Club MediaNote

Bye Bye Borders!

2011-07-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Borders stores always seemed so impressive. A huge selection of books, plus music, plus DVDs, plus a good newspaper and magazine section, plus greeting cards and fun gifts, plus a cool coffee bar, plus stuff I've probably forgotten.

Apparently, that caused the company to pin too much of its future on physical brick and mortar stores at a time when paper books are rapidly giving way to digital book players. NPR reports.

Forever Harry

2011-07-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

The Harry Potter novels and movies may be over, but Warner Bros. is still looking for ways to make money from its stellar franchise. This NPR story talks about some of the possibilities.

How Big Is Too Big?

2011-07-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

Why does it matter if some media companies, like News Corp., are big enough to own many media outlets in numerous countries? Does great size lead to great cultural and political influence? We discussed this in light of the scandal involving News Corp. that continues to unfold in Great Britain. NPR Reports.

Standing Up to the (online) Bully

2011-07-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

Cyberbullying has become a huge problem, with millions of children reporting harassment and their parents anxious over what to do about it.

Time-Warner and Facebook have responded by announcing an anti-bullying campaign. Increasing awareness of the problem, and giving those affected actions to take are two major parts of the campaign.

Drive-Ins: Nearly Extinct

2011-07-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Drive-in movie theaters have a nostalgic value, especially during the summer. But they were never really a good business model, and their heyday was fairly short. This Los Angeles Times "Then and Now" article gives a nice overview of the drive-in movie theater in Southern California.

The Presidential Tweet

2011-07-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

Successful political campaigning means going out to meet the voters in the places they gather. Apparently that can also include online places. President Obama recently held a press conference where he took questions from voters asked entirely by Twitter. NPR reports.

Should a Revolution Also Overthrow the Journalists?

2011-06-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

2011 has been quite a year for Egypt. People took to the streets, the government was toppled, change is in the air. But it is all being reported on state-run television by the same old journalists who failed to challenge the old government. Can state run media be trusted? NPR reports.

Are Facebook Users Outing Themselves?

2011-06-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Young people are making themselves vulnerable to sexual predators and bullies by divulging too much information about themselves, the European Commission has concluded in a report. Some 12 of 14 social networking sites examined--including Facebook--do not do enough to protect children.

The Reuters story about the report is here.

'Cars' Revving Up Profits

2011-06-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Getting Americans to go out to the theater to see a movie is increasingly difficult, so the studios turned to DVD sales as a major moneymaker. But has DVD sales have declined. the studios have turned toward the international market and, for some movies, merchandising.

'Cars,' the Pixar film of five years ago, was only a modest box office hit. But 'Cars 2' is coming out later this week, and it is expected to be quite profitable due to literally hundreds of products that will be licensed from characters in the movie. The Los Angeles Times reports.

I Knew There Was Something About That Zuckerberg Guy!

2011-05-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

We worry about government snooping on us, but what about private enterprise? And do we realize that we are invading our own privacy when we put our personal settings online? And do privacy settings give us a false sense of security?

The Onion's Factzone has a lot of fun with this topic, but also gives us something to think about.

How To Be a Rock Star in 2011

2011-05-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

The big recording companies are reeling. Record stores are pretty much dead. But musicians, if they are good and lucky and pick a good nice, can do surprisingly well by selling their tunes over the Internet. Jonathan Coulton is one of those Internet-made success stories. NPR reports.

Hearing the America of a Century Ago

2011-05-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

We experience history through words, pictures and drawings in books. That works pretty well for transmission of facts, but how about more nuanced things like emphasis and attitude? Wouldn't it be great to have a rich historical archive of speeches and music and sounds.

And now we have that. The Library of Congress recently opened the National Jukebox, an online database of recorded music, speeches, spoken-word performances and other snippets of audio from a century ago. The Los Angeles Times reports.

The Right to Bear ... Phones?

2011-05-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

No question that police work is sometimes rough. And it's obvious that pretty much any attention-grabbing incident happening in public is likely to have one or more people taking cellphone video of it. But what are the rights of citizens to shoot cellphone video of arrests and other incidents when police are involved?

NPR reports on this growing issue.

A Tough Job...

2011-05-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

More than reporters, photojournalists are on the front lines of natural disasters, riots, wars and other dangerous situations. But why do they do it? And why is what they do important? NPR reports.

The Nature of News

2011-05-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

There was only one Medianote this week, and it was a little different than most. Instead of basing it on one article about a development in mass communication, we discussed news coverage of Osama bin Laden's death. We discussed how coverage of the story differs across media.

Please, Please Forget Me...

2011-04-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

In Spain, a new type of privacy debate is brewing: The Right To Be Forgotten. With the Internet as a growing repository for every embarrassment and snarky comment, some now believe that people should have the right to wipe their digital slates clean. The Associated Press reports.

Journalism That Matters

2011-04-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

While much of journalism is about celebrity scandals and other meaningless things, there are still many examples of journalism that makes a real difference. One example is the Los Angeles Times coverage of pay and corruption scandals in Bell. These stories have led to the recall of nearly the entire city council and placing the former city manager on trial. And for Bell, maybe the city's tax money will begin to be spent on things that benefit the local citizens. NPR reports.

Are Animators Creeping Us Out?

2011-04-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

When animated humans start looking too lifelike, they begin to make viewers feel uneasy. They seem like very convincing robots, given away only by strangely dead eyes or slightly off skin texture. That is the gist of the "uncanny valley" theory. It postulates that animation works best when it convincingly gives toasters and toys and turtles--but not people--human qualities.

This Associated Press article indicates that the current animated movie "Mars Needs Moms" may have unwittingly found itself in the uncanny valley.

Online and Isolated ...Not Good for Teens

2011-04-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

So you're not the most popular kid in middle school. At least you can go home, go online and talk with your virtual friends on Facebook. But what if you lack Facebook friends, too. For some adolescents and older teens, that may trigger depression. These findings are from the American Academy of Pediatric journal.

Fighting Racism, One Ringtone at a Time

2011-03-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

Alexandra Wallace is the former UCLA student who made an amazingly insensitive and unwise YouTube video about Asian students one day after the earthquake in Japan.

She realized her mistake within hours, and took her video off YouTube, but it was too late. Others reposted it and it went viral. UCLA's Chancellor made a video condemning Ms. Wallace's actions. Campus security recommended that she take her final exams at a specially-arranged place and time. Ms. Wallace apologized through the campus newspaper, and has reportedly dropped out of school.

Many have responded to the offending video. One of the most entertaining is by 23-year-old actor and songwriter Jimmy Wong, whose song "Asians in the Library" is on iTunes and is also available as a ringtone.

This is his YouTube video, which has nearly 3 million hits.

Pick Your Villains Carefully

2011-03-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

The Cold War is over. The Soviet Union is dead. So who plays the enemy in a remake of the 1984 Cold War drama "Red Dawn"?

For MGM in 2009, the answer was simple: the Chinese. Just substitute one really big communist country for another.

By 2011, that didn't look like such a good idea. China is a rapidly-developing superpower that allows only 20 foreign films into its theaters each year. For MGM and other movie distributors, angering the Chinese government might mean "Red Dawn" and all their other movies would be blocked from Chinese theaters.

Enter the post-production miracle of digital editing. Take out references to the Chinese as aggressors, take out the Chinese flags and uniforms. Substitute North Korea, a country so poor and closed to the West that the movie industry has no money at stake there. The Los Angeles Times reports.

Making Sure USA Today Isn't Yesterday's News

2011-03-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

This is a tough time to run a newspaper. Print circulation is dwindling, print advertising is plummeting, audiences are aging, and online news advertising revenue is anemic.

So how does the leadership of USA Today plan to update the print publication and get the publication (or at least parts of it) onto smartphones and iPads? Very carefully, Yahoo! News reports.

Transfer Center News

2011-03-15T12:19:00.001-07:00

Because nearly all MC101 students intend to transfer, Your Humble Blogger routinely posts e-mails from the Transfer Center. This one just came in from Kevin Meza...

Just wanted to update everyone on some transfer news:

---We have added new books to our Transfer Center Library covering
topics such as law, business, and medical school admissions. We have
also updated our college admissions guides.

---Four-year colleges are starting to post their admissions
decisions. Please refer students who were denied admission so we can assess
their situation. We have been able to reverse the admissions
decisions for many of our students.

---Our Northern California Spring Break College Tour is full (53
students). Thanks for your support in promoting the trip.

---We will be hosting a college fair on April 19 from 10-1 and 5-7 in
Plaza Vaquero.

---Remind students to check our website
www.glendale.edu/transfercenter and to add us on Facebook for
up-to-date information.

Thank you!

Kevin Meza
Transfer Center Coordinator
Glendale Community College
1500 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 240-1000 ext. 5820

Is Disrupting Free Speech Also Free Speech?

2011-03-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

Political passions often flare on university campuses. And free speech generally does not mean shouting down a speaker. But should UC Irvine students who disrupted a speech by the Israeli Ambassador be convicted of misdemeanor criminal charges? NPR reports on the upcoming trial of what some are calling "The Irvine 11."

Free Speech: Where Does It End?

2011-03-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

We know that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives us the right to criticize government, express disturbing ideas, and create art and entertainment that some find offensive. But how about picketing the funeral of a dead soldier by a church whose tactics many Americans would find simply outrageous?

By an 8-1 vote last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that even this speech is protected by the First Amendment. NPR reports.

It's Not Nice to Gawk at Car Crashes...

2011-03-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

... Nor is it nice to watch the antics of crazy people for personal enjoyment. But aren't we all doing just that as Charlie Sheen's all-too-public meltdown occurs in front of the world's cameras and microphones? NPR discusses the ethics of the Charlie Sheen story.

Entertainment: Friend or Foe of Reality?

2011-03-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

Mass Media has agenda-setting power. For example, if a television series dramatizes the lives of compulsive gamblers, public awareness of compulsive gambling as a social and psychological problem will increase. That doesn't mean that people will agree on what, if anything, to do about compulsive gamblers, but they will be more likely to take the problem seriously than if the TV show had never existed.

Today's Medianote looks at the agenda-setting power of the film The King's Speech in regard to raising awareness about stuttering and the hardships faced by stutterers. According to this Los Angeles Times story, an increased number of real-life stutterers have sought help from speech therapists as a result of the movie.

Just for fun, we finished this Medianote by comparing television's fictional Greendale Community College with real-life Glendale Community College.

Scholarship Opportunity!

2011-03-01T13:58:00.000-08:00

This email came to Your Humble Blogger today from Susan Borquez-Dougherty of our Scholarship Office. Looks like a great opportunity for Mass Comm 101 students...

Hi all:

The SEER Team is offering three $1000 scholarships to our students. The one and only criteria is that the students write a 500 word essay. There are three topics to choose from. If you have a student who is a great writer, please refer him to the websites below. They may apply to only one of the sites.

1. http://www.dish-systems.com/education/scholarship.php
500 word essay contest w/ suggested topics like whether broadcast news dead or how has TV tech changed in your lifetime

2. http://www.satelliteinternetpros.com/scholarship.php
500 word essay contest w/ suggested topics like societal impact of mobile tech, or net neutrality and free speech

3. http://www.revzilla.com/college-scholarship-contest
500 word essay contest on motorcycle riding with suggested topics such as a favorite adventure, how riding will affect one's life long term in terms of lifestyle.

Driven to Sell

2011-03-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

Carmakers are particularly interested in making a good impression on young adults. Not only might they sell them a car, they might create a brand loyalty that lasts a lifetime. How to market cars to young people has changed along with the media they frequent. NPR reports.

Street Wise

2011-03-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

Google Street View is a remarkable tool. But not everyone welcomes it. Citizens worry about invasion of privacy. Governments worry about national security. Civil libertarians worry about government surveillance. These concerns were discussed in a recent Los Angeles Times article.

Use Facebook, Stay in School

2011-02-23T14:08:00.000-08:00

Educational research has found that students who form friendships with other students are more likely to stay in school than students who are socially isolated on campus.
So can dropout rates be decreased if a university encourages its students to network with one another online?

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is backing such a plan. NPR reports.

Transfer Students, Look at This!

2011-02-23T08:19:00.000-08:00

Kevin Meza of the Transfer Center sent this email out announcing a spring break trip to some cool University of California campuses. In Your Humble Blogger's opinion, this is an excellent opportunity...

Greetings!

I am pleased to announce that we secured funding (thank you ASGCC)
and will be going on the Central and Northern California College
tours during spring break (April 11-13). Based on student interest,
we will visit UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, and UC Santa
Barbara. The trip will include admissions presentations, college
tours, student panels (featuring former GCC students), and
sightseeing in San Francisco.

Transportation and housing is only $20! Students have to pay for
their own meals.

Students can either come by the Transfer Center (SR building, second
floor) or download the application from our website:
www.glendale.edu/transfercenter. The priority deadline is Tuesday,
March 8th at 5:00pm.

Fun fact for UC Berkeley:
Fall 2002 (the year before our first trip): 94 GCC students applied
and 42 were admitted.
Fall 2010: 281 GCC students applied and 82 were admitted.

Based on the support and encouragement from everyone on campus, GCC
has almost tripled the amount of applicants and doubled the amount of
admits to UC Berkeley. Thank you all!

Kevin Meza
Transfer Center Coordinator
Glendale Community College
1500 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 240-1000 ext. 5820

Welcome Spring 2011 Students!

2011-02-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

This is Club MediaNote, where you will find links to each day's MediaNotes. MediaNotes are typically presented at the beginning of class, and are represented on each quiz and test.

The first MediaNote of the semester is from last Sunday's Los Angeles Times. Film Critic Neil Gabler wrote an article about a new male stereotype in the movies: The Lout. Gabler says The Lout is insensitive, something of a slacker, and fairly indifferent toward women. They are, Gabler speculates, a media-created backlash to feminism and the changing role of men in American society.

The End of Mass Media?

2011-02-02T09:51:00.000-08:00

This is the last Medianote for the Winter 2011 class. That is for certain. But are we entering a time when media audiences become so segmented, so specialized that we can envision the end of mass media?

Well, maybe not. But this NPR story describes a gamer culture that draws millions of avid followers, but also flies completely under the radar of most people.

Tweeting with an Accent

2011-01-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

Texting has created its own form of acronym-laden English, but who knew that online slang could be so local? This National Public Radio story indicates that some of the expressions you use in text messages reveal where you are from.

Busted by Facebook?

2011-01-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

Imagine you are involved in a court case. A lot of money is at stake. The opposing lawyer has access to photos of you drunk. Or angry postings you made two years ago. Or even a post that says you went on a wonderful long hike.

All of these things could be damaging to you. Insurance companies and others are now routinely scouring the social media sites for material to help them decide to insure or not insure a person, pay a claim or fight it.

This Medianote is from an excellent article in the Los Angeles Times.

That's Why They Call It Social Media

2011-01-24T08:10:00.000-08:00

The stereotype is a socially-inept, solitary young man in front of a keyboard, his zeal for being online exaggerating his natural tendencies toward shyly disengaging from the world and flesh-and-blood people.

But the reality may be much different, at least for those who frequent social network sites. According to a new survey from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, Internet users are highly social creatures who are more likely to join groups in the physical world.

Tweeting Down a Government

2011-01-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

The Tunisian government was driven from power a few days ago, and some credit social network-savvy young people with spreading vital information about protests and other forms of social upheaval. According to this NPR story, the government may have controlled broadcast radio and television, but officials had little idea of how to contain young dissidents using Facebook or Twitter.

Talking to My Coffee Pot...

2011-01-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

... or my oven or my sprinklers or my central heating over the phone could be really convenient. Hey coffee pot! I'll be late getting home, so don't brew that pot until 10 p.m.. Oven! Preheat yourself to 400 when the coffee pot starts. Sprinklers! You've got the night off due to the rain. And central heating, please start heating the house to 70 degrees at 9:30, so it's nice and warm when I get home.

According to this National Public Radio story, more and more everyday devices will be hooked up to the Internet, and we will be able to direct them from our phones.

Has Political Speech Gotten Too Angry?

2011-01-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

The shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and murder of federal judge John Roll in Arizona over the weekend has left many wondering if the heated, sometimes violent, political rhetoric commonly found on the Internet, cable television and talk radio is destabilizing our political system. But the other side of the matter is that robust political debate is necessary for a healthy democracy. But at what point does heated political debate become unhealthy? NPR reports.

What's So Great About Objectivity?

2011-01-10T09:45:00.000-08:00

We are used to thinking about technologically-driven changes in news, such as newspapers leaping off of paper or cable television's 24-hour news cycle. But rarely do Americans discuss the philosophy of news. Much of the mainstream media believes in objectivity. Neutrality in news coverage is held up as an ideal, even if our news outlets do not always achieve that ideal.

But the very goal of news neutrality is starting to be questioned. This NPR story indicates that newspapers with a social and political point of view thrive in Great Britain.

My Radio is My Co-Pilot

2011-01-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

Parrot, a French company, is introducing a wi-fi based car radio that can pull in any station that is on the Internet, and will help the driver find free parking or cheap gas, and warn about police radar.

The device is being introduced this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to this Yahoo! News report.

Welcome Winter 2011 Students!

2011-01-04T09:56:00.000-08:00

Fall grades are done, the holidays are over, and it's time to get back to class. Based on the first day, the Winter 2011 Mass Comm 101 class is going to be a good one. There was a lot of interesting and intelligent commentary from students, and I trust that it will continue.

The first Medianote of the semester will be presented today. According to this article in the Los Angeles Times, authors are beginning to question the need for publishers in the digital age. It bring up questions of disintermediation, information democracy, and whether Google, Amazon, Apple and a few others will soon dominate the book industry.

Can Secrets Be Good?

2010-12-07T11:29:00.000-08:00

Wikileaks is all over the news. Hundreds of thousands of diplomatic communications have been put online for all the world to see without the consent of any government. So far, this information has led to understanding and embarrassment for the US State Department. We are conditioned to believe that secrecy in government is bad, but is it always?

This incident is a prime example of the Democratization of News, where anyone can participate and traditional news organizations become increasingly obsolete. NPR reports on the problems Wikileaks is having with simply staying online.

OK, But I'm Not Whacking Spiders with an iPad!

2010-12-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Two extremely successful media entrepreneurs are developing publications, a newspaper and a magazine, for the iPad. According to this NPR story, there is a growing belief that iPad users will subscribe to digital publications, which is something general Internet users resist.

Maybe It Was a Scary Science Experiment

2010-11-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

Bill Nye, TV's beloved "Science Guy," recently gave a speech before a packed Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California. Then late in his speech, he collapsed. He got up, but clearly something wasn't right. Two students in the balcony thought those near Mr. Nye didn't do enough to help the stricken star. They went to the student newspaper, then the Los Angeles Times, and quickly started an exaggerated account that students were callously Tweeting as Mr. Nye was passed out in front of them.

It was a classic Internet-spread rumor, fueled by a celebrity and a grain of truth.

How Do We Know It Runs?

2010-11-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

In honor of the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show and, perhaps more importantly, our discussion of advertising, Your Humble Blogger brought into class an advertising insert from Italian Auto maker Fiat, which is re-entering the American market after nearly 30 years. The insert said very little about the Fiat 500. But it was chock full of attitude, which the auto maker hopes will be transferred to the car and the Fiat brand.

Maybe They'll Have Seeker Scholarships

2010-11-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

You may never go to Hogwarts with Harry Potter, but now you can play Quidditch like him, or at least a Muggle version of him. "Muggle Quidditch" is becoming so popular at East Coast universities that there is a movement to have it recognized has an NCAA sport. NPR reports.

Do Fast Food Ads Make Kids Fat?

2010-11-09T11:24:00.000-08:00

The childhood obesity epidemic is becoming an increasingly obvious public health threat. But we are less in agreement on who or what is to blame and what we should do about it. Yale University researchers recently found that children are viewing a tremendous number of fast food ads on television. Is this part of the problem? NPR reports.

Dating in 160 Characters

2010-11-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

The Internet has changed the way we study our lessons, parent our children, and connect with friends. So why not add to that the way we date, or even how we have affairs?

This National Public Radio story notes that average people have an opportunity to follow up on infatuations much more quickly and easily than in the past. Is that making us all more affair-prone?

Screen vs. Screen

2010-10-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

Does it matter which video screen America's children are staring at? Is it worse to have a child watching too many hours slack-jawed and glassy-eyed in front of the television, or is it worse for a child to be constantly zapping digital baddies on a game console or is it worse to be compulsively checking Facebook? Or are they equally bad?

Researchers weigh in on this question in an Associated Press article.

Someone's Gonna Pay for This!

2010-10-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Television networks have a harder time earning a profit than they used to, and it's not all the recession's fault. Audiences and advertisers are bailing. It looks like the Internet is the future of everything.

So the broadcast networks created Hulu as a place where they could experiment with how their shows could make a profit online. Meantime, Google, Apple and others have some good ideas about how to bring TV to your nearest computer or smartphone.

But the networks are finding that free online shows are bad for the bottom line. So the broadcast networks (CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox) are restricting online access to shows while putting pressure on cable and satellite providers to pay to run their shows. Yahoo News reports.

Good News for Cal State Transfers!

2010-10-28T08:05:00.001-07:00

I received this email from Kevin Meza of the Transfer Center...

Hello,

Additional funding was acquired by the CSU system for this academic
year. MANY CSU campuses are now accepting applications/admitting
students for winter and/or spring of 2011. CSULA, Cal State Long
Beach, and San Diego State are a few of the more popular campuses for
our students, but the complete list can be found at: www.csumentor.edu

This is a great opportunity for many of our students who are ready to transfer.

Kevin

Kevin Meza
Transfer Center Coordinator
Glendale Community College
1500 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 240-1000 ext. 5820

I Am Shocked, SHOCKED...

2010-10-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Most of you won't recognize the cultural reference, but it's famous. In the classic film Casablanca, Claude Rains plays a corrupt police inspector who is "shocked, shocked" to find gambling going on in Rick's Cafe' American ... just before he is quietly given his roulette winnings.

For this Medianote, please excuse Your Humble Blogger if he is shocked, SHOCKED to find lying going on in political advertising. NPR reports.

Do Gamers Make Better Warriors?

2010-10-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Does it really matter that gamers can pick a war and pick a side, shoot digital bullets and spill digital blood? Does it make the players more aggressive in real life? Do the skills learned in the game translate into battlefield prowess? One real-life pondered these questions in a National Public Radio commentary.

New Meaning for the Term "Light Snack"

2010-10-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

According to a study just released, people who stay up late to watch TV and play video games don't get fat simply because they are sedentary and snacking (although that certainly doesn't help). It may also be because the unnatural amount of light they get at night may mess up their body rhythms and metabolism.

This medianote was based on a brief article in the Los Angeles Times.

Are Funerals Free Speech Forums?

2010-10-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

The far edge of the First Amendment is often defined by people with disturbing messages. If these messages have social or political content, they are often protected. An exception, however, is invasion of privacy. In a case now before the U.S. Supreme Court, the issue is whether an anti-gay religious group can picket the funerals of dead soldiers. NPR reports.

Is Privacy Dead?

2010-10-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Movies, television reality shows, radio programs and other media routinely turn intensely personal moments into entertainment. But what about when college students secretly turn their web cameras on each other? The result, we found out recently, can end in tragedy.

This medianote was about the suicide of a freshman at New Jersey's Rutgers University after his romantic encounter was captured by his roommate's webcam and broadcast over the Internet. NPR reports.

Transfer Workshops

2010-10-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Here is an email from Kevin Meza, who recently spoke to all of my MC101 classes...

We are now in the official college application period. Let your students know it is time to come on up to the Transfer Center and apply for fall 2011! Applications for the UCs and CSUs are due November 30th. USC is due February 1.

We have a complete menu of application workshops: CSUs, UCs, USC and "The Common Application" (414 colleges use The Common Application for admission). We will also hold personal statement workshops. Here is our calendar of events:

http://vision.glendale.edu/index.aspx?page=1516

Kevin Meza
Transfer Center Coordinator
Glendale Community College
1500 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 240-1000 ext. 5820

Want to Teach? Look Here!

2010-10-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

This conference looks like a good place to start if you're an aspiring teacher...

14th Annual

Road to Teaching Conference

Santa Ana College

Saturday, Nov. 20, 2010

Registration is now open!

www.fullerton.edu/cct

Keynote Speaker: Alastair Inman, California Teacher of the Year 2009

Is L.A. Too Cool for Libraries?

2010-09-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

This is a rough time to be a librarian, or a library patron. The recession has slashed library budgets. Even some avid readers are migrating away from the printed page and toward iPads, Kindles and other electronic reading devices.

An article in the current L.A. Weekly is a ringing defense of the city's libraries and an urgent call to reverse deep budget cuts in the library department.

Internet for the Observant

2010-09-20T12:53:00.000-07:00

A recent National Public Radio story discussed the growing popularity of religious-based search engines. For some Internet users, it creates a more acceptable way to navigate the near-anarchy often found online.

MW 9:10 and 10:45; TTh 9:10

Life Without Facebook

2010-09-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

So how would college students fill their days and nights if they didn't have social networking sites to spend time on? That's what one college president wondered. He is promoting a social media-free week on his campus. The idea is for students to see how social networking impacts students' lives by examining how things change when social networking suddenly isn't there... on the Internet, at least. NPR reports.

What, No Sky Writing?

2010-09-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

Former eBay chief Meg Whitman has broken all records for spending on a California governor's election. Both Democratic and Republican political consultants say this has enabled her to blanket the state with multiple types of advertising backed by extensive research into what is motivating various groups of voters in 2010. A recent Los Angeles Times article has highlighted what a candidate can spend on in a state of the art political campaign.

Clutter Vs. Privacy

2010-09-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

We all get unwanted emails, and it takes valuable time to sort through them. Now, Google has introduced a GMail service that looks in on your emails and sorts them into categories. This could be a real time-saver, but do you really want Google knowing what your emails are about. National Public Radio reports.

Welcome, Fall 2010 Students!

2010-09-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Club Medianote from Your Humble Blogger. Links to all the medianotes will be posted here.

Our first medianote of the semester involves Apple and the future of television. Apple is attempting to extend the 99 cent download model that has worked so well for recorded music on iTunes to television shows. Apple hopes to offer episodes of current TV shows within 24 hours of their airing for 99 cents. And it will be commercial-free.

Disney is willing to give it a try. CBS and NBC are against the idea, fearing it will hurt their DVD and advertising revenues. Fox has yet to decide, although company chairman Rupert Murdoch wants to partner with Apple, in part because he hopes to start a national newspaper that will be distributed in iPad format.

What does all this mean for the future of television. Our class discussion was based upon this article in the Los Angeles Times.

Summer 2010 Class: It's Been Fun!

2010-07-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

Wednesday will be the last medianote of the Summer 2010 session. Thanks for being a great class.

The last medianote will be about eBooks and eBook players, notably Amazon's Kindle. Amazon reports that sales of digital books are now outpacing sales of hard-cover books, and the gap is growing. Your Humble Blogger wonders how long it will be before eBook sales catch up to paperbacks? And how long it will be before eTextbooks become dominant on college campuses?

NPR reports.

Uncle Sam Wants You! (to hack)

2010-07-20T09:05:00.000-07:00

We are all at the mercy of computers and digital information. Our bank accounts, our power plants, our planes and trains are controlled by computer instructions. A cyberattack could easily cause chaos.

And that is why the military is beginning to talk about a shortage of "cyber warriors." They would be both defensive and offensive. And they could defend America without leaving their favorite desk chair. The ongoing shortage of cyber warriors was recently discussed in a National Public Radio story.

George Carlin Would Be Proud

2010-07-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

The late comedian and social commentator did a famous routine called "The Seven Dirty Words." These were words that the Federal Communication Commission, which regulates the airwaves for the public good, deemed too vulgar for broadcasters to use under any circumstances. Why these words, Carlin wondered. Laughter and thought followed.

Since 2004, television and radio broadcasters have been fined for letting "fleeting expletives" onto their broadcasts. A fleeting expletive is generally unscripted and unexpected by the broadcaster. Awards shows, sporting events, or news stories covered live may occasionally have fleeting expletives uttered by a losing pitcher, a flood victim, or a potty-mouthed celebrity.

A federal appeals court said broadcasters shouldn't have to be responsible for fleeting expletives. For now, the Seven Dirty Words remain off limits in broadcasters' scripts, but perhaps that will face serious challenge in the near future. NPR reports.

Where Everyone Knows Your Name...

2010-07-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

The situation comedy "Cheers" had a retro-ballad theme song that had the catch line' "where everyone knows your name." And the thought of Cheers as a warm, safe, friendly place where everyone knew you was supposed to be reassuring. But everyone knowing your name as you read or post on the Internet is a whole different thing.

The government of China, which has struggled mightily to regulate the Internet, may be about to implement a "real name" system. Under the plan, which is still sketchy, forum moderators, posters, even people who read stuff on the Internet, will have to do so under their actual name. Civil libertarians claim this system will be anything but warm, friendly or safe. The Associated Press reports.

How 'Bout That Overdue Library Book, Friend?

2010-07-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

If you want to disappear (for whatever reason), then don't use Facebook or other social media to stay connected. You may find that some of your new online friends are exactly the people you are trying to hide from. Debt collectors, tax collectors, repo men and others are finding social media to be valuable tracking tools, according to this National Public Radio story.

His Parents Must Be Sooo Proud...

2010-07-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

Is there such a thing as Internet Addiction? Some experts believe it is an increasingly common psychological addiction, particularly among teens and young adults.

This YouTube video has been watched more than 29 million times. is this what withdrawl from Internet Addiction looks like?

A Media Revolution, One Cupcake at a Time

2010-07-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

Social Media has helped us to do a lot of things differently, but up to now Your Humble Blogger really didn't think Facebook really had a whole lot to do with selling cupcakes. Apparently, YHB was wrong. National Public Radio reports that social media has put a lot of small businesses on wheels.

Maybe Kids Will Get Addicted to School

2010-06-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

How do you get kids to interact with their schoolwork and become obsessed with learning? The answer for one New York school is to make the classroom more like the obsessive, interactive world of video games. NPR reports on this idea.

Is the Internet Eating Your Brain?

2010-06-28T19:29:00.000-07:00

Does use of the Internet making us smarter by allowing us to congregate in groups that collectively amass information, give advice, and solve problems? Or does the Internet make us dumber by damaging our attention spans and robbing us of mental focus?

A recent review in the Los Angeles Times discusses two books that take on these questions.

No Place to Hide on the Internet

2010-06-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

Increasing worries about privacy over the Internet are leading to new legislative proposals in Congress. National Public Radio reports.

L.A.'s Most Popular Film Location Is ...

2010-06-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

Griffith Park.

With more than 4,000 acres of chaparral, trails, roads, and various facilities, the park has stood in for everything from an inner-city playground to the Alps. And Griffith Park has been a favorite of movie makers for a century. In fact, one silent movie mogul once exclaimed: "A rock is a rock, a tree is a tree ... Shoot it in Griffith Park!"

The Los Angeles Times recently had an article about the park's continued success as a film location.

Ads ... Coming to a Bumper Near You (maybe)

2010-06-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

California is desperate to balance its budget. Selling advertising on spaces controlled by the state is worth considering. But what about electronic license plates that can wirelessly be turned into ads?

National Public Radio reports on this proposal.

Information Superhighway

2010-05-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

Do Americans love their cars?

Do we think iPads are cool?

Do we think we can multitask?

Well, then maybe this is the future. What do you think?

When Does Free Speech Become Religious Bigotry?

2010-05-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Religions sometimes get involved with political or social issues. They have the right to do so. And when religious groups get involved with contentious issues, they will almost certainly be publicly criticized. The opponents have the right to do so.

But when does satire become blasphemy? When does vigorous opposition cross the line into bigotry?

We discussed these topics and others after listening to this National Public Radio story.

This is Your Humble Blogger's 400th post to Club Medianote!

That's a Slick Name!

2010-05-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

This should be a wonderful time at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. A fancy new exhibit for sea otters is opening. A celebratory press conference is scheduled for the very day that Your Humble Blogger bruises the tips of his little fingers by writing this.

But the hoopla and the happy visitors and frolicking otters will have to take a seat to controversy over the new exhibit's name. In honor of its largest corporate contributor, the exhibit is "The BP Sea Otter Habitat."

Yes, the same BP (British Petroleum) that is at the center of an environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Ouch!

The Los Angeles Times reports.

The Cruel Truth About Free Speech

2010-05-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

The far reaches of free speech in American society is sometimes defined by people who we may not like: pornographers, bigots, and assorted zealots. But these people who we may find downright creepy serve a positive function. The keep the range of permissible speech broad enough to ensure free and open political and social debate, which is good for all of us.

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a law that made the production and distribution of animal cruelty videos illegal, even if the producer or distributor of the videos was not involved in the original acts of cruelty.

The Supreme Court called the law too broad and questioned the ability of Congress to interpret where the First Amendment ends. NPR reports.

But Where Will They Put the Mosh Pit?

2010-05-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Digital 3-D movie theaters are popping up across the country. They are popular, profitable and linked to communications satellites. This means movies without film wirelessly downloaded to theaters.

It also means an opportunity for these theaters to show live events to paying audiences. The Los Angeles Times reports on this growing trend.

Here's what MC101s said in an in-class poll...

Replace audience response hardware with Poll Everywhere

Vid Rage

2010-05-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

California's law restricting sales of violent video games to minors is being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawyers on both sides of the case say that academic research supports their position. Those against the law say the research does not show that children who play violent video games become more aggressive as a result. Lawyers arguing in behalf of the California law say that research does show that children who play violent video games get more aggressive as a result.

The Los Angeles Times sought to sort out these conflicting claims.

MC101s generally thought that violent video games modestly contributed to youthful aggressiveness ...

Replace your audience response systems with Poll Everywhere

Protesters Go Digital

2010-05-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

Protests, pickets, sit-ins and other forms of civil disobedience are time-honored methods of expressing political dissent. Participants--sometimes brave, other times annoying--often make themselves loudly heard.

But how can civil disobedience be updated for the digital age. One UC San Diego professor is working on it, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Is Information Too Free?

2010-04-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Google apparently isn't only having problems with the Chinese government. Internet censorship around the world is on the rise. Different governments want to suppress different things, but filters and firewalls seem to be going up in plenty of places. For the big Internet companies, the question is whether they should always abide by local laws and conventions, even when they are repressive. The Los Angeles Times reports.

Making Twitter Pay

2010-04-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

Internet companies can become wildly popular without becoming economically successful. Often the pivotal moment for an internet service is when its owners finally try to make money off it, through advertising, user fees, or some other means. Twitter is at that point right now, according to this NPR story.

This in-class poll indicates that MC101 students are generally not big Twitterers.

Create your own sms poll at Poll Everywhere

TV to Go!

2010-04-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

The end of analog television last June killed off those little Casio and other handheld television sets that people watched at ballgames and other places. But now, a new generation of portable digital televisions--both stand-alone devices and add-ons for smart phones--are hitting the market.

Will this give new life for broadcast television, or is it simply a medium destined to migrate to the Internet? NPR reports.

Here's the results of an online poll we did in class...

Make a live audience poll at Poll Everywhere

STOMP on Over to Westwood

2010-04-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

This email came in today from Kevin Meza of the Transfer Center. It looks like a good thing to get in on if you plan on transferring to UCLA...

Hello,

We are taking students to UCLA for the Student Transfer Opportunity and Mentor Program (STOMP) Conference on Friday, April 30. The conference will include presentations on undergraduate admissions, majors, and student life. Here is the link to sign up for the event (RSVP by April 23):

1. http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/stompconference/default.htm

2. Come into the Transfer Center as soon as possible to sign up for a spot on the bus. We will be leaving GCC in the upper parking lot by the parking structure at 7:30 am and returning to GCC at 4:00 pm.

Additional information about the program:

The UCLA Student Transfer Opportunity and Mentor Program (STOMP), along with Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools (UARS) is convinced that the best way to aid Community College students interested in transferring to UCLA is to empower them by providing key information that will make their Community College experience productive, thus making them more competitive for admissions to the UC system, particularly UCLA. Attendees to the Transfer Conference include low income, first generation, and non-traditional students.

UCLA's Student Transfer Opportunity and Mentor Program invites community college students interested in transferring to UCLA to attend this conference.

We will highlight a variety of strategies and resources needed to successfully transfer ...
Strategies for transfer
Information on various majors
Student life/housing
Financial Aid
Departmental fair
Sign up for mentoring

Kevin Meza
Transfer Center Coordinator
Glendale Community College
1500 N. Verdugo Road
Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 240-1000 ext. 5820

French Fries

2010-04-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

Do commercials cause you to drive a fancier car or use a different toothpaste? Do television characters nudge you toward a different hair style, or using catch phrases you otherwise would not speak?

Maybe.

But let's look at something more serious: Can television turn you into a quasi-fascist, torturing an innocent man for the entertainment of the hooting audience and bellowing game show host?

Again, maybe.

A recent French academic experiment created a fake game show, complete with celebrity host, who encouraged contestants to administer increasingly torturous electrical shocks.

NPR reports on this creepily-fascinating story.

Hey You Kids, Get Off My Airwaves!

2010-04-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

Old Media--television, radio, newspapers, books, etc.--are increasingly obsessed with their newer, hipper Internet counterparts. So says one National Public Radio Commentator, who likens television shows discussing the Internet to watching jet planes from a horse.

Will Glossy Pages Be Replaced by Bright Screens?

2010-03-24T16:23:00.000-07:00

The iPad, Apple's latest much-hyped device, seeks to become the world's coolest digital text-reading device. And if it's cool and about reading, the magazine publishers want in on it. According to this recent Associated Press article, several top magazine publishers are developing iPad editions.

Who knows where this will lead.

Attention, Transfer Center Fans!

2010-03-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, Kevin Meza of the Transfer Center was in class talking about how to get to the UC, Cal State, and other universities around California. Here's the Transfer Center's GCC page. The Transfer Center is also on Facebook.

Orson Welles, Version 2.0

2010-03-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

It may not have been a remake of Orson Welles' classic 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, but a recent fake television news report overseas created a familiar round of mass hysteria, followed by anger.

Georgia, a farming region that was once part of the Soviet Union, was at war with its much bigger neighbor, Russia, only two years ago. So when Georgian television depicted a new Russian invasion, a lot of people believed it, even though the broadcast contained disclaimers.

A National Public Radio story on the situation generated a discussion about just how much trust we should place in media.

Baaaad Politics

2010-03-10T21:56:00.000-08:00

Is this ad edgily brilliant or an over-the-top embarrassment?

The Internet is just beginning to make an impact on elections. In 2008, the Obama Campaign figured out how to raise large amounts of money online. Candidates now blog, tweet, and put their speeches on campaign websites.

And then there's YouTube, where candidates for every office from student body president on up is tempted to place a campaign video or two. In the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat from California, candidate Tom Campbell is the target of a truly strange attack ad that has become a cult favorite on YouTube.

This Los Angeles Times article wonders if this so-called "Demon Sheep" ad is what politics is headed for in the Internet age.

Soon, We'll All Be Wearing Those Geeky Glasses

2010-03-03T12:22:00.000-08:00

Digital 3-D movies are about to hit your local multiplex in a big way. JP Morgan Chase & Co. has raised money to finance the upgrade of about 12,000 movie screens across the country. This will mean that more movies will be released in digital 3-D, that ticket prices will go up, and the studios will make more in movie rental fees while slashing their distribution costs.

But are we willing to pay 3-D ticket prices? The Los Angeles Times reports.

Scholarship Opportunity

2010-03-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

Your humble blogger gets occasional emails about scholarships. This is from Susan Borquez-Dougherty, who can be emailed at susand@glendale.edu for further details...

From: susand@glendale.edu
Subject: [gcc] So. Cal. Gas Co. Scholarship
Date: March 1, 2010 3:43:45 PM PST
To: gcc@glendale.edu

Hi all: Our generous board member, Tony Tartaglia has offered our GCC students an opportunity to apply for the So. Cal. Gas Co. Scholarship. The criteria is:

Must be transferring in Sept. 2010
Must have 2.5 GPA or higher
Must be US Citizen or Permanent Resident
Must be pursuing a career in Business or Engineering
Must have financial need

Please send any qualified candidates to me in SC202 ASAP.

Thanks, your referrals have been terrific.

Susan

________________________________________________________________________
Susan Borquez-Dougherty
Scholarship Program Manager

Maybe NBC Means 'Nobody's Buying Commercials'

2010-03-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

NBC Universal paid $2 billion for television rights to the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games before the current recession, and before younger viewers began to focus on Facebook and YouTube. For the recently concluded winter games in Vancouver, this translated into 835 hours of programming on NBC Universal's broadcast and cable channels and, unfortunately, and estimated loss of around $250 million.

Oh yeah, and the Olympics are facing a growing problem with audience demographics: they are increasingly having trouble drawing the younger viewers that advertisers generally covet. The Los Angeles Times reports that the media company is left hoping for a wildly successful summer Olympics in London two years from now.

Toyota Needs an Image Mechanic

2010-02-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

There are public relations firms that specialize in crisis communication. These firms help to restore a person's or company's good name. And Toyota is currently a huge example of a company facing a sudden image crisis. According to National Public Radio, Toyota's good name will not be restored overnight.

Scholarship for a Single Mom with a Good GPA

2010-02-24T12:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a scholarship opportunity from GCC's Susan Borquez-Dougherty that sounds really good...

Hi all: Another terrific scholarship opportunity - the Hamilton Memorial Scholarship, (Mary Hamilton is a past board member and many of us remember her fondly). I am looking for a single mother who is transferring in September 2010 with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Very little competition and the award is $3000 paid in installments if the student stays in school. Please have any eligible students come to see me in SC202 and refer to Hamilton. Thanks again for your referrals. Susan

________________________________________________________________________
Susan Borquez-Dougherty
Scholarship Program Manager