News Analysis # 2

29 Trapped Miners Rescued In China
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/22/china.mine/index.html

In China, a country were there are many mining accidents, had yet another "disaster" with a mine that got flooded with 29 miners trapped inside. they were saved within 30 hours, and all of them were rescued. The article talks about the medics and how quickly they worked, and how they were experienced with this type of thing. They also talked a lot about the hospital, and the what they did with the miners... But in fact, they didn't mention anything about the condition of the miners, what had caused the flood, and the people involved. They also mention on the bottom of the article that after this incident happened, china briefly mentioned it on the news, and skips quickly onto another subject while this story has been fanned out all over the world. but why?, i mean i live in the Middle East. Why would a natural disaster in china affect me in any way, what good does it bring me? except general knowledge about the mines in China.

- Informative vs Superficial

- Accurate and Truthful vs False and Deceptive

- Objective vs Biased

- Pluralistic vs Insular Viewpoint

- Balanced vs Weighted Side

news Analysis numero Uno

Toddler Killed In Crewe House Fire

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11806392

        This Article is from the BBC website, in the UK/London section. It was the second article on the list Although this story is exceptionally tragic, it doesn't really have to do with me, or with anyone in London, except for the neighborhood in which this happened. The story claims that a two year old boy died in a fire. His mother was passing two other children out the window to her neighbors before the fire crew got there. The two year old was rescued but died at the scene. The mother, the surviving children, and two neighbors were taken to hospital. Two of the neighbors had tried saving the toddler and that how they got injured. At the end of the Article, I quote: "Gus O'Rourke, group manager at Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, urged people to check smoke alarms in their homes were working properly to avoid further "tragic incidents". Neighbors said the family had only recently moved to the house."

This new is not useful whatsoever to anyone except that family. The only good thing it could do is make everyone want to check their smoke alarm so that that wouldn't happen to them. 

The Norris 5:

- Informative vs Superficial:

 This article seams to be informative since it has who,what,where and why, however there's not much information. The story itself is very blunt and short, and barely any quotations. 

- Accurate and Truthful vs False and Deceptive

     The story is somewhat accurate. It tells us where exactly everything happened, and who was involved. It didn't go much into detail though, which makes it seam as thought it's false and deceptive. Plus, i googled the story to see what i found, and there wasn't much to find.
     Also, the quotes were only from one source, which was one of the fire men. the parents weren't interviewed, and not much was said on exactly what happened..it was very brief as if on being said on TV.  

- Objective vs Biased

This story was biased although it attempted to be objective. they didn't get into enough detail, or interview enough people. they said the police were conducting an investigation and that the firefighters were working in really hard conditions and that some of them were injured. they then mentioned the fact that people should check their fire alarms, and most of the story is targeted towards the family with the toddler that got killed. according to the article the family that lost their two year old just moved into that house, which targets them and puts them to blame. nothing was said about the building, and what caused the fire, who might have been responsible.

- Pluralistic vs Insular Viewpoint
Insular viewpoint. The story was coming from the viewpoint of the firefighters, and the chief, they had the most quotes and the most complaints 

- Balanced vs Weighted Side
Weighted side, towards the firefighters, the parents in this situation look really bad... though they did nothing wrong what so ever, and they also had just lost their child. 

Dove No Love you...Beauty Dove love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

     I watched two video's relating to the Dove Beauty campaign, one was the actual video on the campaign, and the other one was an advert (link attached at the top). I must say that my reaction to this campaign wasn't a very good one. Sure Dove is really taking a step forwards in helping adolescents love themselves the way they are, and that's great, except for one tiny detail. One of their captions was "Beauty is a source of confidence", Well of course in the society we live in today every girl want to be beautiful, and look like the models on the cover of magazines. The point is, Girls should be taught or encouraged to love themselves the way they are without having to be beautiful...That they can be confident with their skills or personality and not only with beauty. And dove is saying that beauty is a source of confidence when they should in fact be saying "Be confident with who you are because no one is perfect, and everyone is beautiful in their own way". Confidence shouldn't come with beauty. I have a friend who burned her face when she a little girl, and now has a scar covering half of her face. She has such a strong personality and is such a lively and funny person that no one would even notice her scar, even though it was pretty obvious on her face. she was beautiful on the inside and she had such confidence. in fact referring back to what i said about dove's caption, it should be " Confidence is beauty", because if you are confident you'll feel beautiful, and no one would tell you that you aren't beautiful...Confidence is everything and confidence enables other people to see the beauty inside of you, and not concentrate on the outside.

I am aware of my imperfections, and at times i bring myself down and it's not the greatest feeling in the world. But i always tell myself that none of those things matter... I was born the way I was born and nothing can change that. my Physical appearance should bring me down because i have a lot of things to be confident and proud of. sure, my eyes aren't Blue, and my body isn't amazing... but Whatever I am, is how i'm supposed to be, and I accept it. I don't need to be taller, and thinner or prettier. and I don't want to be beautiful, I just want to be me.
    I am a very confident person at times and i find, at those times, that nothing gets in my way, nothing offends me, nothing brings me down. And also, if you are Confident with yourself, people would want to be around you more because a lot of people lack confidence and stick to those who have it. Beauty is in confidence, not the other way around.

Stereotype Me.. Type Stereo Who?

Ardekani Posted a Video of himself talking about Islam and Muslims. He claims that the Stereotype on Muslims are false and that many people Don't know anything about Islam or Muslims, except that they are "violent" people. I think Amaterus Like Ardekani should be encouraged to dispense advice about religion. It enables people to see another side, a different story...Another Truth. 
     Most of the Media we are exposed to create stereotypes on certain groups of people, if not all of them. Media such as the news, advertisement, TV, Movies, and even Games create stereotypes against people. Most of these facts in the media (the ones that create the stereotypes) are false, or are generally about one person from that specific religion or group. These give people false Information, well, it's more misleading information. With amateurs like Ardekani people will be able to be more open minded, and then choose for themselves what they want to believe. Troubled Adolescents might not understand it's significance, and yes it may not be the best thing for them to be exposed to. But, being exposed to something like this might make them think twice before stereotype-ing their friends.   
      Some people assert that all stereotypes are based on some measure of truth, and I think that it really depends. For example, There is a Stereotype on colored people that they are thieves and violent. Which isn't True, Actually the fact that they have a certain stereotype might push them in doing that is stereotypical to them... Most of the Media that create stereotype get their facts from one incident, like when a Muslim terrorist got into Israel and many people got hurt, suddenly all Muslims are "terrorist" which is far from the truth.   
     In my school, there are many stereotypical "events". People in my school make many racist jokes, and we make fun of each other. It isn't very nice, but Because my school is an international school and is composed of students from all over the world, no one is singled out. In my school we are comfortable with one another and laugh at one another in an "affectionate" way. We learn to live with one another and learn a lot about cultures and religions we would have never been exposed to in a regular school.  Because of this factor, no one really believes in stereotypes, we all see ourselves as adolescents 



    I think that stereotypes exist because of a number of reasons. The first one is of course, the Media, which throws stereotypical rain at people. Weather it's through TV shows and Movies, to news papers and The news. We are always exposed to these things. The second Reasons is because of history and the fact that change or difference threatens people. If your living on a tribe, and another completely different tribe move in, you and your tribe would be threatened and watch every move the other tribe make. The second one person from that tribe does something that to us (your tribe) seams weird or threatening, we would think the same about every single tribe member from the other tribe. It's somewhat part of human nature, and something we can't completely control.
   The Internet helps the groups that are targeted sometimes through articles and people that support that group. However it does more harm... The Internet is like the world itself on a screen, you have access to almost everything, and that means people are also nearly exposed to everything. That means stereotypical broadcasts and articles are spread.

I'm Exposed ... To Advertising

   

     I wonder how much i am exposed to Advertisement on a daily basis, It's actually very interesting to know how much of what we see, the objects around us, are an item of advertisement. From the moment you wake up the things you use or encounter are advertisements, without us even noticing. I conducted an "experiment" to count most of the advertisement i am exposed to on an average day, counting all the ads i notice. Here are my outcomes:

Monday morning:

I wake up every morning at 5:30, get up, take a shower, and get dressed.

- shampoo & conditioner (pinuk)

I use makeup, which in my eyes is a type of advertisement, for a certain product or company

- bobby brown eyeshadow, beauty care eye liner, lancome mascara, mac foundation, and labello chap stick.

- perfume box, containing my perfume hypnose by lancome.

i also turn the tv on to channel 75 which is MTV (music)

- there is just music non stop with the occasional ads on "Super sweet 16"

Breakfast:

-Special k's cereal

- Concerta ( ADD pill)

The drive to school:

every morning on the way to school i pass billboards in my area advertising certain things.

the ones i recorded

- Dance school in Cfar yona

- High school concert

- Babysitting

- Lost puppy

- and scouts

outside my area there are adverts advertising certain restaurants and radio stations

- "turquoise"-  A restaurant in Byet Yiztchak 

- 100fm- a radio station

- McDonald's

- Burger King

- Optica

- supersal

- Driving school

I listen to a radio station every morning on 99fm with a comedic broadcast. there are small ad in between broadcasts

- Ad on overy cancer

- Supermarket ad

- Chocolate ad

- dating ad

- car ads

- Tv show ads

Then once i get to school most of the advertisement is:

- facebook, food in the cafeteria, music, Moodle, websites (articles), posters for community service

then on the way back home it's pretty much the same adverts i was exposed to in the morning.

As far as i can see, i am exposed to a lot of advertisement daily, more so on the weekends when i go out with friends. Most of the Advertisement i encountered was from the internet, radio stations, Billboards, food items, makeup products ect. The thing is, i don't really watch a lot of TV, and i don't Watch or read the news either... i prefer to live in my own little world... but after today i realized that my world isn't so hidden then i thought, it's poisoned with advertisement. So the median for me is from the internet and radio stations. Most of the Adverts I encounter are subtle, because i don't really think about them, i just pass them by on the street, or hear them on the radio without actually listening. the Elicit ads i encounter are normally on the internet, when pop ups pop up... it's hard to avoid those things, they really catch your eyes. Most of the advertisement exposed to people daily are targeted towards people in needs, or things that people might want like love, beauty, power, to be cool, food, etc. the only way an ad would drag me in is if it has a hook, like flashing colors or a catchy phrase that i find funny.

One product of advertisement i was exposed today was Special K's cereal. this is a food product which is explicit. When i went downstairs and thought about what i should eat, the cereal box was on the counter, and the skinny happy picture of a woman holding a measuring tape drew me in. I don't want to loose weight, but the whole concept of something being tasty and healthy comforted me and made my decision for me. The box stated a few personal outcomes from people who ate special K's every morning, and a list of how healthy and good it is. I was convinced.

     The target Audience for Special K's would be overweight people, people that were interested in loosing weight, becoming healthy, people associated with sports and nutrition, vegetarians who would love the fruity bits... so mostly people from their 20-50's. The ad on the box is white and red, a very outstanding but clean color, with pictures of a happy woman on the front, and a happy family on the back. I would purchase and eat this product just because of the box, and the illusion of happy people and a happy family that are healthy and love life. because the truth is, everyone wants to be happy, and to myself, if i eat something unhealthy i feel bad afterward. Eating special K's gives me the illusion that i am healthier, even just after one bowl, and I'm placed in a better mood. 

    We really are influenced and exposed to Advertisement everyday...and the truth is, we cannot escape it.... So why run if that isn't an option?

i can't hide...Tivo is Watching me, and he knows what i like.

    Don't you ever wonder how advertisers come up with all these ideas for adverts that attract us. of course not all adverts are interesting and attract us, but there are many that do. How do they know?... Advertisers and television industries seek information such as whats in style, what are peoples interests, what attracts people, basically, what people want and look for. But how do they get this information? what are their sources? 
    For those of you that don't know, Tivo is an electrical device connected by satellite and various cables which enables one to pause, or record a TV/movie on the TV. why would anyone want this?, well you can basically record your favorite tv show leave and come back and watch it whenever you want to. I personally have a device which does the same thing (YES max). Why is this also good? Well we all know how frustrating it is when your watching your favorite show on tv, and then all of a sudden it stops half way and long, boring, Series of adverts flash across your screen instead of your TV show. This is why something like Tivo would come in handy, you can just skip all those ads with the fast forward button... isn't life Easy!?!
   Of course this is a major blow to all those advertising companies that spend a lot of money on the adverts they make. according to the article, more and more people skip 70% of the adverts while watching a recorded video. What we don't know is that Tivo is "tracking" us. yes, exactly what i just said. In fact, because Tivo is connected to a satellite in enables Tivo (the company) to tract the adverts that one might skip or watch. why is this important to them? well, of course this gives them exactly what they want: what adverts attract or draw people in.
     Why would this information be critical to advertisers or television programs? well it's simple, if they know what we skip, they'll know what type of adverts not to make... if they know what isn't skipped, they know what type of adverts to make. with this they can bring the rate of commercials that are viewed higher.... now of course ads get boring, and eventually you think once you've seen the ad once or twice you'll just skip it next time...Ah, but they've got that covered, because they are still tracking what you watch and what you skip, telling them what to make next....it's a never ending cycle.
    Tivo is able to provide this data because of it's functioning requirements, it's connected to a satellite...they can then take the information they get and sell it to advertising businesses. Recording digital videos has really changed the course of advertisement, and affected both viewers and advertisers. Avertisers have "inside" information about what people like and don't life...and views become more and more attracted to advertisement, making them more and more exposed to the media and products..