Newspaper. What's your Style?

As I skimmed my Facebook news-feed, I noticed a post from The New York Times Columnist, David Carr, on a recent article published by Forbes titled "The Media Map: Who's Reading What and Where." 

Of course me, being an amateur social critic, was quite intrigued by Carr's recent post, so I decided to click and review. 

As I reviewed this media map, I could help to notice that a almost 30% of the U.S. prefers to read USA Today as oppose to The New York Times. Other popular pictorial style news outlets ranked on this map were some like the Huffington Post and The Onion. USA Today, Huffington Post and The Onion whereas other more credible news sources didn't appear to be as popular. 

With the slight exception of USA Today, news outlets such as The Onion are very modern filled with pictures, gossip and entertainment and not relevant news. They make magazines for such news called tabloids. 

To bring everything to a local level, USA Today is read by the majority of North Carolina, as well as other southern and western states in the U.S. Does this mean that these states are more interested in the pictorial style of newspapers?

Some would argue (Neil Postman) that this could very well mean that we are "Amusing Ourselves to Death." [product placement]

Are we the type of people where pictures are more communicative then a well-written article?

Forbes Website of Media Map http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2012/media-map.html

Receiving Information in the 21st Century

There is a concern with receiving information in the 21st century via the Internet or television. 

Question: How can these contemporary, wonderful and instantaneous devices create a problem with receiving information? 

Answer: To list a few concerns of receiving information via the Internet or television can be displayed in a list that looks like this:

 1.) The credibility of the sender of the information.

 2.) The motive of sending such information (is the data biased or objective?).

 3.) The formatted style of the received information (for example, a television news show can sure make a mass murderer appear nice and entertaining. Neil Postman investigates this theory in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business).

 4.) The sources of the information, which correlates with point #1.

 5.) The seriousness of the information (Is the latest celebrity overdoes that serious to the Greater Good of the American people?).

 6.) The proximity of the information to the viewers life (How important is that celebrity overdoes to my life?).

 7.) The duration of the information or news story (How long will the news or the people of America be fascinated with the latest celebrity overdoes information?).

This only list a few concerns with the modern day way of receiving information. Just like this blog, these are only my opinions; some may take my opinions as facts, which can skew the truth behind any information.

The American society is fascinated with receiving information quickly and briefly as if information has turned into a status symbol or even a commodity. 

Not everything on the Internet is the truth and not everything on a television news show is the truth. Anything dressed in good clothing can pass as being truthful.

We need to search for the drive to receive factual information in an effort to generate healthy debates and diverse public discourse. 

It appears that people would rather skim headlines and briefly read or listen to a news story because they want to feel up-to-date and socially acceptable; not because they want to actually learn this information or use this information to change or better their existence.

Will Social Media Networks Make Television News Obsolete?

Social media networks are more popular than ever before. These networks have also made filtering in/out information or news an unconscious routine. 

This is when we, the user, can quickly skim information that we seek out as opposed to being exposed to a variety of daily news via print literature or television news programs. This very point has hurt the institution of the newspapers tremendously and will make television news obsolete because society can and will get there news quickly by accessing the internet to skim headlines and news stories that satisfy our beliefs or point-of-views.

Should we, the online society, be cautious o nthe new format of receiving news our information? Or, will we just choose to ignore the consequences just like we did on the effects of technology on a society?

According to theorist like Neil Postman, we will probably ignore any sign of negative consequences because we are too naive to believe such a medium (books, radio, television, any technological device) would effect the quality of a culture. 

The facts and history will tell us otherwise, but we still choose to ignore these facts and focus on the entertaining quality of anything we encounter in life. 

I am not a fan of television news due to formatted style and the break from print and the institution of the newspapers. However, I would whether receive my daily news from the television as oppose to re-tweeted emotional, irrelevant "baby talk" opinions (PPPPostman) that is produced from social media networks.

As Shakesphere would ask,
 1.) To filter or not to filter?

 2.) To read via print literate or not to read?

 3.) To skim headlines or not to skim?

 4.) To post emotional opinions or not to post?

And, the list goes on, folks.

Facts About "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman

The book Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman has an argument that is very compelling and time-appropriate, as well as informative on the cause and effect of a society that is single-minded to its broad acceptance of entertainment.

In this text, Postman makes the assumption that there is a connection between the modes of communication and the quality of a society. Contemporary audience, especially the youth, would greatly benefit from reading this book, because it empowers them to actively partake in their culture. 

I received as much statistical data on Postman's book that I could obtain from the publisher, Penguin Group USA.

1.) In 2011 alone the text was adopted by 174 colleges and university in 40 out of the 50 states.  

2.) Geographically, it was most popular in California having been adopted by 23 different schools followed by New York with 12 schools adopting it.  

3.) In North Carolina in particular it has been adopted by 4 schools: High Point University, Appalachian Sate University, Elon College and Wake Forest University.

4.) It has been a long running adoption with steady college sales.

Learn Better From Handwriting or Typing?

Technology has constantly been on the rise over the pass century reaching and stimulating almost everyone in the United States and the world because of its connectivity and popular demand.

Technology has also found itself into the classroom, so much that schools wanted to discontinue cursive handwriting to focus more on typing. Wow, I saw this as a digital age concern. Would the students even learn how to sign a check or there name?

I was not the only person concerned with the elimination of cursive handwriting in schools, Indiana University neuroscientist Karin Harman James, shared my same feelings about the situation. 

She researched the role of handwriting in the learning process. Her finding we not surprising to a fan of the study, like myself. As it turns out, when words are printed via handwritten, creates the formation of the literacy system used for reading. 

I hope the finding in James research influences schools to reconsider eliminating cursive handwriting. 

For more information and the article on handwriting vs. typing http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/20977.html

Is There a Difference Between Kid Literature and Adult Literature?

A post-modern cultural concern is 1.) becoming true and 2.) is when there becomes no distinction between children literate and adult literature.

No age distinction in the book medium can and has transition to other mediums such as the Internet or television. Adults acting like kids and kids prematuring into adults. Glamor, glitz and greed among everything contemporary society encounters has also contributed to the non-existing age distinction/prerequisite in such mediums.

Article on how children literature and adult literature are becoming the samehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/its-all-kidlit-now-and-thats-just-fine/article2356633/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2356633