Journal #12

This week we are working on our "How does Advertising Effect Us?" projects that we will eventually be presenting to the whole school:|. Anyway, my group decided to do Product Recognition, which is basically how companies use symbols and logos that will stay with us and eventually become instantly recognisable. And then we are doing a part that is kind of what we know (like product logos) vs. What we should know (like presidents, provincial flags, etc.). Anyway, this project is opening my eyes to how much the media and advertising does affect me, because I know more big logos and companies than i do about m,y own country:|. Hopefully with this project in some way we can help raise awareness about what advertisers are doing to us, so maybe we can awaken that unconscious part of our brain that allows this to happen. Anyway, I don't want to give too much away, but I think it will be a pretty successful project.   :)  

Journal #11

This week in journalism we watched the 11th Hour. This movie wasn't too bad, but way better than the 'Inconvenient Truth'- now that movie was ridiculously, and painfully boring. But this movie was presented in a way that appealed better to me, it kind of played on my emotions when it was showing the animals that won't make it if we don't change our ways.. I feel bad for the penguins. Oh! And that poor seal that got clubbed:( that was sad. Anyway, I can't give too much away, because I have yet to do my movie review:P.

Journal #10

So I guess I was one journal short. I was a little stuck, I didn't know what I was going to write about for this week, but then I realized I could use stuff from journalism too!

So last week we started talking about Steve Glass, this very talented journalist who worked for a major magazine company called New Republic. Everyone liked Steve, he was nice, talented, and not to mention.. very creative! No one could see anything wrong with this young rising writer, but the truth was his stories were good, just a little too good. Steve was making up facts, sources, quotes, people, and events. Steve was eventually caught for this after writing the story 'Hack Heaven". Even I read the story, and had to admit, the lead was perfect! But, it did seem a little too good to be true, and some of the quotes seemed phony. 

Anyway, I could never imagine doing that for myself, I would get tangled in my web of lies and lose which way is up, did I mention I'm a losey liar? ha ha. Plus, I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. But, I have to admit, he was smart. That was a good idea, just had some down sides to it in the end. Yikes! 

Journal #9

This week we are working on a brand new project. We were given groups to work in and a specific object that we are meant to create means of advertising it. This is the practice before we do our big presentation in a conference style.

My groups product was jeans. My group came up with the "Canadian Beaver". It's kind of a mockery of "American Eagle". I have to say though, if this was a real product, I'd probably buy it. I mean, where else can you get jeans that identify you as a Canadian for the low, low cost of $20.99?! 

This project was a good exercise so we can learn how advertising companies think, and the process they go through to try and sell us their project. It's not as difficult as I thought it would be on one hand, then on the other it's not as easy:|. Jeans are a pretty difficult product to advertise because there are so many competitors. But, I think my group did a very decent job of doing so. **Watch out American Eagle.. Here comes The Canadian Beaver!

Journal #8

All this week we did presentations from the pop-culture project, so yet again there isn't very much to talk about. 

But I will talk about how much more aware I am now of manipulation via advertisements. I never really thought about how much the media really effects us. But if you really think about it, you can't escape advertising, no matter where you go. Think you can escape it by relaxing and watching your favorite t.v show? Think again. Television shows, movies, and even a walk around the block, you can't escape it. What with all the "Product Placement" now days. I have to admit, "product placement" is one of the most clever ways to advertise something, I never notice it. I'll be watching t.v after school and see one of the characters on my show drinking some pepsi, or eating a type of chocolate bar, and all I want to do is go out and buy one because all I can think is how good that would taste right now. Even just walking around your town there are ads. Right now walking around the small town of Oromocto, every corner I turn, I see an ad for eligible candidates to "VOTE FOR....". I guess it doesn't matter where you are, or who you are, you will always be influenced by advertising. Here is a clip from Wayne's World, I thought it was pretty funny because they are mocking "Product Placement".

Journal #7

This week in class we presented our project on different pop-cultures from different eras, so we didn't really have much to talk about. But we did watch a few videos on advertisments for Ameriquest insurance. And I have to say.. you were SO right, when I went to tell my family about these commericials I forgot the name of the insurance company:.
I have coe to the conclusion that some commercials can be funny and entertaining, but really in the end all we remember is what was entertaining about the commercial, but not what the commercial is for. At first the "entertainment" tactic seems like it would make sense, but what is the audience getting out of this besides a good laugh? Nothing really. These commercials that we were shown had absolutely no information about the company itself, and no way to contact them, all it gave us was that they wouldn't judge, but really what good does that do them if with no information about them in their commercials so no one can contact them, hence no customers.
I believe there should be a way for companies to make their commercials entertaining and still provide the necessay information about the company for a consumer to make a decision, or be influenced enough to purchase this product. For example, I find that the Dairy Queen commercials do just that:

Defining Canadian Moments [ Journalism ]

October Crisis- FLQ

The October Crisis was a series of dramatic events triggered by two terrorist kidnappings of government officials by members of the Front de libération du Québec in the province of Quebec, Canada, in October 1970, which ultimately resulted in a brief invocation of the War Measures Act by Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau and the deployment of the national army in Quebec and in the national capital Ottawa.
The Premier of Quebec, Robert Bourassa, and the Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, requested that the Government of Canada invoke theWar Measures Act. The act provided for far-reaching powers for police. Therefore, Prime Minister Trudeau invoked it in October of 1970 leading to arrests of any individuals the police thought to be separatists, and to their detentions without bail.
At that time, the federal government refused to differentiate the members of the FLQ, extremist separatists, and those of the PQ who advocated democratic ways of achieving independence. Following that crisis, under Prime Minister Trudeau's directions, this led to a series of scandals surrounding the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, particularly to the RCMP's illegal break-in to steal the Parti Québécois's member list in its offices in 1973.

Bathurst

The Bathurst High School basketball team was returning from a game on the night of January 11, 2008 after a basketball game against a Moncton rival. In the early hours of January 12, the van traveling northward on Route 11 was approaching the city limits and in front of the Miramichi Avenue exit when the van driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a southbound transport truck. Only moments before the accident, Nathan Cleland, one of the passengers, called his parents to let them know they were only minutes from home, Cleland's parents stated that the boys were laughing and having a good time before the accident. Cleland was one of the 8 killed in collision.

**Everyone of us remember where we were when we heard about this tragedy.

Canada Versus Russia Series

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YzHG88B8Qo

Vimy Ridge

he Battle of Vimy Ridge was a military offensive of World War I by the Canadian Corps against the German Sixth Army along the Western Front in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France, from 9 April 1917 to 12 April 1917.
The attack on Vimy Ridge was part of the opening phase in the wider scaled Battle of Arras, which served as a diversionary attack for the Nivelle Offensive.[2] The immediate objective of the Canadian Corps was to take control of the German-held high ground that dominated the Plains of Douai to permit the southern flank of the Arras offensive to advance without being fired upon in enfilade.[3]
The success of the Canadian Corps in capturing the ridge and surrounding area is largely attributed to a mixture of technical and tactical innovations, powerful artillery preparation and meticulous planning. Noted as the first occasion on which all four divisions of the Canadian Corps attacked as a composite formation, the battle quickly became a nationalistic symbol of achievement and sacrifice. The former battleground is now home to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.

By: Courtney Burns, Brandon Knox, Nathan Milligan, Gregg Dempsey, Tyler McCarthy, and Jordan Heather.

Review [Journalism]

1. Libel.

2. Halifax Gazette.

3. Public Occurrences.

4. 

5. CP-> Canadian Press.

6.

7. 

Journal# 6

So, this week we spent all of our class time working on our projects for next week. My group is doing the 60's:). The 60's had a lot going on:|. My duty for the project is doing a section on world issues from back then. There was ALOT going on let me tell you. 

Anyway, at first my group wanted to do the 70's, but there was another group who wanted to the same era, so we thought we'd be nice and let them have it. So, we ended up switching to the 60's. I'm actually happy we switched. The 60's were pretty sweet. We were looking at some of the slang used back then and it's pretty amusing and interesting seeing how they used to talk back then. Also, some of the fashion back then is pretty amusing as well.

I can't tell you too much about our project because I want most of it to be a surprise:) Personally, I think your in for a treat. :P

(sorry it's not very long, but you'll appreciate our project and that I left it a surprise;)  )

Journal #5

This week we watched a video in class about Americans slandering Canadians on FOX network. This video really got to me. The Americans who were slandering the Canadians were very under-educated about Canada.
For one, Canada has a more respected military, and I'm pretty sure we could hold our own if we really needed to. Our Government's shoe is smarter than George Bush. At least the leader of our country didn't lie about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction to get us on board with his dicision for us going to war. Plus we haven't ticked off any other countries in the UN, so I'm sure they would have our back before they supported the States in a war against Canada.
Second, Canada is lucky to be on the same continent as America? Hello! It's called geography! Who says that we so thrilled to be on the same continent as them? Also, geographically speaking, the majority of North America IS Canadian.
Third, the majority of dogsledding takes place is Alaska, a.k.a America.
Fourth, Canada is not obsessed with America. I would say after all that fuss and nonsense that Carlson Tucker was saying, that America is little obsessed with Canada. Also, Canada can't be "America's little brother" because Canada is bigger than them.
Canada has a strong culture, and I do agree that sometimes we do identify ourselves as "We're Canadian because we're not American". But we also have our own culture to souly identify ourselves by.
No offense to the Americans, but Canada is educated in a global sense, in a sense that we are living in a global community and have to think of not just ourselves. We are definately more open-minded, hence gay-marriages. Also, we're not as narrow minded as American's who think like Carlson Tucker, because we know that not all Americans think the same way as he does, also we don't think they all are dumb, like they are often stereotyped as.

Journal #4

Hey, I apologize that this journal is late, but I was out winter camping last Friday:. (Let me just say, camping should be left to be done in the summer).

Lately, in the newspaper teachers and schools have been getting slandered. Personally, I do feel the frustrations and concerns, but I feel that we are directing them in the wrong direction. It is not the educators that we should be frustrated with, we should be frustrated with the district, then the government. If the government would give a little more consideration to what the educators have to deal with across the country, their jobs are definitely not as easy as they look. Personally, I find there to be way too many kids in classes, which makes it harder to control a class when the students out number a teacher 31-1. Also, it makes it more difficult to get one on one attention for extra help. Also, school budgets should be pushed up so we could afford the necessities it needs, for maybe a few fix-ups, better working bathrooms, papertowel for the bathrooms, fix-up broken lockers so people don't have to share lockers or be without a locker. Honestly, our school could be really great if a little more money was given, if teachers were given time and good sized classes so they could help students, and potentially bring up the passing rate.

Media Studies- "The Medium is the Message"

1. "The Medium is the Message" is one of Professor McLuhan's most famous phrases. Expand on this by fully explaining what is meant by the phrase.

-meaning that the form of the medium hides itself in the message, making a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is understood, or seen, creating a subtle change over time.

2. Choose any two of the following quotes to research and explain.

->"We are increasingly living in a global village."- I think that this quote means that as time goes on we are continuously getting closer internationally, and we have more education and access to information globally. Because our resources keep increasing because of new technology, media has access to more information internationally, and the media has the ability to spread word very fast, say if there is a natural desaster overseas, and they are in need of imediate relief, we will here about it sooner than way back when, and the sooner we hear about it, the faster we can do something about it.

->"Television is teaching all the time. It does more educating than all the schools and all the institutions of higher learning."- I agree with this statement. I believe that television has become such a huge and common thing internationally. I believe that especially teenagers are affected by what they see on tv. Also, because tv is not a requirement like school, it isn't boring, it doesn't involve sitting on a very stiff and uncomfortable seat and listening to mono-tone teachers, and it doesn't involve being told what to do, teenagers are more likely to WANT to spend more time watching tv, where they can control what they see, learn, take in, who is talking to them and they can choose where they want to sit. And because they are more proan to watch tv and actually pay attention to it, they will take more out of it. Plus, with all of the new technology internationally, you can watch specials on history and current news, thus educating us.

Journalism Assignment #4

1. The publisher is Shelley Wood. It is also a division of the Brunswick News.

2. The entertainment news is on pages D3 and D4.

3. The headline from a story from a foreign country is "Activists outraged; South Africa allows killing of elephants".

4. A photograph that shows people in action can be found on page A3.

5. A news story about a politician is "Obama faces parodies, questions about his promise in race".

6. Two reporters who write for the Daily Gleaner are: Stephen Llewellyn and Michael Staples.

7. Two columnists are: Jo-Ann Fellows and Laverne Stewart.

8. A national news story is "Doomsday vault to protect world's seeds".

9. The Canadian city that recorded the highest temperature is Victoria (9)

10. You can find a list of the sports scores on pages B2 and B3.

11. The subject of today's editorial cartoon is the amount of ambulances that have crashed recently because of the lack of good tires.

12. My horoscope is: Aries: Work with others. Listen. The unexpected will take a toll f you don't flex and open up to other possibilities. Integrate new information, and what you experience will happen easily. Confusion surrounds plans or a goal. Tonight: How about a game of Scrabble?

13. A business story is: "Electronic Arts offers US $2 billion for Take-Two" on page C1.

14. Two examples of opinion writing are: "Value bilingualism's success" and "Stop trying to force French" which are both found on page C7.

15. Three things found on the editorial page are: the editorial cartoon, the letters to the editor, and the editorial itself.

Journalism 120 Assignment #5

Exploring The Daily Gleaner

Front Page

1. -An advertisement for Ritchie's 8' x 7' R-14 insulated steel garage door as low as $348. (Bottom of the page).

- An index of the newspaper listing what sections and pages that certain stories are on. (Along the side of the page).

- Weather forecast. (Top corner).

- The date. (At the top under the title of the newspaper).

2. The headline of the most important story is "Buckle your seat belt".

3. A) The story that I would remove from the front page in order to make room if necessary, I would take out the piece called "Plane purchase flies in face if budget cuts, argues Volpe" because it does not seem as important as the other issues because it's smaller and to the side more, and kind of just squished in. The title as well is written in a way smaller font than the others, which strikes me as not as important as the other stories.

B) The story that I would cut from the front page from the choices given on the handout would be the story about the Prime Minister going on a ski trip over the weekend. I would cut this one because it doesn't have as big of an effect than the rest of the stories, and doesn't seem as hard-hitting front page news material.

4. The three pictures for the stories (listed in question #3) that I would put on the front page would be; "A Canadian athlete sets world high jump record at Athens Olympics", "Forest fires cause great damage in Northern Ontario" and "Postal are set to strike". I chose these 3 because they seem far more important than the rest, and they seem like something you could actually catch a picture of.

Hard News Stories

"Local man accused of shooting his brother to death"

1. The reporter is Don MacPherson.

2. The source of the story is the RCMP and people involved.

3. I think the reporter got the information from evidence given out by the RCMP and the people involved who were interviewed about the crime.

4. I find that the reporter focusses on the facts and evidence in the situation. I find that the reporter is not being biased, but being logical and informative.

5. Yes, I think the reporter should do a follow up on the story to follow up on the case and keep people informed as to what happens to the accused brother in court, if he is found guilty, is there new evidence found yet? Is the evidence that was in the article all that the police have to go on? I am left with questions for the future and I think other audiences would like to be kept informed.

6. "After a 20-hour standoff Nash gave himself up to the police."- Don MacPherson.

7. -"Local man accused of shooting his brother to death"

- The lead of the article is Adam Wade Nash. He is charged with first-degree murder of his brother Gordon Stephen Nash in October 31, 2006. Adam is accused of allegedly shooting his brother to death in a wooded area east of Taymouth. After allegedly shooting his brother, Adam barricaded himself in his Kingsley Road home, after Gordon's body was found just off the Zionville Road by the RCMP, after a 20-hour standoff Adam gave himself up to the police.

Opinion

"Try fighting poverty, not war"

1. This opinion is being offered by Naveed Majid.

2. The writer seems informed about their side of the topic that they are opinionated about, but not the other side.

3. No, the writer does not back up their statement with factual facts.

4. I find that the writer is trying to appeal to both. The writer is trying to appeal to reason by being logical and reasonable. Then the writer is trying to appeal to emotion by writing about a topic that has very many emotional attatchments.

5. People who live in poverty could possibly benefit if this general idea was to be further considered.

Sports

1. 52.63% Of the sports stories are written by Daily Gleaner reporters.

2. There are 19 stories in the sports section.

3. "Tremblay applies to finish to V-Reds' comeback"- Competitor vs. Competitor, the V-Reds had to struggle to win against the Saint Mary's Huskies. Competitor vs. Official- The V-Reds had to go into over time, they needed more time than the official 60 minutes of game time.

4. A & B & C) "Bent out of shape". Competitor vs. Competitor- Saint Mary's Huskies defenceman Travis Chapman checks Varsity Reds player Hunter Tremblay into boards in an awkward position. Also, it would be Competitor vs. Official Regulations because the V-Reds forced Saint Mary's into over the regulated 60 minutes.

D) This conflict would not affect anyone else not involved.

Journal #3

Personally, I CANNOT understand why some people will deny, deny, deny the Holocaust. Their is an enormous amount of overwhelming evidence to support that it did happen. I feel like it is a slap in the face to all of the millions of men, woman, boys, girls, and little babies who didn't have a chance, and died at the hand of mankind, and those people deserve to be remembered, for what happened to them to be taught EVERYWHERE, so that this never happens again. So that no other race or religion EVER has to feel like they need to hide who they really are so they can fit in, or they feel they need to hide who they really are because they fear for their lives. It would be like saying that all those people had no purpose whatsoever, and they died and suffered for absolutely no reason. I feel like when people deny this, they are spitting in the faces of the survivors, who lost EVERYTHING. It enrages me to hear peoples ignorance and arrogance. I couldn't imagine being a survivor of the Holocaust today. I would definately be probation for beating anyone who called me a liar. 

I hate that people deny it because they are calling all the survivors, who have to remember this for the rest of their lives, liars. Who would make up such a cruel story. Who would lie about praying for their lives everyday, praying for their family and friends lives everyday. Who would lie about losing everything they had, and just wishing they had died with their family, or seen them one more times before they died. 

We had a discussion about this yesterday in class. As you can tell it is a very heated topic for me, because I have a little thing called respect. I respect and appreciate all of the survivors who to this day can still recall everything they went through years ago, can recall all of the pain they went through. How can anyone deny that?

JOURNALISM- Assignment #3

The Daily Gleaner- Tuesday, February 26, 2008

1. What do you like the best about this newspaper? Why? Choose 3.

- I like this news paper because it's not just about local news. It also includes sports from a national level. I like that in a newspaper because I can read it and know what is going on not just around me, but around the world. Also, the stories are always interesting because they get to the point and make you think, they aren't trying to sway you into thinking one thing.

- Also, I like how the newspaper leaves area for letters from their audience to write in their opinions. This appeals to many people because they get to have a say and feel like their voice is being heard.

- Finally, what I like the most about the newspaper is that I am informed, that I feel like i can trust this newspaper, and that I feel like I can trust that I am getting all the facts. They haven't been wrong before, which therefore makes them trustworthy.

2. What do you dislike about this newspaper? Why? Choose 3.

- There aren't many things that I don't like about this newspaper, so it is hard to find 3. But I would have to say one of my biggest pet-peeves about this newspaper is that it does not include female high school sports, and when it does, it butchers the the team that gets beat. I would like it if they featured a piece about the Oromocto High School LAdy Blues Hockey Team, and not feature us just loosing 10-0, but how many shots we face in a game and how we are building a team after a severe loss of players last year.

- finally, the last thing i don't like about this newspaper is how complicated it is to open and put back together again. But that is a problem with all newspapers, not just specifically this one. I, personally, think reading should be easy. Easy to get to the story you want without having to unfold and refold a million times to get to it, i know the newspaper is on a budget and they are trying to make it as easy as possible already for us to read it, but some staples would be nice.

3. Who is the target audience for this newspaper? Teens? Adults?

- I believe that the target audience of this newspaper is local residence. People who live in Fredericton, Oromocto, etc. I think that we are the target regardless of the age. The newspaper has many different things in it that could appeal to many different ages, like sports for teenagers, or local realistate for adults. Also, I find that if the story in the newspaper occurs locally, then you're more likely to want to read it.

4. What do you notice about the language used in the newspaper?

- I noticed that the language in this newspaper is more like proper English. I find that everything is put into a very understanding way, it's not too deep into proper English that is unrecognizable, but in a way that even an uneducated person could read and make sense of it. It is very basic.

5. What do you notice about the text?

-I find that the text is a very good size so that you can read it very easily. This is a very good consideration considering how not everyone had perfect 20/20 vision.

6. How much of the newspaper is made up of ads? What types of ads?

- On the bottom of every page there is an inch thick section for advertisements. Also there are about 2 full pages dedicated to advertisements.

7. What section(s) do you read first when you read the newspaper?

- When I first read the newspaper, I always read the big stories with the main pictures on the first page. Then I usually scower the sports section to see how the high school and university sports are going.

8. What section(s) do you skip?

- The section(s) I usually skip would be the realistate section because I am too young to be looking for my own place. I also skip the t.v guide because I have satellite, and that doesn't appeal to me.

9. What articles do you find most interesting? Why? Choose 3.

- I find articles about things that are going on in my local area interesting because I being informed about thing that are going on in my imidiate area. Also, I like the opinion pieces because I love hearing people voice thier opinions because it opens my mind to more than just one way of looking at things. Finally, I love the sports sections because I love sports!<3

Journal #2- media

This week in class we watched a video about students in university and how distractions affect them. This video caught my attention because it is so true. University students today face a lot more distractions and problems than students 20 years ago. 

Students today face the distractions of t.v, music, and Internet. Also, the media messages hidden in those three major distractions. Students do not even notice what they are getting sucked into. Simple messaged are being hidden, like body image, and what they SHOULD be wearing. Things like that cause students to focus more on what people think they look like or seem like more than they focus on their future. I know that all the media messages affect me very much as a high school student. Images on t.v have me sub-consciously re-thinking my own body image, although I am an athletic healthy sized teenager. 

All in all, this all got me thinking the danger in how powerful the messages in the media are. 

Journal #1- Challenge Day.

The first week of this class we watched a video called Challenge Day. It was about a huge get together of all these different students, student with different ethnic backgrounds, students that a very smart, some that don't usually attend classes and students that get ridiculed for being different. The students were all brought together and they all got a chance to talk about their feelings, how they feel hurt.

I, personally, think that Challenge Day is an extremely good idea. It brings students together to let out their frustrations together, and to realize they are not the only ones. Also, help them realize that they are not alone and that other people have similar pains and frustrations. 

Also, I think that this would help break down the barriers, and prejudice between students. I believe that slowly will help bring judging and bullying to an end. And if there is a slight chance that we, as a student population, could bring it all to an end, why not try?

Codes and Conventions

A.) The reality that is conveyed in this advertisement is happy, beautiful, and relaxing. 

B.) The thing that specifically conveys the constructed reality is the fact that is says "Beauty is everywhere. We all deserve to see it". Also, the picture in the background is a collage of paradises.

C.) This advertisement conveys the good life by showing beautiful paradises that would be amazing to see, and look super relaxing.

{The advertisement used for this assignment was an advertisement for 'Operation Eyesight' which is  a traveling agency.}

Bull Dog Burgers!

This is our advertisement!

-Brittany and Courtney : )

Enjoy!!

CFMT-TV re: The Simpsons

CFMT-TV re: The Simpsons

After looking at all of the evidence, The Simpsons being aired at 5:00 pm was a violation of the codes administered by CBSC. According to these terms, the show violates section 3.1.2 for scheduling. According to this section, a show with violence, drug/ alcohol usage, and sexual content are to be aired between the times of 9:00 pm - 6:00 am, with a parental advisory.

We, as employees of CBSC, feel that the members of the station CRTC handled this complaint poorly. After the complaint was received, the station should have directed the complainant as to where they should file their complaint where the case would be looked into and taken care of. Instead the station clearly ignored the complainant, and created more of a struggle than was necessary. We feel that an apology should be issued to the complainant from the station.





By: Courtney Burns, Jordan Heather, Gregg Dempsey, Tyler McCarthy, Brandon Knox.

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