Comments for A Virtual Unknown

Comment on Breaking news: The world is still there by Shaun Roos

Shaun Roos — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 03:09:36 +0000

I would have to agree to this post. News is a business an it is crucial to give the consumer what they want. Sadly, not many people care much for world news. They focus on news in or near their current location. But isn’t it really the medias fault for only targeting those kind of stories? News media should be covering all important stories regardless of location. Some stories can help influence people as well as teaching a lesson of what to do or what no to do.

Comment on Breaking news: The world is still there by Brian Frazier

Brian Frazier — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 01:59:48 +0000

Sadly, after reading this post I feel as if I live in a bubble now. Although America is massive and we have are own problems to attend to. After reading this post I felt bad in a way because I am guilty of being a person that only seems to be concerned with the news that is happening around me and my local society. That is why when I do watch the news I tend to only watch the local news, i rarely ever watch BBC news channels or watch CNN. I maybe showing certain characteristics here but its as if the news that is happening around the world does not interest me. But now that I think of it the news that i feel as if the situation is minuscule maybe and actually is a big deal to the people that its affecting.

Comment on Breaking news: The world is still there by Rachel DeHaan

Rachel DeHaan — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:24:28 +0000

“And Americans are more interested in America than anywhere else”. Never has there been a more true statement. This is the sad but very true reality of the country we live in. And I can absolutely take blame for that in my own personal lives. As human beings, we want to know what is going on around us, and what will benefit us most first, and then secondary to that is what others are going through, and the breaking news in their outer most parts of the world. This post talked about how we find it hard to get our hands on international news, but because we only look in places we know, and I have to say, before reading this post, I thought this to be true as well. We, as Americans, are not going to find international news on Facebook, on google (well maybe…), or on most of places on a bookmark bar. There’s a life lesson in this folks. We need to begin to look outside of ourselves and inform ourselves regarding other parts of the world, other breaking news, and just the other nuances and daily activities of other countries. I believe this will serve our American egos well and allow us to, not only stay current and informed, but also lead us into a greater place of self-efficacy because we will be culturally competent and more aware of the greater outer parts of the earth with correct, and non-bias perspective.

Comment on Breaking news: The world is still there by Ayrin Lockard

Ayrin Lockard — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:40:04 +0000

It is terribly sad to see how the field reporters in America are dwindling especially those who have a true passion for breaking news and being the first on the scene to inform the world of what is happening globally. Looking back at the was journalism was during World War II makes it even harder to look at journalism and correspondents today. Reporters used to generate a lot of field coverage, they would even go so far as to wear military uniforms (Vivian, 2011, Pg. 396, this is not to say though that field reporting has completely diminished, but the push and moral for it has gone down considerably.

I started to wonder then, after Al-Jazeera was brought up,has America began to loose its want or desire for its own correspondents on the field? Have we become so drawn to other media outlets that we are forgetting our own? Or maybe its that Al-Jazeera makes us realize what the war is doing to the people, and not what the army is doing(Faulkner, 2012, Pg. 4). I believe we are truly starting to shift outside of our comfort zone and seek to find out what is really happening in the world. We need to start looking and as Dr. Willis states, its just like “Where’s Waldo”. You have to search for places you wouldn’t always expect to find them.

Comment on Breaking news: The world is still there by Lindsey Hutcheon

Lindsey Hutcheon — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:29:09 +0000

Americans are primarily concerned with what affects them at this very moment in time. Foreign news coverage is very difficult to find, especially when it does not directly correlate with the disruption, corruption, or interference with American culture. Many times, it CAN be a lot like trying to find Waldo. It is as if you can search newspapers, the web, and even literature, and it seems impossible to find something that should be so simple. The reality of the situation is that everyone on planet earth should be concerned for the wellbeing of their neighbor – we are all in this mess together. Their news should be our news, and our news should be their news. It is exactly what Dr. Willis said: “It’s not that hard to find news of the world; it’s just located largely in places where we aren’t used to looking.” We need to start looking in the right places.

Comment on Breaking news: The world is still there by Christine Porter

Christine Porter — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 02:33:16 +0000

As shocking as this blog post is, it does not shock me to know that this is how the American news is. I have always known that our news is extremely bias and is very picky about what is put out there for the world to see. It makes me really sad to know that this is how our news is because the majority of Americans rely on the news for all their information about what is going on in the world, and this is obviously where it becomes bad because not everything we see on the news is how it is in reality.

Comment on Breaking news: The world is still there by Allisa

Allisa — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:48:50 +0000

I love the connection you made with Waldo and International News. In the western world, it seems to be so hard to find any resources out there to find factual and effective international news, yet we know there are things happening. Americans have become s individualistic, that the country as a whole is beginning to focus primarily on themselves, and forgetting the rest of the world. We need to be proactive as individuals, and actively seek out the international news. I also believe that Americans travel less than any other country in the world. Without having an understanding of other cultures, there is a lack of desire to know what is happening across the world.

Comment on Breaking news: The world is still there by James Evans

James Evans — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 23:04:56 +0000

The analogy presented of how many Americans see the importance of news was extremely interesting. Americans place so much value on what occurs in America and seemingly exert no interest on what happens within the rest of the world. 10,000 deaths on another continent is equal to the importance of one celebrity in America. However, I liked the analogy made to how individuals need to look for the their news today. Just as you look for Waldo, the news needs to be sought out, especially global news. Global news can be found on the internet to all nations, but an interest is needed in order to search out these news stories. I think more of the problem lies within individuals and their selfish nature and lack of desire to take an interest in other individuals and global issues.

Comment on Like, we’re all targeted customers now by Shaun Roos

Shaun Roos — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 04:31:43 +0000

I’d like to start off by mentioning I work at Trader Joe’s and we sell more regular products then vegetarian. I will note, we do sell more vegetarian products than most other grocery stores though. Its not surprising to hear that many businesses are using Google and Facebook for advertising. They are the most visited and popular sites in the world. So it makes sense to follow the public. It is similar to special televised events such as the Super Bowl. Thousands to hundreds of thousands of people watch the Super Bowl. This event is also greatly known for their great commercials. Businesses pay millions of dollar for a minute of commercial time. With the world transitioning to a primarily dominated online one, businesses have to focus all their attention to popular sites in order to get as much publicity and views as possible.

Comment on Like, we’re all targeted customers now by Rachel DeHaan

Rachel DeHaan — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 22:52:21 +0000

The reminder that businesses like Google and Facebook are for-profit businesses that are making money off of my searches and “likes” is a good reminder. I do not know about the average person, but for me personally, when I sign on to Facebook or search something in google, it is often a mindless doing and serves more as an activity then a venture into the advertising or media world. It becomes such an accepted and normal thing that multiple advertisements and adds pop up or surface during time on social media, that I forget that those are indeed very strategic businesses with excellent tactics in monitoring my use and “likes” on Facebook so they can narrow their advertising to a more specific demographic and target population. “The button is a vehicle for what’s called ‘referral traffic.’ Advertisers and other sites report huge increase in traffic” (Willis 2012). The intervention strategies of the advertising world capitalize on social media for this very reason and because what I previously discussed. “Referral traffic”, how clever. Why would an advertisement go after a demographic that would have no interest in what they are selling? Well, they wouldn’t. Precisely why referral traffic allows the profitable advertisements to go on and find themselves viewed by a specifically targeted audience that they can be more certain will show interest and look at what is being advertised. How clever.