Hoedown Throwdown: Final Exam Part 2

I've learned a lot about media writing in this course. From scripting to play writing, fiction to newscasts, and, of course, our dear friend the brain, Professor Williams and Hilliard have done a lot to show me how the media interacts with our lives. These are my top ten "media revelations," the things from which I learned the most.

1. Sports Writing
I'm not really exaggerating when I say that I don't know anything about sports. I know basic rules for most games and follow them well enough, but the intricate stuff? Names of players (or even coaches)? Any player's stats? Throw any of that at me and I'm completely lost. Hilliard opened my eyes to the idea that sports writing and news writing aren't all that different. He basically says that the biggest difference between news writing and sports writing is style, making the process so much less intimidating than it had been before.


2. Social Media
Though not really discussed in the Hilliard book, I found one of my biggest revelations to be about the power of social media. Things like Twitter, Facebook, etc are great at keeping us connected, but even better at spreading the word. News writing is important and difficult, but the news spread and content created by users themselves is nothing to sneeze at. Last year, Twitter exploded with updates about fraud in the Iranian presidential election. Without Twitter, I feel like a lot of people would have been left in the dark about a really important issue and it was used as a rallying tool to get people together. It may not be media writing exactly, but never underestimate the power of the people.

3. Writing for your Audience
A lot of media writing seems to be based on intuition.

Hilliard spends a lot of the book talking about the audiences that the media writer has to cater to. I never really thought about the way a media writer had to keep so many different audiences in mind in the writing process. It's not just the viewers; the writer has to keep in mind the censors, the government agency in charge of it, the people paying for the ad. It's an entirely different set of rules for each ad too, and the audience is constantly changing.

4. The Power of the Commercial
Early in chapter four, Hilliard quotes Chuck Barclay as saying "Even the worst commercial, repeated often enough, sometimes produces results." I always sort of felt like "oh society is so much smarter than that", but I keep being proven wrong. Repetition really does sell. We remember the things that have been pounded into our brains over and over again, which is a great selling technique, I would say. Like these commercials:

They're pretty much the most heart-wrenching ads in the entire world. They hit you where it hurts, but they're so effective because they are played over and over and just stick with you. Whenever I watch television with my roommate and she goes "ugh, I hate this commercial," I know it's been at least a little effective because she can recognize it immediately.

5. Corporate America's Hands in the Cookie Jar
It makes sense that corporations would have a lot of say in the media they pay to produce or have made for them, it just surprised me at the sheer amount of say that they have. They really have control over everything, even the writing process. When writing an ad or a piece for a company specifically, a writer has to go through a lot of steps in order to get it approved, give it the look or spin the company is looking for, etc. It's a tough crowd to please, and it is especially tough when you realize that they wield pretty much all of the power in today's media because they bankroll most of it.

6. Talk Shows
I was never a fan of the talk show (though back in the day I was a pretty big fan of Conan), but now I kind of understand them and how they're written. One of the first things I picked up on was the way Hilliard described the interview. In my audio production class, we had to interview people (personality interviews), and making it short while still keeping it interesting and on-point was extremely challenging. It took about 30 minutes of talking to produce 3 minutes of published interview; some of the ideas like writing some things out first would have been so, so helpful.

Another thing I found interesting was the technique of it all. There has to be so much research done, whether the interview is live or not. Interviewers have to be on top of their game too, in case a question they think will pan out with a great answer doesn’t go anywhere. There are also so many lines to draw up beforehand in terms of what is alright to talk about and what is not. Such a crazy balance. Before reading the chapter, I wondered if talk shows had lost their touch. Then, all of the Conan-Jay Leno drama occurred, and I realized they aren't going anywhere for quite a long time.
(Team Conan 4 Life)

7. Reality
The last chapter of the book deals with what to expect in terms of a career in media writing. Hilliard sugarcoats nothing; he says that writing is probably the hardest thing to get involved with in the world of media. We’ve learned all the screenwriting methods, we’ve seen the best examples and learned the ins and outs of the business, but here Hilliard sort of gives the book a personal touch by giving his own opinions and suggestions. He makes it clear that writing is a tough business to get into, no matter what your circumstances are. There is no "Cinderella Story"; in the end, it's about experience and what you do and work on in order to get to the top of your writing game. It's a tough business, Hilliard says, but it is a business that is more than worth it.


8. The Rundown
My mom works with a girl who used to film a reality television show in California. It was basically local access, but I've heard a lot about it and it sounds pretty horrifying. It was really interesting to read Hilliard's example of rundowns and seeing that these things actually have an entire plan and an entire workup to them. His best example comes from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. So much work and planning goes into this event and it is amazing that the event has such a basis in media writing to begin with.


9. The Internet
The internet change EVERYTHING. All of these media techniques, styles, etc, they all change the second you put this new medium into play. Viral videos, blogs, twitter? All of these things came about because people needed to push the envelope, and it's just so interesting to see how media writing changes with the technology. Things that couldn't happen years ago, connections that couldn't be made, are all possible in this stage. I spend a ton of time on the internet, so I found the sections that Hilliard discussed the internet in especially fascinating.

10. Radio
I used to hate radio more than anything in the entire world. My car radio has been broken for years, and I really couldn't care less. But Hilliard and his book really made me appreciate the amount of work that still goes into the world of radio. Sound effects, ads, etc end up creating an entire new world that I never even considered. I used to think radio was a dead art form, but it really isn't going to go anywhere for a long time.


Media writing is pretty insane. It has so many parts and pieces that I don't think I could ever cover in one blog post. I learned a lot this year, and these are the things from which I gained the most.

Work For Me: Media Meditation #6

Click. Click. Click.

Was today the day? Had he finally put something new up?

I check the blog of a webcomic artist I love on a daily basis to see if he's updated.

He never has. Not since October 23rd of last year. I just wait and check and wait.


And then we learned about RSS.
RSS, usually expanded to "really simple syndication," is a way of having your favorite web content find you instead of you finding it. Amazing, isn't it? All the clicking and checking of "dailies" I spend at least an hour on every day (usually more) can be simplified into a page that takes minutes to read. How does RSS work, though? Easy:



Web applications like Google Reader make it simple to check and stay updated with the sites of your choosing. Why I never did this before is a mystery.

Things like RSS and Google Alerts (which I will get to in a minute) are part of a huge technological shift on the internet. Many people still live like the internet is brand new and impossible to navigate; these tools are there to make life easier for everyone. It's sort of like Tweetdeck for your whole internet life. By making things easier to navigate, I save time and can spend less time just goofing around on the internet.

Which is great. I can go from this:


To this:


No longer am I a slave to the clock! No longer do I work for the internet! I can maybe go outside once in a while! RSS, you have changed my life. But I haven't even gotten to your cousin, Google Alerts yet!

Google Alerts are even sort of better, especially for the problem I outlined earlier about my webcomic artist. You can set an alert and it will e-mail you updates about it. I set one for Champlain College and now get daily updates about people who have blogged about it, tweeted about it, or what it has been doing in the news.

Again, it's the technological shift. Both of these also point to a cultural shift; our lives are so fast-paced and crazy that these technological advances came to be. They are important because they were bred from necessity, and where there is a need, there will be new technology. My neocortex isn't weighed down with empty facts, and my limbic brain isn't overrun by sensory information from all the websites I'm checking. It's win-win.

Mitch Clem still hasn't updated his blog. But now, I don't check it every day. I just wait for an e-mail and hope that he'll add something soon. In the meantime, though, I'm not really concerned. I've been reading some great blogs through my RSS reader, and I recently found just the darndest video about Kevin Costner via an alert.



So really, what are you waiting for? Have my persuasive techniques failed? Google Alerts and RSS will change your life. Try them. They might even give you enough time to go sledding or start a webcomic of your very own.

Tweet Me A Story! Media Meditation #5

The first time I heard of Twitter was in 2008. I remember reading a CNN article about a kid who basically tweeted his way out of an Egyptian prison; by alerting his friends and family via twitter about his predicament, he was able to get help quickly and efficiently.

I still thought twitter sounded pretty stupid.

But then I made a twitter, and now I am in love. This isn't a crush of any sort, oh no. This is true blue, 100% love, complications and all. Woody Allen might make a movie about us soon.

(Or maybe not. Sorry to hear it, Woody.)

I've found it to be probably the most useful social networking tool I've become a part of. It gives my neocortex and limbic brains so much to do: there's so much to see, so much new visual input and new information from people I choose to get information from! Limbic brain loves twitpic (a method of sharing pictures via tweet) and customizing the visual aspects of twitter, while neocortex is fascinated by things like debates between friends about the film "Kick-Ass".

Twitter isn't without its share of controversy, however. I recently got into an argument with a friend (via facebook) about twitter's usefulness. His arguments sounded like Miley Cyrus' reasons for deleting her twitter:



"It's horribly misused, no one cares about what you're doing at all times, you get nothing out of it, it can get addictive, facebook statuses are the same thing", and so on. I'd heard it all before, and I was ready.

I've found that Twitter is actually a really good way to stay updated and keep in touch with people you wouldn't ordinarily talk to. You get information from people you choose to get information from in an instant, and the 140 character limit makes it so that you're getting the bare bones instead of a 9 page status update.

And it isn't all just random; a lot of it is in who you follow. If you follow Shaq (whose typical tweet is something like "Guess what people i am still KAZAAM") you're not really getting anything out of it. But following people involved around campus has let me know about a lot of cool media events around campus, updates on projects, etc.

I love Twitter. I probably don't use it to its full potential and I'm not here to say that 90% of the tweets people make aren't ridiculous, but I really like what Twitter does for me and in the world of "web 2.0" and the constantly evolving web, I think it's becoming a necessary way to sort of market yourself.

Even the government is taking notice.
(Though this does bring in the question of ownership: are my tweets mine? Who is going to look at them? It's a question frequently asked with this kind of technology.)

So I'm here to stand up and make a case for Twitter. Even though one of my last tweets was "I love nutella", I still believe in the power and importance of twitter. It's a blast, I stay connected, and it might even help me land a job one day. So four for you, Twitter! You go, Twitter!

Creepbook: Media Meditation #4

It's the most nerve-wracking question some people ask these days: will you be my facebook friend?



Ah, facebook. The Cadillac of social networking sites. Where would we be without it?

Recently, though, I faced quite the conundrum: should I add my mom?

I mean, I love her to death, but this is really brand new territory in our relationship. She's never had exposure to anything I've done on the internet (save for monitoring my activities when I was really young) and I wasn't sure if this was too big of a step.

There's a completely new set of rules and e-etiquette for social networking. This certainly isn't your grandmother's address book, adding to my problem. I decided to ask my friends.

"OH DEAR GOD DO NOT DO THAT. PROMISE ME YOU WILL NOT DO THAT" was the average answer from basically all of them. I scoured the internet for more answers.

It is really odd how one little internet application can completely change the way we interact. Before facebook, the teenager's biggest dilemma might be something like "should I let my mom see what people wrote in my yearbook?" Facebook, and the personal shift that it has contributed to, is quite the game changer.

My mom apparently had a few games up her sleeves, too. She e-mailed me the following video and said something like "lol is this our situation? love you!"


Her friend request remained in my inbox untouched. Despite her persuasive techniques, humor and repetition among them, I still had to think.

Whether it is helping college grads find work or proving to us once again that the internet is scary, it's hard to deny that facebook isn't a gigantic force of nature that keeps our limbic brains and neocortex plenty busy (and reptilian brain too, if one's farmville game gets really intense).

In the end, I decided to make a compromise: I would add her, but block her from seeing basically everything that wasn't my profile picture. My friends would be happy, I would feel less exposed, and she got another facebook friend. However, she was still a little upset that she wasn't considered a "real friend".

Don't worry about her, though. Her other 32 friends will keep her plenty busy.

Feedback, or Half of My Midterm

And now to reflect on Electronic Media Writing (aka MCM216) as we reach the mid-semester mark. Excuse my lolcat, I'm blogging at an obscene hour and felt the need to jazz this post up a bit.

1. After studying media for eight weeks in this class, what have you learned?

I have learned to use everything available to me to question and analyze the media I come across daily. Rather than just take things at face value, I wonder how many persuasive techniques an ad on the subway uses or what my triune brain thinks of "Law and Order: SVU". I would always question the way media worked and then just move on with my life, but now I think about things like my tool sets and specific scripting methods. Scripting has also helped me in audio production.

2. What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself as a 1. critical reader, 2. a writer, and 3. a critical thinker in this class so far?

1- I've started trying to go deeper with the readings than in the past or other classes. I really love learning about media and it's cool to see what makes it function and move smoothly and impact the way we live. I take more time to draw things out of the Hilliard readings.

2- I like writing, and I think I'm putting more of my voice into it now rather than making things sound like straight narration or using my default quirky internet voice.

3- Media is a complex wild animal (like a panther; it sneaks up on you and devours your entire life), and I was terrible at analyzing it, but I'm definitely getting better. It's hard to think about these things with deep, meaningful purpose, but Hilliard and hands-on work with blogging and scripting and such have made it easier.

3.What's one thing YOU would do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

I would become better friends with the tool sets packet and do my readings/responses way in advanced to get in the habit of doing them.

4. What's one thing you would like ME to do differently this first half of the semester if you were to take this class again?

I wanted to do more with my personal blog earlier in the semester when it was still new and relatively exciting. It was like one introduction post and then a giant pause between entries. I'd say assign more for that to get people acquainted with it.

5. Please comment on the usefulness of the course blog, your personal blog, our films, and our book(s) as learning tools.

-Hilliard is the man. It's one of like, two textbooks I have ever found completely useful. If I need to look something up, I'm confident that it is in that book.

-I love having the course blog. I wish other teachers would use something like it. So much work and so many assignments get lost in the shuffle and it is such a great way to connect everyone in the class.

-Personal blogs: wasn't a fan at first, still not totally sold, but I like how I now see how difficult blogging really is. You have to be on your A-game 100% of the time to keep people interested. It's tougher than it looks.

-I HATED twitter, but all of a sudden I'm addicted. Funny how that works...

Chocolate Milk: Media Meditation #3

Somethings don't age well. Chocolate milk, for example.


My roommate and her boyfriend were watching the first "High School Musical" movie last night and man, that thing hasn't aged well at all.

Time to make you feel a little old: this movie came out in 2006. It's already four years old.

The songs already sound electronic and cheesey, just like most Disney Channel Original Movie soundtracks. I was appalled. They were supposed to be timeless! We were supposed to be singing "getcha head in the game" while reading our monthly AARP newsletters!

I guess the main point I'm trying to make here is that media moves FAST. Something that was absolutely the definition of cool years ago is suddenly....this:


A dated song that most of the population doesn't really remember, left to sit and age on youtube like a carton of chocolate milk on a countertop. This stereotype-ridden jingle is representative of the internet at large, I think. The coolest, hottest new way to communicate can be left in the dust in a heartbeat.

It also makes me think of the overall cultural shift that America faces, the change from living completely private lives, even a few years ago, to now risking giving away too much. What happens when no one wants to read it anymore?

There's also the economic shift, the way the media totally owns us. When was the last time you had to find something out and didn't go to either google or wikipedia? Google owns pretty much the whole internet these days and is only expanding more.

This also kind of brings in the question of ownership. Google owns the rights to a lot of stuff on the internet. A lot a lot. We sign up to use websites, but that doesn't give us 100% ownership of everything we create there. A long time ago, I used a blogging website called greatestjournal. When I was about a junior in high school, I went back to read the stupid entries I had made as a middle schooler and was shocked to see that the entire website was gone, the victim of bad server hosting and lack of interest by the creators. My childhood internet experience was lost forever.

We're constantly being pushed to sign up for new and exciting websites. Stay in touch with your friends with facebook! Twitter is the simple solution to your life! Install this app, it'll help organize your ordinary, plain life! The persuasive techniques we see in television and radio advertising are a little more subtle when it comes to sites like facebook and twitter, but they still exist. But what happens when these things fall out of fashion? We're just left with huge amounts of information that no one wants to access anymore.

Who do you know that still has a myspace page? Technological trends move at a rapid pace. The hottest new social network site ever now will start to show its cracks and bruises in a few years and will soon be replaced by something new and exciting.

Life moves pretty fast. Social networking moves as fast a hummingbird's wings.

We love to find the next new application that will make our lives so much easier and more fulfilling, and when we find it we leave the old ones to sit and age and rot, just like forgotten chocolate milk in the back of a fridge.

A Little Too Connected? Media Meditation #2

A few days ago, I was writing a paper.

Well actually, if I'm being completely honest, I was writing a paper, texting one friend of mine, on AIM with another, checking facebook, and updating my brand-new twitter account. As I stared at my slowly developing homework, I wondered if I was living a life where now I was just too connected to the people around me.

If I needed someone's help, I now had about seven ways of reaching them:
facebook, twitter, AIM, facebook chat, email, texting, and if it came down to it, calling them on the telephone (but how stone-age is that?). With the vast size of the internet, there is now far too much stimulation given to the neocortex and limbic brain (brand new information at any second! Cool pictures at every turn!) and it really can get to be overwhelming. It's certainly not helping my homework habits or overall attention span.

A lot of media culture shifts come into play when it comes to these connections. The way we communicate with our friends, families, and now the world are forever changing to keep up with our need for connection.

The technological shift is a big one, of course. In elementary school, for example, my friends and I would write in a series of hideous diaries and notebooks to preserve our secrets. Around seventh grade, we all got livejournal accounts and were free to customize (and communicate through) our e-diaries. It was a strange way of going from things being totally internal to sharing with potentially the world at large.

The personal shift is another big one here. Information sharing has gone from "I'll call my mom and tell her about my weekend" to "I'll blog about my weekend so that everyone can know what I did!" Twitter is a big part of this. A while ago I saw a video that describes the purpose twitter in a really positive way, which I liked:



At first, all I did was mock the way people shared the minutia of their day via twitter, but that doesn't mean it isn't useful.

The seven basic principles of media also come into play here. We end up creating our own realities on the web; I talk differently online than I do in real life.

There's also the question of ownership. Do I own what I make on the web? I know I basically signed away my independent thought when I agreed to facebook's terms of service, but I still consider all of the pictures and wall posts to be mine. It's strange to think of someone else actually owning something I've been using for four years. At any time it could shut down.


Though that might not be a bad thing.

It's hard to keep up with all of these forms of communication. At a certain point on that paper-writing evening, I had a jarring thought: I wanted to do my homework. I shut down twitter, told my friends I'd talk to them later, used the program self control to block facebook (this will change your life), and got to work. In the media-centric world, it seems a little stone-age, but it felt fantastic.


(I didn't turn off my phone, though. I guess I'll forever be on the grid.)