Conglomeration

Wakka Wakka Wakka Wakka Cherry! Anyways, in many ways, conglomeration is like Pacman, chomping on all the other companies until they all belong to you. This wouldn't be so bad, except that when a single person or group of people own just about everything, the content coming from each individual channel or magazine just starts to run together with everything else their conglomeration owns. This lack of diversity causes media to become dull and boring, with every show the same exact thing. Another problem with it is that eventually, the conglomeration starts to become a monopoly, controlling just about every company in a certain business, such as product distribution. I agree that conglomerations should be controlled more by the government, but not forced to completely break apart. This is because many companies would die out if it weren't for money from a conglomeration, such as elitist media in a conglomeration. The elitist media doesn't make any real money, but there is enough money coming in to spend a little to keep the media running.

Response: Lecture on Music

While my blog clearly shine above all others, making it the ultimate supreme ruler of them all, I think that Kaylee's blog is very good, with great writing and ideas. (Insert mad libs joke here)
Another linky thing: ----------> http://rnandarinoranges.blogspot.com/ <------------------------------------
One of my favorite articles on her blog is her response to the lecture about music. Even though I don't listen to music very much, (Gasp, how could he!) I still enjoy it, and this response helped me to understand it better. After the shock that vinyl records were still being made and distributed faded, I learned that every type of music has a certain message, from peace to rebellion. I do believe that you should go see her blog right now. (Uses jedi hand wave.)

Magazines Response

Magazines, which were invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1741, are a very important part of journalism. They were the first type of media to create articles that could not "expire," which allowed them to be useful even years after their creation, unlike newspapers, which became "old news" in a week or two. They also did investigative reporting, which opened up a whole new type of article, and photojournalism, which allowed journalists to express there thoughts better with the use of a picture. I agree that magazines were one of the first types of media to demassify newspapers, but not the last to do so. I believe that magazines started it, and then recording and television only worsened the blow. This is why newspapers are so demassified.

Media Critique: Google Search Turns 15, Gets A Makeover

This article, surrounding Google being upgraded for the 15th anniversary of its creation, breaks one of the nine Principles of Journalism, which is Make the Important Interesting. This story does quite the opposite. While Google being upgraded is certainly a good thing, it is not necessarily IMPORTANT. This event is not going to affect hundreds of thousands of people, or change their daily lives. Even though it is fun to hear about the party that Google employees had to celebrate the 15th anniversary, it is not very important.  One way that CNN could have made the story at least a little better would be focusing not on the party, but the changes that will at least slightly affect some people. The information about what the upgrade will include did not need to be posted on a news site, a small link on the Google search page would have been enough.

The Invention of The Printing Press (Kind of)

Even though John Peter Zenger TECHNICALLY made the first reliable printing press, the actual first printing press had already been created, just not in a way that allowed for easy printing or had strong, not-going-to-break-after-3-uses materials. (I'm looking at you, AirHog.) Before even managing to print more than a single copy of his new newspaper, which contained revealing information about the governor, he was arrested for libel, or written falsehood against someone else. However, he was found innocent, because he was telling the truth, and the truth is the ultimate defense. (Except for cannons. Those rock.) I agree with Mr. Miller, as well as the United States, that even though people say terrible things about others on magazines and newspapers, they should not get in trouble for it unless the information is false or out of context.

Response to How Recordings Saved The World and Still Do

Even though everyone seems to be doing it, I decided to hop on the wagon or cart or whatever and tell YOU, the random shmuck reading my blog, about Stephanie's amazing blog, at this link thing:
-------------------------------> http://crushthe-patriarchy.blogspot.com/<--------------------------------------

Everything she puts on her blog is incredibly well written, and very interesting to read. (Very much unlike my blog, which has probably already put around 42% of my audience to sleep.)
One of my favorite of her posts is How Recordings Saved The World, and Still Do. I definitely agree that recordings helped shape the world we currently live in, and also helps link the past to the present by making music a form of mass media. Without music, we would live in an incredibly boring world, where the only music you know and can hear is whatever you can remember from the bard that passed through last year. We would also have no way of knowing if what we were currently singing was actually a popular song or a rain dance used as improvisation. (No rain please. Too wet.) Clearly and concisely, Stephanie has written very good posts, and I urge you to make like a lemming and follow the rest. (Metaphorically of course.)

Newspapers Response

One of the first forms of written journalism, newspapers are practically ancient, and yet they are still going strong. I agree with Mr. Miller, that  even though most of their advertisers have switched to television, there are still many reasons to continue making and selling newspapers. Here are some of these reasons.

• Non-Linear: Being non-linear means that a media form allows you to skip through to find what you want, and avoid things you don't. For example, you probably want to know about the asteroid that might hit earth, but that cat video that is currently trending reeeaaaally isn't that life changing or relevant. (And hopefully not in the news.)
• Cheap: Not only for the company, but for the readers as well. Most newspapers make most of their money off of advertisers or donations, so they sell their products very cheaply. This contrasts with television, which forces you to buy boxes and cords and every other thing I trip on when I walk through the living room.
• Physical: One of the main reasons newspapers sell so much is because people who grew up with newspapers (and don't know how to turn on computers) buy them for nostalgia and familiarity. They can also be transferred easily, which is way easier than giving random people DVRs.
• Depth: While the typical television news story lasts around a minute, newspapers can give you more information, since they have no time limit, only a size limit. This allows a story that would be only a few sentences long develop into a complex story that gives lots of important information.

These are what I believe to be the most important reasons that newspapers are still relevant, and will hopefully continue to be for a long time.