Wednesday, 21 November 2012

TUTORIAL QUESTION 4



1. How is the idea of "choice" a value that is built into consumer-capitalist society?

The idea of choice in the context of a consumer-capitalist society means to have the freedom to choose, to have more options in their purchases. example like when a woman wants to choose perfume,she would choose the brand such as chanel, bvlgary, dolce gabbana,etc. Factors that influence the choice would be prices, discounts, additional gifts and other external factors. Internal factors lie on the functions of the item that wants to be purchases, generally comparing it to another similar product.

2. What does it mean in terms of hegemony?
The term "hegemony" refers to the leadership, dominance or great influence that one entity or group of people has over others

Modern uses of "hegemony" often refer to a group in a society having power over others within that society. For example, the wealthy class might be said to have hegemony over the poor because of its ability to use its money to influence many aspects of society and government.

3. Why is it important for hegemony that we don't question its legitimacy? Why don't we?
Hegemony is leadership by power and the ones in power tend to think that their ways are the only right ways despite making little sense. Therefore, questioning its legitimacy may result in controversy and it is easier to control people who are submissive and follows whatever the person in power says.

The reason people usually do not question its legitimacy is the fear that we may end up jeopardizing our lives. It is of human nature to feel more comfortable being with a group of people rather than being alone and this leads to conformity. Furthermore, humans in general prefer to avoid conflicts especially in things that are out of their control.

4. What is "the paradox of choice"?
A paradox is a statement or concept that contains conflicting ideas.  choice is "An act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities". 
 More choices lead to lower overall sales. That makes no sense in the narrow rationality often used in economic models, and some evidence suggests it might not actually be true.


TUTORIAL QUESTION 3


1. EXAMINE CLASS REPRESENTATIONS FROM AMERICAN TELEVISION'S BEGINNINGS TO TODAY'S SITCOMS. REALITY SHOWS, POLICE DRAMAS AND DAY TIME TALK SHOWS.

During the old days of american television, only the 'white' american will be portrayed. Eventually, other races in american television became more diverse and different, such as the addition of asians and also blacks as actors and actresses. however in most, the white people would be shown as hero's, main characters, protagonists, and the good guys. However, asians or the blacks would be given minor roles or antagonists roles, or would be shown as bad guys and be killed of very fast, giving them little screentime. Today, the world is more modern and we see black people such as Will Smith as the main hero and character in movies such as I am legend, and Men in Black. 


2. WHAT IS THE AMERICAN DREAM AND HOW HAS IT BEEN POTRAYED ON TELEVISION? WHO HAS IT EXCLUDED AND WHY??

Taken from the World English Dictionary, the American Dream is defined as the notion that the American social,economic, and political system makes success possible for every individual.
It is where the capitalist system brings joy, perfect health and wealth to every American. It is the thought of having perfection in reality such as a married couple having one son and one daughter. It is shown by the media that to make the American Dream a reality, one must simply work and dedicate themselves to their work as well as their country. If that is achieved then time is the only factor left.


3. HOW DO MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS OF CLASS REFLECT THE LARGER SOCIAL SYSTEM AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY?? 

The media representations of class as a reflection of the larger social system and social inequality is somewhat true. The only difference is that media tends to over-exaggerate certain points but that is how they make things clear. However, there are times when they portray a form of biasness, such as having the white men having all the power and the minorities such as asians and black people having little to no power.


4. HOW IS THE WORKING CLASS PORTRAYED WHEN IT HAS BEEN REPRESENTED?? 

The working class are often shown to be struggling not only in their work life but also their social life. They seem as if they are really having trouble making ends meet. stereotypes such as terrible bosses can be seen such as being demanding, unrealistic, cruel and sadistic. Another example would be hot female secretaries working at offices with perfect bodies and beautiful faces . And then we also see working men in roles such as businessmen, lawyers and such, whereas females rarely are seen in those roles.


5. WHAT ARE THE STRUGGLES FACED IN TRYING TO GET A SHOW ABOUT WORKING CLASS PEOPLE ON TELEVISION?? 

Generally, the idea about portraying real people and real work situations can be very tough not only because of timing issues but as well as not wanting to portray their true selves. One way or another, what you see in reality televisions are somewhat of a fabrication of what they truly are and that is a fact. No one wants to be seen in a bad light, especially on nationwide television broadcasts. For example some of the things we see about working class people might be true, for example, they show the good side such as bright comfy offices, nice bosses, great workmates , an easy and not stressful life at work. However, in reality they do not show the negative sides like horrible bosses, backstabbing workmates, and stressful job situations police and firemen rescue jobs.



6. HOW ARE RACE AND GENDER INTERTWINED WITH CLASS ON TELEVISION?

As for race, the white people are often shown to be rich, high integrity and classy kind of people where as the minorities are often shown to be poor, the evil person and the trashy kind of people.
Minorities would be like asians and black people as usual as seen in movies and tv series. Even if they are not portrayed in bad light, they still do not get as much screen time or lines or roles as compared to their white american or british counterparts. 
As for gender, the men are often shown to be the breadwinners, the heroes, the ones in power basically. The women are often shown to be weak, similar functions to a maid and belong in the kitchen. A good example for this would be the TV series shows suits, where the main male characters Harvey and Mike, are high flying, professional and capable lawyers in New york, whereas the female characters like Donna and Rachel are just assistants and a paralegal. However, in the movie, there is also jessica who is the head managing senior partner of the firm which means even Harvey and Mike are below her. So, its true that women are not always given the heroine and powerful roles, but in this Suits series, Jessica is an exception. 

TUTORIAL QUESTION 2


1. WHAT IS MEDIA CONCENTRATION AND CONGLOMERATION? HOW ARE THEY SIMILAR OR DIFFERENT TO EACH OTHER?

Media concentration is a process that makes lesser and lesser people have control over the media most likely to avoid complications as it is easier to make decisions with said media when there are fewer people to consult. Media conglomeration is the process of gathering as many media content / media shares by one single entity such as the Walt Disney Company. They are different in a sense where one is to gather as many forms of media as possible and another is to have more control over it by getting lesser people have power over a certain media.


2. WHAT IS THE POLITICAL IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CONCENTRATED CORPORATE OWNERSHIP OF NEWS AND OTHER FORMS OF MEDIA?

Political impact is like when government has a big hold or influence on the media, so that means whatever the media publishes or shares, the main influence behind it is the political parties for example. like newspapers and TV stations are good examples. whatever the TV or newspapers will show it will be pro government, all the good and positive things bout the political they will say, all the bad things they will hide, and probably distort the ugly truth. corporate owners of these media will obviously be careful in what they say and put in their TV and newspapers so they don't offend the government. mostly they will make sure all their content pleases the government . so, it can be said, that political impact is very real and serious and is happening in many countries and also our country Malaysia. so, all the good positive things bout our current government we always see on paper and TV ( dunno whether all is true or not ) and the bad things bout our government we never seem to see on paper or tv. so sad. 

3. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDIA OWNERSHIP AND DIVERSITY IN MEDIA CONTENT? COMPARE AND CONTRAST THIS RELATIONSHIP IN THE NEWS AND POPULAR MUSIC INDUSTRIES.

The more media content being owned, the wider the variety in media content. this means if u are a big and powerful media company, means u have more resources and money and all, thus the company. has more media content. so much variety. Take for example the Universal Music Group. they have so so so many labels thus they have so many artist all producing different genres of music and stuff so that means a lot of variety and a lot of revenue is generated. They have big and powerful roster of artists such as the Black Eyed Peas and 50 Cent and Justin Bieber,  their content is music is diversified, allowing for more choices and in return, higher sales as compared to other record labels. because they are so big and powerful and rich, so they can have so much variety and diversity in their productions, media content. only with their huge ownership they can have so much variety of content

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

TUTORIAL QUESTION 1

1. Explain how the influences of mass media extends beyond what we know to include how we relate to the social world.
Nowadays some may hold the opinion that using mass media,including television,radio and newspaper obviously influence on the thoughts and behaviors of people,but others think that what people think and behave in daily life has nothing to do with mass media. As far as I am concerned,I agree that television,radio,newspaper more or less affect in shaping people's ideas

2.Fill in the elements of the 'media and the social world'model below and briefly and explain how they relate to each other. ( blank version of the model )
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3.How does the presence of media affect your life ? How would it be different without the mass media ?
media affect our daily life. like television, twitter, facebook, newspaper, it affect our life because we need media to know what happened around us, like from the newspaper, we could get information about what happened in our country, politics, and certain issue. how it would different without mass media? limited information, we can not get information immediately, not knowing whether the information is credible. 

4.Overall, do you think the growing presence of mass media in our lives is a positive or negative development? why ?
sometimes it could be positive and also negative. positive part from mass media is we could get information from media like from radio, we could know which way to avoid traffic jam when we want to go to some place. the negative is from television, like the kids under age. they may be watch something not good like WWF/RAW or something that can be a bad influence to their daily life.

5.How do you think the presence of television has changed family life ? Do you think the spread of internet will have similar effect?
the presence of television has changed family life because, peoples are more often to spend time on watching tv, for example, when we at home, and there is something happen within the country like earthquake, tsunami, a family watch it together and discuss about it. i dont think that internet will have a similar effect, because internet is more complex than television, and it more individual. 

6. what do you think the most significant media development in your lifetime. why?
i think internet, because i spent more time with internet, example like google, when i dont know something, just search on google and we can get the information as soon as possible, youtube, facebook, etc.

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Gilang syakban


So, here we are, for all of you who read my blog, well, it wont be really cheer you up. But I think it’s quite good to share a bit the story of mine... my name is Gilang Syakban.

I am interest with. Actually since I was born, LOL. Too excessive.. I like music. I love to play an instrument. I love to play a guitar.  

My dream is to be a famous musician, that not different to much from what I am interest with.

Aspiration? I think it’s enough if to be people who get everything they needs.

I come from Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.

My childhood was, happy, never thought about the risk of what I made, and definitely awesome.




Family conditions- PERFECT.









The 3 experienced the most lasting impression on me. First. When I travelled with my friends. We travelled in java, which actually at, Pangandaran, The green canyon, and another places in java.
















The second experience that make me impress is when I got the second champion on we called it “slalom race” it’s a bit like drifting, but different, lol. Well, I don’t even know that I’ll second winner. They just called me and show me my time in that race, I just laughing and speechless.











The last is i have a band named "hey chica". well, this is the the picture of my band one and a half year ago. haha. What i think about this band is so special. we have our own skills. That can entertain the audience well.



10 most important circumstances :

-Live
-Laugh
-Love
-Meet new people
-Have a perfect family
-Learn more things
-Make my self better
-To be a better musician
-Money
-Get a better result