Greenpeace: Engagement and Cause. Activism at its youngest and best

“Greenpeace is a non-governmental organization for the protection and conservation of the environment. Greenpeace uses direct action, lobbying and research to achieve its goals. Greenpeace has a worldwide presence with national and regional offices in 46 countries, which are affiliated to the Amsterdam-based Greenpeace International. The global organization receives its income through the individual contributions of an estimated 3 million financial supporters.”

I was in the 8^th grade when I first was introduced to this concept of ‘Saving the Earth’ and ‘Greenpeace’; the only reason that I was introduced to it though, is because I needed my community service hours and the only activity left was to sell recycled bags at Sobeys instead of plastic ones. At first glance, it didn’t really seem much of a big deal; selling bags made of old paper and recycled products didn’t really seem like it was going to save the earth. When the time came, a few other students in my grade also joined in the cause; some were like me and needed hours and others joined to make a difference. We all gathered at the entrance and began to promote out cause: Save the Earth, one bag at a time. It was interesting to see such commitment and hard work, just to sell some bags.

Selling the bags itself was an experience itself. When you think of activists trying to save the environment, you might conjure up the image of angry people with picket signs in front of a deforestation company.

At least I did.

Our approach was a bit less…. Confrontational. Instead, we set up a booth in front of Sobeys and just politely asked if they would purchase a bag. If they said no, we would nod and tell them to have a nice day. If the said yes, it would be a win-win situation for everyone.

What does this have to do with Greenpeace, you may ask?

Like Greenpeace, we helped to try and improve our environment we live in. Although Greenpeace was a bigger organization than the one at my elementary school, we still had the same cause.

Having the same cause as a bigger organization, it makes you feel proud for at least for trying to accomplish what they are trying to accomplish as well.

Work cited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenpeace

Theory/Praxis: Media Literacy

Media literacy is our ability to break down messages that the media shows us; it teaches how to find the true purpose of media overall. Media has been fabricated within our reality; from the sites on the internet we surf on to the radio broadcasts we listen to on the way to school, it encapsulates our lives as human beings.

Neil Postman tells us that we humans live in a media-enveloped environment, whether it be language, numbers, images or pictures. “The media environment, which consists of language, numbers, images, holograms, and all of the other symbols, techniques, and machinery that make us what we are,” (Postman).

Since we are always using media, it basically sums up who we are. The role Media literacy plays in our lives is vitally important since media is everywhere; it helps us pick and choose what media we want to view. I am always mingling with the media in my life. On my way to work, I encounter bus shelter advertisements about Koodo Mobile. On my way to school, I listen to the radio and whatever news is playing. When I get home, I watch my daily dose of television and every 10 minutes, a new commercial for a certain product bombards my vision. Since I am able to break down what each advertisement or podcast or what ever commercial is on the television (thanks to my knowledge of media literacy), I am able to find out what message they are trying to give me. I can follow up these messages with questions like:

A) Who tell us this message?

B) What are they trying to achieve?

C) What audience are they aiming at

D) What should I do?

E) What grabs my attention

I can decide what and whatnot I like about this type of media after answering these questions, and furthermore, I can decide which media I want to tune into. This ultimately shapes out who and what I want to become.

Work Cited

Postman, Neil. “The Humanism of Media Ecology: MEA Proceedings.” The Media Ecology Association. Web. 22 Nov. 2009.

Culture Jamming: Do you think that rabbit actually resembles a rabbit? That's not what this guy thinks....

Before we start, lets take a look at these pictures.

Take a look at those pictures once again. What the Culture Jammer has done is twist and manipulate these photos to convey a different message.

Lets take the McDonalds one for example. By using the golden arches, which McDonalds is famous for, the Jammer has edited it in a way that shows that McDonalds products induce medical trauma. Instead of advertising for food, they have manipulated it in a way that expresses their feelings towards McDonalds. That’s what the Jammer has done: he has expressed his thoughts and opinions via clever photo editing. Although the Jammer has conveyed a different message, these pictures are nonetheless entertaining to look at; it’s not all the time that a Culture Jammer is trying to disrupt society.

“Perhaps we’ve been too conditioned by photography to perceive single images as single moments. After all, it does take an eye time to move across scene in real life” (Scott McCloud).

What is so unique about a Culture Jammer is the way they interpret certain pictures; although we have a certain perspective of what one picture is, the Jammer has the ability to mess around and distribute a very different message. You can almost bet that these changes will get people’s attention, and that their message will be heard.

Work cited

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York, NY: HarperPerennial , 1993.

Mortal Kombat: Net Neutrality

Meritocracy: a system of a government or other organization where in appointments are made and responsibilities assigned to individuals based upon demonstrated talent and ability (merit).

What exactly does this mean?

Take it like this: If people like Popeyes better than KFC, that is there they will go to eat. If people like Converse shoes better than Reebok ones, then that is what they will buy. If people like Jurassic Park better than Godzilla, then that is the movie they will most likely watch.

The same could be same about the Internet: If people like Myspace better than Facebook, that is the online community they are most likely to join; if people like Wikipedia better than Dictionary.com, that is the site they would use to look up information, and if people rather use the Google search engine rather than the Yahoo one, they will use that search engine.

It would be a problem if Rogers or Bell limited their consumers to certain sites, right?

Its like saying to your baby, “Hey little guy you can have this sucker…. Only if you love daddy more than mommy”. It just isn’t right. The internet should be available to everyone, not handed to greedy providers who believe they will get more green if they discrimate.

WELCOME TO NET NEUTRALITY.

ROUND 1 – FIGHT!

“The cable firms and the Bells have (to their credit, but under pressure) sworn off blocking Web sites. Instead, they propose to carve off bandwidth for their own services—namely, television—and, more controversially, to charge selected companies a toll for "priority" service. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin thinks there is nothing wrong with that. But critics say technological prioritization and degradation are the same thing—that given limited room on the network, whoever isn't prioritized is by implication degraded.”(Tim Wu)

Congratulations, Kevin Martin. You are officially going to make everyone’s lives harder. By allowing this ‘priority service’ to take place, he will successfully leech out money from his consumers. If this happens to the internet, our ISPs would be showering in our money. Come on, seriously, who wants to pay a fee to say hi to your Mom who lives in another province? Bell does, and its not because they want you to keep in touch with your family.

ROUND 2 – FIGHT!

“It's true that the Bells might make extra cash by discriminating. But AT&T can extract cash in other ways, too, like charging its customers higher prices. I believe that it's better to have consumers pay more for service than to have AT&T picking and choosing winners on the network. Both are a cost to the economy, but the latter is a double cost. It creates costs that are passed on to consumers anyhow, and it also distorts competition between eBay, Yahoo!, and the like. Building networks at the expense of network applications has a logic O. Henry would enjoy, for it's akin to selling a painting in order to buy a better frame.”

Would it really be more equal if we paid more money to keep our current service, rather than letting our ISPs pick and choose what sites we could visit or not? In my opinion, it would be. Of course we would have to pay more, but it gives us access to all the websites we currently use. I would rather have that over paying a fee to access certain sites any day.

ROUND 3 – FINAL ROUND?

In the end we are going to end up paying more, either if it’s paying a higher price to get instant access, or paying a fee to access certain sites. I would rather have instant access because it allows me to surf the net more freely. The internet has always been Meritocratic. We surf when we want to surf. Lets keep it that way.

Work cited

Wu, Tim. “Why You Should Care about Net Neutrality.” Slate. Washington Post, 1 May 2006. Web. 17 Nov 2009.

"Meritocracy". Wikipedia. 2009. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. November 23 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy)

Massive Media and the monsters who need it

8 AM. The alarm clock raves its usual message to wake up. Mother assists in awakening the beast that remains in the sheets. Defeated, it rises from short slumber; Saturday morning was a cruel mistress. The first thing accomplished was opening up the laptop, skimming through Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, maybe even some Youtube videos before an 8 hour shift at work. There is no reason to do so, but that’s what happens. Towel in hand, the shower waits to be used; once its job is complete, the rush begins. Run downstairs. Turn on the news. Switch over to Teletoon. Back to the news again. Check cellular device for messages. Find contact, and create message. The routine is repetitive; it’s been committed to memory. Leave the house. Jack in headphones to ipod. “Love story” plays. The choice of Taylor Swift is questioned, but pushed aside. An advertisement for Tim Horton’s French Onion soup takes advantage of the horizon. Onion. Ogres. Layers. Shrek. Passing by HMV, John Mayer catches viewpoint; Battle Studies. New CD. Must have. By the time work has been approached, the alarm clock raves again: the message of lateness. Punch in, take out cellular device and play Tetris. Read the Newspaper when on break. Go back to work and finish the rest of my shift. Go home and send message to contact via cellular device. Facebook. Youtube. 3 AM. Sleep.

That is how a Saturday usually works for me; whether or not we relate is up for debate. The main point of this short story was to demonstrate how this thing called the Mass Media plays a vital role in our lives.

Now what is the Mass Media, you may ask?

A) a place where a massive amount of books are placed?

B) a building with a plentiful amount of TVs?

C) a computer screen with multiple windows open?

Actually, you could say all of these are forms of mass media. OR:

A) is a library where people can get information

B) a Best Buy where people can buy TVs and other electronic hardware

C) a clever way to switch windows when your mom walks in unexpectedly, thinking you are doing your blogs but you are actually watching porn. We are adults now. Guilt free.

That’s a basic explanation, of course: The mass media is designed to reach out to people using television, books or the Internet. What does this mean through our perspective though? According to Neil Postman, people live in two environments. “One is the natural environment and consists of things like air, trees, rivers, and caterpillars. The other is the media environment, which consists of language, numbers, images, holograms, and all of the other symbols, techniques, and machinery that make us what we are.”

It is kind of interesting because it is these 2 environments combined that fabricates our reality as human beings. Going back to my Saturday conundrum, I was unaware of all the media that was reaching out to me: television, music, telephone, newspaper and advertising. (“Man remains as unaware of the psychic and social effects of his new technology as a fish of the water it swims in” (Marshall McLuhan).)

Although these 2 environments are different, they have become so attached to one another that if one were to collapse, the other one would as well. If a city became disconnected from the Internet, it would create panic faster than a fish trying to get back into water. Our lives are supported by the media, and the Media needs our lives to be supported. The relationship is completely symbiotic.

Work Cited

“The Playboy Interview: Marshall McLuhan”, Playboy Magazine, March 1969.” Nov 23 2009.

Move over PC, Mac daddy coming through

My name is Jesmarnin Lafuente, and I’m a mac.

I’ve been using Apple products for over 5 years now, and I’ve glad to say that it revolutionized the way I live. Thanks to Apple products (mostly the Macbook pro), I have been able to organize myself more efficiently; the hardware is user-friendly, and physically speaking, it is sleek, new and very appealing to the eye. That is why this medium (computers) is such a necessity these days: they help people function. It’s not just computers from Apple though that helped change people’s lives; Windows being the biggest manufacturer of Personal computers (PC) controls about 93% of the market share of clients who are on the internet.

According to Neil Postman, “a medium is a technology within which a culture grows; that is to say, it gives form to a culture’s politics, social organization, and habitual ways of thinking” Computers have been part of human culture for over 30 years now; if we were to remove them from our society, it would be like removing all the water from the earth – we just wouldn’t be able to function properly, plus it would be a wasted effort because we would be taking away what we need most. I am also positive that people would not be communicating as much, since Facebook, Myspace, MSN and Blogs are all on the internet, and these sites are what our generation uses to communicate (other than cellular phones, of course). We also get most of our information from the computer, via the Internet. We are so integrated with our computers it would be ridiculous to see a world without them now. They are part of our environment. You see them more than pineapples I am pretty sure.

Until next time, see you later civil civilians!

Work Cited

Postman, Neil. “The Humanism of Media Ecology.” Media Ecology Association. 17 June 2000. Web. 9 Oct. 2009.
_ecology.html>.

I wonder if they manufacture my cereal....

Named the largest media corporation in the world, Time Warner was born when Time Inc. and Warner Communications decided to become one; when they gained Turner Broadcasting in 1996, the company regained their position as the biggest media firm in the world from Disney.

Time Warner has shifted its focus onto global television as the most potential area for development; unlike News Corporation, Time Warner has been dedicated to produce channels and programs, rather than creating satellite systems.

Time Warner also owns more than 1000 movie theatres OUTSIDE of the United States, making it one of the largest movie theatre owners on the planet. What is even more amazing is that there are plans of expansion throughout the world.

Majority interest in WB, a U.S. television network launched in 1995 to provide a distribution platform for Time Warner films and programs. It is carried on the Tribune Company's 16 U.S. television stations, which reach 25 percent of U.S. TV households;

Here is a list of what Time Warner owns:

- The largest cable system in the United States, controlling 22 of the largest 100 markets;

- Several U.S. and global cable television channels, including CNN, Headline News, CNN, Peachtree, TNT, Turner Classic Movies, The Cartoon Network and CNN-SI (a cross-production with Sports Illustrated)

- Partial ownership of the cable channel Comedy Central and a controlling stake in Court TV

- HBO and Cinemax pay cable channels

- Minority stake in PrimeStar, U.S. satellite television service

- Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema film studios

- More than 1,000 movie screens outside of the United States

- A library of over 6,000 films, 25,000 television programs, books, music and thousands of cartoons

- Twenty-four magazines, including Time, People and Sports Illustrated

- Fifty percent of DC Comics, publisher of Superman, Batman and 60 other titles

- The second largest book-publishing business in the world, including Time-Life Books (42 percent of sales outside of the United States) and the Book-of-the-Month Club

- Warner Music Group, one of the largest global music businesses with nearly 60 percent of revenues from outside the United States

- Six Flags theme park chain; The Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Braves professional sports teams; Retail stores, including over 150 Warner Bros. stores and Turner Retail Group; Minority interests in toy companies Atari and Hasbro.

That is a MAJOR amount of our lives that Time Warner controls; with all these ownerships at their disposable, they can manage to manipulate the masses (people) at their will.

Imagine this: What if Time Warner decided to play Saw 4 on all their channels. Not just their movie networks, but on Nickelodeon, Cartoon network, CNN, channels that people of all ages watch. At a flick of the wrist, Time Warner could do some serious damage to everyone.

NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THE EYES OF TIME WARNER!