Gmaldonado2's Blog

Project Proposal

gmaldonado2 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:21:17 +0000

My project will be based on Little Brother and how the government uses media propaganda to influence people. I will also be giving examples of how the military and government use media propaganda

Final Project; Media Propaganda and War

gmaldonado2 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:25:22 +0000

In the story, Little Brother, the military uses propaganda in the U.S. to be able to control San Francisco. The media along goes along with it, helping the military control the denizens of San Francisco. In the real world, military often controls how and what the media can show to the public with only their point of view so the public will side with them, often this justifies war and the tactics used. Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward a cause. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda presents information primarily to influence an audience. It presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) or uses messages to produce an emotional response to the information presented. Military control of information is a major contributing factor to media propaganda, especially when the media go along with it without question. The military recognizes the values of media and information control very well. There are different types of media propaganda.
For example there is audiovisual media; which includes television, electronic tape recordings, and sound motion pictures. These are some of the most effective means of communication available. Effectiveness is based on seeing and hearing the persuasive message. These media are an excellent means of transmitting persuasive messages and eliciting a high degree of recall. Another exmaple is audio media, like loudspeakers and radio. They lend themselves to the transmission of brief, simple messages and to personalization by use of the human voice. They require little or no effort by the audience, and generally, they have more appeal than visual media. Also, the barrier of illiteracy may be easily overcome with audio media than with printed material. Third, visual media can transmit long, complex material. Animated cartoons may be used to convey themes to illiterate and preliterate target audiences. Visual media generally have the least amount of popular appeal. Themes are reinforced and the target audience given broad coverage by using several media to deliver the same basic message. For example, radio and television can augment leaflets; face to face communication can support newspaper circulation.
Television, including DVDs, is one of the most effective media for persuasion. It offers many advantages for propaganda operations, and its wide operations in other fields contributes to its acceptance and use. It is appropriate for use in limited, general, and cold war and particulary effective in FID (Foreign Internal Defense) and consolidation operations. In places where television is not a common communications medium, receivers may be distributed to public facilities and selected individuals. A possible limitation in enemy countries, however, is that television receivers may be set to allow reception on only one or two channels under government control. Television is an all encompassing- mass communication medium. Like radio, it makes use of the sense of hearing to convey an idea. Like printed material, adding the element of motion. And like the motion picture, it combines, sight, sound and motion. Television is immediate; in effect, it places the viewer in two locations simultaneously, creating the illusion of participating in a distant event.
There are several advantages to media propaganda by television. One is the speed. Television programs can be reached in large segments of the target audience rapidly. The transmission of events can be instantaneous. Illiteracy is not a barrier. An audience does not need to be able read. Also, it brings people in widely seperate locations closer together by exposing them visually to the same ideas and concepts. Television appeals to two senses, each reinforcing the other. This gives the viewer a sense of involvement.
As there are advantages in media propaganda by television, there are also disadvantages. One of those is range. Geography and atmospheric conditions affect strength of the signal. The signal, however, may be boosted with relay stations, airborn transmitters, or satelllite relay to increase the transmission range. Airborne antenna relay domes extend the range of a central transmitter, but at a great expense. Another disadvantage is reception. Television sets are unevenly distributed throughout the world. Messages disseminated by television will normally be received only by those within an average or above average income range and ecomonic class in many areas of the world. In some developing nations, groups listening/viewing centers may be available, negating the link between income and access to television. The association should be carefully determined for each target country. A third disadvantage is power. Most television receivers require an outside source of electric power. Many areas in the world lack this power. Also, equipment and parts are fragile and extremly vulnerable to damage. Stations are easily identified and make excellent targets. Receivers are difficult to hide.
A substantial production staff and supprting equipment are required to produce daily programs. Each day’s operation requires a large amount of film and live programming to sustain a program schedule. Maintenance is highly technical, requiring trained and skilled technicians. Such people are hard to find. Personnel is a disadvantage because television is a complication medium, demanding specialozed personnel with a wide range of scarce skills. Although TV is excellent in friendly or neutral areas, it will not reach a hostile area unless a means is found to enter sets in those areas. Incompatibility of receivers, extreme distortions caused by two transmitters on the same wavelength, jamming, and censorship limit the use of TV broadcasts to hostile areas. Community viewing provides an opportunity to present TV programs which people identify with the sponsor (usually the established regime). If it is necessary to provide receivers, one technique is to place them initially in urban centers, extending them to rural areas as equipment and power become available; or vehicles equipped with power generators and TV sets may be moved into and out of areas as required.
Another form of media propaganda that is very persuasive is radio. Radio broadcasts can be transmitted to local audiences, or across national boundaries, and behind enemy lines. Political boundaries or tactical situations may hinder radio broadcasts, but they are not complete barriers. Since radio can reach mass terget audiences quickly, it is useful for all types of psychological operations. Where radio stations are not common and receivers are rare or nonexistent, receivers may be airdropped or otherwise distributed to key communicators, public installations, and/or selected individuals. Public listener systems may be also set up.
Just like television, radio has many advantages when it comes to media propaganda. Radio programs can be quickly prepared for broadcast. This is important when attempting to capitalize on targets of opportunity. Radio programs can also reach members of large and varied audiences simultaneously. It requires little or no effort to visualize the radio message.Illitercay does not prevent the listener from forming his or her individual image as they listen. Radio is easily adaptable to almist any kind of program like music and news etc. A skilled radio announcer can exert tremendous influence on the listener simply with pitch, resonance, inflection or timing. The most important advantage is the availability of receivers. Where availability or ownership of receivers is common, listening to the radio is a habit. Ownership of receivers has increased greatly with the invention of transitors.
And also just like television, radio has a certain number of disadvantages. One of those is enemy restrictions. The target group may be subjected to severe censorship, thereby reducing the effectiveness by radio broadcasts. Some countries have only single channel radios with the frequency set to the government owned station. In some areas central receivers are connected to household receivers to control listening. Jamming is also a big disadvantage. Jamming may prevent the target group from receiving radio broadcasts. Signal may be inaudible or distorted by fading or static due to unfavorable atmospheric conditions. Another problem is lack of receivers. In certain areas, so few receivers are available that radio may not be an effective medium. Lastly, there is fleeting impressions. Oral media do not have the permanency of written media. Messages may be quickly forgotten or distorted.
Wartime propaganda attempts to make people adjust to abnormal conditions, and adapt their priorities and moral standards to accomodate the needs of war by using media propaganda. Propaganda during war is usually carried out in conjunction with a comprehensive attempt to censor dissenting opinions.
For example, during WWII, the U.S. was bombarded with pro-war messages through posters and photographs in the press. The newspapers and magazines were supplied with thousands of photographs, but before reaching the press, a variety of “unsuitable” photographs were censored out. With the advent of television, war propaganda and reporting went through a considerable evolution from the Korean War to the Vietnam War to the Iraq War. During the War in Iraq, embedded journalists were required to report only what their military chaperones thought suitable. The military will often use the media to promote the negative image of the enemy and may reinforce it with rhetoric about the righteousness of themselves; the attempt is to muster up support and nurture the belief that what is to be done is in the positive and beneficial interest of everyone.
The military often manipulates the mainstream media by restricting or managing what information is presented and hence what the public are told. For them it is paramount to control the media. This can involove all manner of activities, from organizing media sessions to and daily press briefings, or through providing managed access to war zones to even planting stories. This has happened throughout the 20th century. Over time then, the way that the media covers conflicts degrades in quality, critique, and objectiveness.
During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, journalists were embedded with Coalition forces. This was an idea born from the public relations industry, and provided media outlets a detailed and fascinating view for their audiences. For the military, however, it provided a means to control what large audiences would see, to some extent. Independent journalists would be looked at more suspiciously. In a way, embedded journalists were unwittingly (sometimes knowingly) making a decision to be biased in their reporting, in favor of the Coalition troops. If an embedded journalist was to report unfavorably on coalition forces they were accompanying they would not get any cooperation. In a sense, allowing journalists to get closer, meant the military had more chance to try and manage the message.
In the United Kingdom, the History Channel broadcasted a documentary on August 2004 titled War Spin: Correspondent. The documentary looked at Coalition media management for the Iraq War and found the following things:
1. Embedded journailists allowed the military to maximize imagery while providing minimal insight to the real issues.
2. Central Command (where all the military press briefings were held) was the main center to;
a. Filter, manage and drip-feed journalists with what they wanted to provide
b.Gloss over setbacks, while dwelling on successes
c. Limit the facts and context
d. Even feed lies to the journalists
e. Use spin in various ways, such as making it seem as though reports are coming from troops on the ground, which Central Command can then confirm, so as to appear real.
f. Carefully plan the reange of topics that could be discussed with reporters, and what to avoid.
The documentary concluded and implied that the media had successfully been designated a mostly controllable role by the military.
With military conflicts then, reporting raises an interesting dilemma for some; on the one hand, the military wish to present various aspects that would support a campaign. While on the other hand, a journalist is supposed to be critical and not neccessarily fall into line.
This is captured fairly well by Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law;
” Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, journalist F. Colburn Adams wrote, “The future historian of the late war will have a very difficult task to perform…sifting the truth from falsehood as it appears on official records.”
Similar to the oft-repeat axiom that truth is the first casualty of war, Adams observation succinctly summarizes the nub of the conflict between the military and the news media. The military’s mission is to fight, and to win, whatever conflict may present itself-preferably on the battlefield but certainly in public opinion and history books. The journalist on the other hand, is a skeptic if not a cynic and aims to seek, find and report the truth-a mission both parties often view as incompatible with successful warfare. Which depends on secrecy and deception as much as superior strategy, tactics, weaponry and manpower.”[Jane Kirtley "Enough is Enough" Media Studies Journal, October 15, 2001]
At times, the sources of information are limited. For example, “Information warfare” of a military or government might be targeted at the “enemy” nations or groups, but often affect their own population:
” In [many cases] the U.S. and other western news media depend on the military for information… And when the information that military officers provide to the public is part of the process that generates propaganda and places a high value on deceit, deception and denial, then truth is indeed likely to be high on the casualty list.”
[William M. Arkin, "Media Principles; Killed by a friendly fire in U.S. favor" Index on Censorship, November 13, 2002]
The Gulf War of Iraq in 1991, highlighted alot of PR work in action. Founder of the Washington PR Firm, the Rendon Group, John Rendon told cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1996:
” “I am not a national security strategist or military tactitian. I am a politician and a person who uses communication to meet public policy or corporate policy objectives. In fact, I am an information warrior and a perception manager.” He reminded the Air Force cadets that when victorious troops rolled into Kuwait City at the end of the first war in the Persian Gulf, that they were greeted by hundreds of Kuwaitis waiving small American flags. The scene flashed around the world on tv screens, sending the message that U.S. Marines were being welcomed in Kuwait as liberating heroes…In various ways, , perception management combines truth projection, operations security, cover and deception and psyops. (psychological operations)”
Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, “How to Sell a War” In these Times, August 4, 2003. Such technical phrases like “truth projection” hide their truth meanings and intent; propaganda.
In conclusion, often media propaganda will be controlled by military, so that war is justified. They will censor out anything that does not appeal to them by altering images so there will not be a public outrage. They will often demonize the enemy who does not fit the picture of what is “right” and twist everything around to make it seem like they are the good guys fighting for “our” rights. Journalists and broadcasters will often go along with it and the validity of their reports often loses its effectiveness and the public will often not see the truth. Judgements will be based on lies. The two most common and effective forms of media propaganda are television and radio because one does not need to be literate to understand what broadcasters and reporters are trying to tell you.

Technology Remix

gmaldonado2 — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:20:48 +0000

technology powerpoint presentation

Answers to questions on vodcast

gmaldonado2 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:45:31 +0000

For my vodcast, I used a video format by using my camera and uploading it on youtube

The content on my vodcast is about how boring my life is.

I decided on this content because I thought it would be the easiest thing to talk about and the fact that it was the only thing that came into my mind (again my life is that boring)

The technology allowed me to correct my errors and start over if I needed to. Every time I made a mistake, I would erase the video and start over

Vodcast

gmaldonado2 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:09:20 +0000

My video

Pictures

gmaldonado2 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:35:32 +0000

Little Brother

gmaldonado2 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:42:33 +0000

1. The most important and interesting thing about Little Brother is that the events that take place in the book can occur in modern day society. It’s important because government officials used extreme precautionary measures to prevent terrorist activity.

2. In chapter 8, the story talks about how everyone in San Francisco is being monitored by speeding cameras, red light cameras and license-plate cameras and the cameras that could tell where you were by the way you walked. The story showed how zealous the government was when people were being stopped by the police and questioned about where they were and why they were there.

Personal use of tech narrative

gmaldonado2 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:28:12 +0000

To me it is important to have these technological means to stay connected for several reasons. First of all, it’s important for me to stay connected for my well-being because I can communicate with people easily and be content. For example, if I have news that seems important to me, I want to be able to tell someone right then and there. I can easily do this by using technological products such as cell phones or computers.
My life would be a complete disaster without a way to communicate by using technology. I would have to wait for someone to get home or I would to find someone at their house or where ever they are located. I pretty much depend on technology to make my life easier. If there were no cars, then I would have to walk. If there were no phones, then I would have to find people. If there was no internet or computers, I couldn’t find out the latest trash talk. Again, my life would suck because like all teenagers/ adults who doesn’t like “juicy” gossip especially when it comes through texting or myspace.
I started using technology as a way to communicate with others since I can remember. The farthest I could go back is when I was four and dialed 911 from my house phone to report a missing teddy bear. Thanks to technology, I remember feeling safe and thinking the police would find my teddy since I had just talked to the operator.
Using a phone is a method I use to keep in touch with friends and family because I could be in another country and I could easily call my parents by just using a phone. The only downside might be how expensive it is to make a phone call from one country to another, but at least I know that the person I’m calling is on the other line.
The method I use most, however, to stay in touch is by texting. I use it to small quick messages to my friends. It’s much better than talking because if I don’t really want to talk to some one or just want to say “I’m outside your house” then texting would be the best solution for me because it takes all the awkwardness away and more effective than waiting for some one to pick up their phone just to say a little sentence.
I started texting at the age of fifteen, when I saw that all my friends had phones and were sending messages to each other. I asked my friend what she was doing and she told me she was texting and I asked her if I could do it. I instantly got hooked because it was like a to pass notes in school, but without having to pass a piece of paper around and have everyone read it and getting caught by the teacher. However, there was a miniscule downside to texting. If the teacher caught me sending messages, then I would get my phone taken away for the day or until the end of the school year.
Being able to communicate makes feel like I have power and control with what I say and how I say it. If I wanted to tell my friends a secret then I can use my phone and text my friends anything I want to, including any curse words because no one will be able to hear me.
Myspace is another way for me to stay in touch with everyone I know. Myspace is probably my favorite way to communicate because unlike a phone it’s much easier for me to stay connected with friends and family in Europe. I don’t have to worry about the nine to ten hour difference because I can send messages and by the next day I can read my responses without having to wait all night to read them. Also this is a cheaper method because I don’t have to spend two-hundred dollars to make a twenty minute phone call.
Not having Myspace would be worse than not having a cellphone because almost the whole world uses Myspace to communicate with people whether we know each other or not. I’ve met several people from different countries through this website and I’ve learned so much about their cultures. Again, this is also a way to find out what my friends and secret crush are doing.
I started using Myspace at the age of fifteen when I saw how popular it was among other students. Of course, like everyone else I wanted to be cool and keep up with the latest trend everyone was talking about. For God’s sake, I could remember seeing it on tv also, I could hear how the whole world was staying connected and that the founder of Myspace was making millions of this website. I had my younger sister, who is five years younger than me, make my profile because I didn’t know how to make one.
Before they blocked the website in school, I would use it during lunch and in the middle of my computer class just to talk to my friend Nathalie in Switzerland. Even after the school system blocked it, I found a way to unblock it just to talk to my friend becuase I couldn’t wait a couple of hours until I got home. I could even get access to some of my homework because some of my teachers had myspace profiles. Strange, yet true. Sometimes, if they were online I could get help because all I had to do was send in my questions and they would usually respond back.
Another reason it is important for me to have technology as a way to communicate is because I can feel safe. For example, last year some one broke into our house and stole my mother’s car right from our own garage. I called the police and they were here within minutes. I felt better knowing that all I had to do was dial a phone number to have the police at my home.
I can also use technology to keep track of where my sister is at. If she is at a friend’s house, then I could call to her friend’s house and know she is safe. If no one answers the phone, then I usually turn on the computer and I can send a message through myspace because ninety-nine percent of the time she will be on it.
In general, I started using technology because it was already a trend in our time and I wanted to keep up with the times and know what everyone was talking about. Cellphones have been especially life changing for me because in some way it meant more freedom for me because I was finally allowed to go out more because my parents finally had a permanent phone number they could call me to. Employers have finally been able to reach me at a phone number where my phone does not have to be at home because it might lise it’s signal easily.
Websites like Myspace and Facebook made it possible to make long lasting friendships and find old friends I have not seen in years and help me know what was going around in school and every now and then it has helped stay on track in school.
As long as people keep finding a way to advance communication skills throught technology, you can bet I will be the first in line to use it, as long as it makes my life easier of course.

I definitely realize that without technology, my life would be a total disaster because I use it to communicate with everyone. I realize that through technology can get the help I need, whether it’s to get help on my homework from my teachers by using myspace. My grades have gone up because now my teachers give me the help I need while I’m online and the perk is that I can talk to everyone else at the same time. Another way I get the help I need is by calling a friend for advice with my cellphone with some crappy “I just broke up with my boyfriend story.” My mother can call me if she needs something from the store or text me if I’m in class and can’t pick up my phone. Third, communication through technology benefits me because I can keep in touch with the ones I love because I know they are on the other phone line or using a computer to communicate etc. Social networking is the best thing about communication through technology because it keeps my world in one piece. Being born in an era where social networking through technology is the best thing that could have happened to me because my life mostly depends on this. I use it everday just about twenty-four seven for one reason or another. I can’t imagine how people in the past could live without something like communication without technology.

Online games

gmaldonado2 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:46:16 +0000

I believe that video games help influence a person’s life because games tend to be more exciting to a person than a book. If a person spends an average of 30 hours per week, then that person might want to mimic those actions being committed by characters in a game. I also agree with the person who wrote the design of games for education. If a video game is designed with the purpose of learning first and “gaming” second, a person might as well be listening to a lecture or reading a book. Most people, especially young ones, get some form of education through video games when they are fun and have actual facts. In my personal experience I have seen my cousins tryng to imitate video games with violence by trying to hurt somebody the same way a character hurt another. Also, computer games sometimes allow players from all over the world to interact with each other through chracters. A player can choose their character and play the game along with other people with their same interests.

Credible web sources

gmaldonado2 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:28:18 +0000

Two credible web sources are the history channel website and school websites like our csustan.edu. The history channel website does extensive research. It posts it sources, authors and it updates its information constantly. It also has its copyright updated. CSU STANISLAUS is careful to put information on its website because of its prestige and it wants to be reliable. it also keeps its information and copyrights updated. Teachers post information and work that is credible and relevant to their classes