On The Media: Social Media Campaigns

The Internet is a powerful tool and has grown drastically ever since it was introduced in the early 60s. Bob Garfield was talking about how the Internet has helped reach out to people via social media by getting them involved in social groups. Nicole, a regular listener, spoke about an experience she had with the help of social media regarding social media. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Appendix cancer (rare cancer and the prognosis is usually poor) and she was treated with such great care which she gives all the credit to social media, specifically a Facebook group. This particular group had citizens that had related symptoms and was basically a chat room because they were able to speak their mind and someone actually recommended her to a specialist in Baltimore, MD. Luckily she found the treatment she needed but there also comes a dark side with these group pages. Online Hoax’s which are designed to generate cash donations or used in a way for strangers to gather attention.

The Internet can either help you or hurt you. The fact that Nicole was able to find a solution for her cancer using social media shows how powerful the Internet can be and what good it can do for people. People like a lot of certain pages on Facebook relating to things they are interested in. For example, people follow certain sports teams in order to keep up with news that is happening and updates when they are playing in a game, match, etc. That is more of an entertainment side, but doing something along the lines of how Nicole managed it, a person can tackle more serious issues and Facebook pages can be used as a particular movement and campaign. While that is all good, it can come with some faults. People can start certain pages only to attract people to them and use them to blackmail people or even threaten them. It reminds of the show Catfish except it doesn’t always have to involve relationships. For example, a person can originate a page and use it as an online weapon to put people at risk with their job, marriage, kids, or even their own life. The Internet can be used as a good resource to have campaigns to help people but some people will take advantage of this power and use it negatively.

Physical: This happens on all different kinds of social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) and also Kick-starter websites which are created to focus on narrowly specific topics.

Psychological: You have to basically trust whatever your instinct tells you because unless you know the person behind the campaign, you truly don’t know who shields their identity on the other end. We would like to be able to trust that a person is who they say they are and that the campaign is the actual thing they’re focusing on.

Cultural: Using Nicole’s example, I think having a chat page where you can talk about something private and knowing that no one will judge you because you’re all there for the same reason is a great cause. Plus the fact she was able to get a link to a doctor and it helped treat her cancer. If we as a society would open our eyes to see the opportunities out there waiting to happen, we could more than just nationally.

Social: “Social” is the main word in social media because these sites are all about talking with each other to develop some sort of understanding and create relationships. Facebook pages and other social media sites that create pages encourage people to talk about their situations without any doubt and it’s all about making people feel comfortable and know they are not alone.

Temporal: First thing first, a person has to be able to be comfortable with themselves and accept their problem before they talk about it with anybody else. A person can’t let trust issues or their spiritual beliefs get in the way of their decision making and being able to have a normal conversation about their problems. I think Nicole was able to become comfortable with reaching out to others because they were there for the same reason. 

Well-Informed 2.0: Democracy 2.0 - Snowden

Discussion:

The definition of Democracy 2.0 that I found is that it’s the inevitable movement that will put control of society in the hands of itself. It’s a mechanism to decentralize leadership in our current system both legally and peacefully. Edward Snowden in his interview about being a whistle-blower was asked about why people should care about surveillance. He responded with, “Because even if you’re not doing anything wrong, you’re being watched and recorded…” and but yet we want to “decentralize” or redistribute power of leadership within our society. We want to be able to trust our government and have faith in the decisions that they’re making yet we have to watch our own backs because it seems like the government is waiting for us to mess up so they can catch us. Snowden leaked classified information about the National Security Agency (NSA) to the public in 2013 and is hypocritical for saying he doesn’t want to live in a society where the government will scrutinize anything that you do and attack you and derive suspicion which then they can paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer. He is trying to cover his tracks for the wrongdoings of his actions and is actually putting society in danger and is now running because he knows he is wrong.

Position:

I first learned about Edward Snowden last semester in Jennifer Koehler’s Public Discourse and Relations class. At first, I thought he was a civil individual who was trying to protect us from the government but he released some really crucial information to certain journalist and has been on the run since 2013. I think society does need some sort of leader in their governmental system because without leadership comes corruption. Leaving society in charge of making ethical decisions would be nice if people were counted as trustworthy but most people do things ending with it benefiting in their favor. If the U.S. took the power away from President Obama, who would we rely on? Congress? It would be a constant clash between the Democrats and the Republicans with minimal progress ever being made because the two parties would struggle agreeing with each other. In that case, I do believe in having a political figure to lead our country. In my defense, I do think that some candidates try and become president but become corrupted in using their power for themselves instead of always focusing on what is best for everyone. In my opinion, that’s why I am afraid of having Donald Trump becoming our president. He might have good ideas but if he was elected, the question I’d be struggling with is how long would it be before he became corrupted and used his power for his own benefit over the people?  

On The Media: Primary Debates 2015

So, last Wednesday, CNN hosted the second round of the GOP Primary Debates and moderator Jake Tapper had promised that it wasn’t going to be “one of those boring debates where the candidates only speak to the moderator and remain civil, this was going to REAL!”. Oh, it definitely was real because Brooke Gladstone played some clips from it including one between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump which Bush accused Trump of lobbying the Florida governor for the right to build a casino in the sunshine state and was right. Of course Trump denied it when he was called out on it but it wasn’t the only lie that went on during the debates. Marco Rubio accused President Obama for the attack on Syria saying it was going to be a pinprick but President Obama never claimed that.

In my opinion, the Primary Debates are all about building credibility and trust with their audience to receive proper votes. It gets to the point where people just basically start blaming each other for every problem they have ever made and express their opinion why they’re going to do better. Personally, I don’t want Donald Trump to be our president because I think he is too arrogant to run our country and kind of has a hidden agenda for everything that he is doing and these debates expose people to some degree. I mean the fact that Jeb Bush called him out saying he was persuading the Florida governor to construct a casino is absurd to me. It shows me that Trump is selfish and is willing to try and negotiate with whoever is necessary in order to fulfill his requirements. I don’t trust him with that much power over the country and has the rules and authorities to regulate citizens because every day, I seem to always hear something new about him. I don’t think that the debates are bad, they are actually helpful in my opinion to narrow down my choices on who to vote for and it shows their personality which all of it is beneficial when it comes time to choose a candidate.

Physical: The Primary Debates of 2015 took place where all the future candidates were present to make their claims. It was hosted on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 from the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California and was definitely one of the more engaging and enjoyable events.

Psychological: People use the debates to grasps where the candidate’s heads are at, to see where they stand and compare it to themselves. Some people are frightened by the fact that Donald Trump might become our president because they don’t want the U.S. to become corrupted and have a national target on our backs.

Cultural: Minorities in our country are beginning to fear, especially Hispanics because, for example, if Trump is elected then he intends to see illegal immigrants back to their original country. Now, you see they are fighting for their freedom by going on strikes and trying to do everything in their power to persuade others not to vote for him because they should have freedom as well.

Social: The Primary Debates encourage people to start talking and bring up certain topics and issues with each other. Relating back to On The Media when Brooke Gladstone brought up several occasions where some of the runner-ups were lying shows that they are willing to say and do anything they can to develop good relations with the public and receive their votes. People might have certain thoughts and feelings pertaining to someone but then have a tendency to feel complete different afterwards once they heard that person’s story.

Temporal: Religion and spiritual beliefs can interfere when it comes down to selecting a candidate. For example, some people were afraid to vote for Mitt Romney only regarding the fact that he was Mormon which is unfair because his religion shouldn’t scare people into not voting for him because they think he’ll ruin the country. People need to learn to trust the candidates and listen to their plans for the future, it’s not like if he was voted president that he was going to convert everyone to Mormonism. People are entitled to their beliefs but it should conflict with the presidential candidate’s morals and values.

Well Informed: Learning 2.0

Discussion:

Learning 2.0 when I think about it is basically the next step in our learning process wherever that lies in school, work, sports, etc. I came across this story posted by a student last semester by the name of Keshara Bjorkman and the title of her piece that I read was, “We Are Weak” and she was describing her time training at Fort Jackson. The main point about her argument was not necessarily the training itself but rather learning about herself personally distinguishing between her strengths and weaknesses. She explains that she had seen people either rise or fall according to what they are good at and she had to hold herself together to try to avoid being put down by other people based on her performance. It wasn’t only about her physical strength but also her mental state of mind too as she said it was tough coming home which is what she look forward to the most. When she was training, she didn’t want to think about going home because it seemed to make the days go by slower so she had to adapt to a certain way of living until it was over. She mentioned an example about Taylor Swift and how she is a human being just like the rest of us but as soon as she makes a mistake, everyone is all over her. The moral of her story is that we are judged constantly by our strengths and weaknesses.

Position:

Learning is a part of our lives, we are constantly learning things daily whether it is 2+2=4, a new skill in a specific sport or learning a certain position in the workplace. Whatever the case may be, we are always learning and that’s why I enjoyed this story so much is because we are always learning new things about ourselves, good or bad. It’s important when people can point out flaws in us and can help us correct it or at least bring up some awareness by it as well. Being an athlete, I tend to judge myself according to my performance. For example, if I have a good race then I feel pretty good about myself and I’ll treat myself better than if I have a terrible race, I’m most likely to be in a bad mood and just think negativity about everything from that day on. I don’t know why a person has to judge someone and make them feel harsh about themselves only to satisfy them. It doesn’t make any sense to me and quite frankly, I feel like instead of making someone look superior, I think it has the opposite effect having that person look weak because they are. A prime example of this is when a group of people jump (multiple people beat up a quantity less than them) another person. If it’s 5 on 1, and that one person is just getting demolished, why does the group feel like their superior? I never have understood that because it makes them look stupid and weak, it shouldn’t take 5 men to beat up one person. We are constantly learning things about ourselves but also other people in the process. Nobody is perfect but as long as we can fix prior mistakes we’ve made then we are making progress.

On The Media: Kim Davis! Right or Wrong?

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said, “Again, we believe in religious liberty but that doesn’t mean you can use your freedoms to undermine the freedoms of other people” when speaking to Fox News Channel’s Megan Kelly about the situation with Kim Davis. She spoke upon being released from jail after being held for contempt of court for refusing on religious grounds to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. She had this to say following her release, “We serve a living God, who knows exactly where each and every one of us is at. Just keep on pressing, don’t let down, because he is her. He’s worthy, he’s worthy!”. Jindal believes Davis was prosecuted for her devote Christianity. He also states that secular law should prevail over fundamentalist Muslims but not against fundamentalist Protestants according to Bob Garfield. Jindal wasn’t alone when it came to defending Kim Davis but Texas Senator and Republican Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz also weighed in, “For the first time, we’re seeing a Christian woman thrown in jail for standing up for her faith. I’ll tell you, I stand with Kim Davis, unequivocally I stand with her and anyone else the government is trying to prosecute for standing up for their faith”. Republican hopeful Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee also gave their two cents as well to stand with Kim.

My view on all of this is I agree with Cruz and Jindal in the fact that Kim Davis was prosecuted regarding her beliefs. I don’t ethically agree with Kim Davis on denying marriage licenses to gay couples because I am one of probably few that support gay marriage but I do believe that she has a right to act on what she believes is the right thing. Religion seems to be a sensitive topic around the world and people for some reason have a tendency to think there is one ultimate answer to all the questions. My opinion is that different people, based on your religious upbringing, view the world differently and have all kinds of contrasting thoughts and ideas on all subjects so just because one person thinks gay marriage is wrong doesn’t mean they are a horrible individual and should be punished. They might just believe that and you can’t force them to think differently. To be thrown into jail because according to her religion in my opinion is wrong because gay couples might have something against her but she’s not the ONLY person who doesn’t support gay marriage. Although, just because she’s not in favor of gay marriage, that doesn’t mean she should be granted a pass from jail. I mean after all, it is legal now so I don’t entirely agree with Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz because at some point, there needs to be a line.

Physical: Kim Davis, Clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz thought she was prosecuted according to her religion.

Psychological: The day when Same Sex Marriage was granted legal in the U.S., it also came with some criticism from people that didn’t support it. Kim Davis doesn’t agree with gay marriage due to her beliefs but is that really enough to be released from jail?

Cultural: Culture plays a huge role here because Kim Davis is placing her beliefs above the law by denying gay couples licenses because it’s what she believes in. On the other hand, all the individuals who happen to be gay feel like their moral ethics and laws are being violated because she doesn’t support therefore, they feel like they are somewhat discriminated against.

Social: Homosexuality is forbidden to some people and is seen as completely wrong. Some people are for it while others are against it. I want to compare it to a similar problem we are having in the world today involving illegal immigrants. Obama has granted an amnesty for those already here to stay here meanwhile Republican hopeful Donald Trump if he’s elected wants to send them back to where they came from. Different groups of people have their opinions on the subject, some think they have contributed to our country while others believe it’s unfair to be here illegally. Back to homosexuality, according to people’s beliefs, everyone has a different opinion on the matter. Even those of the same religion (I’m Christian and I disagree with Kim Davis).

Temporal: Gay marriage being legalized was a huge step for America and a huge win for those that are gay but unfortunately it’s like racism, I don’t see it going away any time soon. There will be always certain individuals who support it but then others that are similar to Kim Davis in the fact that they won’t grant them specific rules or abilities due to the fact that they are gay. It is unfortunate but hopefully gay will be granted the same rights as straights regardless of other people’s beliefs and opinions.

Facebook Campaign

Page Name – Fresh to Def Hip Hop & RnB    https://www.facebook.com/freshtodefmusic?ref=hl

Mission – My mission is to provide people with new content of Hip Hop & RnB weekly while also providing celebrity artists’ news, gossip along with some interviews (if appropriate).

Communication Objectives – I grew up listening to Hip Hop and RnB so I fell in love with that genre and I wanted to share that with people who either like Hip Hop and RnB or not. I can provide more knowledge and background about certain artists’ and keep people updated on new music and news that’s happening. I am excited to see the results that transpire from this project and hopefully I’ll become motivated to keep this campaign running.

Theme – Hip Hop, RnB, Fresh hits, knowledge and enjoyment. Everybody has their different genres of music that they enjoy and I am trying to widen people’s knowledge of new exclusive music.

Audience –

Richard – A 30 year old adult who loves Hip Hop but only can listen to the local radio station that happens only to play Top 40 songs. The amount of Hip Hop on that station is limited and he wants to have constant updates about new Hip Hop music. He can check out Fresh to Def for weekly updates of new Hip Hop music.

Beth – She’s a single woman with two children who play football but is not much of a Hip Hop fan herself. That is perfectly fine because she can learn some new music knowledge and get a feel for what is the newest thing out. So that way next time her son, Michael invites a friend who is into Hip Hop & RnB, Beth will be ahead of the game with some useful knowledge.

Kyle – He’s 21 years old and is a Hip Hop & RnB junky and wants to know when an artist is working on something new or has any recent news about him. New content will be added periodically of different artists’ so he can keep up with everything that is happening in the industry. 

On The Media: Offer a Helping Hand Instead of a Voice

“A 3 year old boy in a red shirt and short pants, a sweet face pressed into the sand and surf; drowned.” That is the quote that was used by Brooke Gladstone as she posed the question, ‘how does a photograph enrage a world unmoved for so long after Europe’s refugee crisis after so many dead?’ She explains if wasn’t the fact that he was a child but simply that it was a single child. Studies show that we are moved to help when we see the image of one desperate child but the urge quickly shrivels when we’re exposed to two or more children but we feel more connected when the child looks identical to us. It’s nothing new, we have seen this before and she provides another example with bringing up Vietnam and all the deaths that occurred there but say people were shocked when a pictured leaked of a little girl scorched by napalm running naked in the street. Gladstone accessed that some editors choose not to include the photograph in their piece but she believes it should be seen because it provides a “drop of injustice” as quoted by Brooke that reigns down on all of us as a society. Over time, being exposed to more unfortunate pictures like these should finally have the roof cave in and add some relief and open our eyes.

I always have a feeling of uneasiness when it comes to graphic photographs like these because I rarely have the stomach for it and it forces myself to open my eyes and realize that I am truly blessed to live the life that I am currently living. Living here in the U.S. I feel like we all at times take advantage of our freedom and we’re still complaining to have more. When I see tragic and distraught pictures, me personally want to offer a helping hand rather than having a voice by saying, “That’s unfortunate but we should ourselves (Americans) first” or “I wish I could help out”. It kind of irritates me when I hear people say that because we need to help EVERYBODY, not just Americans, we are all human but we still act like being divided by a border or a certain race separates us. Now I know not everyone is in the position where they can help out but when people say they wish they can then go spend their money on unnecessary garbage then they’re becoming a hypocrite of their words. I wish we didn’t have to portray pictures of children dying but if that’s the way it’ll alert people than so be it.

Physical: Elan (3 year old boy) happened in Europe’s Refugee Crisis and little girl scorched in napalm in Vietnam.

Psychological: Being exposed to one helpless child will open up people’s sentimental side but once there are two or more in the pictures, people feel threatened.

Cultural: This unfortunately happens way too often and when people are exposed to these graphic pictures then we’ll act like it’s nothing special by maybe saying, “That’s sad” and continue to move about our day.

Social: Nobody talks about the situation, people just think if they can avoid this sickening subject than they won’t have to worry about anything. That right there is the problem, if people would stand up and talk to each other about and try to find solutions then we as a society could maybe prevent less of it from happening in the future.

Temporal: Religion sometimes will get in the way of our perceptions and force us to think that that’s what happens in that country and there’s nothing you can do. To me, that’s just an excuse to be lazy because we might have to go through the same thing as long as it has nothing to do with “our” family.

Well Informed 2.0: Racism 2.0

Discussion: 

Racism is unfortunately still present in our society and the birth of social media has sadly enhanced it. It varies from a single person commenting about a certain situation is that is currently happening (e.g. Ferguson, Missouri), to memes about it. Lately it seems like a lot of crimes have been stimulated by racism and dependent on the color of someone’s skin tone. An article that was published in Politico by John McWhorter called, “Racism 2.0: The new, racist Atticus Finch isn’t entirely black and white” which basically compares Harper Lee’s two stories: “To Kill A Mockingbird” and more recently, “Go Set a Watchman”. McWhorter says “Mockingbird” teaches Racism 1.0 which in the sixties referred that it’s wrong to openly treat black people like second-class citizens. However, “Watchman” teaches the lesson about racism considered equally urgent in our times, which we call Racism 2.0. One quote that McWhorter uses when describing how Atticus Finch (fictional character in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’) informs the public about racism has grown present in today’s society. That is, “Atticus taught exactly what today’s Salon reader is proud to teach all who listen—that racism is no longer a matter of snarling fools popping off with the N-word”. The example that is used is when a lawyer that will keep a black man innocent but doesn’t want too many of his descent in his (the lawyer’s) neighborhood.

Position: 
My stance on racism is that I simply don’t approve of it because it just calls for drama and we apparently live in a country of freedom and calls itself “United” but I don’t witness that. I feel like I’ve been discriminated against because people’s actions will kind of give it away. An example I can think of is sometimes I’ll be walking around in a store and a mother will have her child with her and I’ll happen to be walking towards them. When I get within 30 feet of them, the mother will automatically pull her child closer to her even when the child wasn’t that far in the first place. When it happens, I don’t know what to think half the time, because I’ll be thinking that I did something wrong when really the woman could’ve been paranoid to judging me and my character. No, this doesn’t mean that I think everyone who does this is racist because they’re not, people are protective of their children which is understandable. I’ve had a feeling though that sometimes it stems from the fact that I am African American even though I am white also. Racism is sadly unfair to me because no one can change the color of their skin that they were born with. Our society has gotten caught up in all the stereotypes that they hear about different nationalities and apply it to everyone of that descent which is racist in itself because then you are judging someone off the complexion of their skin tone and not of their personality and behaviors. I wish I could say racism is going to end soon but I just don’t see that as the case because people are always going to use those motives when particular crimes happen. It’s already present with the “white” cops killing innocent “black” men, a “white” guy shoots down people in an African American church in South Carolina, etc. It needs to stop but the question is will it? And how long until people realize they are just damaging the community and forcing separation on each other in our own country?

On The Media: Roanoke Catastrophe!

The subject that I wanted to focus on is the shooting of TV Journalist, Alison Parker and Adam Ward who were killed on live television (WDJB TV) in Roanoke, Virginia. Brooke Gladstone was explaining that the shooter obviously recorded it on video from his iPhone (which spread like wildfire) and tied a simile into it by comparing it to the view a player has in a first-person shooter video game. She then started to list some questions of interest like, “Are video games culpable?” but she came back with a rebuttal saying, “Video games don’t make murderers”. Also she said, “Is the allure of social media to blame?” but she was contradicting that point as well. Gladstone was explaining that when informational tools are granted to everyone then they can use it and she brought up past cases like Walter Scott’s murder by an officer in South Carolina, and Eric Gardner’s death after a police choke hold in New York. She ended with a great quote, “Our cell phone’s footage shows us who we are…..and reminds us what we could be…….lunatics have cameras, but more important, the rest of us do too”.

My opinion of this unforgettable and tragic situation is the simple fact that racism is still strongly prevalent in our society. So many of these heinous and violent acts seem to stem from the color of a person’s skin tone. The question that spurs around in my mind is, “Why does it matter?”, instead of #BlackLivesMatter, the focus should be on #AllLivesMatter because at the end of the day everyone is eventually going to die and I feel like God created each individual to be unique in some way but not to be hateful towards each other.

Brooke Gladstone made some excellent points about the killings but something that immediately came into some conflict with is when she basically concluded that video games weren’t to blame for some of the shootings. Now, as far as this shooting that might’ve not been the case, but I do think in some twisted fashion that video games can make murders of some sort. I am someone who plays video games and didn’t think about that he put the phone right next to his hand where his gun was and started shooting which if you play a game like Call of Duty then you’ll experience something similar (not shooting reporters). Games like Grand Theft Auto, Just Cause where the game encourages for rage, destruction and violence can be translated to a younger child/adult that committed crimes like these are fine.

Physical: The shooting happened live on set during an interview Wednesday, August 26, 2015 in Moneta, Virginia.

Psychological: Vester Lee Flanagan aka (also known as) Bryce Williams (the shooter) worked at WDJB TV but was fired for personal reasons after a year had mysterious motives to walk on the set and shoot Alison Parker as well as Adam Ward then himself to send a message.

Cultural: Small town in Roanoke, Virginia and Williams said the shooting was a response to the mass murder in South Carolina which is obviously sparked by race and ethnicity is the main motive for this crime.

Social: Bryce Williams was born and raised in Oakland, CA. but later moved to Roanoke to pursue his dream as a Television Journalist. He claimed he was fired because he was African American and also gay.

Temporal: Williams felt discriminated against and lashed out his anger by adding some more recognition to his name by shooting Alison and Adam on live television. Everything centers back to racism because Williams believes that he killed some Whites then it levels the field when in fact it enhances more violence.