Issues in the Media

WHEN IS IT TOO MUCH???

I found this opinion piece by Amanda Meade on the Australian website VERY interesting! it came so close to home! lately i have found myself absouletly dumbfounded at some of our news progrmas (particultaly the current affairs shows)... They haave become SO full of rubbish, they can no longer be called news programs. They have become advertising/marketing/infotainment!

I was astounded last night on Today tonight to see that the main story was all about the auditions for the new TV show Beauty and the Geek! WHAT THE? Is this what TV news is coming to? How dumbed down will it become?

"LAST night’s episode of A Current Affair on Nine was so filled with cross-promotion, product placement and blatant self-promotion it was impossible to distinguish between the paid content and the editorial.
Host Tracy Grimshaw presented a segment on a Women’s Weekly “Product of the Year” competition. Dressed up as a consumer story the segment was nothing more than a long ad for the products featured and for the Weekly.
And won’t the advertisers of those products held up to the camera love that!
The talent in the story was Deborah Thomas, consulting editor, Australian Women’s Weekly and general manager, editorial projects, ACP Magazines.
A former editor of the Weekly, Thomas’ job now is to dream up marketing initiatives for the magazine.
This is how the marketing initiative was explained by publishers ACP: “The Australian Women’s Weekly Product of the Year Awards will not only drive readers in-store to trial and purchase products, but also give the finalists and winners the opportunity to promote their brand as a finalist in The Australian Women’s Weekly Product of the Year Awards, with usage of the “winners’ dinkus” for up to 12 months. This independent endorsement from readers of The Australian Women’s Weekly will prove invaluable when it comes to helping consumers navigate their way through an array of offerings.”
Women’s Weekly is, of course, in the Channel Nine stable so cross-promotions between ACA and the Weekly are de rigeur.
The ACA story included shot after shot of the cover of the Weekly and guess who the cover girl is? A very glamorous Tracy Grimshaw of course: “On Ramsay and gay rumours”.
But wait! That’s not all!
The next story was also a cross-promotion for the Weekly, a promotion of the Belinda Neal interview in which the politician says she’s forgiven her cheating husband.
And of course more shots of the Weekly’s exclusive photo shoot with Neal. "

Exegesis ideas

I am thinking about doing my intervention on Emily Post's "The Debutante" and comparing it to the modern day highschool formal... I think the differences between the old fashioned deb and the underaged piss up which schools get away with calling "formal" is quite ridiculous!

I would also like to do an intervention on "The clothes of a gentleman"... My oh my! How the times have changed... I compare the clothes she describes men as wearing in the olden days to the clothes i see my boyfriend wearing and laugh. Poor Emily! If she saw my boyfriend today, she would be utterly aghast! Or worse, if she walked down rundle mall and was exposed to the popular "Emo" culture and style, i think she would have a heart attack!! I have a vague idea for this, that I could dress my boyfriend up in the clothes that Emily suggests are appropriate and then place him in thise settings with other "normal" modern day poeple wearing "normal clothes" and see how this effect him... I can use him as a lab rat to see how other people react to his dress too! And take photopraphs in black and white with an atique wash. I think it would look quite peculiar!

I have been brainstorming a hurricane!

I have kept myself busy the last few weeks familiarising myself with EMILY POST!

I have read and read and read pretty much all of the literature I can find by her and I have absolutely loved all of it! I have found it just fascinating!

My favourite Emily Post pieces include:

On the Street and in Public
One’s Position in the Community
Teas and Other Afternoon Parties
The Débutante
Funerals
The Clothes of a Gentleman
Every-Day Manners at Home

I found each of these interesting and in their own way quite funny! "Funerals" was particularly entertaining to read and imagine!!

MAKE THINGS EASY

We also discussed texts and how to improve them, one example of how to simplify a text could be:

The Moon in the sky was frollicked over by the female cow

BECOMES

The Cow jumped over the moon!

EXAMINING and EXAMPLE

I looked at and analysed a piece of promotional material about a stocktake sale at an outdoor furniture store. The advertisment was very well put together!

It was Clear, simple and concise!

It used simple colours (not the whole rainbow), a white background with red and dark blue bold easy to read writing, and orange and blue at the bottom to divide the page and highlight the store logo. The images were appropriately sized and clear, there was nothing unnecessary on the page. It followed all of the basic rules Judith taught us.

Monday exctiment!

We had a guest speaker today! JUDITH! woo hoo! Judith spoke to us about the importance of:

CLARITY

SIMPLICITY

CONCISENESS