Who Gets Seen on Screen?

Racial and ethnic minorities get proportionately fewer speaking parts in American movies, and when they do get on the screen it is disproportionately more likely to be in a stereotyped role. These are the results of a study by USC's influential Annenberg School of Communication, which examined 500 top-grossing movies released from 2007 to 2012. Why is this happening, and does it matter?

The Los Angeles Times reports.

Questions...

•Can movie characters be role models? In what way?

•Do the movies help to define what is beautiful, sexy or heroic? How?

•What is a stereotype? How do stereotypes shape our thinking?

•How would you like your own race or ethnicity or gender or lifestyle group (whatever you identify with most strongly) to be portrayed in films?

Car Wars II: Better Living Through Advertising

Here is another automobile ad to compare and contrast with the Chevy Truck "Lost Calf" ad we saw in class recently...

Sut Jhally, a nationally-known expert on the psychological effects of advertising, has said that best ads do not try to sell the product on its merits. Instead, it creates a dream life around the product.

Your Humble Blogger saw the following ad recently. How much of the ad discusses the merits of the vehicle, and how much of it is a constructed dream life?

Questions...

•What does the ad say about the quality, performance, reliability, cost or resale value of the product?

•Describe the dream life created around the product?

•What role do the visuals play in creating this dream life?

•What role does the music play in creating this dream life?

•Who is the target customer of the product?

You have a Future in Sales! (Whether You Like It or Not)

Facebook and Google are turning you and your friends into advertising pitch people. When you like a product or a company's page, it may trigger an ad for that product that goes out to your friends with your name and photo on it. And this can easily happen without the product endorser's knowledge or consent. The Los Angeles Times reports.

Questions...

•Give me examples of recommendations you might make to a friend?

•Why might you listen to a friend's recommenddation?

•How are these Facebook and Google ads similar to an endorsement by a friend? How are they different?

•Do you think these ads will be successful?

Is TV a Mass Medium for Old People?

Media researchers are finding that some teens and young adults are disengaging from regular television watching. They are interested in streamed video or games or other digital media. They are more willing to pay for an internet service provider than for a cable or satellite TV provider. This National Public Radio story discusses some recent attempts to lure the Millennial Generation (Born 1980-2001) back into watching television, on cable at least.

Questions...

•What do you like about television?

•What do you dislike about television?

•Do you "binge watch"? Why is that appealing?

•Is television simply too old-fashioned for millennials? How can it be updated?

Will the Twittersphere Be Stifled?

Twitter is not in the Tweeting business. It is in the advertising business.

Twitter account users generally appreciate the company's support of free speech rights. But advertisers generally don't want to be associated with companies that break laws.

So as Twitter continues to grow, it must adapt to the laws of various countries, especially those laws that regulate what can be said. Reuters reports.

Questions...

•What is good about anonymous speech?

•What is bad about anonymous speech?

•How might Twitter's free-speech philosophy come into conflict with its business goals?

•How is Twitter an example of disintermediation?