They Lie, We Listen; Radio

The manipulation of radio waves was perhaps the most notable technological achievement in media, ever.  Prior to its invention, it was unfathomable to send any sort of message, whether that be physical or through interpretation of any kind other than morse code.  These days, satellite radio's most effective trait is it's ability to make AM/FM waves obsolete; aside from a monthly subscriptions and the ability to curse not much has changed.  

QUESTION: When the time comes that all "radio" is satellite transmitted, will we stop calling it radio?  


To those who think this question to be foolish, I ask you why we trust any of the messages we hear on the radio and digital broadcasts.  I truly believe this all has to do with the mental association of radio and how people perceive it's messages as truth.  


OLD DOGS, keep falling for the same tricks.
Hot 97.1, like any other broadcasting network, has advertisements which are specifically tailored to their listeners; duh.  Of course, this started when Crest toothpaste had the luxury of marketing their product to entire families simultaneously; but the days of "single radio" homes are over.  It also doesn't take a history buff to appreciate this technological life span, as I believe it to be the single most effective source of consumer trust in radio.  Our grandparents were raised with Radio as their primary connection to media, and it only took 4 stations to gain their trust.  
I believe one's perception of music goes hand in hand with the media messages attached to them, and with the hundreds of stations available today; the amount of marketable processes of perception are innumerable.  Thus, logically, the amount of media being transmitted throughout any form of "radio" is equally as awesome.  


SIRUIS-XM USERS BEWARE, "music has an agenda of its own."
So, let's say you don't call it radio; you call it, "groovy-satellite-music" or whatever liberal mumbo-jumbo you're in the mood to drive your Prius to.  Commercial-free does not mean Media-free, in fact I wouldn't even call it Commercial-Free at all.  Surely there are no advertisements, but it doesn't get more commercialized than a monthly subscription partnered with virtually every car maker in the world; capitalism ftw.  
And when all else fails, music has an agenda of it's own.  With more and more music embodying sex and many other messages so blatantly, today's traditional media messages are anything but subtle.  Music is a way of life.

They Lie, We Listen; TV News

The first segment in this mini 'Immedia series' will focus on TV News, come back soon for the continuation.  


It's an age old question, really.

"Do you watch the news? " -Inquisitive figure who probably thinks they are smarter than you.

     Let us dissect;
First of all, what news?
Are we talking about mainstream television, NPR, or even those satirically witty faux shows like "The Daily Show". Before we can even begin to delve into political bias', we must undertand the innate differences between forms of News Media, and not only the ways in which they impact a perceived message, but who pays attention to each one.
     Traditional news media is just that, traditional. With the exception of High Definition, which may have ended the careers of certain anchors, not much has changed in the way TV News is portrayed and interpreted. Now, although I do believe that TV News tends to have the most perceived validity, it stems more from advertisements and product alignment than actual substance. 
     Media networks broadcast at the expense of their advertisers, literally. Television News is no different, and when it all comes down to sweeps week; you gotta give the people what they want.     Now y'all ready for the coup de grace?     24 HOUR NEWS CYCLE


If you give a monkey a TV show, it's bound to be entertaining,

... and you might learn something about the jungle.

If you give that same monkey a banana every time people laugh,

...it's only a matter of time before he starts throwing shit.

So, my dad watches Fox News, my philosophy professor listens to NPR, and I have read Stephen Colbert's "I am America, And So Can You!".  I'll tackle the rest next week.

If life was like Grand Theft Auto, would we run around killing people? Better yet, would we invent video games that allow us to passively sit at a computer all day?

Hell, no...

The reason people love videogames is because our lives are boring; or at least when compared to movies and TV shows. The truth is, whether it's a gory videogame or even The Jersey Shore, what is an existence really worth without spray tans and juice, yeah bro! But back to Videogames.
If people like media for their ability to interpret it, then our infatuation with video games merely stems from our obsession with fairy tales.
The human obsession with video games is much like our infatuation with media; our ability to decide the outcome is really what keeps us spending our money.
Now for those people who think these games are the vain of our existence. Let me make this dry clear, I think elementary school Grand Theft Auto competitions are BAD IDEAS, but blaming violent graphics for our juvenile youth is ridiculous. Well, blaming anything for our societies problems is a cop out, but virtual violence just tantalizes parents everywhere with a nice safe bandwagon. Last time I checked, the "Grand theft Auto" ticket wasn't on the ballot.

So who's to blame? We all are! (Yay)
Very rarely can a problem be boiled down to one solution, so why don't we try parenting for a while and see if that helps. If your kid enjoys burning insects with magnifying glasses a bit too much, maybe you should keep an eye out for dead prostitutes in Grand Theft Auto; or you could just teach him how to effectively interpret media ... By showing him this blog ...

So there you go! Videotapes don't kill people, people kill people. And I could be a child psychologist.
Bam.

I realize I should be picking a new device to analyze, but over the past couple of days I have experienced certain technology-related behaviors that deserve notice.

Whether it be a cell-phone, computer, or TV remote; I believe one side affect of such mediums is technological anxiety.  Now, I'm not simply talking about feeling out of touch without your phone for a day, because that comes hand in hand with being disconnected from people or the world.  The particular type of anxiety I wish to dissect is that of the instant feeling of uncertainty when you lose control of the way you connect to media.

Let's take a group of people watching Television as an example.  I postulate that in every group of media consumers, there is at least one person who experiences anxiety when they lose control of the TV remote, phone, or computer.

In fact, just this past weekend a good friend of mine was trying to show me some new iPhone apps.  As soon as I tried to explore one before he had the chance to explain it, he became subtly frustrated with his lack of control.

I believe this is becoming a new form of social anxiety; and as technology becomes faster and more direct, I can't imagine this stopping any time soon.