Important Vocabulary:
- Communication: the creation and use of symbol systems that convey information and meaning (includes languages, codes, motion pictures, etc.)
- Culture (from a media studies POV): the symbols of expression that individuals, groups, and societies use to make sense of daily life and to articulate their values. A process that delivers the values of a society through products and meaning-making technologies.
- Mass Media: cultural industries (the channels of communication) that produce and distributes songs, novels, TV shows, newspapers, movies, internet services, games, & cultural products to large numbers of people (consumers).
- Mass Communication: the process of designing cultural messages and stories and delivering them to large and diverse audiences through media channels.
- Convergence: the overlapping process of growth or obsolescence of a media product as it is improved, reused, or rebranded again and again.
- Oral/Written Era: technology mostly delivered through oral/early written traditions (circa 1,000 BCE to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
- Print Revolution: 100CE (China) to about 1045. Development of moveable type (printing press)
- The Electronic Era: the rise of the Industrial Age (1800's) until about 1930's.
- The Digital Era: 1930's through 1990's (the rise of computers/internet, etc.)
- Social Media: programs (online) that allow people from all over the world to have ongoing online conversations, share stories/experiences, or sharing interests and information.
- Linear Model of Mass Communication: Outdated model of communications. Senders transmit messages through mass media channels to a large group of receivers. Media functioned as a message filter. With more media (primarily the internet/digital sources), gatekeepers cannot regulate or control the spread of media easily.
- Cultural Model: Individuals bring diverse meaning to messages, given factors and differences in their culture (age, gender, education, etc.) to interpret, accept, or reject messages.
- Selective exposure: People seek messages and produce meanings that correspond to their own cultural beliefs, values, and interests.
- "A book has a different relationship to time than a TV show or a Facebook update. It says that something was worth taking from the endless torrent of data and laying down than an object that will still look the same a hundred years from now. The French writer Jean-Phillippe De Tonnac says 'the true function of books is to safeguard the things that forgetfulness constantly threatens to destroy.' -- Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Are books, in your opinion, still important to us in our culture (or to you in your culture)? Have they been replaced by better modes of mass media (like TV, social media, or film...)? Why or why not? Support your opinion with examples.
Our course will also utilize a blog. I would prefer that you use the blog you created last year (you can update/redesign it--or create a new one if you prefer.) It is important that, as a writer, you realize that your words matter and that you can reach out to the world using the tool of mass media. A blog is just one kind of mass media. Today, after your research [see below], please update your blog and add a blog post for our second major task today.
A Career in Media Studies?
Take a look at some college programs in Media Studies/Mass Communication/Journalism from the area. Look at the curriculum, the requirements for admission, and other details for students interested in pursuing a degree program in the field. How might you measure up? What kinds of courses would you have to take? What does the major cover or entail? Research in the lab.
Various College Programs in Journalism/Media Studies:
- University of Rochester
- SUNY Buffalo
- CUNY Queen's College
- MCC
- St. John Fisher
- RIT
- New York University
- Vassar College
NOTE: Revisit this project at any time during the year when you are wondering why you are studying this stuff. It may help get you back on track.
Now that you've seen a few examples of college programs in media studies, take the rest of period 7 to research college programs you might be interested in. What field or subject are you interested in pursuing? What course content do these programs cover? What do these programs promise to do for a student? What makes the program unique?
TASK #2: On your blog share your findings with the world. What have you learned about a potential career path in Media? What is your attitude about the media? How might you personally use media as a writer? What career path are you interested in pursuing? etc. Respond to what you've learned about these topics today on your blog. Check the "homework" rubric to see how you will be graded for these two class assignments (task #1 & #2).
TASK #3: Mass Media Slide Presentation Topic. Choose and sign up for one of the following slideshow presentation topics. Use your time in the lab to begin researching the inventor & invention that helped develop mass media. Take notes on your topic. Design your presentation using Google Slides.
- Oral/Written Era: technology mostly delivered through oral/early written traditions (circa 1,000 BCE to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
- Egyptian hieroglyphs
- Mesopotamian cuneiform
- Ancient Greek theater & the invention of theater
- Print Revolution: 100CE (China) to about 1045. Development of movable type (printing press)
- Cai Lun & The invention of paper in China
- Rome & the invention of the codex or bound book
- Gutenberg & the printing press (movable type)
- The Electronic Era: the rise of the Industrial Age (1800's) until about 1930's.
- Benjamin Franklin & the Saturday Evening Post (early newspapers)
- Samuel Morse & the telegraph
- Nikola Tesla & The Tesla Coil & the wireless
- Guglielmo Marconi & the long distance radio
- Charles Babbage & the "difference engine" (early computer)
- Alexander Graham Bell & the telephone
- Thomas Edison & the phonograph
- WKL Dickson & the Kinetoscope/kinetograph
- William Friese-Greene & movie cameras & early color film
- George Eastman & film
- The Digital Era: 1930's through 1990's (the rise of computers/internet, etc.)
- John Logie Baird & the mechanical television
- Philo Farnsworth & the electric television
- Tim Berners-Lee & the World Wide Web
- Martin Cooper & the cell phone
- Vic Hayes & Wi-Fi
This project is not due yet. Rubrics & expectations will be covered next class.
I feel as if books are no longer important to American culture, and especially in our school. We went from having textbooks and paper copies to everything online. You rarely see anyone sitting down reading a book, everyone is using a cellphone to read things a book could inform you on but much quicker. As the article "How to Survive the Age of Distraction" says paper books are getting eaten by e-books and anywhere you can get an book online. So American culture is decreasing greatly on their dependence on books.
ReplyDeleteI don't think books are important to our culture anymore. I do believe books are still important to me though. Books teach you how to expand your vocabulary and they're there to help you become a better writer and reader. I agree with the idea. Media has definitely replaced books. Nowadays all you see is kids on their phones or playing video games. It's very rare to find someone reading a book in their leisure time. Books are all across the internet nobody buys books anymore unless they have to. I used to love reading until I got a phone which is pretty sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree and also disagree with the book because I do feel like people take books for granted and push them to the side because they don't have a screen now when somebody ask the question "do you read books" the response will be "yeah I'm reading this new book on my phone" or something along those lines but reading a hard covered book or a pages you can actually turn is totally different from on a screen. the experience is different as well when you're reading on a screen you're not really as engaged as you would be reading a hand held book so you aren't really paying much attention to the story or what's going on which can lead to other situations. But when you read an actual book with pages you can turn you're engaged and really reading and the feeling of the paper in your hands just feels better then getting a headache from staring at a screen for hours.
ReplyDelete^^agree
ReplyDeleteI feel that I agree with the statement, but only partly. I do agree with the article stating that e-books will never be real books and that they're slowly beginning to compete with books, but I don't agree that the "true" function of books is to safeguard what we might forget. Books are a wonderful source of information and entertainment, however, and should still hold some importance to today's society. The idea of books in modern day America can be best described as a candle snuffer lingering over a tired candlestick. Although books are a beautiful thing, I don't think that there's enough candlelight for people to see that. Media is slowly taking over, and you can even read pirated/hard to find reads online for free on certain sites. Everyone is obsessed with being online. There are reasons why we don't see kids walking into libraries anymore (blame the media).
ReplyDeleteI disagree, books are not really an accept in our every day lives no more, since we can easily access free books on eBooks, good reads or book-riot. As we begin to read books were not as interested with it as taking photos or looking at other people snaps. As the article "How to Survive the Age of Distraction" says If you read a book with your laptop thrumming on the other side of the room, it can be like trying to read in the middle of a party, where everyone is shouting to each other. To read, you need to slow down. You need mental silence except for the words. That's harder to find".
ReplyDeleteI think that books no longer play as big a role in our culture and politics, but I still think that they give us a unique experience that online media does not. Books used to be more important when it came to shaping peoples opinions and sharing information. They were a shared cultural experience that was one of the only ways to see the world from another point of view. This is not true anymore. With all the online articles and hashtags we are able to share experiences and points of view without going to a book store. However, I think there is something about being alone with a book that you don't get from looking online. Reading forces you to to commit time to one specific task and devote your whole mind to it. You can't double task or only look for the important details when you are reading a story like you can when you are online. I think that as less and less people read books, their patience is diminishing. When we can constantly entertain ourselves with something that does not require deep concentration, we don't have to commit to anything.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that books are a way to hold on to what would be forgotten is true. If it wasn't for books and written data, things could be easily pushed aside as temporary and not important. The mere fact that it was edited and chosen to be printed into a full length book makes it something worth while to treat with respect and read. I think that books have become less important in our culture, even though the printed word used to be one of the few methods of communication not too long ago. With all of the other things we could be doing on the internet and the media in general, the book is often forgotten as a form of media. As Johann Hari says in his op-ed, "It's hard to admit, but we all sense it: it is becoming almost physically harder to read books." We can't resist to check our phones or turn on the TV or radio. Some people like to read on e-books and I think that's a really cool piece of technology that has adapted over the years, but even those can take away from the simplicity of a book, and can access other types of media. Another thing to consider is the fact that people have FOMO, or the fear of missing out. Because of all the media we can easily access, reading a book could cause some people to feel as if they are missing out on something socially by not being on Instagram, Snapchat or other social media platforms. Here's the thing: if we all stopped worrying about missing out and read a book, there would be nothing for people to worry about missing out on.
ReplyDeleteI feel like he has his own opinion but at this point I disagree with him because people really take fiction seriously and have differ ways they write it. At the moment I feel like books are no longer important because now test and papers are more important so is the internet. every since mass media came out people find it more interesting because people can make memes and a laugh out of it but if you where to read about it in a book no one would hear or know what you are talking about because its a book and the internet can spread the word. Just like in "How to Survive the Age of Distraction" it says "we are the first generation to ever use the internet and when I look at how we are reacting to it I keep thinking of the lnuit communities I met in the artic" meaning that when u think of the internet its like kids fighting for sugar.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the way Hari assessed the problem we face in this digital age because it is very obvious that it's true when you compare it to the way things are in our generation.
ReplyDeleteI think Hari waited until the end to propose the solution of digital diet because it shows basically shows the outcome of his method, which people are interested in when trying new techniques. Hari did a good job at persuading me that the digital diet was a good solution because I myself have a problem with being on the internet more than I read books, so this can help.
I think that books are still important because people can learn from reading. To some people books have been replaced with watching TV. Some people still read books and like to learn from books. Some people think that reading is boring and would rather watch TV or be on social media. Some people would rather read books too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea because I think in this century that books are discarded because of the internet. Books are still important to me in my culture because books hold the most knowledge we intake versus the internet where it allows us to see and know what they want s to know not our history and the truth. Books have been replaced by better modes of mass media like TV, social media, or film ect. because all you see is people on their phones, laptops, computers, and any type of electronic device more than having a book in their hand. For example, I’m a teenager and I have my phone in my hand majority of the time and always on the internet and social media.I don’t read a book or books unless it’s for school but, besides that I don’t read books because I always have the internet to look up anything.
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ReplyDeleteYes i agree with the quote. I think that books are still important. I think their important because they tell us a lot and makes us understand things better. Over the time TV and social media has overcome books but lots of people around the world still read books.I don't think they have been replaced with media and etc.. but on the other hand had.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the functions of books are to safeguard the things that forgetfulness constantly threatens to destroy. I think it’s really important to us, as a species, because books have been preserving for so many years and thousands of years later, people will find the books of our time and they will get to know more about us. I think using electronics for reading (listening) is not better than books because people are tempted to check out their social medias as soon as they see a screen flashing back at them,. This same thing happens a lot to me as well. If I’m trying to read something, I just can’t do it on my phone because I feel like playing games or watching useless videos.
ReplyDeleteI think that books are very important and educational because many students learn from books. They are very important and useful to those just learning how to read, wanna read faster, wanna learn new things etc. Books help with all of that. technology do tk Books teach you things you may never know , books help you learn alot. Books are important to my culture we use them everyday and thats the main part of school we read and read and learn new things.
ReplyDeletei feel that books aren't as important to american culture as they us to be since electronics have taken over basically everything. books are still important in certain aspects like if people like to write stories that people would want to physically read in a book and not off the internet either because they don't like the internet or they don't know how to use it. i agree that that media is a big part in why books aren't as used widely anymore.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article "How to survive the age of Distraction" by Johann Hari, I have come to a realization that the fate of books may be decided one day while that forgetting them and moving on to the a more technology based world or keeping them around for eternal reasons. This article supports the idea that books will last and endure through"The Age of Distraction". Gary shteyngarts novel is referenced in the article and looks into the future without books and "describes a world where everybody is obsessed with their electronic apparat".And the article suggests that "The book on the book, it suggests is closing".While on the other hand Jean-Phlilipe suggests that "The true function of a book is to safeguard the things that forgetfulness constantly threatens to destroy, and Johan says "The idea of keeping yourself on a digital diet, I suspect will become mainstream.So therefore I say books will be able to endure through social media distraction and will always be a source of info and pleasure.
ReplyDeleteI agree that books are still important to us. Using technology for every class can be consuming, and resorting to a book and a pen and pencil can be refreshing. Technology is more efficient and you can obtain information more quickly. But technology can become confusing very fast. I find myself getting confused and frustrated using google classroom and reading online. Sometimes I don't have internet access and reading a normal book or writing an essay on normal paper is a better option
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ReplyDeleteI thoroughly believe that once technology evolved into a format where you could pretty much do everything just by the click of a few buttons and tapping a screen that people have strayed away from reading. Reading used to be an important way of obtaining information in American culture, and in the present-day that's no longer true for us. As we continue to evolve as a society and technology is constantly being updated and improve, I think we'll completely give up the concept of reading entirely. When that day comes, it'll be a sad on. In my opinion, reading is better when what you're reading is tangible and that ebooks we'll never give a reader the same experience of having a book in your hands and flipping through pages.
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