News Response: WLKY Crime Overdose

Though I was not part of the WLKY group, the information presented today in class startled me so much that I feel it is necessary for me to react to it. A whopping forty percent of WLKY's stories have been about crime. WLKY had a total of two hundred and seventy four stories. Two hundred and seventy four divided by the number of times that we logged our data is approximately twenty seven stories per log. Forty percent of two hundred and seventy four is approximately eleven. That means that for every twenty seven stories published by WLKY, eleven of them revolved around crime. WLKY is clearly breaking the seventh element of journalism which clearly states that good journalists should attempt to make the important interesting. But WLKY is doing the exact opposite and is attempting to make the important interesting. WLKY claims to be a respectable news source but it sure has some shaping up to do.

News Response: Issues With Local vs. International Coverage

We have all examined and logged our findings on one of five news sources for the past month. Now that my study of the Courier Journal Online has concluded, I can wholeheartedly conclude that my findings were disappointing. I always assumed that the Courier was a reliable source of world news and not just telling me about Louisville's Iron man and New Albany's Harvest Festival. It sure did not make me happy to realize that the Courier Online has incredibly poor coverage of important events if they don't happen right on our doorstep. How am I supposed to stay informed if the news source I trust most doesn't tell me any major world problems that I know are occurring. The Courier Online had a total of two international stories, both occurring on September thirtieth, our first day of recording. I kept waiting for another international story but sadly they were never again seen. It is understandable why local TV news program would be reluctant to report on national stories, since, after all, local stories are what they do best. But the Courier is typically held to higher standards which it has failed to meet.

Peer Response: Sofia DeVenuto

Sofia published a post in relation to Wave 3's inability to publish articles that were in depth and on newsworthy topics (http://sofiasjournalismviews.blogspot.com/2015/10/wave-3-explination-flaws.html). What impressed me when I was browsing Sofia's blog is how often she gives really good examples to back up what ever she is claiming at that time. The example she used for the post of her's that I chose to respond to was a particularly good piece of evidence to back up the claim that Wave doesn't go in depth enough and doesn't focus on very newsworthy topics. The article that she used as evidence was about the murder of a random man, an article that will no doubt not affect anyone but the people directly involved. She also says that the article gives no other details besides the most basic aspects of the story, which would only be acceptable if we were in the middle of the civil war and there was a stray bullet that killed the reporter while they were still working on sending the very beginning of their story. Since Wave's situation is not at all similar to the one described, than I must agree with Sofia in saying that there is no viable excuse for their lazy writing. To view Sofia's post, you can either click on the link included at the top or click here.

Peer Response: Olivia Brotzge

Olivia Brotzge published a post in relation to her expectations going into this project (http://ojournalism1.blogspot.com/2015/10/news-response-expectations.html). I found her post particularly interesting because I had a similar experience but with the Courier Journal. I was thought that that particular news response of her's was well written and was nice introduction into her two other News Responses that follow that post. She also gave some data that she collected to help back up that point she was attempting to make. I think she was successful in trying to do so. If you'd like to view Olivia's post, you can either click on the included link up at the top or just click here!

Movie Lecture Response

Movies, like most other types of multimedia, are a dying medium. Yet they still seem to have remained a staple in our lives. How is this possible? Through lasting importance of the medium and demassification of course! Though the history of movies did intrigue me, it was the explanation of how movies are surviving the effects of the internet that inspired me to reflect on the movie lecture. Mr. Miller really opened my eyes to the secrets behind movies when he discussed with us how movies set cultural standards. I never even thought about how much movies shape the society we live in. I thought his Gone With The Wind example was particularly helpful in understanding the concept he was explaining. Mr. Miller's most recent lectures have really changed the way I view recent societal progression.

News Response: My Expectations

For as long as I can remember my Saturday mornings have played out like this: Wake up around seven. Go downstairs to the smell of freshly cooked omelets. Look to the table to see my father reading none other than the Courier Journal. And because I trust my parents and their ability to sniff out untrustworthy journalism, I always just assumed that the C-J was a reliable source of news. Unlike most television news programs which my parents had always told me were unreliable in that they rarely delivered the important news. The Courier Journal failed to live up to my expectations. Almost every time we filled out logs, there were stories about things that no properly educated member of society would ever consider to be newsworthy. For example, I would not classify the building of a new office building in Shelbyhurst, an area that is no stranger to buildings. as a top news story. But the employees at the Courier Online obviously disagree seeing as that was the category the story was placed in. It's not that the Courier shouldn't include articles about fun local events, but they shouldn't classify it as breaking news.

Television Lecture Response

Television is definitely my favorite part of any given Tuesday or Wednesday (Or really any day, I really love TV). Therefore, I found the television lecture particularly intriguing for a number of reasons. Mr. Miller used quite a few dates in his lecture on television which helped me in particular because it really puts the evolution of TV into perspective. I actually was surprised to hear that television wasn't invented until 1927, I always assumed the technology behind it had been around for a lot longer than that. A timeline also helps show how TV progressed over time. Like for example, without the dates that Mr. Miller provided I would not know that it took nineteen years after the invention of black and white television for color TV to be invented. I also didn't realize how much television really affected or daily lives. I never put it together in my head how much political television campaigns really affected my opinion of the candidates running. Mr. Miller also brought up a good point about how you can't win a big political election nowadays without a pricey ad campaign. He also talked about how product placement really does work, or companies wouldn't be spending millions on it. I always just assumed, "Oh, I'm not susceptible to their capitalist mind tricks." But obviously I am, along with the rest of the TV watching population.

Peer Response: Madisyn Morris

I found Madisyn's reflection of the Demassification lecture to be very intriguing. I agree with most everything Madisyn had to say about the topic but she made some good points that I hadn't thought of before. Like Maya, Madisyn offered examples that pertained to her topic to help put the content in perspective for the reader, which I admire in writing. Visiting Madisyn's blog is deifinitly worth your while. If you'd like to view this post, click here.

Peer Response: Maya M.

I enjoyed reading Maya's reflection on the Binary Models lecture. She included some interesting examples that, to my knowledge, were not included in the lecture. Her examples help put the content in perspective to me and were just plain interesting to think about. I can tell she took the time and the effort to write a tasteful reflection to Mr. Miller's lecture. I feel she really understood the material that was taught and I really enjoyed my visit to her blog. To view her post, click here.

NBC News: Breaking the 1st Yardstick and the 7th Element

NBC News  is a great example of a network that loves to make the interesting important, when it's pretty clear that their story "No Limits for One-Handed Climber" is not at all newsworthy. It is just about a random woman who was born with only one hand that enjoys rock climbing. Sure, the story is interesting but it will never affect anyone but that woman and is therefore not news. It's also clear that rock-climbing have nothing to do with the fate of the world so I have no idea why it was put in the World section of NBC news. Another example is "Baby Bear Hangs out in Hammock" which is clearly not news at all. But NBC believes that it affects the entirety of the U.S. since the video can be found in the U.S. News category. The bear is cute and all but it's much more important for people to be reading about or watching videos of actual news instead of videos about bears on hammocks and one-handed girls who can rock climb.

Newspaper Lecture Reflection

Newspapers have been an important part of daily human life since 1702, when the Daily Courant was first published. And modern newspapers have been around since 59 BCE when Acta Diurna, a Roman paper translating to Daily Acts came about. Newspapers have been around for such  long time that it's surprising that they are just now beginning to die out. With all the other news sources out there, people no longer feel that it's necessary to read the paper every day like they used to. But newspapers will never completely die out, or at least not for a long while. Newspapers are what you would call a nonlinear medium which means that you can read what you want, when you want, and at your own pace. Newspapers are also cheap, mobile, and are physical objects which make them very useful. Newspapers are also a tradition, like how some people get up and read the paper every morning. Newspapers have been very influential on the world but most importantly the world of journalism. The Newspaper lecture has been one of my personal favorites so far and I think it was both very informative and very interesting.

Magazine Lecture Reflection

Modern magazines cater to niche audiences, and there is no one magazine that could entertain everyone. Because of this, it's hard to imagine magazines as being one of the most important news and literature sources. But as I know from Mr. Miller's lecture, they were. Magazines, first created by Benjamin Franklin used to be a weekly/monthly collection of news and literature that was larger than the newspaper but smaller than a book. Magazines had a little something for everyone, even the illiterate and the alliterate. Magazines included something called serialized fiction, which was where a chapter from the book would be published every issue for the reader's enjoyment. Only the rich could afford libraries full of books so serialized fiction gave countrymen a reason to read, therefore increasing American literacy rates. Magazines also helped create a national identity for Colonial America which was something that we needed at that time. Notable innovations of magazines include: long form investigative journalism, photojournalism, mail order products, and most importantly, national audience attention. Magazines were the first to reach a national audience which therefore makes them a very important medium in the world of journalism.

Conglomeration Lecture Response

Conglomeration is a merger of two companies, normally one larger company buying a smaller one, that allows the now one business to achieve a vertical monopoly in their business. The advantage of conglomeration for these companies is that they do not have to pay other companies to produce,distribute, and sell their product but instead, do it themselves. This also allows the company to have only one accounting department, one HR department, and so on. This is good in that it's very convenient for the larger company, but it also takes away job opportunities. Conglomeration is both good and bad in many ways, which makes it very interesting to learn about. It is quite apparent to anyone who cares to look that conglomeration is very efficient. There is no hassling with other companies when you own every company that you associate with. And if one source of a companies income goes under, they won't even have to fret because they have so many other sources of income that it just doesn't matter. But as I said, for every good part of Conglomeration, comes something not so great. If it ever seems like everything you see is the same, that's because it's all from the same companies. Two notable examples of large Conglomerates would be Disney and Time Warner. Another disadvantage of conglomeration is that when they discover something popular, that milk it for all it's worth. It's like you are trying to make orange juice, but instead of just giving the orange a good squeeze and then moving on, you take the orange, squeeze out every drop, and then just throw the peel into glass and drink it all. The juice is delicious when it's only one squeeze, but no one wants to drink peel. Conglomeration is the way our society is headed and whether or not this change is good or bad is currently unclear, so I guess we all just have to wait and see.

Gutenberg Lecture Reflection

We live in a world today where everyone we know can read, everyone who belongs to a religion has a book of religious text on hand, and everyone actually has an idea about the world around them. But if you lived as a commoner in pre-Gutenberg society, none of that would be true. You, yourself would most likely be illiterate, unless by some crazy fluke you learned. You would have unfaltering faith in your religion, when in reality, the religion you're actually follow is not at all what it is supposed to be. And you would have no clue how corrupt the world around you really was. Gutenberg's legendary metal, movable type press is perhaps one of the most influential inventions of all time because of how much that's happened that couldn't have been possible without it. That is what I found most inspiring about Mr. Miller's lecture, how much was really affected by the simple invention. For example, the renaissance, widespread scientific advancement, and journalism could not have been possible which to me, is mind boggling. The most important result of Gutenberg's printing press would be the widespread literacy that it caused. Gutenberg's press will forever affect history in a positive way and learning about how it's affected us since it's invention and what life was like before it's creation was inspiring to me.

Welcome to Jessica Thoughts

Hello, and welcome to the blog entitled: Jessica Thoughts. It's pretty cool.
P.S. I apologize for my incredibly bland titles.