at this kind of slap-stick comedy in commercials. Also, this commercial is about a job search website, which can be a useful tool to everyone who needs employment. I did not want to pick some random beer commercial that doesn’t’ have any moral sense or positive influence on society, although they are really rather hilarious.

This ad is memorable because its sense of humor can portray to all audiences and make an everlasting impression on the attitude and relationship Careerbuilder.com can have on an individual’s life. Besides, everyone likes monkeys. Monkeys are flat out hilarious. That Monkey smoking the cigar and burning the money just characterizes the idea of the pinhead boss who doesn’t care about anything but what his agenda consists of.

I believe this advertisement was created to target a specific audience that was in the work force at the time when this commercial was created. I believe they were looking for middle class workers in their late twenties or early thirties. I came to this conclusion when the makers of this ad put the song “Come on Feel the Noise” by Quiet Riot. Quiet Riot was an early American metal band that first introduced that single in 1983. This would be a song that would be popular with people in that age group.

This ad seems to be selling the idea of “good times” and the idea of a “better” future. It plays on the idea that everyone seems to dislike their coworkers or wish they were in a better job not ran by “monkeys.” The ad claims that if you use Careerbuilder.com you will be able to find a better job that will make you happier. As far as stereotypes go, I believe there is a classic play off of the blue collar office working man. If you notice the only non-monkey worker in the commercial is wearing pretty plain work clothes. But the monkeys seem to be wearing flashy suites and wearing expensive ties symbolizing their incapability of running the company successfully.

Since this commercial aired during the Superbowl, I think it’s safe to say that a boatload of money went into making this commercial and getting it to air during one of televisions most watched events. A vast majority of middle class Americans probably watched this ad during the Superbowl, thus reaching the advertisers target audience. I love Superbowl commercials. I will sometimes watch the end of the Superbowl just to see the commercials and how funny they are. Superbowl commercials have a proud history of being memorable and keep everybody talking about them for weeks to come. Superbowl commercials are so prestigious in fact that they have dedicated entire television shows to the top 25 Superbowl commercials of all time.

Citizen journalism, also known as street journalism, has been a part of the American institution for centuries. But, only recently has citizen journalism been taken to new heights with the development of new technologies. The mainstream media can either choose to accept and embrace the emergence of street journalism, or try and compete with the overwhelming numbers of civilians able to develop and share news stories and content. Either way, this sort of journalism is shaping the way we consume our news.
We are living in a time where the convergence of media has allowed the people of this day and age to upload, post, and broadcast anything they see noteworthy as news from virtually anywhere. Within the last couple of years citizen journalism has evolved into something that will eventually change the face of the world forever.
The exposure of the tsunami that struck southeast Asia in December of 2004 was one of the most influential moments for social media and its connection to mainstream news. Blogs and groups on social networks like Facebook were able to quickly establish and provide information to both victims and the rest of the world.
The cell phone video shot by a Virginia Tech student named Jamal Albarghouti was not only a disturbing, first-hand look of the shooting that left 32 dead and 23 wounded, it was also viewed by millions of people on CNN and on YouTube. News of the shooting was first assimilated through text messages and blogs to those who were unaware about what was happening on campus. Some questioned whether the student-shot video was actually journalism, but as we’ve learned from class, despite its amateurish nature it unquestionably contributed to how others received the story.

Inventions such as twitter allow everyday individuals to follow their favorite sports players or hollywood movie stars from their own living room. Twitter is allowing ordinary everyday people to connect with and follow famous people and groups. Therefore, allowing people to be updated right then and there on what is happening to people around the world.
There was an instance in may of 2009, where an earthquake in china was reported on twitter before the story ever broke to CNN or any other major press agency. This was the first time ever recorded that this soft of incident had happened. China’s government later banned Twitter and Facebook from the public to suppress the user-generated content being uploaded into the internet public. I believe China was afraid of the overall power user generated journalism can be capable of.

It seems to me that the art of professional journalism is becoming somewhat extinct. With most of generation Y getting their news from social networks and other forms of today’s media, professional media is taking a backseat to members of the public producing and developing their own news. User generated content is something that is relatively new and will continue to assimilate into our culture as more and more people become tech savvy. People no longer have to have a professional background to be able to edit and share news. The quality of this writing may be less than perfect. As long as people classify this form of news as acceptable, citizen based journalism will become a type of social norm for decades.

Professor Rift Fournier might be one of the most remarkable people I have ever listened to.  Rift seemed to be able to grab everyone’s attention with the first word that came out of his mouth. Like a jolly old grandfather from the movies, he was able to reminisce on all the phenomenal experiences he has went through.

jolly- like a modern santa clause

Rift gave us a brief background story on how he grew up in Nebraska and attended a high school that glorified football and losing a football game was not an option. Rift explained how he loved football and how he was the first freshman to ever play varsity football in his high school’s history. Rift tried to play this detail off like it was no big deal, but being the football fan that I am, I found this a remarkable feat.

Rift’s football career was sadly short lived. His junior year in high school, Rift contracted Polio and now sits in an electric wheel chair. My grandfather unfortunately went through the same ordeal so I somewhat had a feeling of understanding of what he went through.But a man like Rift would never let a wheelchair defeat him from chasing his dreams. All his life, even through his football career, Rift had an undeniable desire to be an artist. With Prof. Fournier handicapped he was finally able to put all his time and dedication into something he always wanted to do; write. Rift loved to write all sorts of things and found that he had the ability to pour his soul onto paper and come up with some truly amazing stories.

Rift said he started his career doing many different jobs all around the country. Freelancing was Rifts specialty. Rift finally was able to take full advantage of his writing when he was hired to write screenplays and scripts for talk shows and television series. From all the things he worked on he seemed particularly fond of a cop show he worked on overseas in Europe. I plan on trying to download some of the episodes for this show and upload them onto this post later.

Rift also worked on NYPD:Blue

During class, when I decided to take notes on all of his accomplishments, Rift, all of the sudden, looked up and shouted “what are you all doing? Quit taking notes and just listen to what I’m saying!” He didn’t want us just sitting their taking notes like a bunch of robots. He wanted us to actually listen to what he was saying and think about what we heard. Rift’s concept of school is truly enlightening and noteworthy. What was most important to me out of everything he said in our class was how he demonstrated how students shouldn’t care about their major so much, but instead students should focus on enjoying school and explore a whole plethora of different classes. In a way, preaching the message of liberal arts.

Rift Fournier is truly a remarkable human being and is capable of carrying on a conversation with anyone who is willing to listen to him. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to have listened to one of the greatest minds on campus.

For our class this past Thursday Professor Falk brought in a guest speaker named Frank W. Baker. He was a well presented man with a certain swagger about him that made him seem extremely confident in our presence. Mr. Baker had explained how he came from a broadcasting background but had come to speak to us about the concept of media literacy. In his own words he described it as “spreading the gospel of media literacy”. To be honest with everyone reading this, I had no clue what media literacy was except for what i had learned in Professor Falk’s class. 

Before starting on his presentation Mr. Baker gave us all the address to his website,  http://www.frankwbaker.com/ , and told us to use it as a library or cheat sheet for anything to do with media literacy.

The first thing he talked about when he began his presentation was how he thought, and I definitely agree, that there has been an enormous shift in learning, a  shift from using print to visual. He then began talking about Generation M, the multitasking generation, which I think is the same thing as the Generation Y that my class learned about on our first day.  He continued to say that since this generation is so adapt to using technology, shouldn’t schools be teaching how to understand what the media is trying to say to you? Mr. Baker then asked everyone in the class to define for themselves what media literacy is. When he finally gave the actual definition of the term, he explained how it is his passion to help students understand what all the advertisers and outside world are trying to say to us through the media.

He talked about the five key concepts of media literacy and how you should always ask questions about what you had just observed. The first concept is that all media is constructed, and a good question to ask when you think of this concept is “Who created this?”.  The second concept is that media has its own unique language. This is a concept you have to think about deeply and ask “what is the purpose?” of the media you are observing. The third concept is what values are being expressed in the media. This goes hand in hand with the fourth concept which is the point of view in media. People have to understand that the media knows we, as human beings, have different points of view and different values. The last concept is the sense that all media consists for either power or profit

As we think about the many ways media touches our lives on a daily basis, we can only hope that our society is taking the necessary steps to keep education and technological understanding moving forward. With the development of new technology always multiplying exponentially, Students and teachers alike should be taught how to use the numerous amounts of media our technological world has to offer.

For this post we were asked to interview a foreign student here on campus and ask them to compare and contrast the media in their own country to that of the United States. Lucky for me, my roommate is from American Samoa so I didn’t have to look very far for someone to interview. His name is Joseph Faaganta. He just turned twenty three years old this past August and has been living in America for two years now. Joseph transferred here from Long Beach Community College in Long Beach, California. Joe came to the United States for a Football Scholarship he received from his junior college and to pursue his dreams of becoming a successful businessman in the pensive Californian lifestyle he had heard so much about.
Joe agreed to do this interview only if I told the whole and complete truth and left nothing out he said about his homeland. But by him asking me this, Joe had already given me clues and insight into how truly proud as a society American Samoans truly are. American Samoan lifestyle has its own demeanor and culture, when compared to its northern relative the United States. For instance, almost all Samoans don’t have stoves in their kitchens. They cook practically everything by campfire using coconut milk. Now I tell you this information to give you an insight on how truly traditional the Samoan lifestyle really is. When I asked Joe about the various forms of media he was accustomed to in Samoa, he began to look puzzled and thought very hard of the scarce variety of today’s technology he had available to him.
The first form of media Joe wanted to discuss was the use of the radio. Joe told me that, on his island, everyone had a radio in almost every room of their house. It was perfectly normal for music to be playing all day long. Even if someone wasn’t home, the radio would always be tuned in. When asked if the radio stations in Samoa played the same type of music here in the United States Joe began to laugh abruptly out loud. He began to explain to me that, in Samoa, people only listen to music made and produced on the island. Basically saying that the island is sort of isolate from the rest of the music industry and people in Samoa like it that way.
Joe then moved onto the subject of the television and how barely anyone on the island watches TV. A big reason is because there are actually only two channels to watch on the television. “Hardly anyone on the island can afford cable” Joe says. Joe’s family is one of the wealthiest on the island and he only gets approximately thirty something channels.
On the other hand though, he told me that nearly half of the people on the island have computers with internet connection. Social networking is a huge part of his culture. By the time he was a senior in high school Joseph had about 5 different profiles on 5 different social networking sites. You can Google search Polynesian and thousand of pictures of islanders will pop up displaying their many forms of cultural creativity.

Marshall McLuhan was a critical theorist of the media that embarked on a new way to categorize media theory and history. Marshall was born in Alberta, Canada to Elsie and Herbert McLuhan. Later in life, Marshall decided to attend the University of Manitoba where he earned his MA in English and also won some awards in math and science. After earning his masters he decided He would pursue his lifelong dream of studying for his graduate’s degree in England. He enrolled at Cambridge as an undergrad and continued his lessons from I.A. Richards and F.R. Leavis, which whom influenced and inspired him for his later works.                                                                                                                                                After returning from his studies in England he found a job as a school teacher in Wisconsin. After working from school to school he found his way to St. Louis University where he taught English and other studies. While in St. Louis Marshall met and married his wife Corinne Lewis.                                                        At the beginning of the 1950’s Marshall began to speak out at communications seminars. Not soon after, McLuhan published his first Major work “The Mechanical Bride” which was a criticism of the effects of advertising on society. Here’s a link to a place you can buy the book if you are interested, http://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Bride-Folklore-Industrial-Man/dp/1584230509I . Marshall went on to write such works as: The gutenburg Galaxy, Understanding Media, The medium is the message, War and Peace in the Global Village, From Cliché to Archetype. 

But after McLuhan wrote Understanding Media, McLuhan became arguably the most famous English professor of the modern era. Mcluhan was a man of weird and round-about sayings that captivated his audience. He brought with him an intense swagger of education that he applied to his seminars and teachings. Many writers, such as Jean Kilbourne, carry on his legacy of communication understanding today.