Communications and Media

Journal Entry Number One
Berger, A. (2005). Chapter 3 George Lakoff and Mark Johnson Metaphors We Live By. In A. Berger, Making Sense of Media Key Texts in Media and Cultural Studies (pp.25-30). London Blackwell.
In his review of Lakoff and Johnsons (1980) theory of language, Berger (2005) emphasizes their view that language shapes an individuals conception of reality. Lakoff and Johnson highlight the constructive role of language in determining an individuals experiences and beliefs through their analysis of the role of metaphors in language. As Berger claims, both authors argue that, Metaphorsshape our thinking and our behavior (2005, p.25). A metaphor here refers to a way of conceiving of one thing in terms of another (whose) primary function is understanding (Lackoff Johnson, 1980, p.36, as cited in Berger, 2005, p.26). Metaphors, in this sense, are linguistic manifestations of the additional meanings of certain terms and phrases in language. The additional meanings provided by these metaphors may be traced to a concepts relationship to a particular event and predominant belief in culture. An example of this was provided by Berger (2005) as he points out that advertisements utilize metaphors as a way of conveying a specific message to its target market.
Another example of an advertisement which utilizes metaphors to appeal to its target market is the Camel cigarette advertisement in Premiere Magazine dated June 2000. The advertisement contains both linguistic captions and pictorial representations. It contains the image of a waitress smoking a cigarette inside a vehicle which is set against a midday sky with the words Camel and Pleasure to Burn on it. At first glance, the term pleasure to burn may be understood to refer to the pleasure derived in smoking. An in depth analysis of the phrase however shows that  it also serves as a metaphor for sex, that being the pleasure derived in sexual intercourse. In effect, the metaphor pleasure to burn signifies not only the pleasure to burn cigarettes but also the pleasure in a different burning activity, that being sexual activity.

Within this context, metaphors determine ones conception of reality since it allows individuals, such as me, to recognize the embedded meanings in the different concepts uttered and utilized by the individual s andD  or establishments in one s surroundings. In the case of the cigarette advertisement mentioned above, recognizing the meanings associated with the metaphor of pleasure in burning requires me to share a specific linguistic background with a specific set of individuals who has legitimized the association of smoking with sexual activities.

Journal Entry Number Two
Berger, A. (2005). Chapter 6 Vladimir Propp Morphology of the Folktale. In A. Berger, Making Sense of Media Key Texts in Media and Cultural Studies (pp.50-55). London Blackwell

Berger (2005), in his analysis and application of Propps theory of narrative, argues that modern media has adopted the narrative style of fairytales in order to provide tales that possess a therapeutic effect. According to Propps theory, characters in fairy tales function as representations of specific moral beliefs (as cited in Berger, 2005). Berger (2005) extends Propps analysis to modern media as he posits that the narratives of the modern films and literary texts also utilize its characters to represent the same beliefs embodied by the characters in fairy tales. He claims, We learn that many of the stories we read in novels and see in films and television shows come from fairytales or have strong fairy-tale elements in them(They) often have therapeutic value because they are modified and updated fairytales (Berger, 2005, p.53). Examples of these modern texts are not only traceable in the romance or science fiction genres in both the predominant film and literary texts as they are also traceable in the other genres such as action, adventure, comedy, crime and gangster films genres to name a few.

The current trend in Hollywood films, for example, explicitly utilizes this narrative style and this function of characters in fairy tales as can be seen in Tim Burtons (2010) Alice in Wonderland. Although Burtons film has certain deviations from Lewis Carrolls (1932) Alices Adventures in Wonderland, the film retains the dualistic representations of good and evil in the characters of Alice and the Red Queen. By retaining these representations, the film, in accordance to Berger and Propps analysis, provides viewers, such as myself, with a therapeutic experience as it allows one to escape from the complex moral dilemmas that each individual is faced with in reality. Although this therapeutic effect may indeed provide an immediate relief to an individuals moral quandaries, utilizing this narrative style in modern day media, as I reckon, merely leads to the propagation of misleading beliefs about reality. In comparison to the function of Greek plays, that being to provide the audience with an experience of catharsis, this therapeutic effect of modern fairy tales merely allows the consumers of these texts to adopt a way of thinking that prevents them from recognizing their entrapment in a capitalist culture.

Journal Entry Number Three
Gladwell, M. (2009). Chapter One The Matthew Effect. In M. Gladwells, Outliers (pp.15-34). New York Hatchette Book.

Gladwell (2009), in The Matthew Effect, argues that the American conception of success is equated with self-made success. In addition, Americans believe that there are specific elements behind self-made success which leads them to question the background, character, as well as habits of the individual who is considered to be successful in his community (Gladwell, 2009). He claims, Successis based on individual merit-and both of those words are important. Players are judged on their own performance, not on anyone elses, and on the basis of their ability, not on some otherfact (Gladwell, 2009, p.17). The role of individual merit in Americas conception of success may be attributed to the countrys foundational beliefs, that being its emphasis on the principles of liberty and equality. The principle of equality, for example, ensures that all individuals will be given equal chances as they are treated in the same manner. The principle thereby ensures that all individuals, regardless of their sex, race, class, and gender, will be given the same opportunities.

Despite the importance given to individual merit, Gladwell (2009) notes that there are certain elements in American culture which prevents the practice of meritocracy in the country. In the case of hockey players, for example, there is a preference for players whose birthdates can be located in the initial part of the year (Gladwell, 2009). This emphasis on the players birth month may be attributed to the cut-off date for accepting new players in a team. Other institutions in the United States also practice this partiality towards those born in the initial months of the year. In my case, for example, I was prevented from entering educational institutions when I was three years old even if I would become four years old three months after the cut-off period. Although implementing a cut-off period may be considered as a necessary element in order to bring order to certain procedures in society, it remains to be the case that these cut-off periods provide more opportunities to a specific class of individuals. As Gladwell claims, It tells us that our notion that it is the best and brightest who effortlessly rise to the top is much too simplistic (2009, p.30).

Journal Entry Number Four
Gladwell, M. (2009). Chapter Six Harlan, Kentucky. In M. Gladwells, Outliers (pp.161-176). New York Hatchette Book.

Gladwell (2009), in Harlan, Kentucky, provides his insights on the concept success. This is specifically evident as he states, Weve seen that success arises out of the steady accumulation of advantagesSuccessful people come from hardy seeds. But do we know about the sunlights that warmed them, the soil in which they put down the roots (Gladwell, 2009, p.75-76). In this part of the text, he creates an analogy between individuals who attain success and hockey players (Gladwell, 2009). This analogy is based on the premise that hockey players and individuals who succeed are determined by their environment andD  or their surroundings. Such is the case since in order for a hockey player to succeed, it is necessary for him to train both his body and his mind for the skills that are required in the game. An individual who succeeds is thereby a product not only of his surroundings but also of his recognition that that he needs to attain certain skills in order to realize his goals. In addition to these factors, Gladwell also introduces the role of relative age in an individuals attainment of success (2009, p.77). He argues that an individuals attainment of success is also partially dependent on his attainment of specific skills during a specific age in his life (Gladwell, 2009).

From a scientific perspective, the role of relative age in determining an individual s success may be explained by the body s tendency to easily acquire andD  or master specific skills at a particular age, this being the period of a person s youth or early adulthood. During this period, if an individual is raised in an environment that allowed him to develop certain skills as well as certain character traits at the initial point of his life, it is possible for him to attain success at an early age. Such a conception of the term success however, as Gladwell relates it to relative age, is only applicable in the activities or endeavors that require the use of ones body, as can be seen in the case of the hockey players mentioned above.

Although it may indeed be the case that there is a greater probability of attaining success at a specific age, it is important to note that Gladwell does not clearly define the parameters of what he considers to be a successful individual in the chapter. As a result of this, one is misled into believing that success is associated with fame. On a personal note, I believe that success is a life-long pursuit that may only be achieved if an individual practices excellence in all the things that he chooses to pursue in his life.

Journal Entry Number Five
McLuhan, M. (2003). Chapter One Electronic Revolution Revolutionary Effects of New Media. In S. McLuhan  D. Staines (eds.), Understanding Me Lectures and Interviews (pp.1-11). Michigan U of Michigan P.

In the initial chapter of Understanding Me, one is presented with McLuhans (2003) Electronic Revolution where he argues that the changes caused by technological revolutions has not only led to the creation of new worlds as it has also led to the creation of new ways of interacting with ones fellow human beings. McLuhan claims, So rapidly have we begun to feel the effects of the electronic revolutionthat all of us today are displaced persons living in a world that has little to do with the one in which we grew up (2003, p.1).  For McLuhan (2003) even though technological advancements have provided individuals with greater time to pursue other activities and interests, these developments have merely led human beings to  be displaced from themselves as a result of the electric ages emphasis on unification as opposed to the mechanical ages emphasis on individualization. He argues that in comparison to the mechanical age, which opts for the creation and specification of specialties that allowed individuals to have unique tasks and characteristics, the electric age, which opts for the unification of all information, has led to the demise of individuality (McLuhan, 2003).

On a personal note, the demise of individuality caused by the electronic revolution is apparent as individuals are merely seen as parts of a whole. Consider for example that the information gathering frenzy in the 20th and 21st century has led to the creation of numerous databases that delineate an individual to a specific percentage of other individual who possess similar economic andD  or social characteristics. I, for example, may be categorized as a member of an X percentage of females studying in a university with specific character traits. In other words, the electronic age with its information gathering frenzy has somehow lost focus on the things which make each individual distinct from one another as it has created a new sphere where all individuals may have andD  or share the same experiences. The World Wide Web, for example, provides me with a location where I may experience and know the same things that other individuals who have access to digital information possess.

Journal Entry Number Six
McLuhan, M. (2003). Chapter Seven The Medium is the Massage. In S. McLuhan  D. Staines (eds.), Understanding Me Lectures and Interviews (pp. 76-97). Michigan U of Michigan P.

McLuhan (2003), in The Medium is the Massage, argues that in the electric age the media utilized for deploying messages serve as the messages themselves. He claims, The medium is the massage because it is the medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action (McLuhan, 2003, p.77). An example he provides in the discussion is the role of the electronic light both as the medium and the message (McLuhan, 2003). He points out that the electronic light shapes and determines human associations and actions as it is a necessary tool for the performance of specific tasks in the electric age (McLuhan, 2003). In the electric age, certain types of medium thereby convey the message themselves as they serve as representations of the foundational underpinnings of the age.  In the case of the electric light, it serves as a representation of the technological advancement of the electric age.

In our daily tasks, if one is to follow McLuhans claim, we are bombarded by different media that serve as messages in themselves. An example of this is the television. The television, as a form of media, does indeed function as a source of other forms of media. On its own however it also represents the development of the electric age which has allowed individuals to access information through the use of both radio waves and air waves. In the same manner, the Internet also serves as a media that provides a message on its own as it represents the different capacities and opportunities that have been made available to all of us in the digital age.  

Journal Entry Number Seven
Kornblut, A. (2009). Introduction Year of the Woman In A. Kornblut, Notes from the Cracked Ceiling Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for A Woman to Win (pp. 1-12). New York Crown Publishing Group.

Kornblut (2009), in Year of the Woman, questions the solidarity of the feminist movement in the United States in the 21st century. In the beginning of the text, she states, 2008 turned out to revive old stereotypes, divide the womens movement, drove apart mothers and daughters and set back the cause of equality in the political sphere by decades (Kornblut, 2009, p.1). This claim is based on her observation that the said year has shown the conflicts and internal rifts in the womens movement which can be seen in the portrayal of Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin in the media during their race for respective positions in the United States government.

The portrayal of Clinton and Palin in the media shows that within the context of the political sphere there is a tendency for women to be judged based on their adherence to specific female stereotypes. In the case of both Clinton and Palin, their portrayal of strong personalities did not forward their cause. Kornblut herself notes that Michelle Obama was also criticized by the media as she was seen to be too strong or too angry (2009, p.2). These criticisms towards the women who wield political power in the United States show that our country continues to practice certain forms of sexism which is evident in some of its citizens refusal to recognize the possibility that women can hold and maintain positions of power in the country. It is not only in the context of the political sphere that one perceives this failure of the womens movement. An example of this is evident as I have noticed that there is a tendency for white females to practice racism towards the members of the ethnic groups in the university. Evidence of this can be seen as they taunt the clothing styles of the female Chinese-Americans or even some of the female Latin-Americans. In addition, one will also notice that there is a lower probability for the female members of other ethnic groups to become a part of the student councils in universities across the country during instances where in the population of the university is mostly composed of white Americans.

Journal Entry Number Eight
Kornblut, A. (2009). Chapter Five Mother of Five Pearls. In A. Kornblut, Notes from the Cracked Ceiling Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for A Woman to Win (pp. 171-208). New York Crown Publishing Group.

In Mother of Five Pearls, Kornblut (2009) discusses the conditions that led to Pelowskis position in the United States government. Discussing Pelowskis case provides a concrete example of the difficulties experienced by women in order for them to hold positions of power in the government. What is specifically interesting in Pelowskis case is her adherence to feminist beliefs. Kornblut (2009) states that Pelowski recognizes that women are underrepresented in the United States government. She claims, Pelowski has made a coherent, public case for why women in politics matters as she argues, explicitly that women, and especially mothers, represent an underserved constituency (Kornblut, 2009, p.176). Pelowski, in this sense, does not only provide a voice for the feminist movement in the government as she also provides a voice for the group of women who are underrepresented in it.

The importance of representing mothers is evident since they not only occupy a large group in our countrys population as they also hold the position of women who have been delimited in the private sphere even before the initiation of the feminist movement. Although it is indeed the case that domestic relations have changed in the 21st century in comparison to the 17th century, mothers lack individuals who can voice their demands and their needs as their daily lives revolve around meeting the needs of their families. In my neighborhood, for example, most mothers are overwhelmed with taking care of their childrens needs. As a result of this, they spend most of their spare time not necessarily by studying the legislature for women primary caregivers but in addressing their immediate personal needs. Pelowski, in this sense, is an important addition to the United States government as she inspires mothers as well as women in general to create time not only for their families but also for forwarding their civil rights.

Journal Entry Number Nine
Shirky, C. (2008). Chapter Two Sharing Anchors Community. In C. Shirky, Here Comes Everybody The Power of Organizing without Organizations (pp.25-54). London Penguin Group.

Communicative segregation has always been an integral aspect of managerial culture (Shirky, 2008). Of course, the details as to how such a strategy is employed by different organizations may differ and change through time. It may also vary depending upon the nature or the type of organization in question. Another important aspect to consider is the size of the organization and the extent of its operations. What makes the last aspect important can be summarized this way, More is different (Shirky, 2008, p. 41). It is also because of this aspect that managerial practice employs the idea of limiting communications (Shirky, 2008, p. 42).

Shirky (2008) explains that communicative segregation in for profit organizations flow only from one layer of the hierarchy to the next (p. 42). This explains why top administrators may not really know the sentiments of those in the rank and files. This is to say that as information of this kind gets filtered as it goes to the top. While the top administrators may not really know the sentiments of those in the rank and files, the latter may not also know the goals and future directions of the organization. As I reckon, this is also one of the reasons as to why it is not uncommon to see workers who suddenly find themselves out of a job.

Technology, however, continues to redefine and shape our institutions and perhaps, even managerial culture. The emergence of various social tools provides us with a platform where communicative segregation is absent and individual liberty is present. I, for example, as a freelance photographer may use Flicker to upload and publish my photos and compare them to the ones uploaded by photographers employed in a typical newspaper organization. Whereas the freelance photographer can freely submit and publish hisher photos, the photographer in a typical newspaper organization has to go through the process of having hisher works scrutinized and approved by layers and layers of authority since the newspaper is in the business of directing the work of photographers (Shirky, 2008, p. 46). At this point, a dilemma makes itself manifest. The photographers who make use of Flicker to publish their photos enjoy individual liberty. However, they are not paid for what they do. On the other hand, the photographers who are employed in a newspaper organization do not enjoy individual liberty, but, they are paid for what they do.

Journal Entry Number Ten
Shirky, C. (2008). Chapter Seven Faster and Faster. In C. Shirky, Here Comes Everybody The Power of Organizing without Organizations (pp.161-187). London Penguin Group.
Collective action requires mutual agreement and mutual cooperation amongst different members and interest groups in any given society. While it is true that the most significant historical, economic and political developments of any given society is marked by collaboration and collective efforts, one cannot deny that the very basic impediment to collective action springs from human nature itself, that is, our very basic drive to preserve and protect our self-interests. These are but some of the realizations that I had after reading Shirkys (2008)Here Comes Everybody.

Every human being is by nature, pursuing hisher self-interests. It is part of human nature. Given that human beings are driven by self-preservation and the pursuit of their self-interests, it is not difficult to see that one of the most difficult problems concerning collective action is one of governance (Shirky, 2008). To my estimation, Shirkys analysis is correct for several reasons. First, it is difficult to deny that different individuals and different groups have different interests that they want to protect.