Ad deconstrution - Century Link & Alltel

Century Link ad & deconstruction:

Interesting stats about the rural availability of competitive communications companies: "Another fact is that 55% of our rural communities have the choice of 2 or fewer providers, while 95% of urban areas in NM have the choice of 3 or more providers." That is definitely true in the part of West Virginia where I live - its Frontier or nothing!

The ad deconstruction was so interesting - I love that stuff. The theme of global connection being at our front door was a strong pull for me. I noticed the subtle signals depicting various places across the globe: the Japanese(?) writing that was behind the Japanese business woman; the Seattle Space Needle in focus for a moment before the dog went down the stairs; the British flag that flanked the upscale hotel; and I recognized Red Rocks Ampitheater in New Mexico right away (strangely I have only been to Seattle). I have a feeling I related more to the idea that I can be connected with people across the globe, which is why those element stuck out to me more than the middle class elements.

Alltel ad deconstruction:

This ad for Alltel presents a stereotypical middle class, nuclear family who decides to rent out their daughters bedroom to "ethnic" folks (and a chicken). This deconstruction makes a good case that racial stereotyping is being used, which seemed obvious to me - a bit disturbing that this ad used humor, at the expanse of foreign stereotyping, and attempted to draw such a huge gap between what was "normal" and what was "abnormal". I would like to know whether this ad was effective or not. Did the market it was targeting really find the humor in this? I, personally, enjoyed the fun loving foreigners and relate more to that carefree lifestyle - or at least, I'd rather be the fun loving foreigners than part of that family. The family, honestly, seemed boring, and I didn't relate to them at all. Was that the point - that I wouldn't want to be part of that boring family that didn't get the Alltel service and therefore had to live with a carefree, fun group of strangers to always have as a reminder of how boring I was in comparison?

Double Entry Journal #3

•  Do students, parents, and teachers want schools to create a politicized citizenry capable of fighting responsibly for various forms of public life, equality, and social justice?   (Semali, 2001)

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 Gosh! I often think about this when teaching. I really make an effort to stay away from politicized points of view,  but sometimes I wonder if I go to such an extreme that I am not doing my job effectively.  I often wonder if the non-politicized school is what we want as a society. I went to a college that was very open about teaching a "liberal education" and as a result, I feel like I got a great education. Not, just because it had a focus on social justice and non-commercialism, but because I was taught about how to spot corporate bias.... I could also spot anti-corporate bias. It's interesting to me because it seems like as parents and teachers get more politicized, they want a less politicized school system. I'm not sure if we are doing our students justice though.

I found our reading assignment this week to be very hard, and dense to get through. I had a hard time understanding a lot of it because it was crouched in academic speech. I understood, I suppose, the larger gist of it - that new literacies encompasses many different previously defined literacies that goes beyond print form, and that it should be defined in a way that that makes a student recognize the construction of media and asks why it was constructed that way. 

1. New literacies in this article refers to the overlapping and intertwining of computer literacy, information literacy (examing when more information is needed etc.); media literacy (where, how and why media is presented to us - and in what form); visual literacy (how images are constructed and presented).  Knowing when to ask a question, or delve deeper into an issue is "part of the world of knowing and learning" (Semali, 2001) . Being literate in today's age, means being able to both know how to "read" the media, when to "read" the media, where to go to learn more, and how to create media themselves. A crazy (off the top of my head) concrete example of how it could be used in the classroom  - while studying the constitution, students could watch commercials that use concepts of freedom and nationalism as a selling point (maybe a Made in America ad, or Domestic car commercial); deconstruct it to see how it is actually using patriotism, partisanship, classism or other dividing "isms" to sell something. Students could then make a commercial for the constitution, using the values of freedom, togetherness and self-governance as selling points, and reflecting the "melting pot" of America today. Furthermore, students could also make a commercial (or maybe a old-timey print ad?) that "markets" itself to the white, land-owning, males that the constitution initially concerned itself with.


2. hmmm...... that the mass media is using media images and entertainment as a way of separating a citizenry from democratic practice, and we should recognize that capitalism is the major factor for this. That our freedom to participate and help lead the direction of our society is severely limited because of capitalistic, greedy intentions. In over-simplistic terms: rich people are getting richer by tricking the general public into believing media is entertainment, while actually they are using media as a way of controlling our buying habits and making us more politicized, more polarized and therefore "dividing and conquering" society for corporate, capitalistic gain. It was also saying that media uses quick symbols and stereotypes, which reinforces those stereotypes and homogenizes our thought processes about differences.

3. An unengaged, uncritical citizenry without the ability to "read" the media and question what is being fed to them and why.

4. Literacy is ever-evolving, especially in today's media age. It is crazy to think that a "definitive" definition of literacy is possible. It is also because new literacy is dependent on individual interpretation.

5. This author advocates for the individual to question, interpret and critique visual media, not just be able to interpret the symbols used in a piece of media. He advocates for determining the motives behind the representations - ex. Why did that Alltel commercial choose humor as its selling/entertaining point. I agree that this is a critical distinction to make - what is the bias, and what is the motive - because our world is saturated in advertisements and corporate interest. We need to understand that we are being manipulated by others in order to control the amount of manipulation and power corporate interests have in our society.

Additional Resource

http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?ItemNumber=146228

This article gives some concrete ways of teaching new literacies into the classroom while still focusing on current curriculum. This is very helpful to me, to see how teaching new literacies might actually work within an existing curriculum.

Citations:

Semali, L. (2001, November). Defining new literacies in curricular practice. Reading Online, 5(4). Available: http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/lit_index.asp?HREF=semali1/index.html

Healthy Choice Ad Deconstruction

1. Whose message is this? Who created or paid for it? Why?

Healthy Choice, in order to sell Healthy Choice steamers microwave dinners.

2. Who is the “target audience”? What is their age, ethnicity, class, profession, interests, etc.? What words, images or sounds suggest this?

Middle class, white Americans who are between the ages of 30 & 45. Professional, upwardly mobile, childless.  

3. What is the “text” of the message? (What we actually see and/or hear: written or spoken words, photos, drawings, logos, design, music, sounds, etc.)

A modern, very ikea-esque kitchen is the setting of this ad. We hear a brutally honest conversation between a mother, her daughter and the daughter's husband. The things they are saying aloud are things that (stereotypically) people think but don't say aloud.

4. What is the “subtext” of the message? (What do you think is the hidden or unstated meaning?)
That cafe steamers doesn't have hidden ingredients - that it is an "honest to goodness" meal, and not the TV dinner it actually is.


5. What kind of lifestyle is presented? How?

Upwardly mobile, busy, professional, but hip.

6. What values are expressed?
being honest to oneself, but also snarky and a bit judgemental - especially when it come to growing old. 

7. What tools of persuasion are used? See "The language of persuasion"
Association; Beautiful people; Humor.

8. What positive messages are presented? What negative messages are presented?
The relationship between the husband and wife seems positive. The product and the idea of "honesty" is certainly positive. Negative messages are the relationship between the mother and the daughter - basically anything revolving around the mother, including her own self-image.

9. What groups of people does this message empower? What groups does it dis-empower? How does this serve the media maker's interests?
 Empowers young, professional, kid-less and upwardly mobile- basically it's target market. Dis-empowers the parents of the target market - aging baby-boomers. The busy professional is too busy to come home and make dinner, or to prepare lunches for the short lunch break - therefore it empowers them and makes them feel more akin to the characters presented in this ad - thus, making them more likely to buy Health choice steamers.

10. What part of the story is not being told? How and where could you get more information about the untold stories?
How healthy is Healthy Choice Steamers? It is still a TV dinner after-all. Also, how much do they cost? There is a vague reference to the dinners "not costing a lot" but it still wasn't clear... which makes me think they are still more expensive than a regular TV dinner. I could easily go to the supermarket to compare prices - or a price comparison website to find this information. I would probably start at the Healthy Choice Steamers website to see if they had nutritional information listed to answer the first question. Once I got that information (which could also be obtained from the side of the box at the supermarket) I could also compare it with USDA standards on recommended nutritional information.

Photo Analysis

Step 1. Observation
A.	Study the photograph for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the photograph and then examine individual items. Next, divide the photo into quadrants and study each section to see what new details become visible. My first impression of the first photograph is that Presdent Obama is looking strange. The lighting casts a stark shadow across the one side of his face and he has an intense look on his face. He is dressed pretty casually. The background is unfocused. His head is titled and his ear is visible and a prominent feature of the photograph, which makes it appear as if he's listening
B.	Use the chart below to list people, objects, and activities in the photograph. mouth, with his lips pursed together. People Objects Activities President Obama constrained forehead, pursed lips, leaned forward blurred background blue, white, green -is POTUS outside or just have his back to a window? Shirt Business Casual - more relatable, but also serious
Step 2. Inference
	Based on what you have observed above, list three things you might infer from this photograph. 1. The President is not giving a speech - he is present to listen to others, and he is listening intently and with concern. He is stationary - he isn't going anywhere - leaned forward, engaged, and gives the impression that he is sitting down. 2. He is either in an outdoor setting or sitting indoors with his back to a large window (more likely, considering the stark lighting. 3. The president is part of a group - I would infer that he might be listening to a small, intimate group of concerned citizens.
Step 3. Questions
A.	What questions does this photograph raise in your mind? Where is he? Who is he listening to? What's in the frame around him - what did the photographer leave out? What is that in the background - why did the photographer decide to keep that out of focus? Who is he listening to? What setting is he in? Where is he? What's in the background?
B.	Where could you find answers to them? If I knew who took the photo, or what day I could google the name of the photographer and "Gulf Coast oil spill" with the date and hope to find more photos taken from that space. I could also read the article that accompanied the photograph for more clues. I could look at alternative news sources to see if I could find other photos that match the background or his shirt.

 

Step 1. Observation
A.	Study the photograph for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the photograph and then examine individual items. Next, divide the photo into quadrants and study each section to see what new details become visible. My overall impression of this photo is that President Obama looks confident and in control. Upon further inspection, The other men (almost all older white men) look like they are businessmen and they look happy. The Uniformed man looks like he is from the Coast Guard and is looking at the President. There are several people on the tower of the ship that look as if they are "on the look-out"
B.	Use the chart below to list people, objects, and activities in the photograph. People Objects Activities President Obama Leading a group - seems comfortable and in control Men to POTUS' right business casual - seems happy. walking slightly behind President Man in light green shirt business casual dress looks more concerned - seem like he is trying to catch up. Looks like he is talking. Man in uniform Coast Guard uniform, maybe? looks official The only one who is actually looking at the President, Asian looking man behind light green shir t looks concerned, trying to keep up. - interesting he is the only non-white. Tower of ship People with binoculars - flag flying, very center of phto - slightly over Obama's right shoulder. Concrete blocks Flanks the people on both sides - so they can only walk one way Coast guard or Industrial looking "stuff" Slightly blurred, but still in focus enough to see that the government (and industry?) is "doing something.
Step 2. Inference
	Based on what you have observed above, list three things you might infer from this photograph. 1.) The president is meeting with Oil Industry leaders and the Coast Guard surveying the clean-up efforts. 2.) The government and Industry is working together to address the spill. 3.) The president and industry leaders are confident and happy about the progress of the clean-up.
Step 3. Questions
A.	What questions does this photograph raise in your mind? 1.) Who are the people that surround the President and what kind of influence do they have on him? 2.) What is the Coast Guard's role in the clean-up - are they just "overseeing" the process. 3.) Who took this picture? What has their presentation of the Gulf Oil Spill been and what bias are they showing?
B.	Where could you find answers to them? Looking at multiple alternative news sources would be my first stop in researching what this photo is presenting. I would also look at the different articles from this newspaper to try and identify an overall bias. I could also look at the publisher of the paper, and their parent company and then find what other companies they own or have a stake in.

Double Entry Journal #2

"Under a tight deadline, a reporter may omit historical background that could help a reader understand the larger context of the news. By way of explanation, Brinkley wrote to me in an e-mail, “If you pulled it off the Web, that means it was an early ver- sion written very quickly for immediate use on the Web. I would bet I wrote that version in a very few minutes.” (Abilock, 2003)

This is very interesting to me, for a number of reasons. First off, personally, I get most of my news online. We do not have cable and only receive the local newspaper, so online i s by far my biggest news source. And, I am kinda a junkie when it comes to online news, especially when something big happens.... I want constantly updated information. So, to hear that most things written for the web are done under a tight deadline, and don't have the luxury of time to be completely fact-checked or properly explored is a bit disconcerting for me. I am not wholly suprised, it reminds me of the Supreme Court Ruling on Health Care, and when both CNN and FOX wrongly reported that it was overturned. If I was to question why internet news would lack such context, I would imagine it would have a lot to do with "scooping" the other online news sources - especially in a time of such diverse and competing news sources via the web. I would also have to blame myself (and others like me), the culture of constant updates and more information. That is a lot of pressure for news reporters and media outlets. If they don't constantly update information, or if they are the "last to report" they lose readers, and revenue. This is scary, because sometimes they get it wrong in their haste, or forgo context for content.  

Other Resources:

An image of a eye-tracking study, showing that most people just look in the top lefthand of a webpage first. The article that accompanies this image also states that most people look in this section for 3 seconds before deciding to click off or not. I thought this related to the section of the reading in Lens #7. which talks about most students only skim and click, rather than read and scroll. It can also help students realize that this is the most influential part of a website - this is where the producer of the site is going to put his point of view - in the form of an important article, or photograph. This section could be key in determining what Bias the website is showing based on what goes in this section.
 

  (Yahoo)


I also found an additional resource that discusses online ads and eye-tracking studies, which relates to the reading (which I found suprising) that states "Since we know that students don’t visually distinguish between content and advertising—they click on ads as just another content source (Nielsen, 2002)." (Abilock, 2003)


http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1936426,00.html#ixzz25KhtgS4q  (Kiviat, 2009)

The article linked to from above also says:
"Unlike television, which is a passive medium, the Web is all about taking action — searching, clicking, registering, buying, downloading. It might be the case that as we're out there on the Internet, what we're attracted to is content that gets us to where we want to go." (Kiviat, 2009)

I found this an interesting example of "the medium is the message" which is referred to in the "A Seven-Power Lens" reading from this week.

 Additional Questions:

1.) Semiotics is the study of the use of symbols and signs to convey complicated messages in a type of code. 
2.)For example, online, students prefer clicking to scrollring, therefore techniques such as cutting back the URL or pasting the authors name into a search engine can provide information as to the validity, authority and/or bias of an online article. 
3.) According to this article, it is important for students to learn how to read news media because students can "see their own power as future voters in our democratic society." 
4.)RLA.O.3.1.6
use meaning clues to aid comprehension of content across the curriculum (e.g., pictures, picture captions, titles, headings, topic).



 Sources:
Abilock, D. (2003, November/December). A seven-power lens on 21st century literacy. DOI: www.infotoday.com/mmschools

Kiviat, B. (2009, November 08). Why we look at some web ads and not others read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1936426,00.html

Yahoo, S. G. (n.d.). Style guide. Retrieved from http://styleguide.yahoo.com/writing/write-web/eye-tracking-where-do-readers-look-first  

Negative Politcal Ads - Week Two

The video featuring Dr. Robert Kubey names several types of tactics used in political ads. Fear and greed are two major things that political attack ads use to manipulate the viewer. Smear tactics, especially before a candidate is well known to the public are also used to manipulate public opinion. 

Yes, I do see the racism in these ads. I see how Fear and Greed are being used to manipulate the viewer. I believe both ads are using white, middle class fear of minority groups, namely the black community because this group is the typical depiction of "undeserving" recipients of government aid such as welfare and medicaid. I also see greed being depicted because the common depiction of the tax-paying working middle class is white (ala - most working class sitcoms on TV). The medicare ad particularly preys on black stereotypes via age gaps... that Obamacare is taking away from Medicare funds to help finance the young, poor, and often black uninsured that don't get medical benefits because they aren't employed. I can see how these ads are just playing on typical media representations as a shorthand to imply all these images.

Here's a link to an Obama ad that I believe uses the tactics of fear and greed that a Romney presidency would mean the already wealthy and business class of America will get richer through "tax cuts to millionaires." I was particularly drawn to the image of Romney sitting behind a desk looking like a pompous businessman. I also took note of the middle class portrayals being shot in hand-held "reality" style filming:

Double Entry Journal #1

Quote:
"Media do not present reality like transparent windows or simple reflections of the world because media messages are created, shaped, and positioned through a construction process. This construction involves many decisions about what to include or exclude and how to represent reality."
(Kellner & Share, 2005)

 Reflection:
I find this first concept to be an easier one to grasp, but harder to understand the extent media messages are constructed until one decides to actively produce a piece of media.

I immediately thought about the Animoto video I did yesterday.  Every decision I made was deliberate, and meant to represent myself in a certain light. For example, I decided to show three pictures of my kids playing in the leaves. I was going for a story arc, first they throw the leaves, then they fall, and then the kids are happy and playing in them. I wanted them to look nice and carefree, having fun. They like to be carefree and have fun, and jump in the leaves…. but the truth is that we played in the leaves one day last year, and it was so Mommy could get their yearly pictures. I dressed the kids up in cute clothes, my daughter's hair went up into pigtails, and my son's unruly hair went under a cap. I have studied photography, so I know that the light was just right and if I got down on their level to take the picture I'd have a better shot.

I chose to focus on my hobbies of gardening and photography. I didn't chose to showcase my rock collection, or the boxes of pinecones I tend to hoard. I didn't show my messy old house, nor my daughter running around with the dirty face she's more fond of than pigtails (darn-it!).

I understand that media - even the media we create via social media websites such as Facebook - is a construction. I constantly have to remind myself when I'm looking at old friend's Facebook pages that life is messier and less glamorous than what's presented to the world - I have to admit, my life is too.

 Additional Resource:

I love infographics because they are a simple, visual, and usually a fun way of conveying lots of information. I was thinking about the scary statistic in the reading about how only 5 corporations control the majority of the U.S. media market (Kellner & Share, 2005). I found this infographic, which states 6 companies control 90% of what we watch, read or listen to (I'm not sure about the discrepancy in the number of companies - the infographic was made in 2011, more recently than the 2005 article, so that might be the contributing factor - there is also no mention of the infographic just limiting itself to the U.S. media market).

Source: Frugal dad

(White, 2011)


Citations:
Kellner, D., & Share, J. (2005). Toward critical media literacy: Core concepts, debates, organizations, and policy. Discourse: studies in the cultural politics of education, 26(3), 369-386. Retrieved from http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/2005_Kellner-Share_TowardsCriticalMediaLiteracy.pdf

White, J. (2011, November 22). Media consolidation: The illusion of choice (infographic) [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://frugaldad.com/2011/11/22/media-consolidation-infographic/