A DAY IN MY LIFE:
MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MEDIA
Ricky Fitzpatrick
Media is a part of our everyday life. We interact with it constantly and it is important to step back and think critically about it. All forms of media do not impact everyone the same way. Some are more effective than others, but all are necessary and present in the current 21st century. Personally, I have a unique relationship with all eight forms of media; sound recording, radio, television, movies, the Internet, books, magazines, and newspapers.
Sound recording has enabled me to dive into the musical community. All music is widely available for download on the Internet, so it is easy for me to stay updated on new music and to create an extensive library including my favorite songs. “Digital downloading has also forever altered locating and accessing nonmainstream music and recordings by unsigned bands” (Media & Culture, 78). My favorite bands are not mainstream artists. Instead they are innovative, up-and-coming, groups with high potential. Lotus, for example, is one of my favorites. I was first introduced to Lotus at Higher Ground, and have since seen many of their shows in many different locations. If their music wasn’t available for download, I might not have pursued my interest in them.
I currently have an internship at Magic Hat Brewing Company doing marketing. One of the projects I have been working on entails contacting radio stations around the country for advertising. There is a huge amount of radio stations that broadcast to different areas across the country, so there is an intense process to pick and choose which stations will add the most value to the Magic Hat brand. “The most successful radio network programs are the shows broadcast by affiliates in the Top 20 markets, which offer advertisers half of the country’s radio audience” (Media & Culture, 136). These radio networks have the largest amount of listeners and cover the largest geographical areas. It is important to advertise on these stations, but Magic Hat finds small local stations to be just as effective. We hold meetings for these stations to present anything that they believe will add value. We will choose the stations with good promotional ideas and listening audiences most similar to our target market.
There are only a few television shows that I watch on a regular basis; The Office, Planet Earth, and Cops. TV programming is littered with reality television that I do not care much for. “While the sitcom may have hit a rough patch up against the reality show trend, The Office is one example of how the sitcom will adapt and endure” (Media & Culture, 144). As my favorite show, The Office combines production techniques, pacing, humor, and emotional transfer in a unique way that appears one-of-a-kind.
I have always enjoyed watching movies in theaters. Hollywood movies are always entertaining, but I get a kick out of viewing independent films made with low budgets. “The decreasing costs of portable technology, including smaller digital cameras and computer editing, have kept many documentary and independent filmmakers in business. They make movies inexpensively, relying on real-life situations, stage actors and non-actors, crews made up of friends and students, and local non-studio settings” (Media & Culture, 232). Momento, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Crash, Slumdog Millionaire, and Paranormal Activity are a few of my favorite highly rated independent films. With cheaper modern technology in this age of digital convergence, more people have access to the tools necessary to produce a movie with a low budget. Amateur producers can pursue their ideas, and students can learn through creating videos for classes. Producing a full-length movie or a YouTube clip should not have large monetary barriers.
“Advertising has since spread to other parts of the Internet, including social networking sites, e-mail, and IM – all activities in which computer users reveal something about themselves and their interests. This information has made Internet advertising the most targeted kind of advertising in the history of mass communication” (Media & Culture, 57). As a marketing major with an internship at Magic Hat, I have come to view social networking sites as the ideal marketing tool. Users on these sites constantly input personal information that is stored on a central server. For example, Facebook stores it’s users photos, comments, posts, search activity, likes, interests, and more. This information, although private to everyday users, can be purchased by companies and marketing firms. Companies use this information to define their target market in more detail. At Magic Hat, a Facebook user that “likes” the company will be targeted to see what their other interests are, where they hang out, who they hang out with, what they do for fun, and so on in order to develop a more effective marketing plan that more effectively reaches our target market. These sites also allow companies to “humanize the brand” by interacting with the public on a more personal level (Michael Hayes).
In high school I hardly ever read books. I was so busy with my social life, part-time jobs, and schoolwork that I rarely had spare time to pick up a book. A few summers ago, I learned to enjoy reading while I worked as a lifeguard and had lots of downtime. I now read for enjoyment, but I rarely buy books because of how expensive and inconvenient they are to buy. Why would I drive to a bookstore and pay $20 for a book when I can get it online for a fraction of the price? “The Google Library Project, begun in 2004, features partnerships with the New York Public Library and several major university research libraries – including Harvard, Michigan, Oxford, and Stanford – to scan millions of books and make them available online” (Media & Culture, 329). From my Kindle, and through Amazon, I can choose to download books from a library consisting of thousands of full-length novels for only a few dollars.
I have been subscribed to Wakeboarding magazine and GQ for years now. I am a sponsored wakeboarder and it is important to stay on top of trends and news related to the sport. I believe the most valuable impact of magazines is the creation of community. The people with subscriptions to certain magazines are people with similar passionate interests. Wakeboarding subscribers who read the issues every month will stay up to date on issues and information related to the sport, creating a wakeboarding community. All magazines create a sense of community despite the subject that they specialize in. “One argument suggests that People is not, in fact, a mass market magazine but a specialized publication targeting people with particular cultural interests: a fascination with music, TV, and movie stars” (Media & Culture, 296). People is another example of a magazine that connects those that share a common interest.
I do not have a subscription, nor do I purchase any newspaper on a daily basis. Reading the entire paper and looking critically for important stories is a time intensive process. Instead, I read the news online. “Now, online newspapers are truly taking advantage of the flexibility the Internet offers” (Media & Culture, 274). I can quickly scan a list of popular topics, search for specific ones, or even browse by category. In addition, online articles do not have space restrictions and frequently include additional stories and more details than the print version. Using the Internet takes only a couple minutes to stay up-to-date on the latest news.
To sum it all up, my personal relationship with the different forms of media has had a big effect on various aspects of my life. As I said earlier, everyone is different. Different media affects different people differently. How we interpret the messages that we are flooded with daily helps shape the person that we become.
