Response to Skye Spalding's Blog

     I really like the way Skye presented her views on the music lecture. She told her opinions very clearly about how she feels about music and the invention of it. She really likes music! I like the way she includes opinions on Mr. Miller's teaching style, and I agree. "He actually tells us information worth knowing and that we will actually use outside of school." I love this quote from Skye's blog, mainly because it is true and we are being prepared for the future instead of just remembering facts that we won't remember when we are older.

http://insertcleverwebaddresshere.blogspot.com/

Media Critique for Courier- Journal Article

     Published in Monday the twenty-third of September's edition of the Courier-Journal on page A8 was an article about Obama not accepting the current gun laws because they do not adequately protect the people. This article was written by Nedra Pickler and titled "Obama Won't Quit on Guns." It tells about a memorial event that was held for the relatives of those killed in the Washington Navy Yard shooting. This article includes many quotes and examples explaining how and why President Obama feels the rules must change. It also violates many of the principles and yardsticks: verification, local relevance, inclusive, context, and explanation.
     It lacks verification. Obama's side is the only opinion given. The author should have asked some people who attended the event about their opinion on Obama's views about the gun laws. They would have added more to the story and could have helped the reader to understand the importance of these laws. Since these other sources are not included, the event that is featured isn't really connected to citizens of Kentucky. The story of what happened is very important to the people since it raised these questions about gun laws and it was a tragic event.
     Local relevance is not fully included. Some of the article is very well written and tells about president Obama's proposed change in gun laws, which do affect people. Toward the end of the article the event Mr. Obama led is highlighted. As mentioned, it is not connected to the local people because it doesn't give any information except that the president held a memorial for the victims and family members of the shooting. In order to accomplish local relevance, the writer of this article should have included more ways that this event affects local people and what the effects of President Obama talking to these people may be.
     The article isn't inclusive. It doesn't communicate who, if anyone, opposes these laws and why people feel in that way. Quotes are given about Mr. Obama's campaign for these changes, but not any other officials views. To fix the problem of inclusiveness the author should talk to other important people who may have other feelings about the ideas.
     Context seems to be missing. Not enough sources are used to keep the topic relevant, and inclusive. Only the views of one person, President Obama, are given. They should fix this in the same way that verification, local relevance, and inclusive should be fixed.
     The explanation within this article is not high enough. This story only focuses on what happened and briefly on why. It never tells why it is significant to anyone besides the people within the article. This can be fixed by simply explaining in more detail why President Obama feels this way and why it is important to everyone.
     Overall, this article misses many of the key yardsticks and principles of journalism. It is noninclusive, not relevant to the local people, missing sources, and non-explanatory. All of the things that were not included within the article could have been easily added or fixed. With further review mistakes could have been prevented. The article does a great job of following some of the principles but still is missing many components that are necessary to good journalism.

Response to Olivia Loy's Blog

     I chose to review Olivia Loy's post about binary models. I think that she described it very well. I like the way examples are used and the article is written in a way that is easily understood. She gives her opinion about why certain mediums are more popular, "Most people prefer the cool model because it doesn't require all your attention. You could wash the dishes or, give your dog a bath while catching up on the news. Most people these days agree that television is more convenient for their busy lives." The way she explains this is very understandable. When reading this, you think about yourself doing this action. She also gives her opinion on the future of books. She does a very good job of explaining the binary models.

http://olivialoy.blogspot.com/

Conglomeration, In Class Discussion

      I think conglomeration can be a good or bad thing. It is positive because more money is raised and it is more efficient for one company to make all merchandise for a specific product. It is negative because of job loss, less competition, and less diversity of content. When there was multiple companies, there was many variety between products. After conglomeration the companies will most likely all take the same view on a topic. They do this because most people are not willing to critique their boss as they will be fired. Monopolies are a result of conglomeration. I think that horizontal monopolies are very bad because that company will not be criticized and some issues may not be included. If a company does not like a product, they do not have to promote it. This causes less diversity of content. Conglomeration can either help spread an idea or can make it seem less important.

Magazines, In Class Discussion

     Magazines became the first national medium because they were cheap and didn't have to be received immediately. They were so cheap because the Postal Act of 1879 made it only one cent per pound to ship magazines. I think this was both a good idea and a bad one because it helped people to get their news. However it is bad because newspapers lost even more viewers when magazines became popular. Magazines were shipped to more places because of the Postal Act of 1879. Since the news found in magazines would affect many people for a long time, people could receive it weeks after it was published and it would still be important news. This wasn't true about newspapers. Magazines cost very little adn reached a large audience.

Newspapers, In Class Discussion

     Newspapers are important because they are a good way to spread news quickly. They are written in the inverted pyramid style, which i think is very interesting. I never thought abut the things that affect the way news travels, such as cannonballs breaking telegrams. I think that this is very interesting and still hard to imagine because today this would never happen. When television became more popular newspapers lost advertisers and readers. Some people stopped reading the paper because it was becoming more expensive. Newspapers are still have an audience because they didn't demassify, they were credible, and it became tradition. Some people preferred newspapers over television and radio because you could skip through them and you didn't have to read every article. Newspapers are popular for many reasons and they were affected by factors that could have demassified them.

Printing Press, In Class Discussion

     I never realized how important the printing press is to society.  I was also shocked to learn about how many things would be different without it.  This made me think about how it would affect me personally. I love to read so my life would be very different. I would have different interests and would spend my time in other ways.  Television and magazines would not exist because people would be less educated and would not have the knowledge to invent them.  The printing press helped many other creations to be made. Magazines and newspapers would not be mass communication if it had not been invented.