Read The media #2

The next article I evaluated is from CNN and it is one talking about how Gaurdsmen and contractors are suing a company for not informing them about chemicals at a site they worked at in Iraq

Is the information in a given article accurate?
The Information is this article is accurate
Is there missing context that might undermine the premise of a given article or television segment? There is not missing context that read that would undermine this premise of the article.However is doesn't give any response from the company that is being sued in their defense. It would have been a better article if they would have gotten responses from the company or people outside the people suing.
Which experts are quoted--and, in turn, who isn't allowed to give their opinion what does this leave out? The experts that are quoted in this are the layers for the gaurdsmen and contractors The only opposing view that is presented is a spokes woman from the company being sued. The actual CEOs of the company arent heard in this article.
Is the selected media simply reinforcing the status quo on a given topic, even though there may be no reason to assume that it is correct? The media isnt supporting the status quo because persaonally i didnt know about the issue and neither did many other people.
Why werent CEOs interview? Maybe becausethey didnt want to give out any information about the lawsuit.

How to Read the Media

The article we chose is one from the NY Times about how electric cars are expensive and only the rich can afford them so why should taxpayers back the project.
Is the information in a given article accurate? We would say yes that it is because it does indeed a ridiculous amount of money to purchase and even make these electric cars. The article presents figures on how much it costs the companies to produce the cars and how much people have to pay. The taxpayers shouldnt support this idea if the cars aren't accessible to everyone with any income.
Is there missing context that might undermine the premise of a given article or television segment? there is some missing information in the article. I couldnt find any quote from a taxpayer reacting to what they think about the deal whether they supported it or not.
Which experts are quoted--and, in turn, who isn't allowed to give their opinion what does this leave out? Again the author gets information from CTO's, and Workers for the companies. However they dont give anything from the side of the taxpayers on how they would feel. They also dont say how the heads of these car companies would try and help make these vehichles more affordable.
Is the selected media simply reinforcing the status quo on a given topic, even though there may be no reason to assume that it is correct? The author is not just reinforcing the status quo of the public because even thought it may be common knowledge that these types of cars are expensive, the public probably doesnt know enought about then to go out in masses and purchase these cars.
Extra Question Does the Media cover this issue enough? No we dont believe that they do cover this issue enough. They do however report on when the companies do release the "New Enviornment friendly Car." However they dont look at the logistical side of the issue of how people would pay for them

Growing up Online

The documentary "Growing up Online," really detailed the new changes in technology that people are starting to adjust to. Fortunately young people dont need to adjust because they are used to the technologies and accept them as norms. Personally, I was able to connect with many of the topics brought up in the movie, from the obsession with the cell phones to noe technologies in the classrooms. The movies also exposes the real dangers of the internet and how young people can be targets of online predators. We as the"internet generation" need to stay on top of the possible danger of the internet.

Watching the Watchdog

In the article,"Who is Watching the Watchdog?" by John Dunbar, Dunbar discusses a theories of "the spinning door," "Frequent Flying," and "Whats occurs Behind Closed Doors."

The Spinning Door Theory, refers to Federal Government employees that will occasionally leave their jobs with the government and move on to work in an area that they formerly represented. This could become a problem because the government employees could take with them some "Insider Information" that they received during the previous job and carry it over to their new job. Only Government employees working in high positions are required to follow a set of rules once they start working in the industry.

Next, Dunbar discusses the theory of "Frequent Flying." This refers to FCC officials who attend industry events are then treated extravagantly by the companies that they work for. This becomes an ethical issue for the companines. The FCC officials would more likely be bias towards companies that treat them better.

Lastly, Dunbar discussed the theory of "What Occurs Behing Closed Doors." This Theory is discussing the companies that meet with the FCC behind closed doors frequently when discussing media ownership rules. Since these meeting occur "off the record" the public has no knowledge of what occurrs during these meetings.

Chairman Powell says that the industrys influence on the FCC has at times gone too far. This is absolutely true.The media affects every part of our society today. the media dictated the trends in fashion,music, sports as well as many other things. I do think that there are cartain things that can be done to the media help protect the publics intrest .

Merchants of Cool

Today’s media in general is much more immersed in the lives of people. The media sets the trends of today’s culture by the images it puts in magazines, ads and TV. What we see in the media subconsciously tells us or makes us want certain things to keep up with the trends of today's society.

The first type of tactic that is used by marketing teams is narrow casting. Narrow casting is a type of advertising geared specifically towards one type of audience, not towards the general public. There are many examples of ads that are describes as narrow casting. One example if this is ads talking about “protecting your nest egg.” These ads are really talking about people who are going to retire and want to protect their 401k for retirement. These ads aren’t geared towards anyone 0else except people who are getting ready to retire. Another type of of advertising is “branding/ creating a culture around a brand." One example of this type of advertising is an ad that i saw on TV a few months ago, which talks about how BMW has created its own subculture, become part of pop-culture. This ad shows how much the brand "BMW" has become so much part of our lives in many aspects. BMW AD

Another technique that is used by companies is called "cool Hunting." Cool hunting is a technique used by companies where they pay analysts to interview and talk with focus groups to find out what they perceive as cool in today's society. The talk with the group about what they think is cool and not cool, where they think trends will go etc. The companies pay the individuals a few hundred dollars to come in and talk with their analysts for a few hours . For the company that is not that much money to spend when the will be making hundreds of thousands of dollars off this information.

Another type of Marketing is product placement. This is another major marketing technique that companies use. This basically refers to the place where companies chose to place their products or ads. For example. candy companies choose to place their products at the check out to make the consumer think that its a last minute thing that they can get before they are done shopping.

Right now, I think these types of marketing aren't going to go away anytime soon. I think that companies will refine these types of advertising and maybe copme up with some new ones. I don think the public will direct hich way the media turns and i think that the media will decide the trends of our culture in the future.

Wirelessing the World: The Battle Over CWNs

CWNs are Community Wireless Networks that are networks set up in a community. They allow for open freely accessible , non proprietary system of internet access used to have small networks. They are a way for residents to build resources in tehir communities,saqve money, and free themselves form the worst excesses of profit-driven business models.CNWs help bridge the "Digital divide" by eliminating one facet of the problem, and even help bridge the divide between resource rich and resource poor areas by providing low-cost alternatives.
There are a number of barriers to market entry that major wireless companies set up to protect their monopolies . The first thing is that they buy small technologies that they know will become big before they do so that when they do become big they can keep all of the money andmaintain their monopoly. Another thing they do is offer bundles packages. Theyoffer telephone,internet and television services together to you think that it is a better deal when in actuality it not much better, only cheaper for a time. Another thing that companies do is offer technology that is interoperable. This means that the technology can be used in a wide range of devices but still being controlled by the company.
Corporate consolidation and the early buying of technologies resultes in fewer companies comtrolling more of the wireless mareket share. If companies buy all of the small technologies before they get big and populate they cabnn buy them cheapy and when they do get popular they have the right and keep all of the money for themselves. This results in fewer and fewer wireless companies being offered.

Government and the economy

4. What needs be changed to allow the creation of a "sustainable economy"?
To allow the creation of a more sustainable economy, we need to do a number of things. First we need to start making more of our products here at home in the US instead of importing much of our consumer products. If we created more products at home, then we would use less money outsourcing our jobs. Next, we need to creat more reuseable form of energy. We need to use things like solar, power, nuclear power and wind power, instead of using gas and propain. Next, our government needs to work on a longterm plan to help balance the economy. With the stock market doing so bad and the prices of consumer goods up, the government needs to comeup with a long term plan to help everyone.