Mass Communication

  Before this lecture, I thought that I knew everything there was to know about communication, because I communicate everyday along with everyone else. Let me just say, man was I wrong. After listening to and processing the ideas of mass communication, I was very intrigued by the whole process. The thing I found most fascinating was that in order for something to be mass communication, it has to have the potential to reach everyone. I thought that was the coolest part; if you have the means of getting the message or idea, you're good to go to be a part of mass communication.
  To study for the quiz that would be the next class period, I memorized an acronym which was S.E.T.D.I. These letters stood for the steps of all communication. The 'S' stood for stimulus, which provokes all communication. The 'E' stands for encoding, or putting the message or idea into a form people can understand. The 'T' stands for transmission, and this is where you get the message across to the audience. The 'D' stands for decoding, and is when the audience gets the message. Lastly, the 'I' is for internalization, and this is when the audience retains what was communicated. I'm excited to dive deeper into the world of communication and learn how to apply it to journalism and everyday life.

Media Critique

(Link to full article here: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/09/15/18-year-old-sues-parents-over-childhood-photos-posted-to-facebook.html)

  Anyone who knows anything about journalism would have thought, "Are you kidding me," after seeing this article published by Fox News. The title of the article is, "18-year-old Sues Parents Over the Childhood Photos they Posted to Facebook". Not only does this article violate the yardstick of newsworthiness, but also the yardstick of local relevance.
  This article is not newsworthy because it does not affect a lot of people for a long time. This is because the article is about an 18-year-old girl suing her parents for posting over 500 baby pictures of her on Facebook since 2009. Sure, this may affect that particular family for a while because their own daughter is suing them, but it doesn't affect anyone else outside of the family.
  The article also violates local relevance. Not only does this story not take place in Louisville, it doesn't even take place in this country. It takes place in Austria. Let that sink in for a moment. The article is telling citizens in the United States about a family lawsuit going on in Austria. This has no relevance to Louisville or the United States in general because it's taking place in another country and it will have no lasting impact on anyone here.

Response to Addison

  I was having a great time reading through all of my fellow Journalism and Communications freshmen blogs; I enjoyed seeing all of the different writing styles and what each person brought to the table. When I clicked on Addison Evers's blog addawarness.blogspot.com, my immediate thought was, "Wow. She has all seven blogs done." And it was true. All of her blogs were in great detail and very thoughtful. When I came to her blog about print journalism, I couldn't agree more. When I go back to that day, I was already exhausted even though the day had just begun, and I was hoping Mr. Miller would bring another intriguing lecture for us so that I could wake up. Print journalism had always been something I really enjoyed and was interested in, so my mind flitted awake when the word was brought up, just as Addison said. I thought we would be learning about the basics of print journalism and how it was different from other mediums. We did learn about print journalism basics, but that day's lecture was really about the evolution of print journalism and how it came to be today, as Addison stated in her post as well. I definitely agree that I want to learn more about how to write print journalism, but I do realize that we need to understand the "backbone" first, as Addison called it, in order to be able to write great print journalism.

Why Newspapers?

  For today's class I was writing up on the board so Mr. Miller could still lecture without focusing on that as well. The discussion was newspapers. Why were they still around all this time even with new technologies? Well, after this class discussion, the answer was clear. Newspapers are a tradition in that many people still get up in the morning and sit down and read the paper. Newspapers are a physical object; they are able to be saved and it's a source of news people can touch and hold instead of listening or watching it. This brings me to my final point. Newspapers will always be there. Because they are able to saved, people can always go back to them. People can read and interpret the news at the pace they want to. Even though these are only three of the six points, I felt that these were the three most important to share.

Meddling in Mediums

  When everyone had finally finished presenting their answers to the now infamous question, "Why is Jerry Mander opposed to television," I was wondering what the point of this whole thing was. Was I really supposed to know why Jerry Mander didn't like television? Well, I finally got the answer when we started discussing the purpose of everyone having to present in a different medium, and the answer, as I had supposed, was no. When people, were presenting, I noticed I was definitely more interested in some than others, such as the white board drawings and the powerpoint. For me, that was because visuals were involved and I'm not an auditory learner.  So, when we finished talking, I had a deep understanding on how different mediums affect how we understand and interpret different things and how some give us a deeper understanding.

Response to Kate

  Earlier today, as I was browsing through my classmates' blog posts, I found one that particularly stood out to me, and that would be Kate Frey's. You can access her blog at enteringtheworldofjournalism.blogspot.com. I found that her blog was very honest and personal, and I definitely agree with some of the things that she said. As Kate said, I am not an auditory learner as well; I can't absorb information just by hearing it. However, Mr. Miller's lectures have me not just learning the information, but stepping out of my comfort zone and taking a guess I know might not be right, which is more than okay in our classroom environment. I find myself poised and focused during lectures, which is most definitely not the case in other lecture-filled classes.
  I think Kate would agree that Mr. Miller's class constantly makes us consider new ideas and processes and has us on the edge of our seats ready for the next question, as she said in her post. I would love to see what Kate continues to post and look forward to reading her thoughtful responses!

The Keys to Journalsim

  As I sat in one of the first of many Journalism One classes, all of the ideas and key concepts of journalism started to fit together like a puzzle inside my head. I began to not just admire great journalists, but also consider myself a beginner learning the ropes. Truth is the number one element of journalism, because who wants to read something they think is true but then find out it's not? Independence is for journalists to remember they should write just to write; not to please a particular group or lean toward a certain outcome. Watchdog, one of my particular favorites, is basically a version of spying, in which journalists keep a close eye on people with power. All of these standards plus more combine to make journalism, well, journalism.
  I started to notice all of these elements as I listened to the radio and read the newspaper. I was listening to NPR in the morning and heard the term "watchdog". Not only had I heard it before, I knew what it meant and why it was significant to journalism and the world around me. In this case, NPR was referring to keeping watch on Hillary Clinton and why she wasn't doing any public appearances or press conferences; she was only attending closed door fundraisers. Minutes later, they had one of Clinton's campaign managers talking over the phone on the show, and he got upset about what NPR told him they had observed. He told them that the number of public appearances she was doing might not have been enough for them, and then NPR cut him off right there and politely responded that they were only trying to get information for the people, which is the element of loyalty. It amazes me how much I've learned in the little time I've been in Journalism; I have been able to apply the elements to real life and learn how to become a better journalist.