Journal: 1-1

The Media's Lies

     One of the things that I found interesting in class was the discussion of the use of fallacies, euphamisms and loaded language in everyday media. Talking about this in class made me realize just how much lies there are in the media and since the discussion I've noticed it in almost every ad I see on TV, in magazines and on the radio. I can see however that there are positive and negative sides to this issue. On the positive side I suppose one could argue about how tricks used in the media help encourage consumers to buy products and boost the economy. On the negative side however, one could argue on how the media never gives the straight turth about a certain product. Most of the time they use fallacies about their product to make it sound like their product is better than anything else out there. They also use euphamisms and loaded language to help stir up some emotion within the consumer to encourage them to by the product. So this issue could really be taken either way.

    The discussion about the media this past week really made me wonder how we actually can know what products are the best for us out there if the details are so clouded from the media. I know I am guilty of seeing an ad on TV for a new mascara on the market or an ad in a magazine about the latest style of shoes and going out to buy them just because of the way they were presented in the advertisement made them seem great. It also makes me wonder how many times I fell under the spell of an advertisment and became obsessed with wanting to having that product. It's way too many for me to count or even remember. It makes one think about how many people are also guilty of buying into unclear advertisements.

    As I have stated before this lesson can deffinately apply to beyond the classroom. Everytime there is an advertisement it is almost gauranteed that there will be a fallacy in there trying to get consumers to buy their products. I think all of my fellow classmates from now on will be more aware of what the media is really trying to say through it's unclear subliminal messages. I think this is really a valuable skill to have as an everyday consumer.

    It occured to me in class that not only do fallicies show up in advertisements but they really show up in politics as well. It seems as though politics is almost just about trying to make your opponent looks bad and make yourself look like the only choice. But also, fallicies in politics also occur on political shows as well. This is because most political sources of information have some sort of biased to republicans or denocrats. One can really tell this by turning on the TV to a political show where it is clear that they only endorse democrats and are constantly putting down the republics and the same can also be said for shows endorsing republicans and putting down democrats. These two different points of view can leave a citizen feeling uncertain about what really is the truth about politics.

    After this week's discussion about the media, I wonder what really matters in an advertisement or political ad to the viewer. Is it the fallicies which matters most? Or do we crave to have the truth? Maybe it's neither. Maybe we just mindlessly watch advertisements and never realize how things can be made to look different than they actually are.

Rachel. "Dissent." Thoughts From A Conservative Mom. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. http://www.thoughtsfromaconservativemom.com/?tag=dissent.

Bluedorn, Nathanial. "The Fallacy Detective." Fallacy Detective. 2010. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. http://www.fallacydetective.com/products/item/the-fallacy-detective.