Entry 7: Local Media

http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4413464

Whenever I come across a local television show, I switch the channel immediately, without taking a second look to see what was shown. Perhaps you may think I am slightly biased, but many times I have been disappointed by the boring story lines, and the mediocre acting of the local actors/actresses. There is little variety, and not much appeal to younger generations like me. Well, of course it is unfair to stereotype, because there are still 1 or 2 local television programs that I like, but it is really hard to come across one.

In my opinion, local television programs can never be on par with foreign programs, especially the US ones. With media globalization and the dominance of US media products, I am surprised that the local media is able to hold it’s stand.

While I don’t support the local media, I was impressed by the way they try to keep up with the readers, by finding out what they want to see or read. This is specially important, as with the dominance of US media, the local media needs to take extensive measures to keep the readers/viewers coming back for more. With NCT, consumers now can choose from a wide variety of media products. Cable and multi-channel media technologies help to create the provision of new media, for instance, fibre-optics and satellites give us more choices to picking different television channels to watch. To be honest, I actually stopped watching local television shows, after finding out the awesome programs on cable tv. As stated in the article, Channel 5 attracted more white collar workers and housewives as viewers. Well, that may actually mean that they are losing the younger viewers. I believe the younger generations probably turn more to new media for the latest news and entertainment such as the internet.

As I have learnt in COM101 lecture, NCT may potentially affect demand for traditional products. I believe this is true, and is happening to us right now. While it is important to target a certain group of audience to keep up the viewership, I think it is equally important for the local media to keep up with the demands of the younger generation, so that they will not lose these audiences in the near future.

If the local media loses it’s audiences, and US media gains dominance, there may be numerous negative effects. While cultural imperalism will most likely no occur due to the moderate effects model in Singapore, our thoughts and perception may still potentially be altered, or “westernized”.

After attending COM101 lecture this week, I wondered why US was able to gain dominance in the global industry. Why not some other western country? Personally I think the US programs appeal to every age group. Not only they have an unexpected story line that makes you anticipate, they also have great actors and actresses that pull off their characters amazingly. I wonder when Singapore will start learning.

With NCT and the rise of US media, can the Singapore media survive? In my opinion, it’s hard to say. If they are unable to keep up with the younger generations, then perhaps it can be difficult.

Entry 6: Prejudice against Roma in Russia (Culture and Mass Media)

Culture is something that affects us to large extent in our daily lives. While some of us may not realize it, we are constantly affected by culture. Our behaviors, beliefs, and values are mainly shaped as we are exposed to the same things for a prolonged period of time.

Firstly, let me tell you a bit about Roma’s background. Roma are the minority in Russia, and they differ from the majority Russian population in terms of language, customs, and physical appearance. They are geographically dispersed throughout the country, thus having low risk of creating chaos or protest in Russia. The Roma are among the poorest in Russian society. Many are homeless with crime and begging being their only sources of income. Their illiteracy rate is higher than that of the general population, and many do not speak Russian as a native language.

This is a very obvious case of prejudice. There is a negative interpretation on the things that Romas do, and there are many stereotypes that may not be true. I think it is really sad to hear of cases of prejudice like this. Every human being on this Earth has equal human rights, and no one should ever be deemed any lesser as a person. I think it is an exaggeration when people think of Romas as thieves. While it is too much to say that Russians have the problem of ethnocentrism, it is true that Russians think of themselves as superior to some other cultures. This is a really sad case, as we see how the culture has affected people in the negative way. Russians have a distorted perception or interpretation of reality, as they think look down on the Romas, thinking that they are from a lower class. There are also many negative effects that may result due to the severe prejudice. It’s not hard to imagine how these Roma kids would become, growing up in an environment filled with prejudice and biasness. They may possibly have a low sense of self, thinking that they are inferior to others, or even commit crimes.

Besides the culture, I think mass media also caused this prejudice to a large extent. The media uses priming to alter the way people evaluate the Roma. (In Russia) They chose to report only the negative side of the Roma, like reporting news on the crimes that Romans committed, but not how much prejudice the Romans face. Even if it’s true that many Romans commit crimes, we also have to look at what exactly caused this to happen. For instance,  some Romans may have experienced unfairness and prejudice as he or she grows up, thus causing them to be unable to differentiate between right and wrong.

According to the moderate effects model, while audiences have some power to resist media messages, the ability of it to influence it’s audience still remains. Thus, while Russians are able to choose their point of view towards Roma, there are still many stereotypes that are caused by the mass media. Through agenda setting, the media is able to influence our minds, whether consciously or subconsciously, and Russians would immediately label Romans as thieves, because that is exactly what has been repeating on the news. Think about this, if the media in Russia use agenda setting function to bring awareness to how these Romans face severe prejudice and biasness, would the situation be the same? Well, perhaps there will be limited effects, as this is obtrusive issue, and the stereotypes may be so deep rooted that it is hard to reverse the effects.

What is your take on this issue?

Entry 5: Death of Tyler Clementi

http://abcnews.go.com/US/victim-secret-dorm-sex-tape-commits-suicide/story?id=11758716&page=2

Tyler Clementi

Molly Wei and Dharun Ravi

A 18-year-old boy, Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge, days after the Rutgers freshman had a gay sexual encounter broadcast over the internet without his knowledge. While researching for more information on this issue, I came across many similar articles of young kids commit suicide due to discrimination or bullying. It is really saddening and heart breaking.

In my opinion, the culture plays a very important part. In this case, while many Americans do accept the idea of homosexuality, there are always a portion of people who rejects them. The environment has shaped our way of thinking and beliefs, in such a way that we were made to think homosexuality is “abnormal” and “wrong”. Do you agree? If no, think about this. If we were to grow up in a place where guys were supposed to be with guys and girls were supposed to be with girls, do you think we will still see homosexuality as something unacceptable? Culture is something we learned.

However, in my opinion, Clementi’s death was not in vain. He managed to raise awareness among people, about homosexual discrimination and bullying. A youtube channel, “it gets better”, was created to support homosexuals. Adult gays speak out and give words of encouragement to younger gays, telling them “it gets better”. Although this kind of support came too late for Clementi, it serves as a good form of support for other kids who are bullied in school due to their sexuality. In this case, the media plays an important role in transmitting the message to the public. This is one of the rare moments(in my opinion), the media helps to shape people’s thinking in the positive manner(accepting homosexuals). We also see how important the media”s role is, when it comes to shaping values and world views. There is repeated news coverage on this issue, to raise the importance of homosexuals bully, and this is called agenda setting function.

While I feel very sad and sorry for what happened to Clementi, there was something else I was concerned about. It was the two other kids involved in this incident: Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei.  From the article, it states

“Michael Zhuang, a friend of Ravi’s for six years, describes the suspect as someone into computer programming and video games. Zhuang told ABC News he believes Ravi was excited to go to Rutgers and believes the media portrayals of Ravi as possibly homophobic or a serious prankster are not true.”

As I have learnt, there may be priming in this issue, and the media may have chose to attend to some issues over others, to alter the standards by which people evaluate this issue. While everyone is criticizing how cruel Ravi is, there may be some people who dare not voice out their different opinion due to it’s unpopularity(spiral of silence). From the facebook page created in memory of Clementi, it wrote

“all comments that seek to harass him, his family, or his memory will be removed from this page; all hate speech or comments that fail to respect the grieving communities will be removed from this page”

Do you think anyone will attempt to defend Ravi on the facebook page? Perhaps there is really another side of the story we don’t know. It’s important to remember that the media work simultaneously with majority public opinion to silence minority beliefs. While I do feel sad for what happened to Clementi, another part of me wonders if there is something else we don’t know.

What is your take on this issue?

Entry 4: Interpersonal relationship (Personal Taste)

We form interpersonal relationships with people on a regular basis and we are constantly judging people based on our own perspective. Sometimes we feel close or connected to someone, other times we just can’t seem to get along with another. Think about it, why do you like/dislike the person you do? You may say, “There is no reason, I just do.” Yet, if you analyze carefully, you will find certain qualities or reasons that causes you to feel the way you do.

Recently, I started watching a Korean drama called Personal Taste, and I found it quite interesting how the characters behave when it comes to handling relationships. I have picked out one particular scene that shows the transition stage of a relationship, and I would use the concepts learnt in class to illustrate my views.

Firstly, I will tell you a bit about the character’s background. Park KaeIn(the girl) is a naive woman with no sense of style. She likes to make furniture and paint it; she also does that for a living. Han ChangRyul(the guy) is the son of a construction company that is very well known. He is Park KaeIn’s first boyfriend. While he is not the main character in the drama, he plays a relatively important role.

In the video, the guy asked the girl out to break up with the girl. The girl initially thought the guy was going to propose to her, but was devastated that it turned out otherwise.

Now, I will give some opinions on why their relationship did not work out.

Well, in terms of physical appearance, the girl has absolutely no sense of style, and likes to wear casual clothes she feels comfortable in. On the other hand, the guy always suits up, and wears flattering clothes that makes him look classy. Physical appearance has a big impact on a relationship in the early stage and he mentioned that he was not attracted to her physical appearance in any way.

Also, it seems that the guy does not have much in common with the girl. In terms of personality, looks, social status, they are relatively different, and this could be one of the reasons why the guy does not feel connected or close to the girl. While many tend to form relationships with people who are different from them, too many differences can cause tension and quarrels in a relationship.

In terms of exchange, we can see that the relationship is relatively one-sided, as KaeIn gives to large extent, but receives little from the guy. This could be one of the reasons why the guy chose to be with the girl, he probably knows that he could receive more while giving little, and that the benefits of being in such a relationship are high.

Well, we could say that the way the guy chose to be in a relationship with the girl is a form of counterfeit liking. When he chose to broke up with her, he spilled out many reasons why he felt the girl was not good enough for him. He even mentioned that his love for her was out of pity and nothing more.

The main reason why their relationship ended was due to differences, but from the girl’s perceptive; she may think that it was due to deception. The relationship disengagement strategy that the guy used Behavioral de-escalation (as he avoided KaeIn before breaking up with her), and Justification (he explained why he wants a breakup with her).

Love, yet another complicated issue. Can you come up with reasons why you feel attracted to some people and dislike others?

Entry 3: Non-verbal Communication (Fighting Spiders)

We all use verbal and non-verbal cues to express ourselves and communicate with people. Do you know that 93 percent of communication effectiveness is determined by non-verbal cues? This shows how important it is to take note of the non-verbal cue we are giving out and receiving. Recently I find it myself doing so, especially while watching television or watching a movie. Non-verbal communication are specially important/significant in a television programme or movie, especially in transmitting a message to the audience. Imagine watching a television programme in which the actors/actresses talks without any expression or any movement. It would be pointless and boring. I also find it amazing by how important the tone of your voice is. For instance, saying “it’s so hot”  in a gentle tone sounds nice, but saying it loudly may make you sound like a weather forecaster.(Read this somewhere a couple of years ago)

I always believe it’s important to use what you have learnt to etch it in your mind. Thus, to put what I have learnt in this week’s lesson to good use, I am going to talk about a television show called “Fighting Spiders”(season two). It is currently aired on channel 5 every Thursday, at 8pm. I really love this show, as it is not a typical show about just love and hate. Of course, I took note of the verbal and non-verbal cues they were sending out.

Just in case you can’t view it in my blog, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsVzbkDdJr8

There are three main characters in this video are Yiling(the girl), Soon Lee(thin boy), and Charlie(fat boy).

Kinesics: While Yiling was catching butterflies, Soon Lee and Charlie both shook their heads, and said “girls”, expressing disapproval. This is probably because they find the action of catching butterflies too “girly”, and was unable to understand why girls were interested in catching butterflies.

Objectics: Also, while the guys were more interested in the spider(used for fighting), Yiling was more interested in catching butterflies(and letting them go after that). This shows the difference between their personal identity, as we can see Yiling prefers something more sweet and gentle.

Haptics: When Yiling sat beside Soon Lee, she took out a small handkerchief to wipe off the sweat on Soon Lee’s face. In the current world, this may be perceived as something usual, but we have to look at the context of the situation. In the 1960s, people are more conservative, and an action like this can be deemed as an expression of intimacy or liking.

Kinesics and paralinguistics: The Malay boy also pointed at himself while saying “punch me, punch me”. In actual fact, he did not really meant what he said, and was saying that in order to provoke Soon Lee. The tone of his voice comes with sacarsm, and the finger pointing towards himself shows his arrogance.

Haptics: Soon Lee pushed a Malay boy in an agressive manner, showing signs unfriendliness and anger.

Oculesics: The Malay boy and Soon Lee stared at each other firmly, arching their eyebrows. In this case, their eyes were used to express negative emotions like anger, fierceness, and unhappiness. They were also trying to intimidate each other, to show that they were not afraid of each other.

Well, it’s also important to note that non-verbal communication is receiver-orientated, meaning that the receiver attaches meaning to the non-verbal cues. Thus this is my personal interpretation of the non-verbal cues. Can you think of some instances in which non-verbal cues are used? How? 🙂 Feel free to comment! 😀

Entry 2: Food blogger demands for free food

First link: http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/08/23/food-blogger-who-asks-for-free-meal-sparks-outrage-online/

Second link: http://xiaxue.blogspot.com/2010/08/everybody-hates-bloggers.html

I guess many of you already read about this food blogger who demanded for free food in a restaurant named “Private Affairs”. For those who haven’t, let me summarize it for you. Well, basically this food blogger brought three friends to the restaurant, and they were unwilling to pay for the food. The restaurant lowered the bill, but the food blogger was still unhappy, slammed the credit and stormed out of the restaurant. Many were outraged by this news, but is this really the full story? Or is there more than meets the eye? (Please refer to the second link for another side of the story)

This is a perfect example of how mass media selects and filter information to affect the audience’s perception. After the news broke out, many people heavily criticized the food blogger for his “disgusting” behavior, and said he brought shame to the blogging community. In my opinion, the media report was one-sided and biased, and the intensity of the words used by the report also influenced how we interpret this incident. For instance, even though no direct criticism towards the food blogger was made, this report only mentioned the negative views towards the food blogger, using words like “freeloader”, “arrogant” to describe the food blogger. These words all have a negative meaning attached to it, and it is easy to influence people to think of the food blogger negatively. Comments that defended the food blogger was not mentioned, and the report was written solely based on the description by Private Affairs. In this case, it is obvious that this report selected information that protrays the food blogger in a negative light.

Let’s look from another perspective. From the second website link, you will see a totally different interpretation of the incident by a famous blogger. It was mentioned that the food blogger already told Private Affairs he would be bringing three friends along beforehand, and Private Affairs agreed to it without mentioning they were only offering free meals for two. It also mentioned that Private Affairs distorted the information just to put the blame on the food blogger. (For more, please refer to the second link) Personally, I got a clearer picture after reading the second link, and it amazes me how an incident can be interpreted in entirely different ways. As we know, perception is influenced by social factors, and in our culture, “ask for free food” is deemed as an socially inappropriate behavior. We use cognitive schemata to decide whether someone’s behavior is acceptable, and this is can be dangerous at times, as it may distort our perception. Basically this was written in defense of the food blogger, and it was really interesting as I realized I had unknowningly judged the food blogger without thinking that there may be another side to the story. Mass media managed to shape my selection, organization and interpretation process(Yes I was one of those criticizing the food blogger when the news broke out). Indeed, this is the power of mass media.

In this case, I think it is important to keep an open mind, and not take in whatever the mass media tell you immediately. Don’t forget, selection is a critical aspect of perception, thus what we see may not always be the full picture.

Even though I am in favour of the second perspection(to a large extent), who am I to say that the first one was wrong? The difference lies in how we select, filter, and retain information, and most of the times, there are no “right” or “wrong” perspection.

So which perspection are you in favour of?

Entry 1: Controversial anti-abortion campaign

http://www.kens5.com/news/Controversial-anti-abortion-campaign-causes-stir-in-Texas-102052853.html

For this week’s blog post, I have chosen an anti-abortion advertising campaign. The billboards read ‘Black and Unwanted’ and showed an image of a baby’s face. This caused much unhappiness among people, as it came to them as a form of discrimination against the blacks. However, the creator of this campaign explained he wanted to expose the destruction of hope and possibility that abortion brings, and targeted African-Americans due to their’s high abortion rates, despite the small population.

Personally, I thought the campaign was rude and discriminative. The message that the creator wanted to bring across was misinterpreted, and created a negative response from the public. In this case, miscommunication has failed due to different perspectives. The words “black and unwanted” clearly portrays blacks as “unwanted”. People saw the advertisement in a psychological perspective, and felt that it was discriminating. Even though the intention of the campaign was to provide awareness and decrease abortion cases, the message sent across was different from what was intended.

I think there are two main factors that caused this miscommunication- oversimplification, and different perspective. The creator of the campaign did not elaborate on “black and unwanted”, causing misunderstandings that it meant blacks were unwanted. It should be further elaborated by mentioning the high rate of abortion among American African. Also, the creator was unable to put himself in the audience’s shoes and understand them from the psychological aspects. He was unable to see how “black and unwanted” may appear offensive to some people. I think it is important for the creator to take full responsibility for the campaign he created and for the things he said. As the saying goes, “all publicity is good publicity”, while it may be important to capture the attention of the audiences, yet in this case, it is more important to relate to the audience’s psychologically, as abortion can be a rather sensitive issue to some people.

While some people may think that there is nothing racist about this campaign, I choose to disagree, as people come from different culture backgrounds, some more open-minded, and others more conservative. The word “unwanted” is a strong word with a negative meaning behind it, plus portraying a black baby as being “unwanted” is definitely a no-go. Personally, if I were to see my race deemed as “unwanted”, I would be agitated and offended to a large extent.

I think the campaign can be improved by being more specific, or shifting their focus. They can focus more on abortion itself, instead of mentioning a specific race. If not, they can also change the “black and unwanted” title to something more gentle, and state the high abortion rate among African-Americans. The word “unwanted” is not only rude, but also extremely inappropriate, especially when it comes to mentioning it with a specific race.

As for the effectiveness of this campaign, I have doubts that this campaign would even be effective at all. In my opinion, it’s easy for people to reject the whole idea of the campaign immediately, as the offensive words may shift the focus of the campaign. People may be more concerned about how rude the campaign appeared to them, rather than the importance of helping to decrease abortion rates.

Overall, I would say that this campaign failed to a large extent, as it is offensive and inappropriate. What do you think?

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!