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Global Media in Recap

As the first semester of global media wraps up I want to use this last blog post as a chance to reflect on my experience. Now, as soon as I registered for this class I assumed it would be one of my more enjoyable classes. As I knew that Microeconomics would not necessarily pique my interest. So I came into this class with much expectation. As my first class ended I knew that my expectation was not falsely placed. 

I appreciated much of the class, but some things more than others. One of the biggest things I appreciated was the intention of the work we were assigned. Not often, in fact, never were we assigned mere busywork. I hate it very much when a class assigns something just to say they assigned it. Now I am aware that teachers need grades, but it makes the class so much more enjoyable when the work is truly helping understand or grasp the concepts. Now some classes like Micro again no matter what the work is I do not enjoy it. However, the concepts we discussed in global media were actually enjoyable. Now obviously some were more enjoyable than others, but for the most part, they were. Obviously, the bigger projects in most classes are more intentional. The blog posts however could have easily been made to seem like busywork, but by only having them once a week it seemed like much more of a tool rather than simply something for the grade book.

Another thing I appreciated was the classes, and how the time was used. It was a nice

variety of lectures, speakers, and work. It made class stay fresh over a grueling semester. One of the things I liked most was the timing. Often in school, it feels that professors are simply talking to reach that hour and 5 min mark rather than just getting the concept across in a way that we understand. I appreciated that sometimes class was 40 min for instance. I will admit some of that was no one can be mad at a shorter class, but a big part of what I appreciated was that we used the time that was needed rather than just bullshitting for extra time.

In conclusion, I have no regrets about taking the class. Will I go into the media? Who knows. But I enjoyed my time, and feel smarter because of it. I learned about the industry, history, and how to make a podcast among other things. So if I simply got better at talking to more people while being a little bit smarter I cannot be mad at that.

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Hoop Talk With Coop

Do you love college basketball? Yes, well that is perfect because I have been working very hard on a new way for you to take in new college basketball media. It all falls under the same name “Hoop Talk with Coop”. And I am Coop so you will be seeing a lot of me. Using Tik Tok and Youtube, with the goal of expanding anymore each week I will be covering the latest in college basketball. Giving opinions and spreading the news that will be sure to fill your craving for NCAA basketball. Below I have linked my youtube channel as well as the username for my Tik Tok.

Tik Tok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8nLGhwD/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI_1ED5RZQF_Ktociy045hw

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Clickbait?

The goal of media is to get clicks, views, listens, or whatever you wanna call it. The media wants to get us consumers to consume what they make. So what types of tricks do they use? Well, one trick that has become very prevalent in today's world is clickbait. Now, what is clickbait you might be asking.? Clickbait is when media sources use eye-catching headlines or titles to make people more likely to click on their article or video. But clickbait is not always used for titles or headlines, often on youtube for instance it can be the photo they choose to be the thumbnail. Now since click bait become such a thing...what makes a good clickbait? A few things I would say can go into making a good clickbait. The first in my eyes was finding a good length of the title. Now what I mean by this is a title that is not too long, the title will catch no one's eye. This is the case, especially on youtube. It is important to find a title that can draw the reader or viewer in without revealing too much. The next thing in my opinion is finding a title that is unique and interesting. This one seems obvious, but if it is a title that someone has not really seen before they are more likely to click. Someone who I think does a really good job of this at least on youtube is David Dobrick. Although may be a more controversial name as of late he does a really nice job of it clearly. And then another aspect of clickbait on the youtube side of things. It adds another element of clickbait when you can use a thumbnail. Now the thumbnail is similar to a good title with the fact that you do not want to reveal too much but enough to draw the viewer in. Again David Dobrick does a really good job of this.

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Interviewer?

Interviewing is an art. Some people are born with the ability, others are not. Some can even work to become great. So what determines if an interviewer is great? Well in my humble opinion as a guy who probably spends too much time watching interviews of all kinds on youtube I would say I could maybe speak on a few traits that make a great interviewer. As I begin to write about what makes a great interviewer, I have decided to choose one interview that I think embodies all the traits and skills I am going to list. This interviewer is none other than Sean Evans. If you are unfamiliar with Evan’s work I highly urge you to check him out. Sean Evans is most known for hosting a youtube series called Hot Ones. Hot Ones is a show in which random celebrities come on and eat the hottest wings in the world as they are asked questions by none other than Sean Evans. But what makes Sean so special that there are countless video compilations on youtube of him doing his job? A few things. 

The first one I want to focus on is the ability to adapt and be versatile. The reality is some celebrities can do a great interview no matter who you throw in front of them. However the great ones can not only up those great celebrities’ interview games, but also make even the dullest celebrities give a great interview. Evans does this beautifully. He interviews celebrities from all different types of stardom. What he does as well as anyone is ask questions that even the quietest celebrities can not help but answer with energy. Him and his team do really really good research that allows him to know every little detail about a person's life. This research makes it so he knows exactly what points to hit to get a good interview. 

Another key part of good interviewing is allowing your guest to talk. The reality is more often than now an interview is not being watched because of the interviewer, it is being watched because of the celebrity. So when a question is asked you should let that person talk. Again Evans does this perfectly. In fact there have been interviews where the guest ends up talking about one question for close to half the video, but that is okay. Always let the guest talk...always.

The last point I want to hit on is that of being genuine as an interviewer. People can sense when someone is not being genuine, and celebrities are no different. It will make it much easier for a guest to be engaged if they can tell the interviewer is truly passionate about the questions he is asking, and wanting to get an answer. Why would anyone want to take their time to give good interviews to someone that is giving the guest half their attention. I know that I would not. So an interviewer always needs to truly care about the work he is doing, and who he is talking to.

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Social Media?

After watching the Social Dilemma I have decided to reflect on my own experiences with social media, and the effect it has had on my own mental health. Now I do not remember exactly what year I began to use social media, but I do know that it was around the time of middle school. When I first started I was obviously not very focused on it because I was so young. This being said even this early on I could feel the effects that it had on my own behavior and mood. From my very first instagram post I immediately began to let how many likes or how many comments I got dictate my mood. At the time I was not aware of this, but especially at a young age I had a problem that many people have especially when they are still in school. This being the problem of comparing. In everything I did I was comparing myself with others. Whether that be how well I did in a basketball game, what grade I got on a test, or even if my joke got more laughs than someone else. I had this problem of comparison for awhile, and social media allowed for this problem to be put in an even greater spotlight. Every person on instagram is posting the highlights of their lives so it can be easy to fall into the trap of beginning to say “wow look how much more exciting their vacation was than mine”. So rather than really enjoying your own vacation you are now only thinking about how much cooler their vacation looks. And these problems are not only on instagram, they spread to all social media platforms. It took me till my sophomore year of high school to begin to be able to get out of this mindset of comparison. As I started my sophomore year of volleyball it was my first year on Varsity. Being my first year on Varsity it was also my first time I was consistently around older kids. Now I am aware that the age gap is not that big, but we all know that the difference between a sophomore and senior in high school is a pretty sizable difference. It was those very upperclassmen on that team that began to teach me how much more enjoyable life is when you are worried about yourself rather than concerning yourself with what other people are doing or thinking. It was not an overnight change but those notifications began to have less of a hold on my life. And the reality is I still have my moments of falling back into comparing today, but I strive to always keep under control how much I am letting social media influence me. Although I have mostly focused on the negative impacts of social media on my life, I still think that it can have a lot of positive effects as well. I have had many positive experiences with social media, and I think all people can. It just takes an effort to remind ourselves that we should be using social media, rather than allowing social media to use us.

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Ads?

Advertisements are a big deal nowadays. Which is weird to say, but the reality of the fact is some people watch the biggest football game in the world just to see the advertisements. And something like that in today's world is commonplace. But how did we get to this place of advertisements becoming such a big deal. Advertisements have been around since the 1600s, and obviously like most things over the years they have changed quite a bit. However even with these changes much of what makes a good advertisement still remains the same. When people see an ad they look for a few things. Things like creativeness, uniqueness, and the list goes on. However there are two things that stand out above all. One being something that makes them think, and the other being something that makes them think days after seeing it. If you look at some of the most successful ad campaigns you will often see these qualities. For instance the Progressive Commercials. Using a simple character like Flo they were able to make an icon in the world. And I feel that I can confidently say almost anyone knows who Flo from Progressive if you were to ask them. I think simplicity is something that can be very important in good 

advertisement, and that is something they did really well. The ads were still funny and unique but you always knew what the commercial was about. The worst thing in my eyes would be if an ad was so over the top, that rather than the product getting any promotion people just talked about the ad without even knowing what it was for. Cause at the end of the day ads are meant to sell or influence people to do something. I think prime examples of these over complicated ads can sometimes be seen at a super bowl. Having a commercial at the super bowl is a huge deal like I said, so it makes sense that people would try and make the best commercial ever. What results is these over the top commercials that people can not track and end up doing nothing for their company. Often the best super bowl commercials are the simple and funny ones. This being said, I think over the top commercials can work. You just have to find the sweet spot if you are going to make a big commercial.

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Video Games?

My name is Cooper Lundal, and I am from Madison, WI. I attend North Central College in Naperville, IL which is very clearly not Madison, WI. Growing up in a city of a major state school like University of Wisconsin it is obvious that many of my friends went on to attend that school. So leaving my friends behind was obviously not easy, but in today's world we have so many options like snapchat and facetime that can help us stay connected. However one thing that is perhaps more helpful than any to help us stay connected is playing video games together. Even when we are 100s of miles apart a simple game can help us feel closer than ever.

There is something so powerful about a group of people going after a common goal, and it can be something as stupid as Mario Kart. But people leave their worries and stress of everyday life at the door and just have fun. For example my buddy Dylan plays hockey in New Mexico. I have never even been to New Mexico, and I could not tell you the first thing about it. However now my closest friend lives there which is kind of crazy to think about. My other buddy Hastings goes to school in Vermont. Again, never been to Vermont, the only thing I know about it is that my ex goes there. But now Hastings lives there. My other buddy Silas goes to school up in Northern Michigan. So we are all living completely different lives, but when we go play a video game together we are no longer in different worlds. For a couple hours we are all back together again just enjoying each other's company living in the same world again.

The fact that this is even a possibility is so incredible, and the fact that this technology just continues to develop is even cooler. It will be interesting to see how things continue to grow. I think of things like VR and cross console gaming that make it very cool. At one point you could only play games with other users of the same console but that is no longer the case. We are now able to play with other people no matter the console. And as VR becomes more prevalent the options are limitless. We would be able to interact with people like never before online. Me and a buddy could play a game of ping pong if there was an ocean in between us, or go sightseeing at the Eiffel Tower.

The point of this all was to again reiterate the fact the video games can be so much more than something for pleasure. Video games can heal, connect, and teach lessons. Yes, I acknowledge the fact that this is not always the case, but nothing ever is absolute. When used in the right way though video games can be a major tool for good. And if we keep it up they can be a  tool for great.

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HBO?

Going to the movies used to be a big thing. You would buy your tickets a few days in advance, stop at a gas station and sneak in some candy. Going to the movies might still be a big thing, but we have seen how movies are put out drastically over these last few years. With streaming being as prevalent as ever, we have completely recreated the way we watch sports, tv, and movies. The reason I bring this up is because I wanted to show the impact streaming has on us. Companies like Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock have become monsters in the media world. However, today I want to look at one streaming service that makes me so angry...HBO Max.

Now it is not that I hate the shows and movies on HBO Max it is rather quite the contrary. I hate how the interface works. When I go to netflix or hulu they keep it simple. I am in, I am out as easy as can be. However, when it comes to HBO Max this is never the case. There is always some problem. This movie won’t load, or the search engine is struggling. And like I said it is not the stuff on HBO Max, in fact I think that is great. 

My number one pet peeve above all is how hard it is to navigate it. Maybe I am just dumb, and once you get the hang of it it is okay. It is just more frustrating than anything when you go click on a show and rather than it bringing you to the show it brings you to the episode you were watching. And yes I know Netflix and hulu can do this too but they give you the option. That is not even the worst part of the experience. The worst part is once you exit out of that episode it does not bring you to the season but rather a description of that episode. It takes even more time to exit that again and finally be at all the episodes. Let me tell you what my ideal streaming experience is. Sit down with a nice blanket, turn on the tv and get to my show within a few seconds. This is the type of thing I can do on netflix, hulu, disney plus, and the list goes on. This is not the experience I can have on HBO Max. 

Now I know this is very much a privileged problem that many people probably do not have. That being said I will probably never have another time I can write 500 words about my feelings about a streaming service. In all honesty I like alot of what HBO Max is doing, and I love what they are doing with movie releases. In fact, hopefully the readers of my prestigious post can put me in touch with HBO. I would love to take a seat and help them get to the top. So HBO if you are seeing this hit a kid up.

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Podcasts?

Joe Rogan a hunter, a UFC expert, and Businessman. Alex Cooper a Media influencer and business woman. On paper these two could not be less similar if they tried, but what is the one thing that connects them? They are both dominant podcasters. In today's world podcasting has become one of the most lucrative forms of media that there is. So how can something that me and a buddy can make in 20 min become one of the biggest forms of media in such a short time? This is the question that I plan on looking into today.   

The exact date that podcasting began is up for interpretation, but it is known that it began sometime around 2004. Now when podcasting began this was a time when radio was still a much bigger deal then it is today. People would regularly turn into live radio shows, and did not give the new creation of podcasting much thought. 2005 was the year that the idea of a podcast began to pick up some steam. That year the New Oxford American Dictionary named Podcast the word of the year. That same year Yahoo created a search engine for podcasts, and even George W. Bush had his weekly address put in podcast form.

Since its creation the podcasting world has grown at a rapid rate as more and more people fell in love with the idea of the podcast. When you mix that with the fact that more and more celebrities and overall creative people began to lean into the platform it was a recipe for success. Something that really helped the growth of the platform was the amount of comedians that began to have podcasts. People like Ricky Gervais were at the forefront of this and at the time comedians dominated podcasting. Still today a large number of comedians are usually towards the top of most successful podcasts. 

As podcasts have continued to grow so has the money and effort that is being put into these shows. People are aware of how successful these podcasts have become, resulting in ridiculous contracts being signed by the biggest podcasters. For instance Joe Rogan recently signed a deal with Spotify that is believed to be worth roughly 100 million dollars. These contracts are becoming more and more normal as podcasts continue to grow. 

So what makes these shows become so successful. It obviously does help celebrities when they can create a podcast, and have a whole fan base immediately listen. But it is not just celebrities that have been able to find success in the podcasting world. We have seen countless people find great success with podcasting that simply just started because they liked the idea. It takes a person to find something they are passionate about, and really have a desire to talk about their passions. Another piece that is almost the most crucial of them all is the ability to be patient. Podcasting is not an industry of people blowing up over night. It takes time to grow, and gather a following. So you truly have to love the process, and the grind to make it to your end goal.

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Radio?

This past week we learned a lot about radio. Everything from its origin to the FCC. I found much of the new information very interesting, but a few of the topics we discussed stood out more than the others. 

One of the main things I found intriguing was radio’s origin. I am someone who always finds the origins of things interesting, especially when it is something as major as radio. For instance the fact that James Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz simply discovered electromagnetic waves is so wild to me. The idea of discovering something so big that it would change the world is almost hard for me to grasp. Obviously people discover things all the time, but imagining what it must have felt like amazes me no matter what. The same can be said for Gugliemo Marconi. This Italian man discovered something that still holds up today, this being grounded wires. For these three men, although I am sure there were countless more, nonetheless these three men made discoveries that forever changed media and communications.

The origin was only one part of this story of the radio that got my attention. It is very interesting to see how we go from discovering the foundation all the way to having such a deep understanding we can regulate it. Things like the Wireless Ship Act came into play in 1910, and the Radio Act in 1912. The list of these various Acts can keep going forever, but the point is we once we got radio we rapidly advanced it in the world.

And what came from this rapid advancement, none other than the FCC. The FCC came into play to help regulate content that was being put out at such a large quantity. The FCC is in charge of regulating everything from Super Bowl Halftime shows to local radio. It is the Jude, Jury, and executioner when it comes to the media. People in the media will do whatever they can to stay out of the FCC’s bad side. An example of this would be something like this. Let's say a news reporter does not realize she is alive and says the f word. Very shortly after that happens the FCC would be breathing down her neck, for what she did. The FCC always finds out. 

The FCC and the origin were the two things that stood out to me the most. Again I just think it is so cool how things go from being discovered to getting to the point where we take radio for granted. I can admit for myself, I do not know if I ever said anything like “wow the radio is so cool”. And that probably still won’t be a common thing for me to utter. However I can now confidently say that I have a greater appreciation for Radio. From where it started to what it has become, I now will forever have a weird appreciation for radio. Maybe others have always felt this way, but now I do too.

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Records?

If you were to ask me 10 or even 5 years ago if I knew anyone that had records,  I would have paused for a second and made a guess that maybe my parents or grandparents do. Then to ask if they had a record player I would have given you a blank stair. So how did it go from that, to my 17 year old friends owning records and a record player today? Like I said the question becomes, how did this record craze happen. 

We know trends always come back. When I was born fashion was all super baggy, and large. As I get older we flip to very tight clothing. Now as I entered college we are back to the “trendy” style being more baggy. Phones started off big, then got small, then got big again. So like I said trends always come back. So if we saw the signs we could’ve seen that records were making their way back into the mainstream for a little while now. But what was the appeal to go from quick easy streaming to records and record players? A few reasons stand out to me right away. One main one being the collection effect. People love to collect, and records give them a tactile thing they can be proud of. You feel much more of a sense of accomplishment when you show a friend your record collection compared to scrolling through an app showing them the music you searched up. Another reason being the feeling of accomplishment you get when you get to throw a new record on, and get to hear the screech of the needle as it begins to play your music in a much more organic feeling way. You add that along with the fact many people say music sounds better off of a record player. It begins easy to see why records have made their way back to the mainstream.

So in conclusion, yeah records make sense. However one thing I cannot get behind is cassettes. Why in the world would you go to cassettes. It takes more work then streaming, and does not have the same sense of pride and class that a record and record player does. I would rather CDs come back than cassettes. Hopefully through my writing you can see how much cassettes truly irk me. I wish that I will never have to listen to a cassette again. Unless it is for school, but please for the love of god not music. 

Let me reiterate I hope cassettes never come back. That being said, I am all for records. The sense of pride, and accomplishment that comes from records is truly special. I hope at some point all people can listen to a song they love on a record player. If one trend were to stay I would be more than happy for it to be recorded, but never ever do I want cassettes to stick around. Please Cassettes leave.

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Fake News

In today’s world when the term “Fake News” is thrown around at this point we barely turn our heads. The phrase has become such a common place for us to hear and experience. Whether it be something a certain political figure said about Covid-19, or even a rumor about your favorite athlete going to a new team. Fake News surrounds us in everyday life.

With how easy it is to put information into the world nowadays, it is no surprise that fake news has become as big as it has, especially with the amount of news there is each day. One of the main problems with this fake news compared to real info is how quickly it spreads. According to one study done by three MIT Scholars Soroush Vosoughi, Sinan Aral, and Deb Roy fake news travels 70 times faster on twitter than real news. We can see a prime example of a lot of this information when reading about Covid-19. Ciara Greene professor of Psychology at University College Dublin. She researched how much of an actual effect fake news has on how people approach Covid, and if they truly listen or blow off the fake news. Each participant was given 6 articles, 4 real stories, and 2 fake stories. It was found that some still believed the fake information, but not as much as you may think. It was only about 5%. I found it interesting that this number was not higher, but I feel like it was not because of the fact it was fake for many people. I more so feel that people become so set in their ways news ofte goes through one ear and out the other. I know for me personally I hear news all the time, but it never really hits me which I need to work on. It is good for people to have a level of discomfort that allows them to constantly grow.

As we continue to be surrounded by fake news it can be crucial to be able to differentiate the real from the fake. An article written by Eugene Kiely and Laura Robertson gives us some helpful tips on what we can do to be more adapted to spotting fake news. A few of the tips are things like, checking the source, reading beyond the head line, and checking who the author is. I also think it is important to always be aware of what you are reading, if you are reading from a website you have never heard of before it might be a good idea to do a little more research than you would for maybe something like the Wall Street Journal.

Fake News is not going anywhere, so it is very important that we continue to be alert when we are taking in info. We must always do our own research, and form our own opinions regardless of what may seem true. The moment we stop thinking for ourselves is the moment we have lost what makes each of us special. This does not mean that we should not be willing to learn from the news, but it does mean we should be very particular about what we are taking in.