Execise 2 on Page 324

When I think of news, I think of sports, politics, breaking news, murders, and car accidents.  There are so many different kinds of news in the world, and it's hard to find the most reliable source.  When I need to find news about a specific topic, there are certain sources I go to.  For sports, I rely on Sportscenter and ESPN.com.  For politics, I rely on Channel 4 and Channel 2.  I also rely on these two stations for the most important news, such as breaking news and car accidents.  

The news is very important because it keeps everybody updated.  I look for a lot of facts and very little opinions.  If there are opinions in a newscast or article, it makes it less reliable and makes people not want to believe it.  Statistics is very important because it shows that the news source is reliable and has in depth facts.  Well known reporters also make me trust a source.  If i recognize the person or their name on a newscast, it makes me believe it even more.  For example, if I see an article with Mitch Albom, I think of reliable information and can trust it.  There are things that make me suspicious also.  What makes me suspicious is a lot of opinions and non-organized articles.  I have read so many articles where I could just tell that the information was not reliable and a bad source.  For example, I read an article online from a link that I was unaware of.  I read the first paragraph, and knew right away that it wasn't trustworthy.  I then went to a more reliable site and found the information I was looking for.

My own personal defintion of the news is information that has a reliable source and is trustworthy to believe.  What I mean by this, is information where people know is true and can spread the word to other people.  This is how news gets spread.  Whenever there is a reliable source, people find it and spread the information through different news organizations.  Overall, news is very important through the world, and I have no idea where we would be without news, along with rumors.

Class Wiki Organization

I believe that our class wiki should be organized.  I don't like it how we have it set up.  My idea is that we assign a group of three or four people to either a specific group, or to two groups.  For example, four people should be assigned to sports and electronics.  Then, the class could either vote or just pick four or five people to be the editors of the specific topics.  Not only would it make the wiki flow better, but it would be even better class participation.  The reason I like this idea is because if we have to do a class wiki, then it might as well be organized and easy to navigate.  

When we are put into groups, we could decide who does what for the specific topic.  We would be more focused on the topic, and it wouldn't be as broad as our wiki is so far.  We just heard all the ideas from Wikipedia, and we could insert them into our class wiki.  I believe that our class wiki could be very informative, and we could even spread it throughout the university.  Our class wiki is a very good idea and I would even volunteer to be part of the sport group for the class wiki.  Everyone can volunteer their interests like we did before on that sheet of paper, and organize five to six different groups.  I believe the interests of the class would correspond with the wiki and the content would be a lot more informative.

Overall, I believe we should have an organized class wiki.  We should assign different jobs for it, and it would make the wiki flow a lot better.

Questions 1 & 2 on page 253

#1

The message for my ad is to show why cigarettes are so harmful to someone's body and to the environment.  There are so many people who become sick from smoking cigarettes.  A lot of people die from lung cancer, and it is one of the most common diseases to die from.  People know how harmful they can be, and that is why they keep buying them.  It is a horrible addiction and it's even harder to stop smoking once you've started.  Companies are smart and know people will continue to buy them so that is why there are so many different brands of cigarettes.  The most popular brands of cigarettes are Marlboro, Newport, and Camel.  It is even worse for teen smokers who are especially underage.  According to new results from the Monitoring the Future Study at the University of Michigan, Marlboro is the cigarette of choice for high school students.  Marlboro is the favorite with 65%.  Newport comes in second with 13%. Camel comes in third with nearly 10%.  

I believe this particular ad would be effective because of the picture that is displayed in the ad.  It is very visible to the viewers and I believe it has an instant impact on them.  The ad also displays the damages that come from smoking at such a young age.  When people start smoking when they are younger, it tends to catch up on them a lot faster than if they didn't smoke when they were young.  The title is also very important to my ad.  It is bold and gets right to the point.  As soon as a viewer sees that, it will get them to read and view the rest of the ad.  

The problems that arose from when I was going from concept to design was where I was going to put everything on the ad.  I had to make sure that the ad would catch the viewers eye and make them want to look more in to it.  I had to make sure my visual was easily seen and that my title was easily read and catchy at the same time.  I had to connect the copies with the title to make them seem similar in concept.  

#2

I learned a lot about advertising as a form of public communication from working on my parody ad.  I realized how hard it is to create an effective ad that will be viewed by others.  It takes a lot of time to come up with an effective ad and a lot of thoughts go in to every ad.  Usually when I would look at ads I would think, "Wow, that sure took them a whole two minutes to make that."  Now I know that every ad takes a lot of time to develop and create a concept that you want the viewer to realize.  Public communication has a lot to do with advertising also.  If you want your product or corporation to be successful, then you most likely need a great ad to expand your income.  Advertising does take a lot of money, but it helps make money when it is all said and done.

The ethics of advertising are also very important.  There is so much work that goes with every ad.  I never realized that there were so many steps.  The different steps that I learned from creating my own parody ads were: decide on your communication objective, decide on your target audience, decide on your format, develop your concept, develop the visual, develop the headline, develop the copy, and different mistakes that you need to avoid.  It is a lot of hard work but it can also be fun and entertaining.

Social Networking Election Debates

I believe that social networking is having a big impact on this years presidential election.  Everywhere you look on the internet you find somebody trying to help out their candidates with videos, pictures, or speeches.  The main place that I am finding politics with social networking is Facebook.

  There are so many groups and events that have to do with the upcoming presidential election.  For example, I was sent an invite to join the group, "1,000,000 Strong for McCain/Palin '08."  There is currently 124,965 members as of 10/7/08 at 11:48 A.M.  In this specific group, there are videos posts that talk about why McCain should be the next president of the United States.  Then there are videos talking about why Obama should NOT be the next president of the United States.  Also, there are pictures of Senator McCain and Governor Palin at conventions, debates, and city visits.  Connected to this group, there are links for other groups that people can join that have to do with the republican party.  An example would be the group, "Stop Hilary Clinton (1,000,000 Strong AGAINST Hilary)."  

The word gets around a lot faster on the internet then in person.  The internet had a big impact on the 2004 election, and I believe it will have another big impact on this years election.  I go to other peoples profiles on Facebook and find applications that are made for the election.  The application is called, "Who are you voting for?"  The application is used for a general poll on who the people social networking on Facebook will vote for.  

Professor Troy Murphy had a very good point when he came into our class on Monday, October 6th.  He talked about Mivote and why it is so important for people to spread their opinion about the election.  Some people asked, "Why should I say my opinion?" or "Who is going to watch the video anyway?"  Professor Murphy then handed out a paper showing how many different videos and views there were currently. 

 Social Networking has become a major part of opinion giving in the United States.  I don't expect this to stop anytime soon.  If you want your opinion to be heard, I suggest you do it over the internet.  There are so many people on the internet, and I guarantee it will be heard.