Erica

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W2: PUBLIC RELATIONS

Today, we’re talking about the theories and practices of PR, and I’ll be countering some misconceptions about public relations, including the idea that PR is as easy as being able to talk really well. 

Well, yes, Elle Woods, it’s harder than it looks.

We’re gonna go over the various kinds of PR and the reasons why PR is important not just in times of crisis. We’re also going to go over the six steps of PR issues management. And then we’re gonna practice them in the second half of class in agencies of our own. 

The assignment is a change from what’s listed on the syllabus. On your Tumblr, please vote for which team did the best at our in-class PR activity and explain why you voted that way in less than 300 words. You cannot vote for your own team, because that’s too easy. As always, tag your posts!

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I think the group that offered the best solution for their companies problem was the company that wanted to solve ubers problems. When they were presenting I realized the problem with uber that I see in my own life, I use uber often and their issues that they think need to be solved are very relevant. They said that uber should offer more exposure to how difficulty they research their drivers. This would give people more security and they would feel better getting in these cars with unknown drivers.

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T2: Journalism

Today we’re going to be talking about storytelling and journalism, two things that go hand in hand but are perhaps more complicated in practice. Many issues facing journalism today are also about ethics and responsibility. They’re difficult questions, but I’m interested in your answers. Bring your thinking caps. 

We also have a special guest today! Jenni Whalen is a veteran freelance journalist and former managing editor of MedTech Boston, a medical technology news startup site. She’s currently Executive Assistant of Editorial at Upworthy, which is in the midst of refocusing itself on reported and edited content. Jenni has great insights into what journalists do now and where journalism might be headed in the future.

Today’s assignment is to track an aggregated story. Aggregated stories are those that are repackaged by a site from a story that was originally published elsewhere. (Entertainment websites and The Huffington Post are pretty infamous for this kind of content.) Find one such story and track it to its original source. What’s changed about the story from its origin point to the point at which you found it? Post the links to all the versions of the story you found and provide <300 words of commentary. 

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In todays news world its only possible for one outlet to have the breaking story and every other publication has to follow with the same story. They are able to publish the same story to their readers by completing a process of aggregation where people basically rewrite a story in different words also known as repackaging. An example of this is a story about a drug lord escaping prison that was posted on both the Associated Press and Buzzfeed. The story was originally posted on AP but buzzfeed was the repackager. These two sites have very different audiences so buzzfeed repackages the information in a simpler form instead the very structured and detail oriented form presented on AP’s article. This repackaging is important because it allows for multiple websites to post the same story which gets it out to more people.

original: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_MEXICO_DRUG_LORD_ESCAPES_TUNNEL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-07-14-23-42-15

repackaging: http://www.buzzfeed.com/adolfoflores/mexico-offers-4-million-reward-for-escaped-drug-lord-el-chap#.gmkeYWD2M

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M2: Participatory Culture

Participatory culture is a set of ideas about a more inclusive vision of cultural production, one that isn’t characterized by divisions between official and unofficial, author and fan, and other such binary categories. This idea is at once familiar and strange, for reasons we’ll be discussing in detail. What does it mean to participate in culture? How can we characterize this participation? That and more will be discussed today.

The assignment is to find an example of participatory culture for a fandom that you could feasibly be a part of. If you do not self-identify as a fan of a piece of media, choose your favorite TV show, movie, book series or music group and look for an example there. Give <300 words of analysis. What does the example you’ve found do with the original text? Why does it do that? (Feel free to include examples that are critical of the original text.) 

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About a year ago I would have identified myself as a part of the fandom of one direction. This group is widely popular and appeals to all groups of people which has lead to wide spread success. The fans have grown themselves into a network which has created a huge fan fiction world. Although I was never personally a reader I was connected to many people who participated in the community. This world exploded becoming the main attractive on self publishing apps such as Wattpad. Such fan fictions had exploded into phenomenon with millions of reads and actually were translated into actual books, following in the foot steps of 50 shades of grey. These works set the base for such fandoms and help grow the fandom to new people and show people what the fandom is all about.

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F1: TV, NOT TV, & BEYOND TV

Television scholar Amanda Lotz has noted that the word “television” seems to endure for a host of different kinds of content, even as the original delivery system called television is thought to be archaic, outmoded, and on the decline. With that in mind, I want to concentrate on your experiences of what television is, what value television has in your life, and how you make viewing decisions in age where the amount of available video content has exponentially increased.

I’ll be giving just a few background details on how scholars and critics think about television systems, how television developed in America, and where we’re at in the industry now. Then we’ll have a free-flowing conversation about your experiences of television.

The very last thing we’ll do in class is screen a recent episode of Modern Family called “Connection Lost.” It has a very unique style, as you’ll quickly realize. What I want you to do is write a <300 word review of the episode based on the things you value about TV. In other words, evaluate the show based on its execution of the thing you like most about TV. Do you need a serial narrative to draw you in? Are you so averse to commercials the show’s commercial nature turns you off? Think deeply about what you want from TV and what you like and write the review. Tag it as below.

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Modern Family put out an episode called “Connection Lost” in which most of the episode is seen through the eyes of a computer viewer. This episode does many things well and if I wasn't already an avid watcher I would probably start to watch this show after seeing this episode. Modern Family has all the main things that I enjoy to see in a tv show all in one. This show is a comedy that anyone can relate to and every episode while correlating with the others tells its own story. I personally don't mind commercials to the point that they prevent me from watching a show. Actually, I have started watching many tv shows because of ad’s I have seen for them. As long as the ad draws me in the fact that it’s an ad won't turn me off. On TV I in general want a show that goes by quickly, I don't like it when episodes drag on or I feel like I’ve been watching one episode forever. Also, I always like when a show has some kind of comedy in it. I believe every plot needs some kind of comic relief and if there isn't one then it makes the show really hard to watch. Lastly I want a show that despite having many seasons won't make me lose my interest.

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TH1 ASSIGNMENT: View this video, from YouTube’s pitch to advertisers. What challenge does John Green claim YouTube poses to traditional advertising models, and how does he propose advertisers can continue to be meaningfully involved with YouTube? Answer, then consider this pitch from the advertiser’s perspective. Why might clients be excited about the prospect of sponsoring a “community”? What might be difficult about demonstrating return on investment for this kind of advertising? Less than or equal to 300 words.

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John Green claims in this video that the way advertisers can be meaningfully involved in youtube is to get your brand involved in the community that is created by the people who make such popular videos. The avid youtube watchers respond well to products that are involved with their favorite video makers and therefore are more likely to buy them or have a positive feeling towards the brand. To look at this pitch from an advertisers perspective they would most likely be thankful for such advice because most companies think to make an add to put before a popular video not to actually embed their product into the video by giving it to the person that the viewer is there to see. The difficulty in this process is that you have to put a lot of money into giving these products away and paying the people to talk about them that you don’t know if they will actually sell because the you tuber could say anything.

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From the children’s TV show Winnie the Pooh

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This GIF displays a setting a situation that is sad. By using multiple different signs there is a message and a feeling conveyed with this GIF. There are iconic signs used in this GIF such as words. “Ever have one of those days where you just can’t win?” are words of a negative and sad connotation which leads the reader to feel a similar way even if for an instant. Also the colors of the background and the expressions on the characters faces are also signs. These are examples of indexical signs because they are interpreted and understood by the viewer but they aren't words.

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Why I’m taking communications

      When choosing the courses I wanted as my first choices for the BU summer challenge, mass communications was immediately the class I knew I wanted to be in. I am someone who is extremely interested in the way people communicate and why they do it the way they do. As society changes so does the way people communicate and in this day and age the list of ways to get in touch with people goes on and on. 

       There are advertisements everywhere you look and I want to better understand what makes an ad standout and why people respond a certain way to one and a different way to another. Also I am taking the morning business course at the BU summer program so I think that this course is able to go hand in hand with that and knowing information from one will better me in the other. When making a business or even being an important role in one, communications are a huge part in if is flourishes or not.

        What I hope to get out of this course is some more information on the basics of communications in life and how it plays into a work environment. Communicating is a part of everyday life and this class I believe can improve those skills while helping to teach me new ones.