Maxim and Cosmo

While reading these magazines with a critical eye I found them to be similar as well as very different. Similar in the way they objectify women and different because of their reasons. In Maxim women are seen as just another toy in the world of everything men, along with cars, gadgets and alcohol. While in Cosmo the articles and advertisements are basically telling you to be a object for a man. I felt like Cosmo was telling women that we have to act and look a certain way to be wanted by men and Maxim was telling guys to only want women that look and act in that way. What I find so disturbing by this is I feel more teenage girls rather then women read Cosmo and therefore are being corrupted by the way they think a women should act. I found some of the articles in Maxim to be entertaining and funny like the sex tape article. As for Cosmo I felt like the articles were less entertaining and more preachy. The writing in both I found to be dumbed down. I really don't know if anyone actually takes these two publications seriously but hopefully people can just laugh at the ridiculousness of them, as I did at articles like “Sentences He’d Be Psyched to Hear.” in Cosmo which included, “Boy, nothing helps me wind down after a long day at work like giving you a blow job.” Really what women in her right mind would say that? hopefully no one. 

'Balloon boy' drama was staged, sheriff says Millions suspected it. And on Sunday, authorities confirmed it. That free-floating homemade balloon that a tearful Colorado family said might contain their 6-year-old son was not a strange accident. It was a hoax. The "aha!" moment that led authorities to realize what had happened was an interview with the family Thursday night on CNN's "Larry King Live," Sheriff Jim Alderden of Larimer County said- I knew it! as soon as i heard that this faimly was on wife swap I knew they were just looking for another 15 mins of fame. fullstory-http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/18/colorado.balloon.investigation/index.html

Media & culture chapters 1,8,9,10

"An Inability to Appreciate Fine Art"

I found this part of the 1st chapter to be particularly interesting because of what we were talking about in class. I agree with Cambell on this because I think popular media such as reality TV has dumbed down young people. I also found the part of the chapter that was discussing cross platform media and how this leads to less reporters and stories and therefore less perspectives on the news which I think is a scary thing because thats what's so great about being a American right? Our freedom of speech and ultimately our freedom to obtain knowledge and choose were it comes from. But if all these platforms are converged such as all news reports what real choice do we have but to be fed everything they want us to hear? how do we escape the mass media? I'm not sure its possible. Everyday I see a worse reality show then the last and I cant escape it there on every channel and as much as I want to turn it off I still want to know what will happen its quite sad that we have let reality TV take over seeing as it is just another way for these media corporations to save money. When your hiring "regular people" your payroll probably isn't as high as when you have a sitcom full of real actors. 

"newspapers"

I found chapter 8 to be a little less interesting then the other chapters, but I understood it more after we talked about the differences of the NY times and the Post in class. Also as a graphic designer I was thinking about the visual differences as well as the over all tone of each paper. while the times is very subtle with how they lay out there articles the Post looks louder with all caps headlines and giant full color pictures. This makes the Post look more sensational to me and the Times more trustworthy but when you actually read the articles most of them are saying the same thing just one is written for a more intellectual group of people.

Magazines

I love magazines in fact I want to work for one one day. preferably a  "elite magazine" such as Time, The New Yorker or National Geographic. I find these magazines to be entertaining while still informative and current. I found the section about the difference between men and women's magazines interesting especially the fact there seems to be more female gender specific magazines. such as all the fashion magazines, "home and gardens" type magazines tabloid magazines, and other more feminine magazines I think that is because most woman are easier to advertise to; we are the best consumers even if we aren't the ones actually paying the bill.

Books 

I love books to in fact unlike most people my age I read (for entertainment not just for school) every day I find using my imagination is more stimulating the simply watching a thousand images flashed and force fed into my brain. I also think it makes me a more critical thinker as well as a ability to appreciate fine art.