Week 5: Individual Blog Task

News and you (2)

Who owns the newspapers and TV stations in your country? Do you think this has an effect on the news that you hear? 

Media Prima Sdn Bhd is Malaysia’s leading media investment group.  It has equity interests in all private four Free to Air television stations in Malaysia, TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9. It also own 98% equity interests in The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (NSTP), which is the largest publisher for three national newspapers, New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro. 

Media Prima is a private company, and there will be some parties who own a share in the company that might tamper with the news that gets published if it affects them negatively in any way. It can also work the other way around, by the same parties using their hold on the shares in their company, especially if it is a big share, to use the medium for positive personal gain. The news that gets published or aired, might be altered slightly to suit the shareholders’ needs. 

I feel that shareholders, or parties that participate in this kind of behavior is being very unethical for misusing the media channel for personal gain. I feel that they believe that those who put down the money means that they have veto power in every matter. 

Some news that gets published or aired that might reflect negatively on the same people or shareholders, they can force the channels to downplay the news or might even go so far as to even pay to have the news be kept completely under wraps or maybe they will make sure that certain parties be compensated for their silence. 

But some parties might use the media channel for positive personal gain, like glorifying a certain issue, campaign, matter, or even persons. For example, if a political party has a hold over a station company, the company might be forced to publish or air material that puts the political party in very very good light.

But usually when politics are involved, things get very messy, and then the personal gain is hard to determine whether it is positive or negative. But negative personal gain for the political party or politician using the media channel could be using the media channel to create false stories about the rivals and that is most definitely unethical, but unfortunately, this ‘smear campaign’ almost always works. The people like scandal unfortunately, and  negative stories or scandals that happen surrounding a party or a politician that they do not like and some might go so far as to add on to the scandalous stories to further smear the rival’s campaign.

Week 4: Individual Blog Task

News and you.

How often do you read the paper or watch the news on TV? How important is it for you to keep up with current events?

I don’t watch a lot of television or read the newspapers very much, but I feel that I am sort of up to date on current issues. I am choosy about the issues and news that I feel like knowing more about. 

It is not my biggest priority to know everything that goes on in terms of news and current issues,not because I do not care, but because I do not have time to sit and go through the newspaper everyday to keep up with all the things and issues in the newspaper. 

Sometimes when I watch the news on the television I don’t even pay attention to it, mostly because when I do end up watching television, it is because I am having dinner at a restaurant during prime time news and I will watch it while having dinner. I don’t look for updates on news and/ or current issues that goes on in my country or even international news. 

I don’t seek out news from the national newspapers and television stations, and if by any chance I do watch television or read the newspaper, it is most likely that I am eating dinner at home and the television is turned on , or I am waiting for somebody or something and a newspaper of any kind is present. 

However, if and when I do seek out news or updates about both local issues and international, I am most likely to look for news and updates on social media and on the internet, from many other sources, and I will try to figure out myself which story is true and which is not true. 

The first source I will go to will be Facebook, because most of my friends share articles and newspieces and they will put their opinions, so then on the threads we can all join in the conversation and create a healthy peoples’ discussion about current issues and other matters.

The second source I will look at will be alternative news websites, because I want to see what version of the truth does the alternative media has and see how different it is from the national newspapers and television stations. 

The next source is Twitter,because other than Facebook, current issues and discussions about news updates spread almost instantly on Twitter ,and this is a good thing when I want or looking for instant updates on issues that I want to know more about.

Week 3 Individual Blog Task

Theatre

Theatre is a staged play with actors performing live in front of a live audience. It’s considered to be fine arts,with the performers using dialogue or monologue, costumes, body language and props to help communicate a story or message. Theatre’s language can be very cultured, ranging from William Shakespeare’s level of work to the most common slang in a society.  The performers do not necessarily need to be film and television actors, but a certain level of acting is required to be performing in theatre. Theatre actors are not usually the same as film and television actors.

Theatre engages the audience through using everyday situations that the audience can relate to, to emote a message. It can be a clear cut, direct narrative, using real characters and real life situations and experiences to relay a message or a story, or it can be very conceptual, with abstract concepts and themes to tell a story to the audience.

Theatre as a media form can be a very useful tool for social criticism in a given society. This can be done through using current events as a platform, and using theatre to create conversation and awareness about a certain issue. Some audiences receive better information and is more accessible to discuss current issues if done via theatre format. 

There are also another sector in the audience that enjoy mental stimulation to discuss and engage in a more cultured conversation about current events issues or any other topics that can be probed in theatre.

Using theatre as a media form is considered to be high cultured. That being said, the idea is that only certain people or certain members of the society indulge in theatre. Not many people are interested or have the passion for theatre. 

Theatre in itself has many categories, and so different types of theatre attracts different parts of society, which means it attracts different parts of the society’s demographics and psychographics. If you want to use theatre as a media form, you need to know exactly who your audience is, so that you can modify and alter your message to fit exactly what your target audience needs to be able to understand the message you are trying to say. 

Usually, a theatre piece if done correctly can be a great propeller to create discussion amongt members of society from different age groups, which means that theatre can create awareness at a grand scale. 

10 Photographs

Photograph of media: list url and brief meaning.

Radio noun

Image taken from http://www.porchooneh.com/IMAGES/old_radio.jpg

•  wireless telegraphy or telephony: speeches broadcast by radio.
• an apparatus for receiving or transmitting radio broadcasts.
• a message transmitted by radio.

adjective

• pertaining to, used in, or sent by radio.
• pertaining to or employing radiations, as of electrical energy.

Film

Image taken from http://home.earthlink.net/~donhaderlein/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/independentfilm.jpg

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating — or indoctrinating — citizens. The visual elements of cinema gives motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue.

Photography

Image taken from http://blogs.independent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/photography.jpg

Method of recording permanent images by the action of light projected by a lens in a camera onto a film or other light-sensitive material. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/photography

Internet

Image taken from http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2012/10/internet_keyboar-100008909-large.jpg

An electronic communications network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/internet

Sculpture 

Image taken from http://clyattsculpture.com/files/Three_Graces_with_Phone-F-L-Bob_Clyatt_Sculpture.jpg

The art or practice of shaping figures or designs in the round or in relief, as by chiseling marble, modeling clay, or casting in metal. 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sculpture

Telephone

Image taken from http://images.wisegeek.com/classic-rotary-dial-telephone.jpg

A telephone, or phone, is a telecommunications device that converts sound, typically the human voice, into electronic signals suitable for transmission via cables or other transmission media over long distances.

Magazine

Image taken from http://www.redfordlibrary.org/images/magazines.jpg

A publication that is issued periodically, usually bound in a papercover, and typically contains essays, stories, poems, etc., bymany writers, and often photographs and drawings, frequentlyspecializing in a particular subject or area, as hobbies, news, orsports. 

Painting 

Image taken from http://jandismall.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/molly-painting.jpg

A picture or design executed in paint

Graffiti 

Image taken from http://komplexgraphix.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/sirum_graffiti-wall-art_66.jpg

Markings, as initials, slogans, ordrawings, written, spray-painted, or sketched on a sidewalk,wall of a building or public restroom, or the like 

Television

Image taken from http://0.tqn.com/d/inventors/1/0/e/B/1/anttelevision.jpg

The transmission of dynamic or sometimes static images, generally with accompanying sound, via electric or electromagnetic signals.

An electronic apparatus that receives such signals, reproducing the images on a screen, and typically reproducing accompanying sound signals on speakers.

The visual and audio content of such signals.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/graffiti

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/radio

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/television

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Painting?s=t

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone

http://www.eicar-international.com/definition-film.html

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Magazine?s=t

(week 2) Finding the meaning

Find the meaning:

Cross-disciplinary When speaking of disciplines of study, such as geography, political science, or sociology, "cross-disciplinary" means that it crosses the boundaries of one discipline, to involve another.

 Inter-disciplinary combining or involving two or more professions, technologies,departments, or the like, as in business or industry.

Trans-disciplinary Transdisciplinary learning is the exploration of a relevant issue or problem that integrates the perspectives of multiple disciplines in order to connect new knowledge and deeper understanding to real life experiences.

Qualitative Research Qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (Denzin 1994) Qualitative research is intended to penetrate to the deeper significance that the subject of the research ascribes to the topic being researched. It involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter and gives priority to what the data contribute to important research questions or existing information.

Ethnographic Research the investigation of a culture through an in-depth study of the members of the culture; it involves the systematic collection, description, and analysis of data for development of theories of cultural behavior. Ethnography is a social science research method. It relies heavily on up-close, personal experience and possible participation, not just observation, by researchers trained in the art of ethnography. These ethnographers often work in multidisciplinary teams. The ethnographic focal point may include intensive language and culture learning, intensive study of a single field or domain, and a blend of historical, observational, and interview methods

What is Media?

Media is a platform which a message is sent through and received from. There are a few forms of media, such as the traditional media, which is television, newspaper and radio. New media covers media from the digital age, that disseminates information through the Internet.

In this day and age, it is not really the case of traditional media versus new media. The goal should be how to balance the old and new ways of publishing information and news to the mass audience most effectively through all the appropriate channels. It is imperative to learn the advantages and disadvantages of both medias so that information, and more importantly much needed updates on current issues and information be published efficiently and correctly.

Internet is now the go-to source for all types of information,because of its unparalleled element of instant and usually verified information from reputable sources, and all these information can be called upon from virtually anywhere in the world, and all the information is quite literally, at your fingertips, which is very important in this current time, as information is needed instantly, where every second counts.

The Internet works on a peer to peer knowledge sharing system, which has people uploading information and sharing content with other people. It works on a collaborative concept which has everybody pitching in new information, making everyone involved that much more informed.
Before the Internet, the people relied solely on the three mediums, newspaper, television and radio. Back then, the form of your source of information indirectly hints at a person’s status in society. Those who are rich, can afford televisions, therefore television owners are seen as wealthy,and the radio owners are the mid-level earners. Which leaves the newspaper buyers for the ones who are seen as living modestly, seeing as they do not own televisions and radios.

However, in the age of the Internet, almost everyone owns a smart device, which hardly hints at your income level, but it does not hint at your level of intellect or your education level. Everyone is of the same level in terms of knowledge, or is seen that way, for everyone uses the Internet to find out more information on whatever they might need to know.

Right now, everyone can access any kind of information and this makes for a more knowledgeable society, a society of high intellect. This means that the people are well-informed because information is quite literally, in their hands.

An introduction ...

Hello there. I am Aiman Aizat Bin Che Azmi. My ID is 1102702110. Well, this blog was actually for Media Anthropology class. And every blog assignment and all the progress will be update here soon.

Tq.