JOUR 4250: What to think, who to be and what to buy

Advertising is more powerful than just influencing consumer behavior. It has shaped our norms and challenged what is socially or culturally acceptable.

Our class is moving into race and gender portrayals in advertising after understanding patterns and statistics with race and gender in news coverage. The first article discussed in class was about the portrayal of women specifically in advertisements.

The documentary we watched, “Killing Us Softly 4”, complemented the article by uncovering many of the messages advertising sends to us. The film exposed how these messages often over sexualize women and turn them into objects rather than human beings.

The filmmaker, Jean Kilbourne, made the connection between objectifying women, or anything for that matter, with violent crimes. Kilbourne said when advertisements turn women into sexual objects they become dehumanized. When someone is dehumanized less emotion and feelings are attached to them.

 Some of the advertisements used as examples in the documentary were just outright violent. There was no need to explain how the messages sent from these advertisements connected with actual behavior. Many of the advertisements showed women being the victim of violence.

 The documentary honed in on the negative side effects of consistently showing undernourished or Photoshopped women in advertisements. The result: more women having poor self-esteem and a correlation with the increase of eating disorders in this country.

 Examples like increases in eating disorders and low self-esteem come to show how powerful advertising is. Click here to see current facts and statistics on eating disorders.

Advertising is most successful when it can successfully provide solutions to consumers’ problems. Technology has made it possible for advertisers to feature images of women with impossible features. If a magazine cover advertises acne cream and has a digitally enhanced image of a woman with perfectly unnatural skin, it subconsciously pressures consumers to strive for something they will never attain. It seems to be working for advertisers, too.

Now we have a current trend of advertisements featuring the “common man.” Kilbourne briefly went over how men are portrayed in advertisements. Women are predominately portrayed as weak and vulnerable while men are predominately portrayed as independent and not showing emotion. With these masculine characteristics come the masculine physical features associated with them.

At first the “common man” seemed like a great idea, something more humanizing. Our readings from the class told us these advertisements caught on because when we see somebody who may be less masculine, we feel better about ourselves. Although this may seem selfish and shallow it makes sense for consumers to think this way after seeing false examples of what we should be like ad after ad.

Both men and women alike see too many advertisements featuring false images of people. This puts pressure on how we feel and how we act. It is up to us as consumers to read through the lines with the thousands of advertisements we see each day.

JOUR 4460 Blog 4: The power of a great story

Everyone likes to hear a good story. Whether it is a story you remember of a certain family member or the history of a company, stories stick and can be shared for years.

Storytelling is also a great way for businesses to be remembered by. This is especially true with cause marketing in the nonprofit world. The spokesperson for a nonprofit will most likely have a story of their own that explains why or how they got started in the first place.

The reason we remember stories so well is because they are entertaining. The stories that stick around the longest and are remembered for years are the ones that are unique and interesting.

For example, I remember the history of Gatorade after being told how it got its name. It used to be a drink, exclusively for the Florida Gators college football team. In a nutshell, it obviously became a hit sports drink and is where it is today. The lesson, however, is that a company can be remembered by their own interesting history.

E-releases, a website focusing on small to medium-sized business gaining access to newswires, had a post about the importance of storytelling. The post used cavemen as an example of communication. Today we may have many more tools and mediums through which we communicate, but the characteristics of a great story can be strangely similar.

Even if your company is just starting out or hasn’t had its big breakthrough yet, stories can still be beneficial. The post from E-releases reminded readers that some of the best stories are full of hurdles and conflict. I doubt Gatorade had a smooth transition from the sidelines of a game to becoming one of the most popular sports drinks dominating the market.

Storytelling doesn’t just help in being remembered. Company stories often reinforce their very own mission statements, brand promises or goals. Since we were already on the subject of sports drinks, why not look at Gatorade’s main focus? Gatorade’s goal is to continue to find the best ways to assist athletes by providing proper hydration.

After learning about Gatorade’s history, one can tell that this is what the company has been about from the start. From learning Gatorade’s unique story, we can now see how consistently they stick to their original mission. Consistency can give a company a great deal of credibility.

A unique story helps consumers connect with the company. Stories make a business not only more credible but more personalized. Huge companies like Halliburton and Microsoft all had a beginning, I just haven’t heard their stories yet.

E-releases. June 5, 2012. September 25, 2012. http://www.ereleases.com/prfuel/pr-is-storytelling-are-you-doing-it-right/

Gatorade. September 25, 2012. < http://www.gatorade.com/history/#7>

Serra da Capivara cave painting. http://www.fanningart.com/2010/11/cave-painters/ Website. September 25, 2012.

JOUR 4250: September 20 Review

Last class provided me with quite the history lesson. I never knew there were women in professional baseball, nor did I know there was even a baseball league for black Americans. It was an eye opener for sure.

Our class discussed what we read about women in professional baseball. The league was in decline as more black Americans joined the MLB. In an effort to entertain fans and bring more people out, the league let three women into the league. At first I thought it was a marketing ploy, but these women turned out to be the real deal. Mamie Johnson, Toni Stone and Connie Morgan played for the Negro League for two years before the league disbanded.

After learning how underplayed their roles were in the mainstream media, I predicted I was not the only one who hadn’t been aware of this. If this happened in the MLB, it would be without a doubt heavily reported. Most attention came from the black press before the civil rights movement. Good thing we watched a documentary on the black press because it was just another thing I knew nothing about.

The documentary gave examples of the impact the black press held during its time. It was the voice of the oppressed and the voice of hope, especially for black southerners.

One of the journalists responsible for providing a voice was Robert Sengstacke Abbott (pictured to the right), the founder and editor of “The Chicago Defender.” He wrote with wit and sarcasm and did not hold back. He reported on the southern lynch mobs and the violence aimed toward free black Americans. He instilled hope for those in the south by writing about opportunity and freedom in the north.

Abbott has been associated with the great migration of black southerners to the north. Southerners grew increasingly frustrated as many of their workers left. Many tried to stop the circulation for Abbott’s paper in their towns, causing Abbott to become more strategic with his paper’s distribution. Abbott had his papers handed out to black workers on trains. The workers would toss the papers out the windows as they passed through the towns.

Abbott was not the only writer of his kind. Other black papers spoke out against racism, violence and the mistreatment of black Americans. They provided jobs for black Americans and a place for them to simply be heard.

We all learn about the civil rights movement in school, but I hardly heard about its influences. Leaders like Abbott and breakthroughs like women playing professional baseball are just a few examples of the progress and impact black Americans made before the civil rights movement.

JOUR 4460 Blog 3: Business to blogger, the new B2B communication

A political science class over presidential elections taught me the importance of utilizing opinion leaders. Well, I think the same can apply for businesses and the opportunity to communicate online.

More and more I am receiving news in the form of YouTube videos or Facebook posts. It is evident that our opinion leaders are no longer talking about revolutions in French coffee shops, but sharing things with others via Twitter posts or through blogging.

A post I read by Brian Solis, a social media and marketing blogger, referred to this group of people as “Generation C.”

“They rely on shared experiences of strangers to guide their actions,” said Solis.

Solis’ point was to be empathetic toward this newly emerged group. If someone were trying to get their name out, then thinking like somebody in this group would certainly help. I think these people can also be utilized in ways to help communication.

I think it would be beneficial to not only think like a member of Gen C, but to also communicate with members of Gen C.

In my last PR 4460 class we were assigned the task of creating a social media press release. One of the target audiences listed to receive these was bloggers. Bloggers can be opinion leaders and use the agenda setting principles for their followers. These people discuss things that some readers will hear for the first time. They bring certain things to light that I would have never known about if I hadn’t read their post. For example, I would have never heard about a new app called Glympse if it was not for blogger Peter Shankman.

Solis bolstered the importance of Gen C by saying how difficult it is for potential customers to find your business through traditional media outlets. This is especially true for startups and smaller businesses. After discovering Glympse through a nontraditional media outlet, I know something about the product and have something to impress my friends with. I don’t think I would have discovered Glympe through a newspaper or radio advertisement.

Brian Solis. Are you connecting with your new generation of customers…Generation C? September 10, 2012. Web. <http://www.briansolis.com/2012/09/are-you-connecting-with-your-new-generation-of-customers-generation-c/>

JOUR 4250: September 13 Review

Thursday my class was assigned to read an article out of Vanity Fair titled “Who is Wall Street’s Queen B.?” I thought to myself, sure, an article about two women who made it big in a male dominated field. Our instructor’s reasoning behind this was quite the opposite.

The article was loaded with sentences belittling Erin Burnett and Maria Bartiromo. It included embarrassing examples of their nicknames: “street sweetie” and “money honey.”

The entire theme of the article focused around the idea of the two in the middle of a “catfight.” Both reporters have denied the claims.

Vanity Fair author Suzanna Andrews thought it was so important she decided to include it just below the headline. “She has worked hard, for years to get there, so the meteoric rise of another gorgeous CNBC anchor, 32-year-old Erin Burnett-‘Street Sweetie’ to Bartiromo’s ‘Money Honey’-has everyone talking catfight,” Andrews wrote.

I couldn’t have picked a better sentence to summarize how embarrassing this article was. I thought it was so unprofessional I could have sworn it was a satire piece, making fun of other articles that actually report on stuff like this.

Our class has had lengthier discussions than the one we had on this article. I think its because everyone seemed to agree on its quality of writing.

We moved on to watch another video titled “Sexual Stereotypes in the Media.” It was interesting because for the first time we got to see how men have been subject to stereotypes. One classmate brought up an excellent example of how G.I. Joe action figures have gotten more and more muscular each year. It was an example of how men are increasingly becoming more self-conscious of their appearances as a result of media pressures.

A mixture of the classmates’ personal comments reinforced the instructors’ lesson for the evening. Next time I read the assigned articles, I wont be blind-sided like I was with the Vanity Fair article. Read it for yourself. Click here.

JOUR 4460 Blog 2: Senators question PR

March proved to us that both political parties can, in fact, work well together. Republican Senator Rob portman of Ohio teamed up with Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri to investigate the outsourced public relations spending of 11 government departments.

Portman and McCaskill called for information on all public relations contracts as far back as October 2008. Both Senators believed the Obama administration had been using tax payers' dollars toward wasteful public relations contracts.

This is an interesting pairing. McCaskill has recently pushed for a more centered image of herself as she prepares for reelection. Her showdown with Rep. Todd Akin is closer than I would have ever imagined. Even after Akin's comment about rape, he is still in the game. This is an impactful race as Republicans only need four more Senatorial victories to win majority. McCaskill's recent TV ad showed her political stance quite clearly. She emphasized the fact she is ranked number 50 on a scale of most conservative to most liberal Senators.

To view the ad, click here.

PRSA president William Murray defended the values of public relations and its use in government. Murray released an article reminding readers that McCaskill has purposely distanced herself from Obama, an example that this is not a balanced attack on public relations.

Here is the article.

I do believe there is a use for cross examination and accountability within our government. I do not believe this is an example of it. Public relations exists to relay messages to specific audiences in ways they will understand. I have only met one person on this planet who fully understood the ins and outs of the Affordable Care Act. This person happened to be a Congressman. Better communication leads to better understanding. Better understanding leads to more informed voters.

William M. Murray. Prsa president: Bring on the Senate inquiry into pr. March 22, 2012. Web.<http://prdaily.com/Main/Articles/PRSA_president_Bring_on_the_Senate_inquiry_into_PR_11171.aspx>

JOUR 4250: September 6 Review

It’s always interesting to me to get to hear personal experiences from classmates. As I said in my last post, our class is quite diverse, so getting to hear others commenting and connecting the discussion to their lives is great.

I came from a less than diverse high school when compared to this classroom. For example, according to School Digger, a website designed for parents looking for average test scores and school statistics, my high school’s African American population was 1.6 percent just two years ago. UNT’s African American population for all of this school, according to the UNT Fact Book, is 12.7 percent. To see your school’s information, click here. Coming to UNT has surrounded me with people from all different walks of life. I have made friends from all over, even different countries, and have heard stories of what it was like growing up in different cultures. To me, this is just another benefit of going to a large university. Becoming a UNT student has allowed me to interact with a more diverse group of people.

Our instructor went back over the diversity in a newsroom so we could have an idea of which sets of people are predominantly bringing us the news. The class notes we were shown said newspaper staffs are made up of 12 percent minorities in this country. This is important because we learned that it is possible for journalists to frame stories. This is where stories are reported with an angle according to how the journalist may make sense of the world.

Our class then revisited the example a student made from the first day of class. The student, who works in a newsroom, said there is only one minority reporter. The instructor reminded us how important this was because the same student also said that this particular minority reporter covers stories other reporters typically do not.

The concept of framing made sense to me after this class. Thanks to students’ input and feedback from the teacher, I feel more confident in my ability to become more media literate. 

JOUR 4460: Getting them to care

I have kept in the back of my mind a list of tips for when I write, especially when I write news leads. One of the best tips I was given was asking myself "so what." It's so simple but seemingly so often overlooked. I feel like this is one of the best ways to capture an audience’s attention because it is something that actually applies to the lives of the readers.

After my first day in the class, I checked out the articles our instructor posted. The focus of the second or third article I read was one from prsa explaining how to get a pitch noticed when there is hard-hitting news dominating the scene. The example given in the article is how hard it can be to get a soft news pitch noticed in an election year. The tip the article gave was for pr professionals to align their pitch to an important, current topic. An easy comparison right now would be health care issues. Obviously a topic so highly read about would allow for a pitch with similar information to also be more likely to get picked up.

The article went a bit further to make its point. With so many other concerns about today, I can see how it may be harder to get a soft news pitch through. The article suggested telling readers how your company or product should help alleviate concerns. This is where it clicked for me. I know how often the marketing world and pr world bump up against each other, but this makes perfect sense.

I remember my first college marketing professor telling me people don’t buy drill bits. People buy the holes they make. Well, I now see this same lesson transferring over to the communication side of things. The company that makes the drill bits recognizes the problem and offers a solution.

So how does this connect to my "so what?" Asking "so what" is one of the best ways to turn my writing into something readers actually will care about. The same topics being presented day to day in the news are topics people care about. It only makes sense for media pitches to connect to the topics readers will care about also.

Read the article here.

Margo Mateas. The media relations maven on pitching in a tightnened news circle. pRSA. May 9, 2008. Web.<http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/Tactics/Articles/view/7323/101/The_Media_Relations_Maven_on_pitching_in_a_tighten>

JOUR 4250-Aug. 30 Review

I selected Journalism 4250: Race, Gender and Media because it sounded interesting. I wanted a class that allowed lively open discussions on current topics regarding the media. Within the first few minutes of the first class, I figured this would be the case.

Each student individually introduced themselves to the class and said something interesting about themselves. Ms. Everbach made a comment about the diversity of the classroom, especially about the amount of men in the class. I thought the class was pretty diverse, too. Not diverse in just race and gender alone, but also diverse in interests and backgrounds. There were international students, graduate students, undergraduate students and students who had been all around the world writing about what they saw.

After the introductions were over with, Ms. Everbach reintroduced me to Antoine Dodson. Antoine Dodson made internet fame after being interviewed about an apparent rapist climbing through his apartment window and assaulting his sister. Ms. Everbach asked questions about how the media portrayed him and his family. Multiple students mentioned how the news station acted irresponsibly when filming Mr Dodson. I definitely agreed with the students who spoke out. The interview obviously turned a serious situation and made it humorous by casting Mr. Dodson and his family in a negative light. The result? More than 43 million views on YouTube.

The Dodson family discussion made for a great transition into the powerpoints Ms. Everbach then showed the class. We went over what schemas and stereotypes are and defined a few theories. One thing that really interested me was the “cultivation theory” we went over. This theory says that heavy exposure to something affects perceptions on reality. Ms. Everbach made an example of this by relating crime shows and how people who watch a lot of them often think. She said in one survey of people who watched a lot of crime shows, many of them thought the crime rate was much higher than it really was.

To tell you the truth, this only made me think about the things I watch or listen to and how I, in turn, visualize my surroundings. I read and listen to a lot of news dealing with public policy and politics. I know for certain these topics are on my mind quite often, even when I am not actively listening or reading something about it.

This class left me with something to think about after engaging me in intelligent discussions with my fellow classmates and teachers. I have had many 3 hour classes before, but this one went by quick.