Week 5 Individual Blog Task- Write a short essay of about 400 words about the below stated issue: news and you, again.Who owns the newspapers and TV stations in your country? Do you think this has an effect on the news that you hear?

             Who owns the newspapers and TV stations in your country? If you ask me, I think that Media Prima Berhad is the leading company in our country who owns the media of newspapers and TV stations. However, after I have done some research regarding this issue, it is found that there are about 3 main media groups in Malaysia. TV1 and TV2 is are under RTM group. As for NTV7, 8TV, TV9, they are all under Media Prima. 

              We can also clearly read the politics more often in the newspapers which are published by The Star, New Straits Times, Utusan, Berita Harian, etc. This may also due to the influence of the Government control. Apart from that, censorship also taken into account. Well, the control of the Government enfocre rules on the media shown cause mostly the pictures are being added mosaics effect especially those involving with the dead bodies of the female naked bodies and other gory scene. Ones will seldom see the full body being reveal in the newspapers or in the news reported by the reporters.                  
               
               Well, if you ask me, I think that the media ownership will indirectly induce the stereotypical mindsets among the readers.For example, when we listen to the news, we will tend to focus on the location of the incident occured and then we will indirectly relates it to the races who got affected by the cases or we may even indirectly figure out that particular races are more involved in the activities like robbery cases and theft cases. Hence, most people tend to have bias thinking towards the other races in our country.                
               
               In short, the ownership of the media in our country- Malaysia is quite essential to the news we gathered from. However, we do hope that the Government will be slightly open mindset towards the freedom of media. This is due to the restriction that is bounded to the media tend to restrict the invention of the creative industries. Especially like creative multimedia, and broadcast media, if everything is over control thus causes conflicts on the news issues and there will be fights among the people. The good example is like the recent news like the LYNAS issue and other sensitive issues which actually cause the attention of the readers. However, sometimes, these kind of news are not reported well in some cases and they may induce the mislead of the information to the readers.  

              Frankly speaking, I think that the ownership of the media does have the slight impact on the news that we gathered or heard from. According to the research that I have done, it is found out that the Government-owned media outlets are usually seen as achieving the goal of social welfare. We can see how different is the news being broadcasted by the tv stations like TV1, TV2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9 comparable to the news being reported by the Astro television station. It is obviously due to the censorship and the restriction being implemented due to they are all under Government control.

Week 4 Individual Blog Task- Write a short essay of about 400 words about the below stated issue: news and you. How often do you read the paper or watch the news on TV? How important is it for you to keep up with current events?

          If you ask me how often do you read newspapers or watch the news on television, I will say it is really seldom for me to do so nowadays. Before I come to Multimedia University to further my studies on Filming and Animation, I am used to read newspapers daily and will watch the news on television during evening. However, after I start to further my studies at Cyberjaya, my life changes due to I do not have much access to the television. Furthermore, I rarely read the newspaper due to the assignments is too time-consuming and barely have leisure time to read them.

         A newspaper is a scheduled publication which contains the news of the latest events, informative articles, diverse features, editorials, and advertising. In fact, newspapers generally cover many different subject matters such as sports, local entertainment news, fashion news, any past or ongoing events, etc. Last time, when I was reading the newspapers, I could really get myself updated with all the above events and news stated. I could even where and when was an event or incident had happened throughout the world. Furthermore, with the extra time facing the television and watching the news through this medium, I could even ensure the events are not considered rumors and all are true since sometimes, the paparazzi may just be too over to simply jot down anything that they think can get the attention to the media. In another words, the publisher of the newspaper may just even wanted the fame and simply spread rumors about the artists and the celebrities.

         When I had the access to the television, I could even know more about the current situation of my country- Malaysia in terms of social issues and political issues. The news on television would highlight these information to us. I could even event know the financial status throughout the world by referring to the stocks exchange and currency exchange shown on the tv. Besides, I could even stay alert to the surrounding after seeing the news on the accidents, robbery cases, theft cases, kidnap cases, etc. All these news would make me have the sense of danger all the times so that I would be very alert to the surroundings.

          In my current situation where there is no in touch with the television and the newspapers, I will get my news through surfing the internet. Nowadays, you may event get the latest news faster than the newspapers and the news being reported by the reporters with the aid of internet. I can even read the news through online and I can share the information that I have with my friends. Apart from that, I can get to know more about the happenings around the country and the world through the communication with my parents and friends. During the conversation through the mobile phone, they used to update me on any on the relevant news and they always ask me to take good care of myself.





With reference to the source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper:

Weekly Task 3: What is theatre? How do you think theatre, as a media form, communicates messages to its audience?

              Based from the research and references that I have found through Wikipedia, theatre is known as a collaborative form of fine art or performing arts that uses performers to present experience of a real or event which is being imagined before a live audience in a specific place. The performers will bring the audience an imagined or live events to let the audience experience them through the combinations of songs, music, dances, gestures as well as speeches. All these elements enhance the quality of a good theatre on the stage. In this modern era, theatre nowadays also includes performances of plays and musicals. One good example is the "Phantom of The Opera". Despite that, theatre can also be broadly defined to ballet and opera.
             
              A movie theatre is the venue where the audience gathered together and sat together to view and watch the film. Every theatre film possess a meaning behind of the story which is in fact written by the script writer. The director will request the actors or actress on the stage to perform well so that the messages can be reached to the target audience. For instance, the director will ensure the performers to act well so that the true emotions are being shown to everyone. The audience will feel sadness when they can see there droplets of tears around the performers. They can sense happiness through hearing the tone of their dialogues. This shows that theatre can even convey messages not only in a direct manner but also int can be in a indirect way.
         
              Furthermore, we can determine the settings of the story or the background settings of the story through the visual appearance of the costumes being wore by the performers. We can also know the origins of the characters through listening to the slang or accent as they are delivering their speeches. Another way we can determine the settings and the mood of the story is through observing the settings on the camera settings and lightings as well. We will see horror story or mystery story tend to focus on low key lighting and shadows are being used well to amplify the effect of the eeriness. We can sense danger upon seeing the character is looking down from the top of a skyscraper building.

               
              The last point that I would like to pinpoint is the scenes of a film or theatre plays an essential role to communicate the message to the audience as well. For example, we can know the flow of the story after watching them, since the involvement of the three acts structures. We can know the beginning, climax and the resolution of the story to be told through paying attention the details of the story. Some stories also make good use of the adaptation of the flashback technique and also the suspense style. Even these adaptations are depicted for the particular story, we as the audience will still be able to grasp the idea of the whole story since there will be hints and brief explanations by the characters involved through dialogues or even actings.




Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre

Week 2 Entry: Identify at least 4 Social groups or cultural groups and the media you think they use. You may include photos if you like.

                Basically, a group is a collection of people who have developed a common social identity relating to certain object of an activity. There are some elements that enable us to identify a sociological group. For example, the interaction among the group members and the group most likely will be in an organizational structure.  In a group, the members are likely to aware of their membership in the group and the members mostly will share the common interest. Sociological groups can be divided into different categorized groups: peer group, community, aggregate, primary group, reference group, voluntary group and other groups. 

                 The first social group I will like to discuss is the peer group. A peer group is made up of individuals of relatively equal status with whom the individual interacts frequently. As the saying goes, “A friend indeed is a friend in need”. Hence, anyone of us makes the very first social group with our peers. In another words, we can deduce growing up with friends will shape who we are nowadays other than our own parents. The members in a peer group tend to share the similar interest and sometimes will exchange ideas which indirectly will affect one another. I think the media that will be used for peers are mobile phones, internet, cameras and external hard drives. Members of a peer group can be adolescence or youths. Hence, they usually use mobile phones to send text messages to one another as a medium for communication. They will also use social websites like Facebook or Twitter to preserve their friendship. They may also use the features of creating events or groups for discussion over some matters.  Peers will also like to exchange the movie files and others sources of files through the usage of hard drives which can be used to store many files.

 

                 The second social group that I will like to highlight is the aggregate group. An aggregate group is a group of people who are in the same place but they do not interact much with one another nor share the same characteristics.  In fact, these people are concerned about themselves and do not care much about their surroundings. For example, the college or university students who are staying the outdoor campus and do not interact to one another. For this instance, the most common media they will use are social media and mobile phones. They are not good at expressing themselves and they will depend on the use of the common social sites-Facebook to act as a medium to express their own feelings and even their thoughts to other housemates. Another possible media that they will use are text messaging services to the other housemates for communication purposes.

                 Next, I will emphasize another social group which is the primary group. A primary group is a typically small social group whose members share close, personal and enduring relationships. This group is marked by members’ concern for one another and these people normally share the same culture as well as activities. Examples of this group of people are family, childhood friends as well as highly influential social groups.  The media that they used to use are mobile phones and letters. For example, the parent will use the mobile phone to contact their children who are not by their side to ensure their safety. Some childhood friends, who are not very computer literate, will use letters to one another to maintain their closed friendships especially to those who have not been met with each other for few years. In this modern era, the use of social site like Facebook and Twitter enable them to reach one another more easily in a more efficient way.

                 Last but not least, the other social group is franchise.  Franchisees are the persons involved in this social group, which run several businesses in the country. They will normally use billboards, internet, television, radio and newspapers to promote their products to the consumers to ensure a good business flow. Apart from that they will sometimes depict the use of animation or short video clips for publicity purposes as well. For example, we can see Kentucky Fried Chicken or Mac Donald’s advertisements most of the times on the television during the advertisement intervals of the television programmes, like drama series, news, celebrity or entertainment shows.  Some of them even create websites and web pages for sharing the latest information regarding their latest products and at the same time, obtaining the feedback from the consumers.  

                In short, media have been played an essential roles in our lives as they enable us to connect to one another at anywhere at any time in terms of verbally or non-verbally communication. 

Weekly Task 2: Collect At Least 10 types of media forms and describe them...(* Make sure you note your references if you get the information or references from somewhere else....)

Types of Media Forms:

1)      Primitive media:

They are the media which have existed before the discovery of new media for the means of communication and sending or sharing information. Examples for primitive media are: sending smoke signals, sending pigeons to transmit messages, some ancestors even used flag to direct signal which acts as a way for sending and replying the messages. These media are being used in the olden days and I believe they are indeed quite time-consuming since without the aid of technologies. Sometimes, problems of misinterpretation would likely to be occurred or the failure of sending of the messages might be happened as well due to unforeseen circumstances. 









Source: Google Image

2)      Printed media:

Communication delivered via paper or canvas. In my own opinion, I think that printed media is come after the discovery of the written media. Printed media are quite essential as they involved in the publicity of the latest or even some past news that happened around us at any time. Despite, printed media act as very good sources for us to gain knowledge. In some cases, printed media also served as the evidence purposes as everything is jot down black and white.











Source: Google Image

3)      Written media: 

They are used to convey messages to one another by the usage of written text.  In the olden days until now, we can see the revolution of written media to other forms of media which are indirectly affected by them. Written media also involving the revolution of font types and the changes in the characters. For example, in China, each Dynasty involved the characters based from pictogram and objects.

Source: Google Image

4)      Spoken media: 

They are considered to be the way to mediate the information in spoken form. In fact, when we are having meeting or conference, it is said that we are using these media to share information to one another. Furthermore, we can direct share information more easily through the use of spoken media as we can ensure that the message is understood by the recipients.

Source: Google Image

5)      New Media: 

A generic term for many different forms of electronic communication that are made possible through the use of computer technology. These media involved the usage of digital devices and as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around content. New media are also have the characteristics of being manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible and interactive.  Examples are: IPhone, IPad, Tablet, etc.


Source from: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/N/new_media.html

Source: Google Image 

6)      Broadcast media:

Communications delivered over mass electronic communication networks. Many devices are related to broadcast media, for example: radio, television and even satellite. In fact, mostly the news that we usually see on the television programmes are considered updated and some live broadcast enable us to keep track what is happening at particular time. 

Source: Google Image

7)      Personal media: 

This term is defined as the any form of media designed for use by a specific person. In fact, personal media also can be denoted as person-to-person communication such as gestures, mails, speech and telephony. In fact, in the earliest days, gestures and speech are greatly needed and indeed are quite convenient since technologies are not much required. 

Source: http://www.globalization101.org/types-of-media-2/

Source: Google Image

8)      Social media:

Social media includes the various online technology tools that enable people to communicate easily via the internet to share information and resources. Social media can include text, audio, video, images, podcasts, and other multimedia communications. Some famous social sites among the youths or the younger generations are as followed: Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Friendster and other sites. Social media are considered to be very user-friendly as the interface designs are simple and they even have different extra features like, creating chat room, fan page, events, and ones can even connect to other people easily with the feature of suggesting the users the recommended friends. These media totally can save our time in this modern busy world as multitasking can be done with the aids of all these fine features.

Source: Google Image

9)      Electronic media

Communications delivered via electronic or electromechanical energy. Electronic media may be in the form of digital or analog though mostly are found in the form of digital format. Primary electronic media which are quite well-known by many people are multimedia presentation, slide presentations, compact discs,floppy discs, etc. In fact, most of the electronic media are also have the function of creating data or modifying the data which can later be transferred to other devices as backup copies. Examples: Mobile phones, compacts discs, floppy discs, memory cards, etc.
















Source: Google Image

10)    Mass media: 

Any kind of form of media that are designed for use by many people. In the past, ones need to read the newspaper in order to obtain the news around us. However, nowadays, many people can simply surf the internet to get the latest news in a very short time. Furthermore, when we are using these media to share information, we can assure that thew messages are being sent spontaneously through various kinds of media. Despite that, we can also send the messages or information to multiple targets through multiple platforms.       In fact, printing, radio and television are some examples of mass media which are intended to reach vast audiences.  

Source: http://www.globalization101.org/types-of-media-2/

Source: Google Image

11)    Recording media: 

Requires the use of devices which act to store information. In the olden days, our ancestors would use the written media as the one and only media to keep their files. However, when they needed to arrange the file in an orderly manner, they would need to spend much time to trace back their files and in other words, it was quite not very efficiency. Unlike nowadays, we can have all sorts of modern devices which can help us to have our documentation of files can be done in a well manner and the time taken for the process is very fast.    Examples: Mobile phones, compacts discs, floppy discs, memory cards, external hard drives, camcorder, camera, recorder and microchips.














Source: Google Image

12)   Interactive media: 

Interactive media is the integration of digital media including combinations of electronic text, graphics, moving images, and sound, into a structured digital computerized environment that allows people to interact with the data for appropriate purposes. The digital environment can include the Internet, telecoms and interactive digital television. Though interactive media is very advanced in terms of technology, many people might not be affordable to use them since they are considered to be exorbitantly priced due to the high end technologies are being involved for these media.

Source: http://www.atsf.co.uk/atsf/interactive_media.pdf

Source: Google Image

13)   Creative multimedia: 

These are the media having the power to create means of conveying and expressing information.Products of these media include: drawings, animations, web-pages,video,etc. Creative multimedia involve not only visual presentations of the design of an artwork but they do involve the post production as well which comprises of editing the artwork. There are existed in all kinds of forms: arts, digital paintings, animations, short videos, movies, etc. 

Source: Google Image

Week 1 Entry: Thoughts on media use. Write the description in 400 words. You may include paragraphs if you like to.

      Media is defined as the tools or equipments that we use to mediate or deliver the information. Media takes many forms in this globalization world, such as primitive media, written or spoken media, printed media, broadcast media, art, and creative multimedia. In fact, media has changed our lives immensely throughout the world.

      In the past, our ancestors have used primitive media, like smoke signals, drum beats to act as a medium for communication purpose. Apart from that, we can also learn the history of the olden days through studying and analyzing the drawings on the cave. Written media such as cuneiforms, figures, diagrams enable us to gather information or tabulate data in an organized way. Despite, the different forms of fonts especially the Chinese fonts enable us to deduce the history of China of each Dynasty. In fact, printed media like books, magazines, novels and newspapers which might be derived from the usage of written media.  From here, we can see how different media affect each others. 

      Nowadays broadcast media, digital media and creative multimedia are highly used to create means of expressing information. For example, radio and television which are considered as broadcast media have indeed become our common medium to obtain all sorts of news. However, in these modern days the use of internet and other web media has replaced them in sharing information or latest news. For instance, one can use Facebook or Tweeter to get the latest news through browsing the latest news feed available in these social sites. Despite, we can also use social sites to conduct multitasking, such as having a meeting using the group chat function or create an event page for publicity purposes.

      Though media has brought us many pros, media also leads to many social problems. One big issue that we might encounter is cyber crime. This includes copyright issue due to the misuse of internet for many people who download the pirated version of audio and movie files. Apart from that, we also will have the chance to be blackmailed by means of written media or even through internet simply because of being misunderstood or being framed by other people. Some irresponsible people also like to create spam messages or fake rumors to get the attention from the community.

      In conclusion, we must always use wisely on the media to reduce and to prevent social problems for the sake of everyone.

                   

Weekly Task 1:

Meanings of following terms:

1) Cross-disciplinary:
- Involving two or more academic disciplines.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cross-disciplinary (27-10-2012)

2) Interdisciplinary:
- Refers to research or study that integrates concepts from different disciplines resulting in a synthesized or coordinated coherent whole.
http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/interdisciplinary.htm (27-10-2012)

3) Transdisciplinary:
- Defined as projects that both integrate academic researchers from different unrelated disciplines and non-academic participants, such as land managers and the public, to research a common goal and create new knowledge and theory.
http://learningforsustainability.net/research/interdisciplinary.php (27-10-2012)

4) Qualitative Research: 

- It is the research generated outside the framework of a quantitative approach.
http://www.investorwords.com/3993/qualitative_research.html  (27-10-2012)

5) Ethnographic Studies or Research:

- It is the study or research which focuses on work in ethnography and ethnomethodology but it also provides a forum for sympathetic research in other human sciences, such as psychology and history. Its aim is to promote qualitative inquiry. The policy of the journal is to publish empirical studies but also theoretical and philosophical work which relates to current issues and debates in human sciences. 

http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/disciplines/sociology/about/events/ethnography/journal/  (27-10-2012)