Mass Media and Culture – A Criticism
Posted by admin in Mass Media on April 8, 2013
From the subtle to the extreme, our culture and our values are under unrelenting attack from the media. -Tammy Bruce
Mass media is an outlet of the generally accepted values or something that attracts the attention of the masses. Culturally, it is the decadence of personality, character and human nobility, replaced with the generalizations of conformity. As an educator, it serves under the boundaries of commercialism, without representing the fruits of higher cultural achievements. And the interviews of the famous, from a politician to an actor, PR and media training can be seen on every line.
Despite these obvious failings of the media culture, the repeatedly represented generally accepted values and behavior generalizes and enforces beliefs to be without intellectual bravery. With enough funding, the media can be harnessed to change the political opinions of the people. And with psychologically engineered speeches and advertisement, mass media uses the minds of the masses as a battle field between brands, people, beliefs, political agendas and to serve the vanities of reality stars.
Mass media is the decline of culture. Since the more generally accepted values and ideas receive waster reception, the generally accepted values and ideas are conservative at best. Even to the extent of them to rise to be the dogmas of this era. But why are these signs of the decline of culture? Because the peaks of our intellectual achievements do not reach the attention of the masses. Because too localized problems are not news worthy. And because it can be used as a psychological tool to engineer the conduct of life.
The mass media means that it is the media of the masses. And because we learn, create memories with or without the use of critical thinking from the environment, mass media can be considered as the most influential force that shapes the modern humanity. Because of the wide influence it has, it carries a great responsibility over the consequences it creates. The worst part of this is all is that you cannot separate your own mind away from the mass media. Its outlets are everywhere, and as it shapes the people, the opinions and the conduct of life who follow the mass media, you cannot be free from its effects. Though I might be cynical over the mass media, when the spring comes, it does not only mean that the season is changing. It also means that the new season of the culture I can purchase from our master, the commercialism is coming. Read the rest of this entry »
Music Theory Chord Progressions
Music theory chord progressions are an important part of the study of why music ultimately sounds the way that it does. Although there might be many different types of music theory chord progressions, the most influential progressions is called the Circle of Fifths. Although it can be a difficult series of music theory chord progressions to master, it will be worth the musician’s time to have a firm grasp of the concept as it makes playing any number of progressions easier by having a firm understanding of the processes behind these progressions.
The Circle of Fifths have existed for a long time before more contemporary music has existed. Great composers from the most regarded classical periods utilized it to make great chord progressions in music theory. Although one could study the Circle of Fifths for many years and still learn a handful of things from it, it essentially works like this.
The first chord in this chord progression will be C Major. To find the next chord, you simply have to move up to the fourth note of the chord or down by a fifth. Either of these methods will give you the same result. If you start on the note C, doing this will put you at the note F. To find the next chord, go up to the fourth note or down a fifth. In this instance that note will be B. You are able to follow this pattern until you end up back at the note C, which makes it possible to complete the Circle of Fifths.
You can use these root notes to make music theory chord progressions. In this example, the progression that you have created is C-F- B. This progression will make a lot of sense tonally to you and your listeners.
Another easy way to find the circle of fifths is to lay out the major keys in a circle by the number of sharps or flats each key has. If you start at C, the next key to the right will be F Major since it has only one flat. The next key to the right will be B, since it has two flats. Do the same process going to the left from C with the keys that have sharps to complete the circle. Read the rest of this entry »
Your Photos Could Help You Break Into Journalism
Posted by admin in Journalism on April 6, 2013
Photo sharing is one of the ways social media has changed our world. Flickr, Instagram, Facebook or even personal blogs give people an opportunity to share their lives and experiences with their friends and with complete strangers.
However, this has had both positive and negative effects on professional journalists. In the past, everyone wasn’t walking around with a camera in their pockets. We took our cameras to special events like trips, weddings and graduations or we took photos of our families at home.
Today when breaking news happens there’s more likely to be a citizen journalist with a camera phone on the scene rather than a professional photographer. The photos may be grainy and poorly lit, but they tell the story and that’s what’s important.
When the Stanley Cup riots happened there was one photo that caught the attention of people world-wide. It seemed to be a photo of a couple “making out” in the road while the riot police both surrounded and ignored them (though, of course, they weren’t really making out). It was taken by a professional photographer, Rich Lam.
But, there was also a video posted online of the couple being knocked down and a policeman looking as though he was about to hit them with a baton before he turned and ran away. This video was taken on a phone by someone standing on top of a car park. If it weren’t for “citizen journalists,” it never would have become part of the story.
Professional journalists can offer quality, but they can’t be everywhere at once. However, one thing journalists can do is take the time to document the information in the photos. One could spend hours looking at great photos online, but often the information given is minimal. This can be a little frustrating. Journalists are trained to explain everything. A photo of kids playing in a backyard pool might have been taken because there was a heat wave that day. The fact that there was a heat wave will always be attached to that photo and when people see it, they’ll remember that heat wave, if they were in the same region. This takes the photo out of the realm of a random image and puts it into the context of our lives. Read the rest of this entry »