News, Trust, "Truthiness"

I really do believe that the satirical news that we often get is equally as reliable as the regular news. Sure we don’t get the weather, or sports, or traffic like the actual news rooms. That isn’t too big a problem when these satirical channels are giving us the current news; just they are giving it to us with a different approach. Furthermore, the reason I find the programs to be acceptable is because they know where to draw the line. One does not see satirical news reports on murders or crimes where people are killed or natural disasters. Danielle writes, “The main objective of the show is to highlight the ‘current’ news and essentially, make fun of it.” (http://danielle111blog.wordpress.com/) This is exactly why I think they are equally reliable; they highlight the current news and make sure the stories are factual. They just add a little twist on how they portray those ideas. Shows like The Daily Show or Saturday Night Live do not go around making up everything they do; they get their ideas from the other news channels.

People are agreeing that satirical news is a need in today’s life. Victoria wrote,”…In our culture it is not uncommon for people to not even be aware of many of the issues going on…so I think even satirical news reporting is an important way for people to become aware of many of the issues and news reporting that is going on in the world.” (http://youthnomore.wordpress.com/) This is very as I am one of those people who do not keep up with the daily news and what is going on in the world. I learn about what is going on around the world by watching these satirical news shows. For example, the Rob Ford news I heard about from other people, but never really watched what was going on until I saw the SNL Rob Ford skit. Same thing goes for the Tiger Woods news that happened awhile back, I remember watching the SNL skit on it and just crying because it was so funny.

I believe that the more these shows start to cover more and more stories the more they will grow and produce more satirical news. Soon enough we could see the news being split half and half between the regular news channels and the satirical news channels. I would definitely prefer the satirical news more, but that is just my opinion. People around the world love news things and as said here, “These kinds of shows bring a whole new way to view the political world and maybe deal a few digs while they’re at it.”(http://comedressedtoimpress.wordpress.com/), people are going to start slowly moving more towards satirical news if these channels/programs continue to grow.

Really? Who doesn’t like a good laugh now and again especially when someone messes and the satirical news takes it and gets real creative with it? I sure do and I know there are others out there who do as well.

Is the Fake News the Real News?

I believe that the news that is presented to us by programs like The Daily Show or The Rick Mercer Report is a mainstream form of culture jamming. Though this might not be the best news I also think that it is needed in the public sphere to allow the audiences to relax a little more than usual.  The way the news is portrayed on these channels allow the audiences to look at the news in a comedic way and allow them to get a good laugh here and there when the news gets too tough.

I think the best culture jam for the news is Saturday Night Live. “Culture jammers use their…in the production of meaning by creating spoofs…” (O’Shaugnessy, Stadler, 214) When I read this in the textbook my first thought was Saturday Night Live, because they do some really funny skits based on different news. Just this past weekend Saturday Night Live opened up the show with a skit about Rob Ford that has been going around for the past week. I find that this skit is used to just help release the tension that is building up with the audiences. Not saying what he did was correct, but just allowing people to relax. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoFddPKlbk0) This link is to the skit done if you want to watch it. The skit was done really well and while letting audiences know the news they put a comedy spin on it because they many have already heard what is going on so they lighten the mood.

“Culture jamming techniques can also be used simply to be clever and funny, without a political or critical motive.” (O’Shaugnessy, Stadler, 214) Some news channels or programs have no intention of using political views or critical points on purpose. The main goal is to create a program that is funny for the audiences. Shows like SNL and the Rick Mercer Report like to mix up their skits with some being all funny and others having some type of motive behind them. This is how they get huge audiences to watch, they allow those that know more about the news going on in the world lighten up and allow those that just want comedy to watch as well. I tend to like to watch the satirical programs more than the actual news because you not only get the base of what is going on, but you also get a little chuckle out of the skits and the way they display the news.

So in conclusion, satirical news reporting is mainstream form of culture jamming because these news shows are used to make political or critical events a little funny and allow these programs to help the mass audiences relax after days or weeks of hearing the same stories over and over again.

Demonstrable Demographics

After reading a few different blog posts about various ads I have found three that I can sort of talk about and compare to. Any ads to do with Cover Girl and things of that nature bore me, so my post would not be too interesting to read. I definitely find myself to be a more graphical and violence type of person so what has been said in these posts I can relate to. Also I love to see certain stars and celebrities show up in different ads. In all movie trailers the biggest thing to catch the eyes of the audiences are the stars that are going to act in the said movie. Actors like Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman are all main reasons why I watch their movies.  “Star Power,” (http://oconnormedia.wordpress.com/) the easiest way to attract people to media is to use certain stars and celebrities in the ad that have major influences on people. Many people will go out of their way to buy certain goods and services from ads when their favourite celebs are in these said ads. I know people who will go out and buy a pair of boxers for $50 just because it either has or it says David Beckham on it.

The next similarity I can see is that people look at ads differently and interpret them differently. “The commercial is a Mustang driving down the road, and each pedestrian (different ages and genders) sees it in a different way, the way they would like their Mustang to be.” (http://ha12dz.wordpress.com/) Everyone has a mind of their own and their own thoughts and opinions when it comes to anything. Reading, watching movies, texting, emails, letters and anything else people do is different for everyone because we all grow up with different morals and values. This is both similar and different to my post as a movie trailer allows for people to think about the events shown and what they mean to the movie. Also what problems occur and other events that might happen in the movie. It is different because people still have the same thought to go watch the movie and to just let the movie play out instead of making expectations as to what the movie will be like.

           

I agree 100% with what was said here, “I think that this ad is really interactive and makes the viewer feel like they are actually experience the events. From the upbeat music, to the fight on car in the arctic, to the explosions in a Las Vegas casino, the audience is drawn in.” (http://braiduhn.wordpress.com/) This was said based on their ad, which was about the new Call of Duty game, which is somewhat equivalent to a movie trailer or any type of video message. They have to be interactive and exciting and make the audience want to see more. These types of ads want to make the viewers feel like they are a part of the situation and the events going on. If the audience is not interested in an ad that is presented to them they don’t think about it and they tend to find other ads related to the topic, but are displayed better.

                

The bottom line is that the ads that catch the attention of audiences are the ones that are interactive and tend to be the most appealing. Furthermore, the ones that use celebrities and superstars tend to attract more attention because people want what these people have and want to be like these stars.

               

            

What the Hail?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npvJ9FTgZbM

The type of advertisement I chose to look at was a movie trailer. Movie trailers are really easy to discuss based on who they are intended to and how easy they can attract their audiences. The movie trailer I chose was Thor: The Dark World. It is the sequel to the first Thor and is about the god Thor needing the help of his brother Loki to defend his city from the villains.  This movie is targeted at teen agers, smaller kids, or older people. Movies, for the most part made for just about anybody. Of course, there are those movies for people who are above a certain age but if those movies were created more the movie industry would lose a lot of money because of the people they are missing who are under the age of 18.

This trailer hails me by showing the man hero as a god, someone who cannot die and is super strong. It also uses a great story line to keep me interested and to not allow me just to see all action for the whole movie. The action in the movie does pull me in because I love to watch fight scenes and watch things explode and watching all the effects that are put into these movies. “The media work as a hailing, interpellating system. The way they address us (their modes of address), constantly interpellates us – as family, as citizens, as children, and so on.” (O’ Shaugnessy, Stadler, 186, 2013)This quote is saying that any form of media advertisement is changing who we are and what we like and dislike. I believe this to be true because as younger kids we were into TV shows and movies that were done by Disney or were a lot more cartoonish. As we grow older we experience more violence in video games and movies, also are brains start to develop more and we are able to comprehend a story line. So, like myself, growing up with seeing these different aspects and ways to create movies has changed my way of thinking and has changed what movies really excite me.

I still love to watch cartoon movies like Monster’s Inc., Oliver and Company or the Arista Cats because they are from my childhood and are favourite movies. Nowadays though the movies I really tend to watch have changed to the more violent or horror type movies because the cartoon/Disney movies have become terrible. “We live in a culture that stresses individuality, encourages us to believe that every person has unique qualities…questionable.” (O’ Shaugnessy, Stadler, 189, 2013) We are all individuals and have our own ways to look at different types of media, but it feels like with movies we are all similar. A movie like Paranormal Activity or Thor have their distinct genres, and the people that watch these movies like the distinct genres and are comfortable and enjoy what goes on in these movies. The quote says that everyone has unique qualities and this is true, but I feel like when it comes to movies people have a lot more in common with others. If you like love stories where there is little to no action movies like Django or Thor or Iron Man are not suitable choices and same goes the other if you are looking for action.

I know these movie trailers are very successful in representing my norms and values and draw my attention because if they didn’t I wouldn’t end up at the movies theatres watching them.