OTM: Automatic Attitudinal Responses

The way I would structure my On The Media assignments is that I would always start out with an overview of whichever particular story that I was covering then I laid my opinion out in the next paragraph. I would follow that up with the 5 different contexts (physical, psychological, social, cultural, and temporal). When it came to my opinion, on some post I remained to stay objective while on others, I just said exactly how I was feeling.

OTM 1: Roanoke Catastrophe!

I definitely had my share of primary certitude regarding this post because I have strong feelings when it comes to gun violence. It seems like within the last year or two that there have been too many incidents and tragedies with shootings. Whether it has to do with police officers (no matter the race) killing what looks to be innocent citizens or other citizens (e.g. Sandy Hook) unleashing bullets on other people. I don’t think that guns are the problem, I believe that certain people with guns are the problem. Now I haven’t had anyone in my family die by a horrific situation like this but the reason I believe that I feel so strong about it is because I’m tired of turning on the TV and hear another story about a killing. I tend to be more affected when it comes to children and innocent citizens because I always think about if that was my family. It doesn’t seem like you can go anywhere without feeling insecure about your safety.

OTM 2: Offer a Helping Hand Instead of a Voice

This post was talking about the photographs of kids, showing a graphic devastation of what had happened to them. It specifically had to do with the refugee boy who was shown fully clothed with his head plowed into the sand but unconscious because he drowned. What about the other image of the little girl running through the street naked stung by napalm. Writing about those images in this moment made my cringe and take a pause for a second and that is why I mentioned that we are blessed here in the United States. Most of us are, perhaps because there are homeless people. My automatic attitudinal response (AAR) unveils itself on this post because I’ve always lived in America so I am only accustom to one type of living. The reason I don’t want to just be a voice is because I believe that you aren’t fully committing by word of mouth. Actions speak louder than words and in my opinion, I live an excellent live so I want to make a change by helping others prosper.

OTM 3: Kim Davis! Right or Wrong?

 I was heavily opinionated when it comes to Kim Davis and the decision she made with the gay couple denying marriage licenses to them. Now I have an ethnocentric position regarding Kim Davis solely by her behavior towards the gay couple. I am a Christian just like her so I was not judging her based on her religion and I wasn’t even mad at the fact that she doesn’t support gay marriage but going against the law is another story. I do believe she was arrested on the morals she believes in but now that I have taken some time to read my post and react, I do think it was the correct decision to follow through with the arrest because it violates the law. I remained to stay objective about it although I support gay marriage because I personally don’t find it offensive that she doesn’t support gay marriage because tons of people don’t. The only big problem I had like I said was that she went against the law.

OTM 4: Primary Debates 2015

I seemed to have a hidden presumption when talking about Donald Trump and the presidential debates of 2015. To be honest, I didn’t have much of a background on Trump at all, I mean I knew who he was and that he hosted “The Apprentice,” but not a lot beyond that. I didn’t really know a lot about the type of character he was but who doesn’t know his famous slogan? “You’re Fired.” I feel like I used this given information plus some negative information that I have received from friends and family about him and automatically judged his character. Stating all that, I still don’t want him to run our country because I find him to be a compulsive liar and I don’t really trust anything he says plus thinking of him with all the authoritative power that is granted to come, I’m afraid that he’ll continue to plunge our country downwards.

OTM 5: Social Media Campaigns

Social Media is a topic that I have particular certitudes with because I’ve had many experiences with it and it’s something that changes on a daily basis. This post had to do with social media campaigns and I was saying that the Internet can either help or hurt people. The example Bob Garfield described was about this woman named Nicole who found a solution for her cancer through a campaign. Now she didn’t actually find a cure off Facebook but she liked a page which featured people who were in the same position as she was which then somebody offered her information about a certain doctor that she needed to go see. By that person’s generosity, she was able to get cured. I also said how social media can hinder someone as well by mentioning the show, “Catfish”. My example is that I have followed girls on Instagram simply because they are cute. In doing so, I make sure I am careful about the information I post on the Internet because it could be some creeper behind that computer who will stalk me especially if I distribute personal information.

OTM 6: Darkode, Are We Really Safe?

I had an automatic attitudinal response about hackers because I had an experience that happened to my mom over the summer break when someone who claimed to be the IRS called her telling her to send an amount of money or she was going to jail. My primary certitudes about hackers is that they are con artist and are willing to say whatever they need to in order to extract specific information out of you. I don’t know how I would’ve handled that situation if I was in my mom’s shoes because I am gullible but at the same time, I think you would know if you paid your taxes or not. Also when it comes to signing up for things on websites, I try and hold myself accountable for my actions and watch out for certain material that they might ask me for. This might sound corny but I after I fill something out online that wants me to provide the company with my address, phone number, etc. I always have my mom double check it because she can usually spot if something is off or if it’s a scam. So when it comes to hackers, I try my best to monitor myself.

OTM 7: Playboy Covering Up!

Looking back on this post that was put up about a little over a week ago, I’m now realizing that I am a hypocrite of my words. I wasn’t lying when I said I have never subscribed to Playboy when I was younger because my mother held me to higher standards. At the same time, I don’t like to view women as objects but in some cases, I do just to be aroused. It’s the truth and I do feel a little cautious and prejudged by admitting to it but I realized I was somewhat being deceitful. I do have an ethnocentric position on this because I feel like being a male alone, I will be viewed as dirty and cruel for wanting my own personal satisfaction. I am, however, glad that the magazine company has decided to cover up the women for their own sake so these women can have some sense of respect. I’ve never heard anyone talk about a playboy women in a positive manner regarding her “outstanding personality” or “fantastic smile” to throw out some examples. I usually only hear about them in sexual terminologies and I find it to be extremely unfortunate. I feel like I have an AAR about women’s rights and the faults that come with that because I have a sister. I feel bad for women in our society because they are supposed to stay in the house and cook meals and clean but at the snap of a guy’s fingers, they’re supposed to adjust themselves to be sexy. It’s extremely unfair.

I absolutely loved participating doing the weekly OTM Post because I know that I learned so much valuable information that I would’ve never known about before. The problem that I have is that I am never usually aware of what is going on around me and that is rather dangerous, I don’t watch the news unless it just happens to be on. When I was little, I didn’t have the full knowledge to understand everything happening surrounding myself but I couldn’t do anything about it and I frankly didn’t care. Now that I am 20 years old (about to be 21, November 30^th) and still don’t watch informs me that I need to pay much more attention and I feel that the OTM Post has opened me up in that way.

There is something about listening to a podcast rather than watching a newscast on television, I think it’s just the fact that you are using your ears to listen attentively and reflect. The picture for some people including myself sometimes can be a distraction and I’ll kind of tune out whatever the newscaster is saying. Although if I don’t have the option of the pictures then I find myself fully engaged in the conversation and reacting on a much more personal level. 

On The Media: Playboy Covering Up!

Playboy decided to cover up and show no more nude women. Starting March of next year, it will be official but it might hurt the industry given that last year Playboy revamped its website making it safe for parasol at work, its web traffic quadrupled ranging from 4 million monthly to about 16 million. Plus the average age as well from 47 years old to just over 30. Hugh Hefner who is owner and creator of Playboy Magazine served his time in WWII sitting behind a desk state side because he had writing ability. Hefner’s favorite magazine was Esquire and he became fond of Alberto Vargas who was the creator of pin-ups for Esquire and later worked at Playboy. He called his creations the “Vargas Girls” who were paintings of nude women and Hefner loved his creations but wanted to see real women in the magazines who looked identical to the Vargas Girls.

Personally, I’m not going to lie, I’ve seen pictures from Playboy magazines that my friends had but it happened when I was younger. I grew out of that now and never subscribed to Playboy because my mom would’ve probably never had let me but at the same time, it feels dirty and wrong to me to speculate a women as an object and staring at their body parts rather than appreciating them for the kind of person they are. Especially in a magazine where all there are nothing but naked women, a guy is not picking up that magazine to read an article about how nice or charming that women is, they are looking for the sexy lingerie to satisfy themselves. I am glad that they have decided to cover up their women because modeling can be done with clothes on and should. I know some people want to see certain things explicitly but there are other networks out there that you can do that but I even think that those should be monitored as well.

Physical: Playboy was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and some of his associates. Women are modeling with little to no clothes on whatsoever and it’s just for men’s and others own entertainment and sexual satisfaction.

Psychological: The publishers and buyers of these magazines aren’t really considering the feelings of how the women feel and their view on it. I mean I know it is their job but they are posing their body for the public and why does it have to be nude? It doesn’t, women are beautiful in all kinds of way and posing them naked literally adds to the phrase: “Sex sells.”

Cultural: Playboy isn’t the only place that girls are naked and it’s not only in magazines either. We have something called the Internet where this can easily be expanded. I hate to use this word publicly but “porn” is a form of sexual entertainment that has more detail with two people who will have sex publicly and cast it online. It’s really sad actually because in that way, both men and women are being viewed as objects.

Social: Playboy is something that has been constantly talked about for years but now that they have decided to cover up, that might stir a whole different conversation with some people supporting that idea and others that would reject it. Either way, this sort of thing is something that is always being brought up whether it’s in a serious manner or not.

Temporal: Hugh Hefner liked the “Vargas Girls” but wanted to see the real thing by having real women being depicted as them instead. Playboy is seen as a trendsetter and a “sophisticated” magazine that have made other magazines want to follow it as well.

Has Hugh Hefner lost his mind?

Well-Informed 2.0: Climate Change 1.0

Discussion:

Climate Change starts with us (humans) because we are the ones that are constantly changing the climate by our own doings. One video that I checked out was, “This Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein and an example I extracted from it was the massive forest of Alberta, Canada. It had been undisturbed for about 10,000 years until recently by putting oil in it and strip all the sub soil, top soil and clay off of it. They place the oil in holes that are about 30 to 40 feet deep. Leaving the forest alone for 10,000 years and now all of the sudden we want to mess with it? Why? The simple answer is that it is for our own benefit while at the same time interfering with the environment. Constructing more buildings, monuments, statues, zoos, etc. I am not a fan of zoos because humans are taking animals away from their natural habitat and locking them away in cages and expect them to perform for people and whatever but all it is a really selfish move. It’s a shame when a huge tsunami comes rolling through and thousands of people are left dead or injured. At the same time, when you imagine all the pollution that is around then that is what really bothers me? Somehow this needs to change.

Position:

When I hear the words “climate change” then my mind automatically turns to Mother Nature and the weather around us. I never really thought that it can be somewhat controlled and toyed with. Pollution can be manipulated with because people will dump their garbage on the ground or in the ocean (both disgust me so much) and you’ll have these piles of trash floating around in the air. People seem to be blind by it because they act like its normal and there’s nothing you can do about it but in fact there is something that can be done. Simply stop doing it but people continuously treat the Earth like a trash dump and it sickens me. One example that I can think of is the Fresh Kills story which is the trash site that has now been transformed into a national park in Statin Island, New York. Up until March 22, 2001 when it was closed, it was largest landfill, as well as HUMAN-MADE STRUCTURE, in the world. I shouldn’t have to repeat it, but a man-made structure that continued to grow bigger and bigger and would stink up the streets. I would’ve complained if I lived there and I’m sure that people did but now they did the right thing to close it down and transform it into a beautiful park which is crazy when you think about it. California is another example because the pollution there is so thick that you can visually see it. I hope we can just leave nature alone but it doesn’t seem like that will happen unfortunately. We need a policy that everyone can buy into so we can all contribute to the problem.

Well-Informed: Religion 3.0

Discussion:

Religion 1.0 is the authority of elders, Religion 2.0 is the authority of scripture, and Religion 3.0 is based on evidence. I watched a sermon spoken from Michael Dowd, “Religion 3.0: Inspiring Science, Realistic Hope.” Religion 1.0 is based on what we hear from our parents, grandparents and follow their beliefs even though we don’t fully understand. Religion 2.0 is based on scripture like the Bible and stories we read. Both of those theories are perfectly fine and structured but what proof do we have? That is where Religion 3.0 comes in and above all religions, Dowd says there are 3 things that are considered real and can’t be changed no matter what you believe in. The 3 things are time, nature and mystery. When it comes to time, he talks about how the past is real because certain things have happened to help shape out the future. Dowd says, “If we act as if the future is not real, we will condemn the future.” Nature is the second rule (inner nature, outer nature, social nature and interpretive nature) that is real. We act in a particular way that we believe in and we can connect with people accordingly and Dowd says our interpretations matter. The last rule that is real is mystery which is everything that we don’t know. If we’re basing our findings on evidence, no one on Earth really knows if there is a God given that people have never physically seen him. In the end, the final thing that matters is our legacy.

Position:

In my personal views and beliefs, I do believe in a self-righteous God who sacrificed his life in order for us to live out our purpose. When it comes to Religion 3.0 and putting my beliefs against evidence, I don’t have physical proof. My stance is more of a 2.0 perspective because I rely on scriptures, that is ultimately discover and base my truth from. Honestly, a part of me believes that there is a real human-like figure who is God and sent his son Jesus down to save all of us. On the other hand though, I believe that God shows his presence within other people. I’m not saying that a human on this Earth is God but I do think that he works in mysterious ways using people to get his message across. When Dowd talks about the 3 concepts that are unchangeable referring to time, nature and mystery, I agree which helps me believe even more because of the scriptures. Dowd mentioned that the past is a real thing and sets us up for the future and in the scriptures that I believe in, Jesus was in Jerusalem to lead the disciples and undoubtedly committed the greatest sacrifice known to man by dying on the cross for our sins and help us cleanse our body and mind. If time is real than I believe that it actually happened without seeing God for who is truly is. There is my evidence that I have and therefore I believe in Religion 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. 

Michael Dowd: "Religion 3.0: Inspiring Science, Realistic Hope"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr3ZnCRNO7Q

On The Media: Darkode, Are We Really Safe?

I am seriously in shock after listening to Radiolab regarding hackers. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve known that hacking has existed but this has shown me the extent of which it could happened but people will make it somewhat of a profession. When I picture hackers, I think of individuals who are really into gaming and someone who blocks out reality. I feel like people participate in hacking because it gives them some sort of satisfaction because they struggle to have a social life. I was already frightened of having my information stolen from hackers simply from watching shows and movies. The difference is in movies and shows, it’s all scripted but when I hear about a real life situation, it immediately helps open my eyes to all the creeps out there trying to steal information.

I have an example that happened earlier this summer when I was home for the 4 month break. I remember that my mom and I just finished working out and we were headed to the gas station. All of the sudden she received this call from an unknown number (she doesn’t answer blocked id calls) but she didn’t pick up forcing the person to leave a voicemail. While we were at the gas station getting gas, she listened to the voice message and was shocked by the information that she heard. It was supposedly the IRS calling about her not paying her taxes or something like that (I don’t actually remember) but she knew that she did pay and was confused by the call so she decided to call back. I could hear the guy on the other end and he sounded very corny and false, the weird part was that a woman left the voicemail but a man answered the phone when she called back. To make it even weirder, they had the same exact last name like they were married. Anyway, the guy said that my mom had to send like $200,000 to them in Washington D.C. by a certain date or she would have to deal with it in court. She began to question this guy’s credibility and asked him when was the date she was supposed to pay, he said, “I’m not sure but we have it in our records.” Then she asked, “Where (address) do I send the money,” and he became very irritated and responded, “We don’t have an address….you know what, we’ll just see you in court.” The whole thing was fishy and she called some people and found out that it was some people trying to hack her.

Physical: Hackers have been around ever since the birth of computers and people have been learning of new tricks to have access to someone else’s private settings. That’s why it’s important to watch the things that you post online because it will stay out there forever and there are disgusting people who will search for you and gather as much information as they want.

Psychological: You have to really question the credibility of any given website because you never know the kind of resources they have to save your personal information when you sign up for something. Hackers are creative people and will have certain strategies and gimmicks to bait people into distributing their information.

Cultural: I mean obviously, this is not something that only happens in America, it’s all over the world. I mean the example was the woman in Russia and the scary things about hackers is they can also be anywhere in the world. The Internet is seriously a powerful tool and the person behind the keyboard can be in another country or your next door neighbor.

Social: Hackers are NOT your friends, they will simply use you and persuade you into disclosing information with them and once they receive that, they’ll drop you. A lot of hackers are aggressive and won’t try and play the friendly card, they will threaten you to the point where you are scared and feel like you have no way out. Remember they’re just some individual hiding behind a screen but that alone gives them extreme power.

Temporal: With technology growing, I think people have also become more aware of their surroundings and won’t always sign up for random sites anymore. You can tell when you’re signing up for something like Instagram for example and they ask for your address, there is really no need to have to give them your address because what does that have to do with uploading pictures unless you want them to know about your location.

Well-Informed 2.0: Privacy 2.0

Discussion:

Privacy is personal to people because it has to do with their own information and they should be able to grant access to certain people without feeling like they’re being invaded by the government. The thing is, they are. After doing some extensive research, I came across the Ted Talk with Catherine Crump talking about the devices used by police such as the license plate reader which cops have on their vehicles that will capture a picture of your license plate and upload it to their station computer. Also how the government can track your movement when traveling by vehicle and can tell the exact places you’ve stopped and where you’re scheduled to go. That doesn’t sound the government has trust in us at all if they feel like they have to babysit our every move.

I also did some research regarding social networking sites and how they make the sites more user friendly to get them to provide more personal information to a wider audience. Amanda Lenhart, Pew Institute for the Internet and American Life (non-profit research group), thinks a tensions lies between people and networking sites saying “…networking sites are based on the idea that people will share information about themselves.” She also adds, “If people stop swapping content then the sites will fade away.” That is exactly where it starts is with people, as long as people keep feeding sites then those sites will expand and want more and more information.

Position:

My perspective on privacy is that I would like to have some for a change. I hate the fact that I am basically being monitored everywhere and everything that I do. I understand that the government needs to be prepared for anything suspicious but I don’t think you have to violate other people’s rights to do so. Listening to Catherine Crump, I’m not all that surprised with the license plate reader because I know that it is a useful tool for cops when they’re looking for a suspect of crime or trying to find evidence. There was one thing that kind of bothered me about that process though, and that was the government was taking pictures of people as well. She shared an example of a man named Mike who police had several pictures of his license plate plus a photo of him and his daughters exiting the car in their own driveway. When I saw that, it immediately put some additional fear in me because now I’m worried about what kind of pictures the government has of me? It’s a scary question that I generally don’t want to know the answer too.

I am skeptical when it comes to social networking sites and all the sheets of private information that need to be filled out and agreements to everything, it is too much. I absolutely HATE when I have to give out my home address (sometimes I want to lie because I have a doubt) unless the company is going to ship me something through the mail. Distributing all that information especially when it’s a site that seems like it’d be unnecessary information for. That why I think you need to be extremely careful when it comes to handing out personal information like that because unfortunately you never know whose hands it’s ultimately going to end up in. So next time you sign up for a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. think about your privacy settings and enabling them because more than the government is watching, there are some sick freaks in this world.