Image From:http://www.artsjournal.com/bookdaddy/2008/07/
Books are one of the most popular mediums. They bring you into another world. You can fly in the sky on a dragon, fight an evil doer, or swim to the bottom of the ocean. Books are your ticket to anywhere and anything. Tuesdays with Morrie was the most recent book that I have read. I am not much of a reader because I am very picky about what books I read so it is hard to find a book I like. When I do find a book I like I will sit down and read for hours. It is a magical thing when you get into a book. “The film industry gets most of their ideas from books” (Media and Culture an Introduction to Mass Communication)
Media is in your life if you like it or not. “Dating back to the 1800’s, films have had a substantial social and cultural impact on society.” (Media and Culture an Introduction to Mass Communication) Movies are one of my favorite mediums,like books they bring you along on an adventure and will bring you into a new world. Some of my favorite movies are Saving Private Ryan, Forest Gump, and Billy Madison. Netflix is the best investment that I have ever made. They have thousands of movies to choose from. I will sit down at least once a day and watch a movie just to relax.
Television like movies uses motion pictures to convey a message or story. TV is used for many things. One thing Television is used for is to tell the public about things that are going on around the world. I learn most of my knowledge of current events through the television. “Since the 1960’s, broadcast journalism has consistently topped print news”. (Media and Culture an Introduction to Mass Communication) Since I came to college I haven’t been watching nearly as much TV as I used to. In just the 3 months that I have been away from home I have missed a lot of events that go on because TV was my favorite news medium. Recently I have been getting used to going online to find news related articles.
Image from:http://www.artsjournal.com/bookdaddy/2008/07/
Newspapers have been around for hundreds of years the first paper in America according to Media and Culture an Introduction to Mass Communication was, “Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestic.” Personally I don’t read newspapers that often. When I do I look at the want ads and the comics I love the comic section, there are classics that have been around for years and new ones that are just as good. I normally read them when it is winter, sitting in front of my fireplace and spot it when I am crumpling up paper for a fire. My favorite comic that is printed in newspapers around me is Calvin and Hobbs.
Music is almost the exact opposite of a newspaper, it is spoken words or sounds that are said/made in rhythm to create a mood and tell a story. “The music that helps shape our identities and comfort us during the transition from childhood to adulthood resonates through our lives,” (Media and Culture an Introduction to Mass Communication) I live for music, for me it is something to calm you down if you are upset, something to fill silence and just an amazing thing. I carry my iPod around everywhere with at least one earphone in. I can never get enough music. I’m listening to music now and every time I write it puts me in the mood I can almost do anything listening to music.
I live with magazines; my dad has worked for magazines his entire professional carrier. When I am at my house at least once a day I see him working, it’s like a back stage pass to the magazine business. Countless times I have sat with him and watched him work and help out where I can. I will give him advice about a picture or what looks better on a page layout. I don’t read them much though I will occasionally flip through one at a store or at my house if I see a cover that interests me. Magazines always catch your eye, they have flashy covers, sexy ads, and beautiful people all over the cover. “We read magazines to learn something about our community, our nation, our world, and ourselves.” (Media and Culture an Introduction to Mass Communication)
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“Radio affects most people intimately, person-to-person, offering a world of unspoken communication between writer-speaker and listener. That is the immediate aspect of radio. A private experience.” (Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, 1964) Cruz zing around in my car blasting Jammin 94.5 is something I do on the regular. I love music and the radio just makes it better. I didn’t have a radio for a while in my car; it really made me appreciate the convenience and importance of radio as a medium. I love listening to Romero and Pebbles on the radio. They are on in the mornings on Jammin 94.5, which is a hip-hop station. They are hilarious; they make everything fun and entertaining.
The internet is a medium that reaches across the world. For me the internet is just another part of life. I use it almost every day, to use e-mail, Facebook, look up a new song, find directions, or anything that you could think of. The internet has made us as people closer, we can stay connected. I keep in touch with my friends from back home through Facebook (or as Dr. Rob Williams would say “Crackbook”); I can see what they are up to and they can see what I’m up to. “In 2006 Facebook opened their doors to everyone; by 2008 they had 60 million users.” (Media and Culture an Introduction to Mass Communication) it’s a growing sensation!
Image from: http://elementaryexplorations.wikispaces.com/The+Art+of+21st+Century+Communication
From the creation of language humans have been advancing communication and make it easier to communicate with one another. Mediums are the results of this race to communicate. Our lives are consumed of switching from one medium to another to keep in contact with the rest of the world. If it’s reading book or listening to the new hit song on the radio, we all absorb media. Media is mass communications, “the process of designing cultural messages and stories and delivering them to large diverse audiences through different mediums.” (Media and Culture an Introduction to Mass Communication)
