Rememory

Through it All

So we left our ponds behind to swim through the ocean
Alone and far from home we moved to our cabin
There we found some brand new friends (new friends worth making)
When we played our "ten fingers" standing on the beach

We took the time to care
We took the time to try

A year later and the story's changed (that's how it goes)
Gone were the days of rainy-days off (with games to be playing)
Some days were games, booze, and movie nights (with laughter to spare)
But others were sad with fists through signage (still in a box)

We took the time to fight
We took the time to cry

Enter the guys and the tension they cause (it was so hard)
One hated everyone, and only loved me (now hates even me)
One loved everyone, and hated just me (and they love him)
They all turned out to be liars (from beginning to end)

We took the time to like
We took the time to love

Yelled at me and broke my heart (now it's worth mending)
Stabbed my back and stole my friends (guess they weren't worth it)
You asked, so I gave time (more that you wasted)
Chose to trust but you lied again (I still forgive you)

And through it all I found my voice
The strength to stand when I'm defeated
A chance to grow and choose my path
And I forgive you.
In fact, I thank you.



Demise of a Fairy-tale

I breathe the words through the steam of my coffee
In the demise of our fairy-tale
Such an intimate thought dismissed in the air
Doubtlessly barely heard over the din of this place
The stereotypic voices (deep thoughts, to be sure)
And the tip-tap-typing of fingers on keys.
A swirl of lost hope
The poetry bound in that book left unread
Was destined to tear the pride from my veins
So I cling to the moments before (all i have left)
But then my hope was carried away
In a ring of vapor never seen again.

Always Away

The sun goes up, the sun goes down.
Sometimes both can be one.
And in the eve of discontent,
the sun defrauds its very shine.
Behind the clouds (the shades of gray)
the borderlines all are lost and blind.
When black and white are all to see,
the sun stays always away.

left and Right

left and Right or right and Right
Give it all up into the air.
For love is all that's left as the world burns.
Put out the fire with tears of sympathy
Burning their homes as we build up our own
Is that the way life's meant to be?
Can it be so that they are just jealous
That's what we say (rote recitation)
Cuz we have it all. We are the world.
We are the best.
We are the best.
How can it be when they hate us and our response is to kill them all?
Don't get me wrong, but what we've come in is societal rape.
Take it all and leave them behind.
Bodies broken, black and blue.
Blood stained on the sand.
because - oh yes...
I'm a little progressive, left and Right.
Here is my ego, here is my open-mind.
When they argue their side, I'll bullshit my way out
All I know is no one's Right.

A Memory
hugging my knees in the corner of my bed
after locking all three doors and killing the lights
(and the pain with the pills)
i left you to save you from me
then you locked me out when hope was born
and all was lost in my descent
i couldn't hear your tears through he door
could you hear me beg through your tears?
but it's not you i can't stand, the damage was his
he was the liar, i just thought you'd see through it
(or at least her) but too little too late.
And he fooled us all (at least me for a while)
But when he took to the stairs and called me a prick
I started to see the problem wasn't me.
It was him and his impossibilities
Because for once I wasn't an ass
And he wasn't all that he said
Cuz I knew he was a ghost in his pale white skin
And his suave facade designed to hide
The weaknesses that lie beneath.

An Epiphany
So much for who I thought I knew
I should have heard the sirens coming
I should've seen it in your face
and known it was a lie.
I guess some things are too much to ask for
and better left unsaid
But I never asked for a thing from you
I just believed the promises you made.
why should i have believed those words?
why didn't I know i'd feel this pain?
and either you forgot those words you swore
or you never meant them in the first place.
and over the static of the phoneline
you said you didn't but now i see you did
and all those words were just another lie.
And when you breathed "i miss you"
that was was your biggest one
cuz you couldn't wait to get me out of your life
and your lipstick laced deceit
and your face a painted lie
are as real as your shady heart
So if i'm strong i'll give it up
but i doubt that can ever be
perhaps you'll even come around
and see the things i hope you'd see
so they can say whatever they want to
cuz i know they know nothing of us
And they know even less about me.
What shocks me is they don't really know you
You can call me a bitch or say I'm full of shit.
No matter, no worries.
You're the one who can't be true.

The Ghost
The view from the overpass is laced with streaks of red and white;
All unaware of the ghost that sits on the edge floating above.
The one that had the hope, and the one who's full of spite.
The ghost without a soul because it couldn't love
And now it feels like now i can't have what I want,
but that's just cuz i'm wanting you
The sun won't shine over this highway tomb for all its pride
What sun that's set on tomorrow can rise again today?
The fire within the soul burnt so bright and strong that it died
It shone itself to ash and will never again fight the dark away

COSF 100 Midterm 1

Introduction to Communication as a Social Force in-class midterm #1

First Essay

In an attempt to understand the media, two major models have arisen, each withpublic interest as an important element. The market model and the public sphere model both try to protect the public interest but conceive and define it in different ways. The market model sees the public interest as what interests the public, therefore believing that simple free marknamics will fully fill the public interest and so want limited involvement by the state, where it only intervenes to protect property rights and the market's functioning. The public sphere model for the media looks at the public interest as what furthers democracy, stimulates discussion, and represents society. Such a view feels the state should intervene to ensure that the media are fulfilling these requirments.

The market model believes that the public will get its interest because corporate media will look to please the public for profits. Since they define public interest as what interests the public, to a certain extent that's true. As Rupert Murdoch and NewsCorp has learned, people enjoy watching car wrecks, animal attacks, cop shows, and reading about gossip and scandal. In this way (and by using the market model's take on public interest) NewsCorp through its Fox network, The News of the world, The sun, and its other holdings, does give the they want (arguably at the expense of the social fabric). In the Texas Las review article (Texas Law Review 60, no. 2 (1982):207-257), the authors took a very market model view. They believed that through the diverse and numerous media channels, people's desires will be fulfilled, and thefore the public interest will be served. That's why they advocated that the state take a hands-off approach to media management, letting the market decide the price of the transmission spectrum, and other avenues, and the content to provide. They believe (in accordance with the market model) that the government should only intervene to ensure a functioning market through protecting property and broadcast rights, ensuring a stable economic system and dollar, and allowing corporations to seek their profits. The market model view of public interest is limited to what interests the public and what is popular.

The public sphere model looks at public interest as democratic freedom (where people are citizens and have "one person - one vote," not "one dollar - one vote"), information, diverse views, innovation, and open for public discussion. Under this model, the media are tools and a means to strengthen society, increase awareness, and further democratic involvement. The BBC seeks to "represent Britains to Britain." In this way, they are furthering awareness and discussion about various real world issues that the average British citizen faces. Television for the BBC goes beyond mere entertainment to breech the ground of real-life issues that must be critically looked at, not avoided. Similarly, the CBC looks to strengthen the social, political, and cultural fabric of Canada. In order to do this, they give representation to a wide array of marginalized groups and look at important political events (like Rememberence Day). By doing this they bond Canada together, and inform them of others who are different from them, and show them why different isn't bad. In this model, the state should ensure the media strengthen society by providing funding and/or ensuring diverse content.

Both the public sphere and the market models claim to serve the public interest, but each define it in different ways. It is up to us to decid which public interest we prefer and push to help make that model more of a reality.

Second Essay

In The Business of Media, Croteau and Hoynes look at the business strategies of media conglomerates and the wayategies affect media content. These effects should concern the public as the public sphere is being limited. The conglomerates ultimate goal is profits, and in order to make the money, they have various strategies which affect both content and the public.

Conglomerates look to sensationalization and fluff. They use sensationalism to capture the audience's attention and use fluff to not offend viewers or advertisers. This severely limits the quality of information the public recieves. In the McHallin article, the example story they look at on AIDs education amounted to nothing (and was intentionally misleading on top of that). Such stories interest the public (and often outrage) but do not amount to anything substantial.

Corporations also let the quest for profits censor their content. Reporters self-cnsor content they know might not go over will with owners or advertisers. Also with the destruction of the church-state wall, censorship comes from within the company. Stories that might offend the tobacco industry (for example) were/are either not aired or end up hurting profits as happened with one example newspaper. Also NewsCorp didn't print a book that represented the Chinese government unfavorably because they were trying to strike a deal as a satellite provider with China.

Another affect of the breakdown of the church0state wall can be seen with the addition of sections of newspapers which come down to advertisements (like for home improvement products, pharmeceuticals, or even travel resorts. Also stories will be pursued that will look good to advertisers. Like unbeknownst to the writers or the public, the Los Angeles Times struck a deal with the Staples Center to promote it. That seriously compromised Journalistic ethics, especially because the reporters were kept in the dark. Also, book reviewers (especially when content is offered online) have a conflict of interest since they get money based upon purchases made by certain booksellers. This biases the reviewers to write good reviews so they and the newspaper will profit.

Through conglomerates diverse holdings (integrated both horizontally and vertically) conflicts of interest arise if news breaks about another arm of the corporate squid. For example, ABC news didn't run a 20/20 episode on problems at Disneyworld because Disney owned ABC. Also GE's NBC covered a story on defective bolts but failed to mention that these bolts were used in GE's Nuclear reactors (until they were criticized for the ommission).

Through conglomerations gobbling up of other companies and their ultimate quest for profits, corperations have interest in many business strategies that translate into affects on media context. Sometimes it's more benign (like the George Lopez Show's trip to Disneyland after Disney bought ABC and the show) or more harmful (like not revealing information about the 1996 Telecommunications Act which would be detrimental to the public), but either way it's democracy and the public that ultimately suffer.

Articulation

My Contrite Articulation and Extension of Gitlin's The Whole World is Watching

Protesters and activists are often looked at in the same form as "the exotic." They are put up to be "the other" in oppositional contrast to "the us." In this role they can solidify the us. Until, as Gitlin explores, there comes an "elevated moderate alternatives" that serve to compromise the supposed monolithic hegemeny to make way for the inocuous claims and aims of the other while rejecting the most radical goals. In this way the us is able to bend towards the other...but not so far as to actually compromize a complete upset of the status quo. Often, like in the exotic's fetishes and "artifacts" (ie. totems, beedwork, rugs, carvings, masks, bowls, pottery, etc.) the other's elements are not only marginalized and reduced, but also commodified. In the case of the exotic, their entire culture is looked at and commodofied, from their tools, their religion, to every element of their culture. With protesters, the extreme others are still exotic, uncivilized, and deviant, thus rationalizing "elevating moderate alternatives" reinforced with the media and by the commodified trendiness of the objects and visage of the other (ie. peace signs, hemp clothes, punk attire, skirts with pants, etc.).

Fearless + Dreamscape

Fearless

How can I explain it any better
than just showered, zipping up your clothes
Getting ready for a day that I will hide from
I can't say no and yet I don't regret
And in the morning glow I can't help but smile
Cuz I have hope that it too can happen to me.


Dreamscape

There's a demon through the mirror,
and I cannot face him down.
There's are ghosts inside my head,
They are screaming at me now
But they're all I have for friends
In my filthy little hole
Cuz no one comes for me
I'm just an lonely soul
And when I close my eyes,
It's the devil that I see
And he takes me and he breaks me
Till i'm begging on my knees.
The ghosts blew out the flames
That used to burn in me
And all their voices echo
That they'll never set me free.

Southbound

It's dark I'm cold and lonely
Walking towards my empty place
I know that you won't be there
But i'll still hope to see your face
I'm standing on the corner,
Wondering what good you are to me.
I'm waiting on the red light
But know green won't set me free.
Cuz i'm walking in a haze
And I am feeling almost blind
Missing you in spite of everything
And I'm losing my own mind.
Behind me I hear footsteps
So I quicken up my pace
But I turn and I see no one,
Just the phantom of my shame.
When I arrive I crawl in bed
So cold without you near
But I know it isn't worth it
Cuz when I need you, you're not there
In the dark of night
I just try to let it go
In my bones I feel I'm nothing,
And I'll be left to die alone.