Homesick

My first week in Paris has really been incredible, I've met some great people that I hope to develop some long lasting friendships with. The food is amazing, literally every bite I've had to eat here has been completely delicious. The little encounters I have with Parisians, whether its asking for directions or just bumping into someone on the Metro and saying a meek "Pardon" makes this entire experience incredible.
Even though there are all these wonderful things that I LOVE about Paris, I don't have my friends or family with me. My sorority. which is practically my life at school is lacking, my family and my non-Phi Mu friends.. I just miss everyone and everything. And its not that iId like to leave here. I just wish I could have a little bit of both to balance things out.

A demain,

Sydney

La premiere jour

Here are a few peeks into my life so far in Paris.. my room which is probably about 100 years old or more.. The view from my bedroom, and some photos of Le Jardin Luxembourg.. lots more to come!

My Media Deprivation Experience

Well when I first began this whole day without using any electronic media, I honestly thought that it would be pretty simple. I just figured i'd stay away from any computers, televisions or radios. But something that I KNEW I was going to struggle with was using my cell phone and my ipod. Basically, I can't live without my cell phone.
I tried to sit down and read a book, The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold, but for some reason that just didn't seem to be working for me. So after having breakfast, I decided that I’d sleep for a few hours, and right before I was about to lay down I suddenly remembered that I wouldn't be able to use my ipod, and the best way for me to fall asleep is by listening to music. Now this was getting out of hand, I really needed something to do outside of that was outside of the house.
My mom and I got to spend a lot of time together, we walked the dog (Ginger, my golden retriever) and we went grocery shopping. I remember that while we were walking through Giant they were already playing Christmas music, and I was loving it because it was the first time I'd heard music all day. But of course, I had no control over the fact that Giant plays cheesy music in their stores.
Afterwards my mom suggested that maybe could go and do a little shopping at the mall, since it did happen to be black Friday. So then we went to the mall, and of course I had to avoid the Apple store and the Sony store and all the other stores that involved any other type of electronic media, even though apple was selling ipods for 20% I was a little upset about not being able to go inside and at least take a peek.
But towards the end of the day after eating dinner, I decided I’d play a board game with my little brother and sister they really enjoyed that.
Even though this project was meant to torture me , it made me a little closer to my family and it made me happy that I was able to spend some quality time with them, since I am so rarely at home. Even though I was very tempted to turn on my cell phone I resisted because I knew firstly, that I’d have to start the project over the next day and secondly that I needed to spend my time with the people around me.
I feel like this project was good for me and it not only helped me understand how people get around without electronic media, but also how much time you are able to spend with your family when you aren’t using simple things like the phone or the computer.

Nosferatu

The film that I chose to watch was Nosferatu. The scene that I have chosen begins with Nina sitting in her home looking out the window. She sees Harker coming and she quickly makes sure that she looks presentable. Harker runs into the house and gives her a big hug. He then proceeds to tell her that Renfield is sending him to some "lost corner of Carpathians" so he will be away for a few months. Nina's face suddenly freezes with an expression of sadness. Harker then hastily kisses her and runs out of the house without another word. Before Harker leaves for his trip he sends Nina to stay with his friends Westerna and his wife Lucy. Nina still seems sad, but Harker simply tells her not to worry about him.
I believe that this particular scene portrays one of the cultural meanings of the film.I think one of the meanings of the film is that one should be weary of the decisions you make because you never know what the consequences may be. I believe that some of the story line is related to certain events that took place in the war, because the movie was released right after World War I. One correlation that I see between the movie and WWI is that Harker seems to represent Germany at that time. He did not want to listen to Nina and told her that he'd be alright when venturing to out to meet the Count, but later found himself with bite marks on his neck and having nightmares. He didn't want to listen to Nina, and this is similar to the way Germany was. They entered the war and they were initially successful in defeating Russia (the Battle of Tannenberg). Germany had planned to invade Paris but they were later defeated by the British and the French (The First battle of the Marne). Because of Germany's hastiness as well as communication problems and questionable command decisions they were not able to obtain their victory in Paris. I find Harker and Germany to be very similar in the aspect that they were both looking for something to profit and because of certain unwise decisions they ended up with a loss.

the problem with the priorities of today's media

Almost every time I turn on my television, the name Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, or some other former teen idol gone bad is on the news. There seems to be some type of obsession between the American media and celebrity gossip. I constantly see headlines similar to the following; “Is J.Lo pregnant or is that just a tummy bulge?”, “Jay- Z and Beyonce just spent a week long vacation on a private yacht“, or “Lindsay Lohan just got out of rehab, what is in store for her next?”.

I am tired of hearing about all of this useless information. Although to some it may not be useless, I personally find celebrity news to be not only deriding but sometimes just plain unnecessary. It does not benefit or better us as a society to publicize the lives of celebrities. I think the priorities of today’s media is entirely out of whack. This is not to say that all news sources today share the same celebrity news infiltration but many newspapers, magazines and national news television programs have been increasing the amount of celebrity news, and it sometimes seems to override the news stories with actual importance.

I was recently on the Yahoo! home page and I noticed that there was a branch of Yahoo! labeled as new. This new section titled OMG is a website completely devoted to celebrity news; candid pictures of celebrities with their children, in grocery stores, or just doing everyday things. These photos plastered the webpage, while bright italicized headlines boldly stated the most current embarrassing chapter in the life of these celebrities. I was completely shocked to find that an entire section of a well known online resource such as Yahoo! would add something as distasteful as OMG.

It appears as though many news stories are intentionally withheld from the media because so much celebrity gossip is taking its place. I know that not every single story of importance can be publicized but there are some stories that people need to know about besides the size of Victoria Beckham’s new Hollywood mansion.

For instance, Megan Williams, a 20 year old black woman
from West Virginia who was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, stabbed and sexually assaulted by six white men and women and barely made it out alive. I heard almost nothing about this story on the news and not nearly enough attention was given to this issue from media. This is not to say that there should be an extra emphasis on events this brutal, but its important that the public know about this and we aren’t constantly paying so much attention to the Nicole Richies and Britney Spears of the world.

Another time that I recall the media to be overflowing with a celebrity’s personal information was in my last months of high school. In early May there seemed to be a fixation on Paris Hilton going to jail. At certain times I felt like if chose only to watch television that would seem to have been the only important event taking place in the world at the time.

In an article I read recently in BlogCritics magazine, writer Rick Vasser shows the same concern for the lack of seriousness and importance in some of today’s news, and how the media’s spotlight is always shining on celebrities. But what Vasser mentions most importantly, is the reason as to why that spotlight is always shining, it’s because we as a country continue to be drawn into a vicious cycle: as long as we keep on watching, there will always be someone to show it to us.

I guess this means that we are partially responsible for the celebrity news that is being exhibited in the media today. I don’t think that it would reasonable (or feasible) to eliminate all the celebrity gossip that exists in the world, but I do think that if we watched it less and had a lower tolerance for it then there wouldn’t be so much of it everywhere.


Although I do find the general public does hold some responsibility,I also question the ethics of journalism and I believe that the rest of the responsibility lies upon journalists. There are so many events that not only occur within our nation but outside of it as well. Isn’t the media responsible to keep us informed of those occurrences to some degree, instead of concentrating on so many superficial issues?



According to the Journalism Code of Ethics there is a responsibility to be “honest, fair and courageous in gathering , reporting and interpreting information” and it seems me like the media needs to brush up on some of those things, especially when we are living in a nation that sacrifices meaningful and insightful news stories for brash celebrity news.

Analyze your media habits..

To me, media is the different ways that people receive information. It could be through the television, newspaper, magazine, radio, internet, etc. The two most important forms of media to me, would be the internet and the television. I think that internet is so important because there are so many different perspectives and ideas that can be shared. The internet has a sea of options and it is easier to get mulitiple perspectives on one particular subject. I find television to be an important form of media because you can get live updates on television. Through out time I have been using the internet more because it is more accessible and more convenient to me than an actual newspaper or magazine would be, and not to mention most newspapers and magazines now have their own websites where you can read online. Another reason why I use the internet more frequently is because it is a faster way of viewing multiple sources in a short period of time. Also, there are so many things you can do on the internet; read the newspaper, check your facebook, listen to music, even go shopping online.
Because technology has grown so much within the last few years it has allowed for the media to be right at one's finger tips. For instance, if you want to read the Washington Post you don't have to go out and buy a copy, all you have to do is log onto the internet from your computer or even your internet capable cellphone to get the latest news. I think that as technology progresses, the way that I will gain access to the media will change along with it.

who are you? why are you here?

Hey! I'm Sydney Golden, i'm a Media and Communications major here at UMBC. I am bilingual (I also speak french). Some of my favorite hobbies include taking pictures ( all my friends call me the camera lady) playing the piano and reading magazines.I think one of the reasons why I enjoy taking pictures is because I love being able to capture a moment in time. Looking at pictures can bring out emotion and help you capture some of the best times of your life.
Originally, UMBC was not my first choice in schools because I knew they didn't have the most exciting campus life.But overall I am really glad that I made the choice to come here, because I've met so many cool people.

The reason why I did decide to come here is because I wanted to be in an area that was somewhat close to home, just not too close ( I am originally from Montgomery County).
I am taking AMST 222 is because I would like to earn a degree in Media and Communications and some day become the editor of a magazine. I really enjoy the somewhat fast paced lifestyle that working in the media entails and I'd really like to be a part of it once I earn my degree. I think that this class will teach me some of the most important facts that are related to communications so I can gain a better understanding of the way things work within media.