Here you'll find all of my projects that involve analysis of the media.
October 17, 2018
Branded
Whether we like it or not we are influenced constantly by images or brands everyday. They become apart of what we know and recognize on a daily basis. So what do we really know? Click here to take the quiz for this assignment that was made about what animals are commonly known and maybe some animals you might now know as well.
This project is me interviewing someone from another generation and getting their view on commercial media, as well as my response to the outcome of the interview. Interviewer: Arly Holzweissig Interviewee: Craig Holzweissig
Craig is 48 and works for Widmer Brothers Brewing Company. He also happens to be my dad. I chose to interview him because he has always had a lot of opinions and interests on the media.
What’s your perspective on commercial media?
“The media, in general, has so much advertisement and I approach it skeptically and usually try to look at it one the perspective of how they’re trying to influence me. I also look at media and I try to analize who they’re trying to influence. It always depresses me when I'm watching CNN and realize that they have a bunch of ads that are leaned towards older people. It can be a powerful tool to convey good messages.”
What is something you notice about commercial media now?
“One aspect I was thinking of was the use of fear that is used to motivate people. Also the spokes or famous people who are used frequently to advertise everything, but that has been going on for ages. I notice a lot of product placement as well, my companies working on that right now to promote our brand.”
What was commercial media like from your generation?
“I don’t know how different it was really. Today there are so many more media so the ways to advertise are more diverse. Everyone would watch the evening news because you didn’t have a phone to pick up and find out the important news of the day. I also think it’s sad how print media isn’t big anymore because there was something special about getting a paper and reading it, although it was very delayed.”
How do you think the two generations of commercial media compare?
“Well radio was more important, you hardly ever see someone listening to the radio. Also as I mentioned newspapers were much more important, where they have become less influential. What’s also interesting now is that you’re seeing a lot of people who carry around some sort of camera, when I was a kid you maybe had some still shots but now everything is videotaped everywhere.”
How do you think it has improved?
“Because technology has improved the media has, and the speed at which we get information.”
Have you ever thought about how much the media influences us, from opinions on a topic to stereotypes?
“I think about it all the time. Everything from trends, music, your status, what’s important.”
My take away from this interview:
I went into this interview thinking I was going to hear what I had heard before. I ended up being quite surprised by the outcome. Yes, we talked a lot about how the digital age has a big impact on the media today and the comparisons to thirty years ago. We also talked about some of the techniques that are used in advertising, but when it came to the last two questions he had less to say. I tried to help him by talking about the inner messages of advertisements and social aspects, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was completely lost. It finally came to me that he never really thought about the stereotypes or social norms. They just went through one ear and out the other. So that’s when I ended the interview and went on a rant about all of those stereotypes or social norms that we see around us in the media every day. It made me realize how important it is to educate people about these things because the ones who don’t acknowledge it are the ones who take it through life thinking it is a norm when it isn’t.