Saturday, February 11, 2012

Media Trends 2-4 Journal

Week Two
Pre-releasing Advertisements

With the advertisement that went viral last year, now any advertisement agency that is worth it will have to compete for popularity amongst viewers. Advertising agencies are competing by pre-releasing their advertisements. The Volkswagon ad, "The Bark Side" reached an estimated 4 million views in just under 48 hours. This year the KIA and Lexus will also be competing to make their advertisement a success.

"It's totally de rigueur now," Hunter says. "You have to pre-release your spot. You'd be mad not to. And our thinking was, well, you know, we need to remain one step ahead of the game here."
The goal of this is of course to draw attention to people to buy what they're selling. In today's fast paced world, staying ahead of the game is a difficult thing to do. That's why having PR specialists, campaigns, and being educated about the market is so important. In management you have to stay current with trends in people's interests. You have to be able to know your audience.

"The Big Game might be more than two weeks away, but marketers already are shifting their Super Bowl ad campaigns into overdrive."

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/21/business/fi-ct-superbowl-ad-previews-20120121

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/22/145577302/the-bark-side-tells-of-super-bowl-ads-to-come
 

Week Three

The Media Pipeline & How Media Censorship is Shaping Our Government
http://mediamatters.org/research/201201260005

This is a chart showing just how much funding they get::
cloudfront.mediamatters.org/static/images/item/chart-20120125-keystonexl-3.png

The following is one comparison of media outlets with how they respond to viewers/consumers.

  • BROADCAST: Among the broadcast networks, 79% of those quoted or interviewed were in favor of the pipeline. NBC and ABC did not quote anyone opposed.
  • CABLE: On Fox News, 66% of those quoted or hosted were in favor and 13% were opposed. CNN featured 54% in favor and only 14% opposed. MSNBC was the most balanced, with 38% in favor and 31% opposed.
  • PRINT: Of those quoted by the major newspapers, 45% were in favor of the pipeline and 31% were opposed. The New York Times was the most balanced, quoting 35% in favor and 27% opposed. The Wall Street Journal was the least balanced, with 52% in favor and 21% opposed.
In this research article on Media Matters, the author compares the coverage in all three areas. As it just so happens, print media had the most amount of coverage while the funding and support is next to nothing compared to broadcast and cable television.

The fore-cast is that in the future media will be even more propaganda than now, if the internet gets censored or shut down. With the revenue of sites that are specialized and propaganda news being most funded, we're going to have to fight really hard to have real and genuine media in North America and abroad. Criticisms from the audience are rarely measured by the big media corporations. So it's all talk, no listening, and no real news. What is news media becoming? Is independent media on its way out the door?

How do we manage to overcome this bureaucracy and use independent media to fuel progress in America? The task is becoming harder. while on one hand we have the manpower and technology to have better media in America, we lack the financial resources/funding/ and support.

Media Uncritically Repeated Industry Job Estimates 76 Times. Every news outlet included in our analysis uncritically repeated TransCanada's jobs numbers at least once. The major print outlets did so 34 times - in 29% of the Keystone XL articles mentioning jobs -- with the Associated Press accounting for almost half of those instances. The broadcast networks repeated these figures 4 times -- one third of the times jobs were mentioned. And the cable networks did so 38 times -- 45% of the coverage mentioning jobs. Fox News uncritically repeated these numbers more than all the other television networks combined.
News Corp. Turned A Blind Eye To Pipeline Protests. A
string of largedemonstrations against the Keystone XL pipeline took place throughout the fall. These protests were mentioned in 29% of print coverage, 22% of broadcast coverage, and 21% of cable coverage. The Wall Street Journal and Fox News -- both owned by News Corporation -- covered the protests the least, in only 15% of their coverage.

Week Four

Is Angry Birds Keeping Your Brain Healthy?

With the I-pad apps as well as android apps there are more people online playing games than ever before. I read one article on Mashable, where the author talked about one example of an "Angry Birds" game that is helping a person with Alzheimer's stay sharp. These new apps are a great way for companies to develop and innovate the way we connect. For example, with the Microsoft kinnect, there could be innovations with game systems to help people with physical impairments to truly take advantage of this beyond gaming. Nero-plasticity is the study of the brain's ability to heal itself over time due to stimuli.

"Traditional brain games are scientifically designed to boost cognitive activity and enhance memory. A new study from the Archives of Neurology says playing brain stimulating games can improve your memory and delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease."


http://mashable.com/2012/02/06/brain-games/

New Media Trends


New Media Production & Industry Trends
Class Blog 2012

Internationally renowned New Media producer, Tiffany Shlain, had her first feature film, “Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death, and Technology,” shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. She is the founder of the Webby Awards and a proponent of social media as it progresses in the 21st century. Shlain’s film addresses media in the broadest sense by looking at the way media affects us on multiple levels.  She asks the hard questions: “How do we stay connected? Is the internet making us smarter? What is the future of this technology?” Shlain doesn’t hold back and knows how important this freedom of expression will be in the long run.

If there are close to 2 billion people online, then we’re all connected and also simultaneously affecting each other. Shlain talks about how interdependence on each other affects everyday life. She addresses the cause and effect of each action. Chain reactions through media on the internet and texts on a cellphone are a big deal according to her. Reading about Shlain and her success in the industry has helped me to view the future of social media with a fresher perspective. She has an audience to appeal to—anyone who is invested in this technology and its advancements would make a target fan.

In part of the class discussion, we talked about how technology has changed over time. The internet has made networking more accessible to people like you and me. When in television there are four main networks, on the internet there is more freedom for a person to advance as a producer by networking on social sites i.e. twitter and Facebook.

To become a successful producer, director, and film-maker you will need the skills to meet the needs of your market. This means that producers in the industry need to stay current with trends in media and develop a broad outreach to fans and subscribers. In media production such as television, one of the key factors would be to consistently appeal to your audience. You want to make them think outside the box or intrigue them enough so that they become a fan of your product. The same idea goes for the internet.

Media can be a variety of things. News is information media and sells because people need to know what happens in the world. Although film could be thought of as a vacation from reality, it can also inform, inspire, and educate us on issues impacting the world. I found Tiffany Shlain to be a savvy and inspirational key figure in media evolution. Her Film “Connection” is a great example of a film-makers success and would be helpful to watch. She knows how to reach her audience, she knows the trends. With a link to her Facebook page on her website, a Twitter, magazine links, etc. it’s obvious that she also knows how to network.

The first magazine article I found is on MovieMaker.com
I also found more information on the Tiffany Shlain’s movie at the Cinesource Magazine website.
“Shlain's films aim to influence social change by tackling big topics with animation, archival film clips, whimsical graphics and humor. Her latest is a breezy take on nothing less than the history of the universe, the evolution of humankind and the future of technology. Woven throughout is a sober and touching tribute to her father, Dr. Leonard Shlain, who died of brain cancer while she was making the movie.” http://pacificsun.com/news/show_story.php?id=3521

Example Ungraded Press Release


PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE
ISSUED: Jan 27, 2012
MEDIA CONTACT: gbryan01@shepherd.edu
OFFICE PHONE: 314-202-2929
Shepherd College with the Shepherdstown Opera House Presents
V-DAY POETRY SLAM WITH SHANELLE GABRIEL!
Join us at 8:00 pm Feb. 14th in the Shepherdstown Opera House
"[Watching] her perform live on stage was a whole other experience…an amazing one that is! Her positive & energetic vibe is truly empowering through her strong voice and insightful lyrics." -The Bomb Eye Staff
          Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Shanelle Gabriel has inspired millions and has been labeled a “music virtuoso” with her soul-fueling voice and lyrical imagination. Shanelle has proven to be a true fighter after being diagnosed in 2004 with SLE Lupus and has since promoted awareness about Lupus, continuing to encourage others to follow their dreams. She was a member of the 2006 Nuyorican Poets Cafe National Slam Team and a competitor in the Individual World Poetry Slam in 2007.
          Her debut album Start Something won an Atlantic City’s Alternative Soul Best CD Award in 2008. At one time a leading personality on WPNR 90.7 FM and Def Jam college promoter, Shanelle has both opened and featured on the 6th season premiere of HBO's Def Poetry Jam alongside others such as Jill Scott and DMX. From her hip-hop jazz and singing to her spoken word poetry, Shanelle will definitely stir you to the core. Read more about Shanelle Gabriel on her website: http://www.shanellegabriel.com