Pretty amazing. Instantaneous feedback gathered from data sources across the planet.
In the ol' media days, data wasn't so forth coming or immediately useful. If we didn't have the watchful eyes of the networks and programs like CBS's 60 Minutes we might still be driving our SUV's on Firestones, smoking Philip Morris products, and cladding our kids in A&F thongs, all public relations nightmares.
In 1994 one of my clients was a major pharmaceutical company on the cusp of introducing a new drug that took care of a common, ubiquitous malady. I produced media that instructed primary care physicians and pharmacists alike on prescription practices, drug interactions and side effects. This film was distributed nationwide in preparation for the drug's launch. Within a couple of weeks of the launch it was discovered that the drug had a lethal effect on a certain demographic of hyper-tensive individuals. Dozens died within minutes of taking samples.
The company's PR office called me in for an emergency meeting, briefed me on what was going on and asked for my recommendation, suggesting a rapid corporate response with a VNR (video news release). I suggested they take the product off the market. They indicated the losses were still within acceptable bounds.
The industry used to call this spin. See, public opinion is transactional, just like communication. It's going both ways simultaneously. While opinions are being expressed they are also being carefully crafted.
Gatekeeping As a producer, I am a gatekeeper. I pour over miles of interview footage and b-roll and decide what's going to best tell the story as I understand and perceive it. As a videographer, I am a gatekeeper. What my frame may not include will never shape an opinion differently, my double negative prerogative as a photojournalist. As a curriculum developer, I am a gatekeeper. I can squelch scholars who don't agree with my politic, write in an entendre intended to polarize, or adhere to a hard line and insist you do the same if you want a good grade. I promise, under all three hats, I've never abused the privilege.
Agenda Setting Abortion, gun control and gay marriage. Hmmm, must be a democrat in office. Drill drill, drill, in God we trust, and gun control; sounds like the RNC. Party agenda-setting? Hardly. While researchers are still hard-pressed on ol' media influence on public agendas, one can't deny opinion shapers' influence on what we're paying attention to. Watch The Insider.
Framing While agenda setting and gatekeeping tell us what to consider, framing tells us how. Sarah Palin's PAC website took a fairly innocuous approach in how to consider certain reddish districts in the U.S. where Palin wanted health care bill-backing democrats taken out. You decide how the corresponding symbols determine the value of the politicians within those districts.
Now, I'm not intimating that this lead to the horrific demise of the shootings in Tucson, but I'm also not convinced that these are surveying registration marks.
New Media
So, what and how do new media tell us what and how to think?
Post your response under comments below.
To me new media tells us that there are many way to communicate. Rather it be a cell phone or computer or some type of tablet. They create these products every so often that its hard to keep up but with each new device i feel that New Media will always be at our hands. We can find out information in seconds from finding a definition to a word or looking up how old 2 Pac was when he died on some type of search engine. We can do this all with in seconds. New Media is very Persuasive it is formatted and altered in ways they want the viewer to think.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what young banks said, but I also think that too many people view new media as fact. So when we use new media to find answers I think we need to be weary and research oriented before regarding it as fact. But it is amazing that new media allows us to find nearly any information with the click of a mouse or tap of a finger.
ReplyDeleteI would like to think that I am relatively unaffected, or swayed by new media; that my style, opinions, perspectives, feelings, thoughts, and actions are governed by me. But then again, who am I? Well, I am a product of a combination of things. I am who I am genetically, female, brown hair, brown eyes etc., and then I am who I have been conditioned to be culturally. What is one of the main functions of new media? To carry culture or what can be described as Media Convergence. Henry Jenkins, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers this description:
ReplyDelete“We are living in an age when changes in communications, storytelling and information technologies are reshaping almost every aspect of contemporary life -- including how we create, consume, learn, and interact with each other. A whole range of new technologies enable consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content and in the process, these technologies have altered the ways that consumers interact with core institutions of government, education, and commerce.” http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/converge.html
So, unfortunately, or fortunately I am who I am because of the media I am exposed to, but I maintain, I am a free agent. I still have the ultimate decision on what I think, feel, and/or do. Now goodnight, my Gel Innovations mattress is calling. My designer sheets are folded back, and I heard that Kim Kardashian got her amazing bod from this 10 minute before bed workout….
Here's a great example of how new media tells us how to think: Justin Bieber. The media (and Usher) created Bieber from scratch and turned him into the next teenage heartthrob. With all the platforms available at our finger tips (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube) it didn't take the media long to turn Justin Bieber into a phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteNew media really utilizes gatekeeping wether it's a certain news network we're choosing to watch, or magazine to read, or game to play, or website we choose to visit. So by using all the gatekeeping new media tells us what and how to think based on our preferences. It's easy for me to find things I want to hear using new media. That's not always a good thing, whether I like it or not. So I think it's important to do our best to remain open minded and try to be as un-biased as possible with new media.
ReplyDeleteWe are inundated with information. We have 24/7 news on CNN; news, infomercials and advertising of some sort in front of us in every possible situation . . . the post office, campus lounge areas, restaurants, doctor’s waiting room – everywhere information designed to dazzle, captivate and influence. The internet is at our fingertips with thousands of responses to any and every inquiry and our e mail is stuffed with solicitation, information, warning, and offers of everything from perfume to rocket launchers. How can we not be influenced?
ReplyDeleteInfluence peddlers use software programs to roam the web looking for possible new members for any and every audience; contacts then sold for those with a specific agenda who use that information to target possible interested parties . . . buy this, think that, join something else, contribute to a cause. Anything can be specifically targeted based on information we have, perhaps innocently, provided over the web allowing the product or information to be packaged specifically to us in the most appealing manner for the message. Are we not thin enough, not liberal enough, not conservative enough? Someone out there is ready to persuade us to be “more” of any inclination; a true convert to the cause.
In my opinion “spin” has transformed into something insidious. We think we know the truth of a situation; actually know what we think - until someone like Michael Moore comes along and provides a different and shocking view, just as “Supersize” opened our eyes about fast food.
Just when I am at my cynical worst the protests in Cairo dominate the news – a protest organized over Facebook and hope glimmers again. The truth of some police brutality has been exposed through lens of a bystander’s cell phone camera. The truth seen in many situations is instantly on the web and flashes around the world; then formal news media run those stories. However, I have the nagging knowledge that money and influence can, are, probably, or might be the driving force behind what is formally “fed” to the public as true – the “truth” that serves their own agenda. We must be seekers of wisdom and truth in order to think for ourselves . . . but then, who is forming wisdom and truth?
I agreed with everything that everyone said today in class, accept no one brought up the topic of how the media portray others to seem like they are the perfect person. I immediately think of celebrities and how different media portray them to be what we should look like and how we should live. I think that many internet sources and television stations definitely portray this image to their viewers. It's sad if you ask me because not only are adults watching this information become spread throughout the world, but young adults are watching this stuff as well and are becoming very influenced by it. They almost use this kind of information as their news wire so they know who's hot and what's not, essentially.
ReplyDeleteI also think that older adults use this information as a guideline to the world because just like in high school or junior high, if you don't have the latest whatever then your not cool and will not be accepted by your peers in society.
This may sound like a contradictory idea but I think the new media helps us to think for ourselves but also controls our thinking. During this class discussion I began to think of the early 1900s radio announcement of aliens coming to the earth. The only thing the people had then is the radio to find out their information. In today's world we can search all different types of media to find out whether something may be factual or not. However, we have to be careful because anybody can post anything they want. So I agree with everyone in the sense that the media can control people on how to portray certain things. This idea of mine totally makes sense in my head but probably not on this post
ReplyDeleteNew social media is now giving us the news we are interested in. Not only are we getting the news that is relevant to us we are getting it as it happens. With Facebook and Digg you can follow news sources that interest you and filter out things that do not interest you. It is true that anyone can post anything they want like Jeff has said however it only takes seconds to verify what someone has posted. I filtering out the things that we are not interested in we now can dive deeper into things that are of interest to us. With old media you could only receive news that was framed by the editor or producer now we can produce our own news in a way.
ReplyDeleteI can't really subscribe to those who totally nay say the things that technology bring us. I also dismiss those who would tell us that new technology is accomplishing nothing but good. For me, technology is something that is neither good, nor bad, inherently. It is a medium onto which we project our outlooks. Truth be told, the new technology is accomplishing good and bad things all the time. Information and knowledge's stock have never been higher, but pornography addiction is also running rampant. There has been good, and bad, accomplished by technology past. Right now there is good and bad being done; and future technology will accomplish good and bad things as well.
ReplyDeleteNew media are somewhat unique in that they only have as much control over an individual's life as that person is inundated in them. Twitter trends and Facebook posts have little influence on those who are not active participants in social media for example. On the other hand, when one consideres all aspects of new media, most importantly the internet, then the effects it has come to the forefront. The internet itself has become a primary medium in the human condition, arguably the most important one. A friend on Facebook argued that internet is a fundamental right, the removal of which has exacerbated instead of assuaging the conflicts in Egypt, to make the point.
ReplyDeleteBut I digress. New media tells people not just what and how people think, which seems obvious but also when to think. Because of new media information is spread immediately as opposed to over time, through which perceptions are distorted (or focused) and propaganda is cleared (or erected) it is the element of time, and the mass of sources that effect the how and what that people are told through new media.
More specifically people are told (how) in various new and subtle forms. Green screens localize advertisements from the super bowl to your hometown, and can place specific to you ads in your search results, Facebook page and email alerts from Amazon or other companies.
The what is the same as always really. Political powers-that-be will push their poll-pounding points of the week and Coke will keep telling they're better than Pepsi whether it's on a yellowed poster or a green screen. More companies will have the ability to push their motives as the means become more subtle, and innovative groups will have an edge each time technology shifts, but soon enough the giants will pay their way back to the top and the cycle will begin again.
I don't think that New Media tells us how and what to think, we always have control over what we do or don't read or accept. What New Media does is ask us what to buy and tells us where to buy it, be it a product or an idea. With the new media, we still seek both directly or indirectly the information we receive. The New Media responds to us and offers us solutions, but we still have control over what solutions to accept as the best option.
ReplyDeleteNew media has a definite affect on our thoughts and actions. Yes, we choose what we accept or reject. Although choices are endless, specific issues are brought to the forefront because someone deems them newsworthy, a good cause, or critical for our national strength. Whatever the reason or motives, there are gatekeepers in all facets of media. New media opens the door to everyone, whether to tout their agenda or share their train surfing adventures; gatekeepers on a number of levels. The freedom to choose - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
ReplyDeleteMy children have friends who do not have facebook pages and have very limited, if any, new media use. They may not view or read some of the content in the same manner, but they live in a society that is molded around social networks. Some messages find them whether online or in person. It finds us - and we have the choice to discover, accept or cast out. (If viewed or read, is it ever completely disgarded?)
Peggy
I feel that New media doesn't tell us what or how to think. I do feel it is a another tool for us to use in order to gain information, which in result may affect the way we think and develop into public opinion. If utilized correctly, and critically, ignorance would be minimal. What I mean by this was is before new media, if you wanted to know something about a particular subject, idea, person etc, you had to put in a lot of effort in order to obtain that information. Whether you went to the library to research it, called a friend who may be educated on the matter, asked a professor or any other "old media" way, the process in most cases probably look a lot longer than logging onto google and searching it. New Media is giving us the tools to search, and find what our opinions are, or to explore different options; learn about other's opinions on that matter, challenge your current ideas. Tablets, smart phones, devices that have almost become essential to our everyday life allow us to make our own opinions, if utilized correctly.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that means the individual has to be a critical thinker, and not believe everything they read...and let's be honest, we know that isn't always the case.
I am a rodeo queen. I am trying out for Miss Rodeo Utah in July. One of the things that I have to study is current events. I study local news, national, and international. I think the news is a good example for this topic. News stations paint pictures for their audience through words, graphics and video. But they only paint what they want us to see, think or feel. CNN will tell stories from a different angle than Fox News, which is different than BBC and the Today Show. I do believe that the media tells us how to think. We can also find a news station that will tell the story how we want to hear it.
ReplyDeleteWith the technologies of new media we can find more to these stories. We can also hear news faster. Technology has massively changed the way we get news and how fast we receive. The perfect example is the use of cell phones and facebook over in Tunisia and Egypt.
I have learned in my studies that I need to read and watch several different news angles to get a well round view of certain stories and then form my own opinion around that. It’s hard not to take one side for the solid truth when it sounds good. For a while I would just read one side to stories in the news and base my opinions off of that. But once I started listening to other sides of the story my opinions or views changed slightly. Even if my opinion didn’t change I could at least tell that I was knowledgeable in all aspects of the story being told. Even keeping up with different news stations we don’t always get the full story or truth.
Smiley missa covered the other topic I was thinking of in relation to this topic. That is how media portrays celebrities and what celebrities they decide to talk about. I find it really sad when we are asked questions about Lindsey Lohan, Charlie Sheen, and Lady Gaga in our news interviews during a pageant. To me they are not news.
New media is communication – incoming and outgoing. I have a real love/hate relationship with it. I love being able to post pictures for my “friends” on Facebook and I love hearing what they are doing in their lives – to a point. I hate all of the useless information that people post because they think everyone else wants to know their every breath. Eric calls this “Telling people every time you have too much frapp in your Frappuccino.” I think too much time is spent giving useless information. To me, when someone posts on Facebook 10 times a day with their one-liners about where they are at or what they are eating for breakfast, it indicates that they think too highly of themselves. One of my Facebook “friends” let’s everyone know on Facebook where she is at 5 times a day. That adds up to at least 35 times a week of her telling all of her 690 friends exactly where she is at during any moment of her day – I don’t care! I don’t even know all of that about my husband! I am ready to delete her as a friend. The other times, she posts what homework she is working on, what she eats for lunch, what music she is listening to, what mood she is in, that she is ready for bed, or that she is still up at 1:00 am. – do we really need to know all of this? Let’s separate a little folks – or better yet tell me something with meaning! So in an odd way, is this person also a type of gatekeeper? Could this same person (I have come across some of her postings elsewhere), or someone like her, be posting their own version of “facts” online about everything from music reviews to news worthy people and events
ReplyDeleteIn other areas I also have a real love/hate relationship with new media. I absolutely love how easy it is to look up research information online. I absolutely hate how easy it is for someone to look up personal information about people online. Since we aren’t able to get newspaper delivery where we live, I love the fact that I can get online and see the daily news. I hate that I have to sort through 9000 different ways to get it. And bad things can and are said about information overload. And while citizen journalism can unmask so many things, we are not usually able to see the events leading up to the citizen report. Look at the Rodney King videos (now ancient citizen journalism) – what the videos of his being beaten by police didn’t tell us was about his long, long prior criminal history (he was a frequent and repeat thug) meaning innocent people were hurt often and a lot by his criminal acts, his violent temper, how he usually egged on and goaded the police officers with not only his fowl mouth towards them but also his continual violent resistance of arrest each and every time her was caught, and how he continued to be a danger to society even after all of the hoopla of the Rodney King trials dies down. So how much was spin and how much was that we never heard the full story? Yet public opinion of police officers was forever damaged by the sensation surrounding this event.
We can dress it up any way we want. Call it "new media" or old media or electronic transmissions or whatever: at the end of the day, it's all still basic human interaction. The only real change from just talking back and forth is the one-way street of it, and therefore a disassociation from human contact.
ReplyDeleteNew Media is just an extension of what we all do, all the time, in every day life. We converse to relay meaning, and inherently as part of that, the subjects opposite our conversation skills reflect on what was said at the bare minimum just to comprehend the words spoken. That usually transcends into some kind of thought toward the message, an analysis.
New Media is just a way to get that basic fundamental practice to a huge audience. If I had a TV show, and a million people watched it, my opinions would inherently have more weight just because more people would eventually think about it and come to a conclusion, for or against my way of thinking.
It's just the new form of news. It used to be that we could turn on the television and watch the news and it would tell us what was going on and how to think hem hem (CNN, FOX, etc.) Now we have an even more open source. The sad part is that people still turn to those old mediums through a new form of access suck as Facebook, Twitter, Etc. We still deal with gate keeping , net neutrality, agenda setting, and framing because everyone want to push their point of view. The problem is that some are complacent and afraid to get out of their comfort zones. When in reality that is how things change!
ReplyDelete