As Steven Johnson said in the reading, a lot has changed in the last 20 years. One of the biggest changes is the internet coming to prominence. He presents the idea of the sleeper curve which is the idea that everything we think is bad for us is actually good. In some ways the internet is good for us and in some ways it is also bad.
On the good side how we find information is completely different. We can just type into a search site, like Google or Yahoo, and typically find what we are looking for a lot easier than in the past. We are also constantly engaged by the interactive content of networked media.
On the other hand, the internet is also bad for us. The main thing is again how we find information. The bad thing however is how fast we are able to find information. This shortens our attention spans and makes it more difficult for us to take in information because we are constantly jumping around from place to place.
Friday, December 6, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Real and Fluff
As Chuck Klosterman mentioned in the reading there are two types of news stories, real, hard hitting news and filler or fluff news. The example of a fluff story I chose was the tribute to the Air Force One that was used when JFK was assassinated. The example of a real news story I chose was the story about the staggering cost of health care
While JFK was important when he was alive, a tribute about the plane they flew in when he was assassinated is clearly a piece to fill time. I say this because it didn't happen recently but also because if we wanted to know more about Air Force One there is a plethora of documentaries about it and the assassination of JFK. On the other hand the story about health care is a real news story.
While the story about health care cost only features a handful of people, it still affects a lot of people. The reason the story about health care is a real story is because it is relevant to a lot of people. Medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy in America so it is a very big deal. Unlike the other story this is happening now and not 50 years ago.
While JFK was important when he was alive, a tribute about the plane they flew in when he was assassinated is clearly a piece to fill time. I say this because it didn't happen recently but also because if we wanted to know more about Air Force One there is a plethora of documentaries about it and the assassination of JFK. On the other hand the story about health care is a real news story.
While the story about health care cost only features a handful of people, it still affects a lot of people. The reason the story about health care is a real story is because it is relevant to a lot of people. Medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy in America so it is a very big deal. Unlike the other story this is happening now and not 50 years ago.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)