Dakota Media Class

One of Liberia's most popular hip-hop stations is taking its young audience and the Ebola crisis seriously. Hott FM is quickly becoming Monrovia's best source for 24/7 Ebola coverage — through both news updates and the hottest songs. Have a listen.

Liberia has almost half of its population under the age of eighteen. Which is why it is a great idea that the Hott FM station explains cases on Ebola to the young audience. The Hott FM Station is also one of the most viewed stations in Liberia. This radio station is taking their job to the next level. Which is a great thing because they are helping their population by educating the people on this terrible Ebola outbreak. Alex Park explains that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the total number of infections could reach 1.4 million in Liberia and Sierra Leone by January 2015. With this being said, doing anything to educate the people on how not to get this outbreak will help their countries. This is why what the Hott FM Radio Station is doing is so great.

The Hott FM radio station is not only keeping listeners up to date on all things Ebola related, but they also have a song out there called “Ebola is Real.” This track is a Liberian genre of hip-hop. The lyrics are straightforward on practical ebola advice. This isn’t the only Ebola themed song out there offering the same advice on Ebola. The other songs are called “Ebola in Town”, and “State of Emergency.” This is another creative way that the Hott FM Station has gotten the word out about prevention on Ebola.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains what the prevention techniques Liberia is using are. They explain twelve different ways to prevent one from getting Ebola. Liberian’s use the radio, television, and other media out lets to get the word out on how to prevent Ebola. They have to do this because Ebola is getting big in Liberia. The only way to prevent Ebola from infecting everyone is by getting the word out on how to prevent it from spreading. Also Liberians using the Global Media outlets helps them to be able to get help from other countries. Liberia is doing the best they can with using media outlets to help prevent such a horrible outbreak called Ebola from wiping out their population.

In the article by Carol Hills, explains another major song about Ebola in Liberia. The song is called “Ebola’s in Town.” The song does the same thing as the song above. It talks about different preventions people should take in order to not get Ebola.

The “Fact Sheet” article explains how the United States is stepping in and trying to help this Ebola outbreak from spreading. They have four strategies on how to keep Ebola contained. Their four strategies are to control the epidemic at the source, order impacts, engage and coordinate with a broader global audience, and lastly engage health security in the region and beyond. The article goes more in-depth about how they are going to go through with these strategies. Their third strategy talks about educating a broader global audience about this epidemic. The only way the U.S will be able to do this is by using the media and using the people to spread the word. The countries have already done a great job of this by using the radio and songs to spread the word. When the United States steps in and helps spread the word more in the countries that are infected as well as the countries that surround the infected countries, will only help the epidemic disappear faster.

The video called the “Control Room” talks about the Propaganda of the Iraq War. It is an hour and 25-minuet movie. That explains how important of a role that the social media plays in war. Bringing this back the Ebola epidemic, the media plays the same importance in an epidemic as it does in the war. Having the social media shows us people what is really happening. With out documents, pictures, videos, and people talking about the situations; is almost as if it never happened and it never helps solve a problem if it is not talked about. This is why the social media is so important around the world.

From all the buzz and promotion surrounding Scream Queens in it is beginning, many thought it was going to be an instant hit, especially ...

Ever since Scream Queens has premiered, its four million viewers have dropped. The big question is why? The promotion on Scream Queens before it came out had everyone thinking it was going to be a big hit. It ended up not being that big of a hit as everyone thought it was going to be. Ally Edwards goes into more detail on why this show was not a big hit as it was expected to be. Joe Otterson explains the four top watched channels. The Scream Queens show is aired on the Fox channel. Which is the least viewed channel out of the other three channels; which are NBC, CBS, and ABC. This is another reason on why the Scream Queens show isn’t getting that many viewers.

Daniel Fienberg explains how the director of Scream Queens, Ryan Murphy, has directed many shows. Ryan Murphy has directed Nip/Tuck, Glee, and American Horror Story. Fienberg explains that viewers know very quickly if they want to fallow his shows or not. The Scream Queens show for example is very different then the rest of his shows. Scream Queens started out with only four million viewers, which is not that, many to start off with. Those four million viewers have decreased throughout the show. Daniel Fienberg finds this odd in the fact that Ryan Murphy’s other shows with the viewers have not dropped like this before.

One thing Scream Queens has going for it is the social media. Linda Ge and Toney Maglio explain how the female stars and the social media are playing a big part in raising the shows profile. Fans use twitter, instagram, Facebook, and snap chat to talk about Scream Queens, which has helped this show to still be able to be aired on television.

Overall Scream Queens is not doing that well with viewers. No one knows the exact reasons on why the ratings are dropping. They do know that the only reason this show is still airing is because of the female actors and the social media. With out these two components this show could possible not be aired any more. If you want this show to still be aired, you should watch the show on the Fox Channel.

#scream queens #mcst2010

hackdiabetes

You’re Not a “Bad Diabetic” If...

You decide to eat the delicious-sugary-carby thing anyway even though you KNOW it’s going to make your blood sugar high

You prefer shots over an insulin pump

You feel like wearing a CGM is just way too much machinery

Sometimes you like going low because it means you get to eat all the naughty things you never let yourself have

At any point in time you’ve used your diabetes to:

Skip gym class

Take a guilt-free sick or personal day

Get out of hot water for a mean or snappy comment you made to a friend or SO that you actually totally meant

You wait until your test kit is overflowing with used test strips before you throw them out

You do the finger lick/wipe-blood-on-test-kit maneuver

You don’t own a sharps container

The last time you changed your lancet was..um….

You only change your pen or syringe needles when they’re basically bent and totally blunt

You don’t work out as often as you should because exercise actually makes your blood sugars crazy

Your endo has ever had to give you a stern talking to

You’ve experienced/are experiencing diabetic complications

You don’t define yourself by your diabetes

Why are these things okay?

Because you’re human

Because sometimes you need a day off from work or school because managing diabetes on top of all your other responsibilities is exhausting

Because as long as your A1c isn’t dangerously high and you’re generally trying to be healthy, who cares about how you choose to manage your diabetes?

Because there are so many other wonderful components of your life and personality beyond type 1 diabetes

There are different types of Diabetes that people can get. Most people believe that you only get diabetes if you are obese or eat unhealthy foods. These predictions that people have on this disease are very incorrect. Brittainy Braniff, who is the Community Outreach Director of InvisAbilities, goes more in-depth with the concepts of whether the myths on diabetes are true or false.

Another Question Diabetics deal with is what do diabetics want to take, shots or use the insulin pump? The Joslin Diabetes Center goes more in depth about the pros and cons on the issue if one would rather use Insulin Injections or the insulin pump.

Today, Diabetics are more likely to trust recommendations from people they know rather than Ads on TV. In the article called “The influence of social media on diabetes treatment and self –care”, by Claudia Labiate, explains more on why social media is now the new way to advertise products to citizens. In their research they found that 92% of people who believe recommendations from people they know; compared to 47% of people who believe Ads on TV. Doing Ads on Social Networks means a lot of people will be seeing these Ads and it is a cheap way to do advertisement at the same time.

Overall diabetics are the same as everyone else. They can be athletic, succeed in academics, and work efficiently. The only difference is that their immune system is weaker then the regular human body. The body of a type one diabetic doesn’t produce insulin. So this means that they need to manage this them selves with either shots or using the insulin pump. They need to calculate their insulin to carb ratio and their basal rates, but each diabetic has their own calculation to these ratios. The media never portrays the diabetics like this at all. They portray diabetics as either having an unhealthy diet or being obese. Which this statement is true in some cases, but most cases this is not true at all. If people really want to know the true facts about diabetes, they should go to a doctor who is actually educated on the subject.

theslaybymic

Cultural appropriation is already a problem in fashion and culture at large. However, on Halloween people find it particularly OK to mock and imitate cultural symbols, icons — or even skin colors — that aren’t their own. Here are 7 appropriating costumes we should banish — and 7 ways we can appreciate their cultures instead.

Follow @stylemic

This article explains about how seven cultures are mocked during Halloween. They explain how the Native Americans, Asians, Mexicans, Arabs, Gypsys, Bollywood Dancers, and Blackfaces are mocked during Halloween and then they go on into a discussion on how we can appreciate each of these seven cultures instead of dressing up for it just for Halloween. This article irritates me in the fact that I love Halloween. I feel like every individual has the right to dress up as they please. It is the one night where people can be something that they are not. People dress up in many costumes. There are people that dress up as Vikings. That could be considered racist and mocking. There are people that dress up as witches. That could be considered mocking because there were people killed in the Salem witch trials for people thinking people were witches. There are so many things that could be considered mocking or being racist. I believe people now a days blow the word racist around all of the time in every day matters. I think people need to better educate themselves on what being racist actually means.

“Cultural appropriation is already a problem in fashion and culture at large. However, with the goal of nailing the perfect costume, Halloween may be the most visible day when people find it ok to play around with cultural symbols, icons –or even skin colors- that aren’t their own.” –Theresa Avila

The first of the seven costumes discussed is the Indian costumes. Theresa discusses how there are 562 Native American nations, each with their own unique history and customs. Theresa then goes on to explain if their fashion interests you, then you should learn more about it. Some of the most famous Native American tribes out there are the Apache, the Arapahos, the Cherokees, the Cheyenne, the Navajos, and the Sioux. Each of these tribes has their own legends, history, and customs that they go by.

The second of the seven costumes discussed is the Geisha costumes. Theresa discusses the concept of the Eastern Culture as exotic and rooted in orientalism, a concept dating back to the era of colonialism in which Western cultures viewed Eastern cultures as foreign, exotic or primitive. Theresa then goes on to explain that the most inspired trend from the Geisha costumes is the makeup. The origins of Geisha are Japanese females who entertain through music, dance, and the simple art of conversation. They were often hired at tea parties or other events primarily for businesspeople.

The third of the seven costumes discussed is the Mexican and Latina costumes. Theresa discusses how the 4 million Mexican farm laborers worked the fields in the U.S. Theresa then goes on to explain that the diversity in their style and music is what people like about their culture. The most famous music that has came out of Mexico since 1840 is Corrido, Norteno, Polka, Tejano, Selena, and Banda. These are the most famous Mexican music styles out there now days.

The fourth of the seven costumes discussed is the Arab costumes. Theresa discusses how Muslim Americans faced discrimination since 9/11. Theresa then goes on to explain about the vibrant world of Muslim fashion online. In another article I read about Muslim women’s fashion history. It goes on to explain when people see them in a head scarf or veil they generate more controversy over what their wearing compared to lady Gaga who barley wears any clothes. The article is located at the end of this analysis.

The fifth of the seven costumes discussed is the gypsy costumes. Theresa discusses the history on the gypsies. Theresa then goes on to explain that many contemporary musicians and dancers have continued the tradition of flamenco. Flamenco is a style of Spanish music, played especially on the guitar and accompanied by singing and dancing. A style of spirited, rhythmical dance performed to flamenco music, often with castanets. The origin of flamenco came from the Middle Dutch. The history of the flamenco began in the late 19th century. The gypsy culture has been around for a long time.

The sixth of the seven costumes discusses is the sexy Bollywood dancer costumes. Theresa discusses how the south Asian dress ‘saris’ is only worn in certain regions in south Asia. Theresa then goes on to explain that people should watch Bollywood films so that they can have a better understanding of the culture. The Bollywood Dancing is the foundation of every great Indian Bollywood Film. The dances are a fusion of traditional and classical Indian dances with the influence of some Jazz, hip-hop, and modern dance.

The last costume discussed is the blackface costume. Theresa discusses how doing blackface is very racist and that no one should do this at all. Theresa then goes on to explain how Afrobella blogs about natural hair and beauty for longstanding magazines. The history of blackface has been around since the 19th century. It has been based on discriminating, racist images, attitudes and perceptions worldwide. The blackface tradition is based on a very racist past.

Overall people need to think more about what and why they are wearing the costumes they are wearing. People should look up the history on the costumes they want to wear as well so that they are better educated on what they are symbolizing for a night of fun.

The sites I got my information from:

http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/subject_matter/social_studies/native/

http://makeup.lovetoknow.com/Geisha_Makeup

http://latinmusic.about.com/od/countrie1/p/PRO18BASICS.htm

http://www.aquila-style.com/focus-points/asian-muslim-womens-fashions-of-the-past/8011/

http://www.rhythm-india.com/bollywood-dance.html

http://black-face.com

Sensible, Smart & Cheeky

There was an argument between Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift on Twitter. The feud was blown way out of proportion due to their fans and the media. What actually happened on twitter was that Minaj expressed her feelings about her music video “Anaconda” not receiving a nomination at the MTV’s Video Music Award’s “Video of the Year” category. In her tweets, she argued that because “Anaconda” had a significant cultural impact, it disserved a nomination for the category. She then went on to say that if she had been a different female artist, she would have then easily received the nomination. After Minaj Tweets her feelings about this situation, Swift took offense given her status as being the only other kind of female artist represented in that category. Swift then tweeted to Minaj claiming it was unlike her to put women against each other. Then Minaj tweets back saying the tweets weren’t directed at her at all. Over all I believe people should just not post their feelings on the Internet no matter if their famous or not. People always comment their feelings, which then turn into arguments. Also when posting something on any social media, people could also take what your saying the wrong way, even if what you said you didn’t mean for it to offend anyone.

“Fans of each artist were left thunderstruck in the aftermath of the blowup, with both Minaj and Swift declaring each other lifelong nemeses. Women across Hollywood had to pick a side, engaging in their own quarrels with each other, sending nasty tweet after tweet after tweet.” –Lady Clever

There was an argument between Niki Minaj and Taylor swift on twitter. Minaj felt frustrated on not having her Anaconda music video being nominated at the MTV’s music awards. She voiced her opinion about it on twitter saying, “if she had been a different kind of female artist, she would have easily received the nomination.” After Minaj tweets this Swift tweets back asking/ confronting her on why she said that. In the end Minaj didn’t mean anything towards Swift at all when she wrote that tweet.

In a study called “Study: Girls More Plugged in Than Boys” by Ariel Doctoroff, explains the stats on how much girls and boys spend on the media. These are that statistics she gathered between the genders. The information they gathered on the ladies is that 77% text daily, 33% tweet, and 75% love posting photos. The information they gathered on the gentlemen is that 60% text daily, 22% tweet, and 42% love posting photos. Then they did some research on the difference girls and guys feel when they post photos online. 57% of girls vs. 28% of guys sometimes feel left out after seeing photos of others together online. 45% of girls vs. 24% of guys worry about other people posting ugly photos of them online. 28% of girls vs. 9% of boys have edited photos of themselves before posting. This research shows that girls are on social media networks twice as much as men are. This gives the girls time to engage in arguments on twitter, Facebook, Instagram, texting, and Snapchat.

Overall on the Internet there is a lot of girl on girl action. If people stopped feeding into people’s feuds with each other then we wouldn’t be dealing with so much drama on the Internet. It is only up to the people to change this issue on the Internet.

The sites I got my information from:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/06/27/girls_use_social_media_more_than_boys_study_shows.html

allthingslinguistic

Do you pronounce gif with a hard g as in get or with a soft g as in gem? It's a question that people won't stop arguing about on the internet. But why are we so confused? Why is each camp so passionate about being right? And is there in fact a right way to pronounce gif?

I’m weighing in on the gif pronunciation wars at Mental Floss with the help of corpus linguistics:

Sure, the creator of the gif, Steve Wilhite, prefers a soft g, and sure, gif originated as an acronym for graphics interchange format, but inventors aren’t always good at naming (the zipper was originally called the “clasp locker”), and acronyms aren’t always pronounced like their roots (the “a” in NATO isn’t the same as the “a” in Atlantic). In truth, language is far more democratic.

So Michael Dow, a linguistics professor at Université de Montréal, decided to investigate a different way, and I talked with him about his findings. The idea is, people decide how to pronounce a new word based on its resemblance to words they’re already familiar with. So we can all agree on how to pronounce snapchat because it’s made up of familiar words snap and chat, and we don’t have any problems with blog because it rhymes with frog, log, slog, and so on, but we have no idea how to pronounce doge because there aren’t any other common English words that end in -oge.

The problem with gif isn’t the back half—we already know how to pronounce if. The problem is the front half: Does the i make the g soft or not? It’s clearly not an absolute yes or no—there are English words in both categories: gift has a hard g before i, whereas gin has a soft g before i. What matters is the frequency. So Dow looked at a large corpus of 40,000 unique words with their frequency and pronunciation taken from The English Lexicon Project. Of these words, how many were like gift (hard g) and how many were like gin (soft g)?

[Read the rest.]

The pronouncing on the word GIF is one of the biggest arguments happening on the Internet. The big question is how do you pronounce this word? Some people pronounce the word gif with a hard g, such as get. While others pronounce the word gif with a soft g, such as gem. The word GIF is an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format. Michael Dow investigated this situation more in why people believe the way there pronouncing it is right. In his findings, he found out that people decide how to pronounce a new word based on its resemblance to words they’re already familiar with. In their research they found that there were 68 soft ‘g’ words and 37 hard ‘g’ words. The research didn’t stop there because they found that even though there are more soft g words than hard g words, the soft g words are used less than the hard g words. Over all their investigation didn’t help much because when people see new words starting with ‘g’ their previous exposure to ‘g’ words is basically telling them to either pronounce it as a hard g or a soft g. over all this argument over the GIF word will never end.

“How is language evolving on the Internet? Gretchen McCulloch breaks down the latest innovations in online communication. Do you pronounce gif with a hard g as in get or with a soft g as in gem? It’s a question that people wont stop arguing about on the internet.” – Gretchen McCulloch

Michael Dow, a linguistics professor at Universite de Montreal, looked at 40,000 unique words. He looked at these words to see how many were pronounced as a hard (g) or a soft (g). Dow finds 105 words that were (gi). Out of those 105 words, 68 words were pronounced with a soft (g) and 37 words were pronounced with a hard (g). Even though there are twice as many soft (g) words than hard (g) words, we use the hard (g) words in daily langue twice as much as we use the soft (g) words in daily language.

This issue could have been solved a long time ago. The creator of the word GIF just announced that the way to pronounce it is JIF. People will still argue on how to pronounce this word even though the creator has told us how to pronounce it. People will still argue the pronunciation of this word because what ever their exposure was to a (gi) word is the way they will pronounce the word. You will either pronounce the (gi) words with either a hard (g) or with a soft (g). It all depends on what you were exposed to first.

The sites I got my information from:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/

huffpost

New ‘Twilight’ Book Swaps Genders Of Bella And Edward, According To Author

Stephenie Meyer announced Oct. 6 that she’s shaking things up for the 10th anniversary ofTwilight, and fans are in for a treat.

Hello, Beau and Edythe.

@thebaileeproject, this one’s for you.

Stephanie Meyer is turning things around for the tenth anniversary of Twilight. The way she is changing it up is switching the character roles of Bella and Edward. She has gotten a lot of complaints on how Bella has always been distressed through out the entire series of Twilight. Her explanation on why she made the character Bella so distressed is because her character is surrounded by superheroes, while she doesn’t have any powers. She is switching the role from a woman character to a male charter to see if the responses she has been getting from her audience will be different. In her new book Bella is going to be called ‘Beau’ and Edward is going to be called ‘Edythe’. I think that this experiment that she is trying is going to be the same response from her audience as it was before. Stephanie Meyer will always have her big audience of people that love her twilight series no matter what; but she will also have that audience group that watches and reads the whole series and still dislike everything they have experienced. That is just how audiences work.

“I am shaking things up for the 10th anniversary of Twilight, and fans are in for a treat.” –Stephenie Meyer

Meyer announced this statement on October sixth 2015. The author writes about how she rewrote the first book of the series and swapped the gender roles of the two protagonists. She sates that it will be the same story, but a new version. The main characters Bella and Edward will have new names, which will be Beau and Edythe. Meyer says that she wrote the new version because people were continuing to bring up the idea of Bella “being a damsel in distress.” In Meyer’s opinion she believes “anyone who is surrounded by superheroes is going to be in distress.” Meyer’s solution to this problem was to switch the gender roles of the two main characters in her new book called Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined.

The goodreads blog site has a lot of discussion from fans about their feelings on the Twilight series. A lot of these bloggers discuss how they strongly dislike Kristin Stewart as the actress who played Bella. Then the bloggers go on to rants about how the Bella character is weak, lacks self-reliance, dishonest, is a bad daughter, puts her own desires before her family, and is a terrible role model. Some bloggers discuss their anger towards people that dislike the Twilight series just because it is cool to dislike the series. Overall the bloggers describe their hatred of what the Bella Character stands for.

Meyer is trying something very new. But she has many of twilight fans that love her books. This experiment she is trying with her new book could be either an epic fail or a great success. Only time will tell. One thing is a fact, which is that her fans will be in for a treat of something new.

The sites I got my information from:

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/719177-why-do-you-think-people-hate-twilight-so-much

#Mcst2010

huffpost

LATINOS BREAK THE MOLD

It’s hard to define Latino identity. Some people, when they think of Latinos, think of stereotypes: short people with dark hair and bronze skin. They don’t realize there are no limits to what we can look like. We can be blond. We can have red hair. We can have blue eyes. We can be tall. We can be short. We can be curvy. We can be skinny.

The beautiful thing about being Latino is that we are, in a way, a reflection of the world’s diversity. There are Asian Latinos, Afro-Latinos and white Latinos —and we are all equally Latino. Some say our culture is what connects us, and some say it’s the languages we speak. Others think it’s simply our shared experiences.

This is a glimpse into a community of limitless diversity connected by one ethnicity — proof that identity is far from skin deep. Latinos don’t fit into a Census box, a stereotype or a mold. Latinos break the mold.

gabiimontesworld-blog

Just as the world around us is adapting to change so are different types of cultures and ethnicities. Throughout the years, the media has learned to stereotype different cultures based on race. The gift above is an example of how this world is changing and how different types of races are mixing to create different cultures. For example; someone being a Chinese- Puerto Rican doesn’t make you any less Chinese or any less Puerto Rican. Both of these cultures have shaped the women in the gift above to grow and practice both of the cultures equally and at the same time. However a topic that really caught my attention was Marcos Saldivars’ quote, “Growing up Latino… meant that to our closest relatives in Mexico we weren’t Mexican enough; and to our American peers we weren’t American enough.” A lot of Latin Americans that grew up with an American culture as well as their own could vouch and say that is very true. Your Hispanic friends and family assume you have been “whitewashed” since you grew up with the American culture. In a different article in the Huffington Post by Amanda Scherker claims that one of Hollywood’s worst habits was “whitewashing”.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/10/hollywood-whitewashing_n_5515919.html

Growing up in America regardless of our different back grounds, we have watched as Hollywood’s main starring roles have always been white actors. This trend has happened for years and it continues to happen today. For Instance in the movie The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) , the role of a Muslim hero in this movie and game was played by Jake Gyllenhaal, a Swedish-Jewish-American. Along with that other actors in this movie were Iranian, Middle Eastern or Muslim descent. So why does the media do this and why do we openly set ourselves into getting “Whitewashed”? We continue to see a theme but we like the movies and games and so by watching or buying this type of media the American culture is more favorable than our second culture. Is it our fault that the media has shaped us to believe that we are whitewashed? Or is it our fault for believing the media, that if we don’t practice our other cultures enough we are less Hispanic then full-blooded Hispanics?

Outstanding and insightful points, Gabii. Why do you think Hollywood whitewashes people of color and other ethnicities? What do you think their goal is? What can people of color do about this misrepresentation? What should white people do about it? What would be the benefits of accurate representation of race and ethnicity in our media? And have you seen this new Coke ad for Hispanic Heritage Month? And what do you think of this criticism of it: http://abc13.com/business/some-criticize-cokes-new-hispanic-heritage-month-campaign-/990371/?

emilyvjwu

I like the points that Gabii made. People do like to categorize other people based on what they look like without knowing their true cultural background. In terms of movies, Hollywood whitewashes different ethnic characters with white american actors in order to bring more audience members into the movie because they are using an actor that everyone knows which the majority of actors are white. People of color can bring the misrepresentation to life by creating campaigns like breaking the mold to spread awareness even though it should be common sense by now that we shouldn’t stereotype people. In the movie industry the prominent white actors could help upcoming actors with getting different ethnic and cultural roles so that characters can be better and equally portrayed in movies. As more actors are being brought into the movie industry better casting decisions are being made and even Netflix is portraying ethnically correct actors in their Netflix Original series. Citizens are starting to see how ridiculous it is to place an actor of the wrong ethnicity in a role when there are many new amazing actors out there waiting for their big break.

Who are “citizens,” @emilyvjwu? What impetus do media producers have to diversify the portrayals in their programming or represent racial and ethnic groups accurately? And how do we measure what is accurate and what isn’t in representations? And why are representations important at all? You need to bring some outside sources into your analysis to give it context and support your argument. Your personal opinion is not enough. Dig into this issue and the other media industries you post about here. I’m interested in what you KNOW and have LEARNED, not just what you think.

“It’s hard to define Latino Identity. Some people, when they think of Latinos, think of Stereotypes: Short people with dark hair and bronze skin.” –Caroline Moreno, Damon Dahlen, and Christy Havranek

People do not understand that there are no limits to what any race can look like. People especially do not understand this concept with Latinos. The National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Latino Decisions did a research with Non-Latino Americans to see what they thought about American Latinos. The research they found was that “about 30% of non-Latino Americans believe that half or more of the nations Latino population is made up of undocumented immigrants. Another 90% described Latinos as family-oriented and 81% said Hispanics are hard working. But half of the nations non-Latino population also believes that the terms (welfare recipient and less well educated) are apt terms to describe the nations Hispanic population.” With this research done by the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Latino Decisions and also listening to what Carolina, Damon, and Christy had to say about stereotypes where they discuss what non-Latinos think about American Latinos is very down grading towards their race.

Caroline, Damon, and Christy go on to explain, “The beautiful thing about being Latino is that we are, in a way, a reflection of the world’s diversity.” The Latino race its self is very diverse. There are the Hispanics, Asian Latinos, Afro-Latinos, and white Latinos. It’s a special moment for Latinos in the country. The demographics on the Latinos are that there are about 54 million Latinos, which represents 17% of the U.S. total population. It is estimated that in the year 2060 the estimated amount of Latinos will be 128.8 million, which will be 31% of the U.S. total population. This shows that the Latino Nation is growing in the United States. With the Latino nation growing, their political viewpoints and buying power are becoming a force.

With the Latino Nation growing, the big question now is who are Latinos? They will always struggle with this question due to the fact that their race is so diverse. The thing they do have going for them is that they are all deeply connected with their Latino roots. Which helps them as a race stay strong, united, and keep them growing in their numbers.

The sites I got my information from:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/12/latino-stereotypes_n_1877866.html

http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/populations/REMP/hispanic.html

theweekmagazine

How Law & Order skews perceptions of the police

The majority of Americans learn about the criminal justice system not through personal experience, but via the media. And in the wake of an alarming number of reports of unarmed black men murdered by police officers, the news has not painted a particularly rosy picture of the police profession. But it’s not like everyone is watching the news: The majority of the nearly three hours of television that Americans enjoy every day is dedicated to entertainment media. In fact, a new study, published September in Criminal Justice and Behavior, has found that fictional crime dramas can also influence how viewers feel about police officers’ conduct.

Full story here.

“The majority of Americans learn about the criminal justice system not through personal experience, but via the media.” -Kate Wheeling

Crime dramas are consistently ranked the most watched shows because 40% of Americans believe that these shows are somewhat or very true to real life. This is what Nielsen Media says. Some of the most popular programs on television today are CSI, Crime Scene Investigation, Law & Order, Cold Case, and The Closer. With all of this research being done, there is only one question that needs to be asked. Why does the simplistic portrayal of police officers on television influence the public opinion on this profession?

The researchers from St. John Fischer College and Wayne State University did their research on this question. The researchers first looked at real officers and fictional officers on Law and Order. The fictional officers seemed to be very successful in identifying their criminals and the fake officers use a lot of force in their shows. While the real officers have about 70% of crimes that go unsolved and the officers infrequently use force. This research shows the facts that there are clear differences between the police officers on shows and the police officers that deal with crime in their day to day lives. The police officers on the television shows make it dramatic and every case solvable so that the show can get high ratings. These criminal justice shows are not showing us watchers what a real policeman goes through everyday. The researchers second step they took was to survey 2,000 Americans. They researched these Americans asking them what they thought about the police force. Then the researchers asked if these Americans watched criminal shows or not. The end result the researchers got was that the Americans that watched criminal shows had a good outlook on police officers. The Americans that didn’t watch the criminal shows didn’t have such a good outlook on police officers.

At the end of this research even though the criminal shows did not reflect what policemen go through everyday, it is probably a good thing that these shows change people’s perceptions on the police force. For example all of the perception going on where people think the police force is going after African Americans. With this perception portraying the police force being good on television shows, then maybe this perception could change the view people have on the police force in real life.

The sites I got my information from:

http://www.purdue.edu/uns/x/2009b/091028SparksCrime.html