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In this course I hope to learn about how communication is discussed and the impact it has on audiences. To evaporate, I'm interested in how different forms of media will impact how information is received to each audience. Is newspaper more effective at conveying messages to certain generations vs social media? And does the phrasing of new information impact how different groups interpret and respond to it? This course is very interesting to me as I'm excited to learn how to properly and effectively convey messages to different audiences.

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The Transcontinental Railway thought up by Prime Minister John A Macdonald helped construct the Canadian identity. Firstly, it was essentially communication across the country. It was a new way that individuals throughout Canada could be connected. It did not however, break regions barrieres around different communities. The railway was just the start really. It helped that the postal system, telegraph, and radio broadcasting were also all developed or established during this time. The ability to communicate across the country helped to construct a “Canadian”  identity.

The Broadcasting act of 1932 was popularized by Prime Minister R.B Bennet. Adding on to the already existing radio broadcasting system the broadcasting act was really an expansion. Radio itself already has a very strong case to be made about cultivating a collective viewpoint. With the broadcasting act it was now easier for Canadian news to be at the forefront of all media. National media was incredibly implausible in the early stages for fostering the Canadian identity to the ever growing geographically dispersed, multicultural, and politically diverse population. The ability to easily spread ideas through the country helped to construct a “Canadian”  identity.

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The denotative meaning is the literal meaning of the advertisement.  The text at the bottom says to "Keep your friends close.. but your rivals closer". In this context a Nerf Rival gun is the new type of Nerf gun being advertised.  The ad is advising us to keep our Nerf guns physically close to us because you never know when your friends or foes are planning an attack. The boys are wearing different colors, blue and red to signify that they are on opposing teams or enemies to each other.

The connotative meaning is where the ad gets interesting. The alternative meaning for rival is enemy in the popular saying "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer". The ad is playing off of that phrase by advising us to use our Rival guns to battle our enemies. The boys are also facing back to back showing that they further help to make a point they are enemies. Additionally, the tone of this ad is very dark, with the boys shown in shadows. The ad makes me think that Nerf guns are for intense battling with friends or foes.

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Cultivation theory really stuck with me this week although I'm not too sure if it's because I believe in it or if it was just the one I found most interesting this week. The central claim is that television essentially cultives a view on reality that is more often than not accurate to how the world really functions. This is interesting to me because I believe excessive time around the media is very bad for mental health. When people are stuck on screens for many hours a day and not being productive like completing assignments. But rather playing video games or watching tv it will absolutely take a toll on one's perception.

I have this friend Alana who absolutely hated the Five Nights at Freddy’s games if you know what those are. Basically she used to play them but then would get jump scared so bad that she used to not even talk about them without getting jumpy, sounds like she was just really bad at the game if you ask me. She is better now this was a few years ago. Nonetheless, we went to Chuck E Cheese together with a few friends and the whole time she was not having fun and kept telling us it reminded her of this game. This is an example of “mean world syndrome” which is basically where an individual thinks the world is a more threatening place than it actually is. It links to cultivation theory as she has created a world that in her eyes is dangerous and scary when in reality we were in a Chuck E Cheese on a friday afternoon and there was no real risk to her or anyone.

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Skipped

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Skipped

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I learned a whole bunch from the documentary. Had no idea what Brand Nirvana was and it was interesting how the documentary chose to portray it. The ideas of scileet censorship were some aspects I found most compelling. I wasn't aware what it was or how it impacted my shopping experience. After the documentary I went to Walmart and actually paid attention to how I was being advertised. I found that silent censorship to be true and I couldn't find certain items I could at other stores as they did not fit with the Walmart Brand.

The concept of Brand Nirvana was brought up in the film. This concept is essentially the idea that we must eliminate all competition. This was present in the Disneyland neighborhood that was shown. Because Disney ran the neighborhood and was the only brand advertising to consumers it was an example of Brand Nirvana. Disney had the opportunity to eliminate all other competition within their neighborhood as it was a confined space that they had complete control over. The citizens in the area were being consumed by the disney brand with really no other options of an alternative one around.

I think that overall brand culture has not really changed over the years. There is a big emphasis on brands rather than the products itself and I believe this still rings true today. Today brands want to make an impression more than anything. For example, Apple vs Android. The products are essentially the same thing, they sell phones. However, whether Apple excels is its brand. They have a dedicated fan base because their brand is strong. When a new iphone drops everyone knows about it, on the flip side I can't tell you last time Android had a new phone launch.

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This week I was subject to surveillance in many ways. For one I discovered Pokemon go which is a game app I have downloaded on my phone. I recently learned that It has been tracking my movements even if I dont have the app downloaded. Furthermore, my news app shows me local news which means it is tracking me in some way. The amount of surveillance following me is actually about what I expected, perhaps a little more. I am well aware that everyday I am subjected to a number of surveillance and so I'm not overly alarmed at how much I am actually being subjected too.

A panoptic society is essentially the theory that people can be controlled when they believe they are under constant surveillance even if no one is watching. I believe that for some people this theory rings true. People who constantly use public wifi may be subject to more surveillance than others. For me I don't believe that I am constantly being surveyed every second of every day and even if I am I don’t let it control or change my daily activities. For everyone else I believe some may feel like we live in a panoptic society as they may feel subjected to constant surveillance.

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Media policy is important for many reasons especially in Canada. Firstly it helps set boundaries. The policies are made by the state and the public. They are both contributors to the polices. In communications the policy is a reflection of global communication with people, with both Nations and international bodies. Circling back media policy is incredibly important today as it helps provide the public with the free media it needs in order to gather accurate and true information. It helps the public hold the government accountable in most all cases.

Many policies have shaped Canada's media landscape, the most obvious and apparent one to me being the Aird commission Royal commission which led to the 1932 broadcasting act. Essentially to simplify, certain radio airwaves fill channels with advertisements or religious information, but there was uneven service distributed across the region. Its goals were to make recommendations and provide advice for a federal broadcasting policy. The recommendations provided were to make Canadian programs, and to create a national broadcasting commission across all of Canada. The radio would also work to support national unity.

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I receive news primarily through the internet and forms of social media. This week my primary form was though the home page on the news app. The news mainly covered topics that were relevant to the current world and had titles that were very eye-catching. It primarily showcases news from CNBC and CTV news which I know to be credible because they are major news sources. While this week I didn't look up any news in particular I have been keeping up with main stories that are deemed newsworthy.

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Throughout this term I have learned a ton about communication. The things I found most interesting are how much I actually rely on social media for my communication with the world. I found this interesting as I knew I relied on it for talking to others but I learned that I also rely on it for news. I receive more information about current events through social media than I previously thought. Culture jamming was also very interesting to me as it wasnt a concept I had heard of prior to this course. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for it in my daily life post communications 201.

I found that the content wasn't necessarily challenging but rather it was informative. I especially enjoyed learning about the Frankfurt school and their theories / remarks about communication studies. I also enjoy history and thoroughly enjoyed how technology was able to cultivate the Canadian identity and the elements that went into that. If I had to pick one element that was challenging I would say encoding and decoding just because I felt it was boring. To me this concept is very obvious and therefore boring as I didn't learn anything new besides finally giving this observation a name.

The course has impacted my approach to communication and media in a number of ways. Academically the way I look at and choose sources is different then before because I make sure they are peer reviewed. Before this course I had no idea what a peer reviewed source is and treated them like any other. Now I know that they have been looked over by other specialists in that area. In my personal life this course has impacted the way I look at news. I am now more aware of why certain news is being directed to me whether that be impact, location or other means. It's made me more aware of how I come across certain stories.

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Disclaimer!

I did NOT plagiarize.

I don't know we were supposed to cite the book until after I was done with my entries so I didn't pull quotes. I got all of my information from the Textbook so I've cited it anyway.

Gasher, Mike, et al. Media & Communication in Canada: Networks, Culture, Technology, Audiences. Oxford University Press, 2020.