Athletes are role models whether they like it or not.  They are always in the public eye.  They should be held at a higher expectation then everyone else.  This shouldn't be a problem they are well paid, its just something that comes with the fame.  Athletes have a lot of influence over people mainly the youth.  That's one of the reasons why they are so marketable.  Kobe Bryant let a lot of people down when he went through his sex scandal.  As fans we can't be to mad at him, He's only human.  It was a lesson that he needed to learned.  He was only 26 years old when it happen.  The lady that he had the affair with was only 19 years old.  She worked at the hotel he was staying at.  everyone in the world know she was lying she just wanted to get paid.  She wouldn't testified in court so Kobe case was dismissed.  She ended up settle in a civil case out of court.  I can't say that I blame her, she work at a hotel.  Kobe should have known better. this scandal caused him to lose a lot of endowments.

The Micheal Vick dog incident was bad too.  I understand why he did it.  They fight dogs all the time in the hood.  He just didn't realized that he not in the hood anymore.  He is a national super star quarterback. In 2006 Vick a young black man was the higher paid QB in the NHL.  He had a contract for 10 years $130,000 dollars.  I honestly think Vick just got to a point where he felt like he was untouchable.  Vick was 27 years old at the time. Him and Kobe was around the same age when they got into trouble. Vick was accused of dog fighting about 54 pit bulls. Vick admitted to funding dogfighting and he admitted to killing 6 to 8 dogs cause of them underperforming. This case was his first offense and he got sentenced 12-18 months of jail time.  Both Kobe and Vick learned there lessons and is doing good in there sports today.

Blog 5

 

 

A lot of musicians now days are surviving off of their brand, because on the growth of the internet.  There are advantages and disadvantages for musicians from the growth of the internet.  One major advantage would be not needing recorder companies as much.  The reason for this is musicians can do so much on their own now.  According to RollingStone.com “A musician in today’s economy market themselves through a variety of media sources. Musician can utilize social media and the internet to promote their music. Because of this conventional managers and labels are no longer required for musicians.  If you want to market yourself and your music by yourself, there are few general tips to follow.”  The first tip is classifying your music.  You would able to network and market your music to appropriate niches.  If you want to classify your music as folk, you can then communicate with the folk radio stations, folk clubs and the local folk musicians.  Now on the other hand records sales are down because so many people can download music for free off the internet.  Why buy it when you can get it for free.  According to Valerie King, Artist s  are focusing on tickets sales. They are starting clothing line, Perfume/ Cologne scent, and even investing in stocks.   King also said most of the artist she knows even big names, don’t have those options.  Their budget are so tight that they’re just trying to keep the tour rolling, everyone  fed, maybe get paid and keep  the utilities on at home.  After reading this information I realized being a musician for most is like working a 9 to 5 job.  Its seems like because of the declining state the music business is in, reality television shows are growing.  Every time you look up there a new show coming out.  Musicians are doing whatever they can to stay afloat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog 4

If I had to choose two Cable news commentators to discuss it would Be Anderson Cooper and Bill 0’reilly.  Anderson Cooper seems very real.  He is original and authentic.  An example of that is his coming out the closet.  I ‘m gay and I’m proud.  I think his demeanor is very clam but firm.  He doesn’t have any picks.  Meaning if people did or said something the he did not like or approved of.  He would call you out with no regards for your fame, position, or title.  One of the persons he called out was Rep. Michele Bachmann.  According to CNN.COM Cooper claim that Rep. Bachmann made false claims in congress.  According to CNN.COM “Rep. Bachmann made several memorable and frankly factually incorrect statements about everything from president Obama to the HPV vaccine.  She also made a claim about the price tag on a tip the president was taking was pure fiction on CNN NETWORK.”  Cooper doesn’t like false information and he will call u out.

Bill O’Reilly is like the rock star of commentators.  He is extreme and radical.  You never know what he is going to say or do. He can be very offensive or very entertaining sometimes or both at the same time. Bill is willing to say what a lot of people aren’t willing to say.  I don’t think he cares how people perceived his views. He is more focus on that fact that he shared his point of view.  A lot of people don’t like him so I was very surprised and impressed with his success.  According to amazon.com “For more than 13 years Bill O’Reilly has presided over the O’Reilly Factor on the Fox news channel, the highest rated Cable news program frequently topping New shows offered by broadcast Networks.  Often referred to as the most talked about, most controversial television Journalist today, he is a tree-time Emmy Award winner as well as the recipient of a governor’s aware form Boston/ New England chapter of the Prestigious National Academy of Television Art and Sciences.”  Bill is labeled controversial but has the highest rated cable new program.  What does this said about us as Americans.  We don’t like him but we watch him and read his books. Maybe Bill is giving us what we really want in our self-conscious minds.  Is Bill saying things that we really want to say?  Maybe we all are more like Bill O’Reilly then we would like to admit.

blog 3

 Reality shows are real but, can be unreal. The main reason why they are real, because they get personal.   The reason why they can be unreal, because they still have to be entertaining.  Which can cause some situations to be staged, for rating purposes.   For example drama, fights, arguments and any other type of situation in that nature.  My opinion is base off the reality shows I have watched, because I don’t have time to watch them.  The main two reality shows I have watch are Tamar & Vince and 24/7 Boxing.  The Tamar & Vince show has a positive influence on society.  Tamar is an up and coming singer and Vice is a big time Producer.  It’s very good that they both work in the music business.  They let American right into their relation problem and issues.  The show also highlights their family, views, morals, and drama.  This is a positive influence for people, because people need to see that their marriage is not perfect.  People need to see them going o marriage counseling.  People need to see them compromising and submitting to each other.  These are the type of issues that are going in the average relationship.

24/7 boxing is a reality show that focus on what going on in the boxer lives when they are preparing for a big fight.   This has a positive influence on society and it very interesting and inspiring.  The show deals with the fighter’s backgrounds, families, passions, views, morals and a lot other things.  People are getting to view what going on in the boxer’s everyday lives.  The show airs training sessions.  People get to see what go on behind the scenes.   This help gives boxing fans more of an appreciation for the hard work it take to be a boxer.  It also serves as a plate form for boxers to address any issues or problems that they are dealing with in the media.  The main purpose for the show is to help sell the fights by making a personal connecting between the fighter and the fans.  So the fans can be more moved to tune in on the u coming boxing event.

Blog 2

 

                                                       The New York Times headquarters

 

 

 

I rearly ever read new papers, but I understand that they are a very important part of the media.  Now because of the growth of things like the web, cell phones, computers, and television there are so many different avenues that people can access the news. If I had to cloose a new paper company that could survive the new era of media.  It would be the New York Times.  For starters I know that they are popular and respected company.  The reason for this is, I no who they are and what they are about and I dont read the paper. For example I live in Baltimore and I never seen the dundalk eagle or read it.  I can at least say that I have read the Baltimore sun a few times.  In my opinion I think it going to be harder for any newpaper company to go out of business period! All these new things we have now operate on power sources and databases. Meaning electricity and saterllites. Somthing could go wrong with those things even in our personal lives.  For example your house power could go out for a storm.  You could break your phone or laptop on the way to work.  If u drop a newpaper I assure you that it will be fine. If its not lol, its alot easier and cheaper to get another newpaper vesus another phone or laptop.  New papers are very cheap to make and buy.  For example you cant framed something you get off the internet.  well you could , but  you wouldn't get that same historical feeling that you get from a new paper.  NewPapers symbolized and records history. What I am trying to say is there are a lot of priceless things that come with newpapers that we wouldn't fully understand until their gone completely.  For example the NewYork Times was founded and purlished in New York City since Semptember 18, 1851(Wikipedia). Which implies that no one living today has ever lived in a world with out newpapers existing. The reasson  I chose the New York  Times versus the othe newpaper companies when it comes down to survival. It was their historcal pass and their present good ripetition. It was very impressive.     

My Veiws on aAmericans Magazines

Women and men are presented in a lot of different ways in magazines.  Women are very sexy, classes, and presentable. It is rare that women appear on covers that don’t have none of the quality that I listed above.  Men in my opinion are normally represented with some type of symbol power.  For example women, jewelry, fashion, fancy cars, hard bodies, and sports.

 

I believe there are tons of diversity in magazines because of the wide range of topics.  The magazines that stood out to me the most was the weekly magazines.  Magazines like in touch weekly and the hip hop weekly.  I view a weekly magazines like in touch as a mainly white people magazines, and a magazines like hip hop weekly as a mainly black people magazine.  What really interesting to me is the black and white celebrity that appear in both magazines, For example you have to be very good or very bad to have headlines in both.  I label these celebrities as mage stars.  It’s like they are on top of the world.  Just to name a few, they are people like Kim Kardashian, Kanye west, Justin Bieger, jay-z, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, and Rihanna.  

 

In conclusion the magazines attempt to draw you in by pictures and gossips.  This makes for good advertising because gossip is normally entertaining and exciting.  To the point where you go to know more whether it’s true or not.  For example I brought an in touch magazines after I read the headline. The headline stated “ Lamar’s 5million $  tell all.  Kardashian secrets exposed.”  I think headlines like this one what people really want.  No body wants to read about anything boring where, is the fun in that!  I think headlines are hopeful for the consumer, we are hoping and waiting for more entertainment.  Head lines are fearful for celebrities because they never know when they are going to be exposed in the media.  

My Views on Americans Magazines

(In Touch)

Lamar Odom is writing a $5 million “tell-all”

When I evaluated the magazines at the checkout counter. I did approve of most of them. I saw a lot of different types of images. For example, movies stars, music stars, reality TV stars, sport stars, models, and political figures. In my opinion most of the images was realistic to a certain degree. For example the people on magazines covers look happy and successful.  Now we know that they are successful because they are on the cover. On the other hand, just because they look happy doesn’t mean that they are.  Looks can be very deceiving!

 

The headlines I saw was about success stories, relationships drama, gossip, and Celebrity battles or competitions.  I think headlines can be positive and negative. It could depend on how you receive it. Different people have different morals, beliefs, and views. The headlines could be putting out a positive message out hypothetically, like a famous person surviving cancer. Then on the other hand the headline could be putting out a negative message, like a celebrity court for a DWI.

 

I think diversity is represented in magazines, but there are more that cater to white people. I don’t think this is racialism. It is a fact that white people are the majority in this country. It just is what it is. So logically that makes sense to me. I think the balance between whether or not gossip is true or not is very thin. For example a picture can be perceived in a lot of different ways. Something might not necessary be true but the picture could make the message more believable.

 

Women and men are presented in a lot of different ways in magazines.  Women are very sexy, classes, and presentable. It is rare that women appear on covers that don’t have none of the quality that I listed