FRee BLOG!

Well at this moment I am sitting in my room. I am very, very, very sleepy. I can not go to sleep just yet because I have this blog to write and I've been sitting here trying to think of something to write. I see its kind of hard when you don't have a topic to really write about. I also have a test in my art class that I need to study for. I will as soon as I finish this. But I am so sleepy.

On another note, I am anticipating the remaining events of this week. I can't wait till Friday gets here just because its Friday and that means I will have no class and no homework. Also on Friday BET will be here for the BLACK COLLEGE tour and I am little excited about it. I just hope it does not rain on our parade. I would like to be able to be outside on the Gibbs-Green Plaza instead of the Walter Payton (if it does rain). This will be the first year that I will be able to take part in something like that and I am more than ready to see what it is all about. There will be camera's and celebrity artist and all that good stuff. Things like that are right up my alley. It has media and mass communications written all over it in its very own way. I love the entertainment world and being in the mix of things. Maybe one day when I start working as a TV show host on one of BET's shows I'll get to come back with them to Jackson State for the Black College tour. That would be real nice.

There is a game on Saturday against Southern. It is an away game but the game will be played here so we will have to buy tickets. I do not think I will be going. Not because I will have to buy a ticket but the game just will not be the same without the whole band playing and I probably won't have a way to it since my friend is going home this weekend for Valley's Homecoming game. But that will be alright. This will give me the chance to get some well needed rest and do some well needed homework. So, now I am about to sign out and go study for a few minutes or at least till I fall asleep.

Digital Books, Magazines & Kindles!

Digital books are simply electronic copies of your favorite titles. You can download digital books and read them immediately so there is no waiting for shipment and in most cases, they are price competitive with their 'hard copy' counterparts. Digital books also offer the convenience of size and portability, you can store your own personal library of eBooks on your PC, Laptop or hand held device. If you're still confuse on just what they are the link can provide a little bit more information. Magazines are publications that are issued periodically usually bound in a paper cover, and typically contains essays, stories, poems, etc., by many writers, and often photographs and drawings, frequently specializing in a particular subject or area, as hobbies, news, or sports. And Kindles are basically an electronic book device that allowes you to store several different books onto it.

Are digital books and magazines going to end what we know as leisurely reading? I say no to that question. As I've stated in earlier blogs I feel that as long as there are people out who prefer to use magazines and digital books then they will not die. I have recently been introduced to kindles; which is basically a wireless book. As for me, I would definitely rather have the hard copy of whatever book I was reading in my hand. The kindle probably would not become a favorite of mines or even used by me unless it was a necessary thing to have in school. Maybe as time continues to pass, maybe in ten to twenty years magazines will slowly evaporate. Digital books will probably still be around but the Kindle will probably be used more around that time. For example, in the 90's cassette players were the thing then cd players came out and cassette players seem to have went away. Before cassette players there were record players and they soon went out of style. There are a few that still may be around in some homes. So I feel, as of now that digital books and magazines are not coming to an end as leisurely readings. And maybe in ten-twenty years they still will not have disappeared. It all depends on what the people want and the economic.

Print and Newspapers: Are They Dying?

Are print and newspapers dying? That is kind of a tough question. When it comes to my thoughts on that matter I would have to say that they are not dying. I say this because they are still being used by several people. I will also say that they are just not used as much as they use to be. Print and newspapers are considered old media. I do believe that when it comes to teenagers they will pick up a magazine before they grab a newspaper. Though, when it comes to the more older people they would prefer a newspaper. Now adays, there are some 'hip' middle age people who are intuned with both the newspaper and print, including new media as well.

A poll was taking on askville.com and the results were just about equal. Everyone either said they still read both or they chose the newspaper over print or vice versa. On newstex.com, an article called, Are Print Newspapers Dying A Slow Death? states that "the future of print newspapers look grim." The Pew Research Center's did a 2008 survey on new media consumption and the results showed that 39% of respondents read a newspaper the day before they took the survey, which had lowered from the 2006 survey results of 43%.

Magazines are said to have a worser fate than newspapers. Newspapers are daily updates and analysis with local content and advertising. Almost all papers now are available online for those who may not do the paper thing. Magazines are typically monthly, meaning out of date content, and advertising lacks a local connection, mostly national brand advertising. Newspaper audiences are measured by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Newspaper readership has declined for the past several decades, but online readership is growing. The article I found on THE STUDIO BLOG can give further information on print media.

After doing a little research I still will conclude with the same answer I started with. Print media and newspapers are not dying. The number of people who read them are slowly declining over the years and as more new media is becoming available. Though, as I've stated in previous blogs, as long as there are still more than enough people around that prefer newspapers or print over online newspapers, blogs or any other new media then newspaper and print will not completely die out--not as of now anyway.

MC in Today's Society???

In today's society there are so many new methods of Mass Communication developing daily. Its role in society now is still similar to what it was in the past. The difference is that there is now a variety of ways to get the message out to the people. Once newspapers were a big way of getting information out to people but now it seems like the newspapers is slowly disappearing and being taken over by the internet, blogs, news websites or other new media. Sometimes I worry about the future of journalist, print production and even publicists. With so many new ways to do things there are no reasons to use certain things that were necessary in the past.

Although, new ways are coming out Mass Communication would never die. I say that because without Mass Communication no society can exist, must less develop and survive. Mass Communication is the technological means of sending information, ideas and opinions from a mass communicator to a complex audience. It is also defined as compromising the institutions and techniques by which specialized groups such as broadcasters, film producers and publishers employ technological devices to disseminate symbolic content to large heterogeneous and widely disperse audience. When it comes to the future of newspapers or any other old media vs. new media an article titled, WSJ: The Future of Newspapers made quite a few good points. In my opinion old media will never fully die out because there are still people who do not have the skills or the technical knowledge to use the new media so they still prefer the old media better.

No matter what Mass Communication still holds a great big importance in our lives. It is the root of everything that we do on a daily basis. When it comes to fashion, movies, music, TV shows and even school Mass Communication plays a part in it. Many eyebrows may raise when they read 'school' but yes it does play a role in it too. As I learned in my textbook, scholars study it to better comprehend the process and to develop theories that explain and predict how the media operate. People make careers out of it. For soceity to exist period, certain communication needs must be met. Here's another link on James Love, Director of CPTech elaborating on the gradations of credibility between old and new media.

Mass Communications Is...

When I look at the word Mass Communication all I can think about is any and every media outlet that allows the world nationally and internationally to receives information. Mass communication is the media—the way information is distributed and received. It is how the world takes in news. It is also any form of communication--world wide. If broken down the terms could be easily defined. When I see the term ‘mass’ it makes me think of the words ‘wide’ and ‘range’. The term ‘communication’ referring to the ways people can receive information.

Museum.tv gives a good description of what the word means. It states that Mass communication" is often used loosely to refer to the distribution of entertainment, arts, information, and messages by television, radio, newspapers, magazines, movies, recorded music, and associated media. This general use of the term is only appropriate as designating the most commonly shared features of such otherwise disparate phenomena as broadcast television, cable, video playback, theater projection, recorded song, radio talk, advertising, and the front page, editorial page, sports section, and comics page of the newspaper.
In this usage "mass communication" refers to the activities of the media as a whole and fails to distinguish among specific media, modes of communication, genres of text or artifact, production or reception situations, or any questions of actual communication. The only analytic purpose this use of the term serves is to distinguish mass communication from interpersonal, small-group, and other face-to-face communication situations. A second use of the term involves the various criteria of massiveness which can be brought to bear in analyses of media and mass communication situations.

The term "mass communication" is a term used in a variety of ways which, despite the potential for confusion, are usually clear from the context. These include (1) reference to the activities of the mass media as a group, (2) the use of criteria of a concept, "massiveness," to distinguish among media and their activities, and (3) the construction of questions about communication as applied to the activities of the mass media. Significantly only the third of these uses does not take the actual process of communication for granted.