Undercover Movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gasp !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So for my Media Literacy class we all had to create a story through pictures or motion pictures. A classmate, Christian Choyce, and I created one based off a relationship between a criminal and an informant. It starts off with a slow tilt upwards revealing the wire beneath the informants clothing. Then it continues as the unsuspecting criminal and sneaky informant go about there daily routine of riding around and making deals while there are cuts of the informants sting operation setup leading up to a shocking ending. All together it took four of us to make the video. Choyce was the informant, I was the criminal, a friend of ours named Sean was the drug dealer, and our other friend Matt was the head detective. Since the four of us were never together in one shot we took turns on the camera work and Choyce and I edited it using iMovie. The music came from an artist that we all like name "Chance The Rapper." So feel free to take a look.

Viacom flip Viacom change Viacom phlip Viacom switch Viacom

       Sometimes I channel surf and feel like I have seen everything or the programs are too similar. Through research I found out it was because of parent companies such as Disney, Viacom, CBS, and Comcast. As far as television goes there is really only six companies that run the networks that viewers have to choose from. Companies like Viacom, Disney, AOL Time Warner, Vivendi, News Corporation, and Bertelsmann have turned television media into an oligopoly. An oligopoly is when a small amount of companies run a certain type of business. Out of all these media moguls I decided to cover the company Viacom. Viacom owns broadcast companies such as MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, and BET. These stations cover a wide span of demographics of viewers which explains why people think they do not have much choice in what they see. I understand how they feel yet at the same time I feel like their is plenty to watch but I think we can solve this problem eventually given the right situations.
       I do like the fact that Viacom has much to choose from such as BET for their black target audience, CMT for their country music lovers target audience, or Nickelodeon for their children and family target audience. I do not think the problem is cable television not having enough options but instead the viewers having an over whelming desire for more and different materials. People want all the information they think they missing because they over heard something else from another source. Audiences in the present day world of media have way more options and know way more information then audiences 25 years ago; however, spectators perceive it as less or insufficient because they are use to constantly receiving more in media. My grandmother constantly reminds me that when television was first popular it only had around three channels and it went off at a certain time. In my whole lifetime I experienced television as a 24 hour, several hundred or more channels, colored source of entertainment that always had something to offer. When I was young I tuned in for educational purposes watching Sesame Street and Arthur. A few years later I found television to be a source of entertainment, so I watched shows such as All That, Kenan and Kel, and Cousin Skeeter. More years went by and as a young teen I felt I was ready for TV14 rated shows such as Degrassi, Family Matters, and Everybody Hates Chris. Now as a young adult I find myself watching more adult shows like The Game, Guy Code, and The Hard Times of RJ Berger. So as far as I was concerned I could always watch what I wanted and sometimes even what I needed. However I do understand why people feel the urge to request more. After all "When you're used to filet Mignon it's hard to go back to hamburger helper" - Jay-Z. Meaning we are conditioned to all these great things why settle for less now?

        I think what Viacom brings to television is very entertaining and full of options but just like most media fanatics I could use more shows and channels. There is much this world has to offer us but not all of it makes it to television for one reason or another. Viewers believe this is another type of censorship where the media hides the things they do not want us to know or see for what ever reason, and blow up and repeat the things they want us to watch, hear, feel, and remember. Most people consider them conspiracy theorist but I do believe they might be on to something. For instance, moments such as the attack on the world trade center or the Holocaust they always say never forget; however hundreds of years of slavery and the Rodney King beating is something they want people to get over. There is nothing wrong with getting over things but why pick and choose, how do they pick and choose which one is more important than the other, and why don't "we the viewers" get a say, after all it is all for us.


       What should be done about all this is to possibly adding more channels and television shows but that would just make these oligopolies stronger, richer, and have a larger fan base to support them. What can be done is being done but very poorly and has been taking viewers away from television and towards the internet. What can be done is for local stations to allow local broadcasters to show their most recent idea of entertainment and if it does well these media moguls will pick them up and add them as a program on one of their stations. In reality, local stations mostly show news and don't give many people a chance, which is why people take their business to the internet hoping they will get recognized there.

       In conclusion, I believe like many people do. These stations have been curving our media which in turn has been curving our thoughts and view of the world. This got me thinking back to the Truman show. All these shows on a loop and people no matter the age imitating them, and us only knowing what we've been told. With all these smoke and mirrors it's hard to believe your eyes sometimes.

Hey lil $#@%!^& this that media $#!+

       The media often presents many common, current issues of today, not only locally or nationally. but around the world. The media also serves as a source of entertainment and marketing but those types of media are usually based off what is trending in current events and issues. As a viewer all of this affects your life in one way or another. So my question is: As a parent, the main controller of the remote, how does media affect your decision making on what you let your kids watch and what is considered good or bad media for your kids? So I had a conversation with my cousin Jocaster who has a daughter, a son and takes care of his brothers son and is trying to plan out his television monitoring and restrictions.


       Joe and I recollect what media was light when we were younger and started to choose what we watched on television. We remember all of the cartoon violence and action. Those very same shows would be the ones we would imitate while we played as well as would constantly quote and watch more of. The other thing we remember is how all of the cool and major characters smoked cigars are something like that in their shows as well as substitute other items in shows for drug and alcohol references. Another common thing in our cartoons and television shows was sexual innuendo. We also remember how the commercials would further encourage these bad habits by selling toys that promote the same things. We came to an agreement that even though the media was not the only factor it did have a great influence on us and our peers over time.
       Joe said he will be closely monitoring what his kids, watches in their early stages of life so they will choose the better ones when he gets a bit older. He goes on to say that he will be a little lenient on what they watch because he said that is when his parenting skills will kick in. Though their may be racy things on television and the internet he can't render his kids ignorant but instead expose them to it through a television and show them right from wrong. He goes on to say that he feels if there is a subject that he may feel is racy but is common with kids around their age he will talk about it with them so that if it comes up in real life as well as in the media they know how to handle it. He further notes that when it comes to his daughter he will monitor harder on her interactions online, attempting to keep her away from perverts and kidnappers.
       He explained after becoming a parent he became more involved media. Keeping up with the trends and current dangers of the world. He told me it gave him a better understanding of many things and taught him what to do in certain situations. He brought up the point of no matter how much monitoring he does in the house technology made it possible to access media from anywhere. He says since he is still pretty young he is still in the loop as far as social media and video games however he is afraid of loosing touch when he gets older much like most parents he knows.

me in the blue

       Hello, My name is Joe-Joe. No it's not short for Joseph or Josiah; its short for Jordan. I'm 19 years old but most people say I look around 12. I consider myself a hip-hop head. I listen to a lot of classic hip-hop but when it comes to current my music I listen to everything to decide who I will continue to listen to. In a way that's how I choose my friends as well. I introduce myself to everyone to decide and through our following conversations I come up with a conclusion of whether we are going to be good friends or not. I am very open with my thoughts and opinions so there is rarely silence in my conversations. 
       As far as media, it effects my life in many aspects. Media happens to be a great source of information, entertainment, and communication. It has been getting easier to get more information as well as information that is more relevant to the viewer. Through social media I feel like I can get enough updates of current events that I can choose whether to search further or not. Because of that I rarely feel the need to watch the news. Media usually gives people suggestions on how to dress and act in public but it also gives a false image of what normal people live like. With reality shows being so popular people seem to forget more and more that if the people were really that down to earth they wouldn't be on television.