Hello, I am Joe Brown, and I am a freshman at Champlain College up here in Burlington, Vermont. I am currently undecided as to my major but I'm in the division of mass communications and creative media, so I have some direction.
I grew up in Holliston, Massachusetts which is about 40 minutes west of Boston. It was a nice small suburban community, however, it was just not for me. I needed to experience more of life. Coming to Burlington was a natural step, moving from the feeling of constriction and isolation that goes with living in a small town. It's great to be in a far more stimulating environment both intellectually and emotionally.
I have many hobbies including reading, writing, but the foremost of my passions is music. I love music, rock, folk, funk, blues, hip hop, alternative and jazz (for which this blog is named).
The Beatles are probably, hands down, my favorite band. I don't care about any guitar virtuoso or crazy drummers, they just wrote way more great songs than any other band.After studying media's relationship with society many key concepts have begun to change my perspective on the ever growing mass media. One of the most interesting things I've learned is the idea of Web 2.0. How the internet is rapidly growing, changing and evolving as the society that comprises it does.
Another topic the book briefly discusses is the idea of higher culture and sophistication of media. How some forms of media are more intellectually stimulating (higher culture) then others. If one was to look at the Sound of Fury versus the Real World, the difference is clear.
The book discusses conglomerates, and big business' grip on most forms of media which is strange concept. As media evolves and grows the economical investment in media does too, it's a strange symbiotic relationship.
Also, the book proposes a critical process for analyzing media. The first step is simply describing and observing central themes and ideas. Next one analyzes the data look for trends and patterns. This is followed by interpreting the data, what does it mean. Then, one would evaluate, make an educated judgment on it. The final step is engaging the media, this entails writing a letter, email or blog.
By using the four tool sets, my ability to critique and evaluate different forms of media has been increasing. By understanding the trends, techniques of persuasion and principals of media it's broken down to its intended message. The idea of cultural shifts that have only recently occurred are quite interesting because they mirror the development of media. The most valuable use is questioning the media's techniques of persuasion, which part of the brain they are appealing to. I find this important to avoid manipulation.
One thing I hope to learn during this course is how much of an economic crutch is the abundant forms of mass media. As it grows as a business there is much more economic stake in it, and this is a scary thought, how much is dependent on technology.
