Risks of Reporting

The CNN video “Latest Battlefield in Mexico’s Drug War: Social Media” is about drug cartels and individuals associated with drug trafficking that are allegedly murdering those who speak out against them through social media sites (in this specific case, public and supposedly anonymous blogs and websites). After watching this my first impression was that we as American citizens are lucky that we have laws such as the 1^st and 14^th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution that protect individuals who wish to speak their mind about any issue or voice their opinions. And even though murders and drug-related violence does happen in our country, it is not as prominent or as large of an issue as it is for those who live in countries like Mexico.

I believe that as communications majors and people writing blogs, we all have to be held accountable for what we say and post on the Internet, and also understand that anything on the web is public and available to everyone. However, our freedom of speech really only goes so far once we start making defamatory statements which may possibly be false, or lashing out against individuals or companies with actual malice. This particular video is obviously an extreme case in which someone or some group sought out revenge over something that was posted on the web. But when working in the communication field whether it be as a reporter, blogger, journalist or other media-related career, you need to be aware of the risk when writing about others especially in such a controversial context. 

"SCOTT TALKS"

After watching the Ted Talks video of Scott McCloud’s presentation about his theories on graphic novels and comics, I have a greater understanding and appreciation for the art form. It gave me a new way of looking at these novelists and creators of narrative, and showed me that it takes much more to be a great writer in today’s world than say twenty or even fifty years ago. With new technologies and web design development, writers of comics must adapt to these changes. As Internet users we now expect all information to be just a click of an app away, with all different types of publications now moving to online subscriptions and having apps to access their information while on the go. As a result, comics and graphic novels must also follow suit if they wish to still be as appealing to this new media-hungry audience.

A slide from Scott McCloud's lecture describing the four principals of comics and story telling.

McCloud explains how he and his colleagues must now use this online and digital forum to display their work. I thought one of the most interesting things that he mentions in his lecture, however, was that with comics and graphic novels you have to communicate and stimulate all five senses through only one; visual. But now that this digital revolution has come about, graphic novelists have a little more help. You see you can add motion and sounds to online-based comics and further entertain your audience by more effectively capturing their attention.

A slide from Scott McCloud's lecture depicting the usage of words, sounds, and pictures to enhance meaning.

I also really related to the fundamental theme or idea of enabling your readers to draw their own conclusions or fill in the gaps when moving from one panel to the next within a graphic novel. I never really thought about that concept and how when creating a comic, you’re really leaving quite a bit up to a reader’s interpretation of the action and series of events by how you set up a “scene” and what about of detail or information you provide your audience with. These are all things I tried to take into account when creating my own graphic novel. 

Comic Across Communications

I am currently working on creating a graphic novel for my COMM 203 course. We’re using Comic Life software and are allowed to make the graphic novel about anything we choose, providing that it shows our ability to create a plot, have a clear story line, develop characters and have them go through different experiences, having rising action, a climax, and then a resolution.

I think that this is an excellent assignment to have towards the beginning of this course because it allows us to be creative and still have free range over most of the content of our project. I have used Comic Life in the past to create a graphic novel for a previous communications class, which I really enjoyed. I believe that having this very open (some may call vague) assignment allows students to become comfortable with their own ideas and creative abilities, and explore a side of communications that they may not have encountered before.

Creating a narrative is something that we will all more than likely have to do at some point in our professional careers. All fields of communications deal with narratives, whether it’s a career in reporting, broadcasting, media or public relations, producing, designing video games, and many others. Our job is to become communications specialists and through our chosen careers educate, inform, entertain, and communicate information across different forms of media to our viewers and readers. 

The Web v. The Internet

In the August 17, 2010 Wired article, “The Web Is Dead. Long Live The Internet,” Chris Anderson and Michael Wolff accurately predict our ever-increasing use of the Internet in the form of apps on smart phones and other devices. I have to admit while reading the article it basically outlined my daily use of the Internet. Being an iPhone user myself, I suppose I never fully realized how the use of web browsers has slowly faded out of our every day use. Apps have now made finding exactly what we want even easier; having direct access to any website, publication, or utility immediately our fingertips. And even though all of these smart phones and other mobile computing devices were available to us when this article was written, their popularity and ever-growing use has turned into something of a phenomenon.

The way I use the Internet has changed immensely ever since I switched from my old BlackBerry to the iPhone4. I have found that the easily accessible apps and simplicity of navigating the iPhone have increased my what was before minimal web use to using the interned constantly throughout the day. I also use my Google Reader to read all of the blogs that I follow and I now access my favorite news publications through my phone too. Without even thinking about it, so many of us are making the transition from web to internet at a rapid pace. 

NEW SEMESTER EXPECTATIONS

I am a junior at Shepherd University majoring in mass communication and media studies with a minor in journalism, and this is my first blog post for my COMM 203 Communications & New Media course. From this class I expect to better develop my blogging and writing skills by discussing the topics, projects I am working on in class as well as completing assignments here on my blog. Over the course of this semester I hope to learn how to extensively use many different types of communication software in our Mac Lab in addition to further understanding of the science of semiotics and using it not only in the field of communications but also within my everyday life.

The Shepherd University Department of Communication is constantly growing and expanding, and as a result communication courses are evolving into something I believe is preparing us for our future jobs and careers. I have now taken several communications courses here and find that they incorporate skills and teachings from all parts of the field of communication. Weather you’re a student looking to go into web or game design, blogging, print media, broadcasting, reporting, film or any kind of editing, the skills you will need to have upon entering your desired career will have been covered in a comm class here at Shepherd.

I personally want to do something within the field of public relations after I graduate and through my required internship through the communications department, I was able to spend this past summer working for and alongside the CEO and founder of Platinum PR, a local PR firm which specializes in strategic marketing and advertising as well as event planning for their clients. Many skills that I am acquiring through my communications courses prepared me for my internship and I am constantly learning more and more about different strategies of marketing through social media sites, blogs, and developing advertising campaigns and pitching ideas to potential clients.

I am looking forward to this semester and this class in particular among my other comm classes to direct me on the right path and fully prepare me for my future career goals. 

Where There's Life...There's Semiotics

In the vintage advertisements for Budweiser beer there are many signs and signifiers which indicate an array of meanings.

In this particular ad the hammer is a sign which signifies masculinity, implying that the man in the ad is a working class American, also signifying what type of demographic this ad is aimed towards.

The glass in the ad is also a sign which signifies elegance even in an average middle class family. Portraying the message that everyone deserves a great beer like Budweiser, and it's a type of luxury. The glass can also be seen as a signifying the woman trying to do something special for her husband because he deserves it for working so hard.

The woman is another sign that signifies the duties and expectations of a wife or a woman's position within the family during this time period. She looks very happy in her servant-like role; happy to be able to give her husband what he wants.

The phrase “where there’s life…there’s Bud” is a sign that signifies that this beer is a treat for everyone; the average hardworking man.

Even the red background color of the ad is a sign. It signifies not only the color of the company’s logo, but also has a sense of patriotism which signifies the average, hard working American's who purchase and enjoy this particular product. 

Finally, the text towards the bottom right corner of the ad which says “THE KING’S CREDENTIALS! The King of Beers prints its ingredients right on the label. Know of any other beer that does?” is a sign too. It signifies that this beer is superior to all others, as well as portraying the man in the ad as the king of his home and family.  

GOTCHA!...well, maybe not

After completing the GOTCHA! tween phone ad campaign and reviewing the ads in class, there are a few things which I realized need to be addressed in order to make my ads more cohesive and effective. I found that the ad which needed the most attention is the one for National Geographic Kids. In the original ad it showed a giraffe and a fish both separated by a yellow stripe of color (reminiscent of the yellow border on National Geographic magazines). As well as the slogan “on land or under water, we’ve gotcha covered.”

I realize now that the slogan is a little misleading in the fact that the phone is not waterproof. The message that, no matter where your child is you’ll be able to get a hold of them, was somewhat lost within the wording of the slogan. So I feel by re-wording it and making it clearer, this can be fixed and the ad will be more successful.

I also realized by critiques from my classmates, that i could also better bring the images of the giraffe and the fish together better and making it more cohesive by using different effects and techniques within Photoshop.

So in the new, edited version of my GOTCHA! mobile ad for National Geographic Kids, I changed the slogan to say, “no matter where you live, we’ve gotcha covered.” By still using the gotcha brand name within the slogan, but making the overall message clearer, I feel that it will be more understandable and appealing to parents of the pre-teens who will be buying the phone. And I also removed the backgrounds from both photos and replaced it with a sky/water color blue, to further make the ad more cohesive.