Site Title

Fake News

hello everyone,

It’s Marcus back here again and I am looking forward to writing my 8th blog for you guys to dive into. It has been a crazy past couple of weeks with Covid-19 taking over pretty much the entire world, so it is good to take a step back and be able to write about something else
Today’s blog is about the notion of fake news in the digital landscape and how it plays a part in our world. I am also going to dive into the idea on why people are not as savvy or interested in the online content that comes out today. To build off of that, what can we do to help educate them on that content because it is important. The last piece of information I want to take a look at and write about is the idea of how do we stay informed in reality even with a world with fake news?
Most certainly lots of interestings things to think about and I am here to give my opinion while giving you more information on the content through my class discussions and readings.
A tweet was posted by someone named Van Applegate and the tweet wrote “Friend of mine said she was handed a FAKE @washingtonpost paper at Union Station this morning. Dated May 1, 2019. Said it was printed on real paper stock. Someone spent some coin producing this.“ THE NPR continued to write that this article was being distributed outside of the White House. It doesn’t get more serious than that in terms of spreading fake news in front of the White House. This is an example on how fake news can affect the general population and it needs to be limited as much as possible.
When it comes to digital media savviness, pew research center talks a lot about the digital media and how nowadays it takes a certain savviness to keep up with it. The article says, “Those with high political awareness, those who are very digitally savvy and those who place high levels of trust in the news media are better able than others to accurately identify news-related statements as factual or opinion.” the more knowledgeable you become, the more aware you are when it comes to the information being thrown at you on a daily basis, and knowing whether it is real or not.
A statistic provided from the pew research center says, “36% of Americans with high levels of political awareness (those who are knowledgeable about politics and regularly get political news) correctly identified all five factual news statements, compared with about half as many (17%) of those with low political awareness”.
This quote shows how the percentages differentiates when it comes to the awareness and savviness of the general population in regards to the media being released.
The way we become aware of fake news is trusting the correct sources releasing the information. Having a mindset of not believing everything you see on the internet as well. Another way of becoming more aware is if you know it is fake news, spread that information to others to limit that flame from spreading throughout many people.

fake news is a real thing and we the people need to become more aware, savvy, honest and authentic because intelligence about what is going on in the world is a powerful thing and false power only divides us more.

transformation and Adaptation of Public Relations

Hello, it is Marcus Zegarowski and I am back for my 7th blog. I have missed you guys a lot and look forward to diving into the digital transformation era that my generation is involved in. I also am looking forward to providing important information through my research and class discussions. As someone who wants to go into public relations, it is very interesting to see and learn more about the skills and knowledge needed for this field. We have also seen a change in advertising because people digest media differently now and it takes a special way to really make the consumer interested.

The importance is very high when it comes to the skills and knowledge needed in public relations, especially in today’s day. Davos Edelman had a great point in his article. Public relations is only as good as its clients, who all need to take a better, more important role in the fake news era. Edelman says “urge you all to recognise that silence is just not an option. You have a lot of other people out there taking advantage of your good-natured behaviour. Every company here should consider itself a media company.” Edelman provided a good point with that quotation.

When it comes to certain skills, public relations requires a lot for it. honesty is one of the main components a journalist must provide. It is important for someone in public relations to keep a reputation of telling the truth at all times. Knowledge and research are also another component that will look good. It is the ability to undertake research and build your knowledge of a client’s product or service is very important. Being able to adapt to change. The media landscape is constantly changing, and the consumer wants are constantly changing so you must adjust the way you try and bring in the consumers. Must be flexible and make it about the people.

The digital era has made advertising a lot more appealing because they are adapting to its audience. The guardian says, “While we are in a new golden age of television, it has been less memorable for advertisers, who have found the digital audiences provided by Google and Facebook more alluring. Global spending on ad slots will grow 1.1% this year to $188.7bn (£136bn), according to media buyer ZenithOptimedia, while digital spending is expected to rise more than 10% to $224.7bn.” advertisers are providing funding, and doing product placement deals and having products digitally inserted into scenes have been what advertisers are increasingly doing to get involved in all aspects of television.

The trends that resonate with me are very simple. Personally, i do not mind seeing ads on social media including facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube, as long as it gives me the option to skip. I also like how some of the ads somewhat relate to my wants. I like when NIKE ads pop up on my feed because it is relatable to the consumer.

I really enjoyed this blog and I look forward to writing for you guys again.

Change to Adapt

The state of journalism and the public relation industry is currently rapidly changing over the course of the 21st century. From newspapers, information, mail etc, and how it used to take days for that info to travel to where its a 24 hour news cycle. The trends are changing and the way people interact with news media and the way the people consume the information is different now.

The change is not as easy as applicable or advertised in a sense because change means it causes the journalist and PR professionals to adapt to its consumers. The professionals of the public relation and journalism industry need help with the latest developments so it is a constant adaptation toward the increasing improvement.

When it comes to the world herald newspapers, it is very worrying to look at the abundance of change. The publisher of this article Erin Grace says, “The number of World-Herald print subscribers is falling. Fewer households these days are engaging in the coffee-and-newspaper ritual I grew up with and still maintain in my house with three kids who fight over Sports and Living.”

the people who support newspapers are fighting for it though. A facebook user wrote, “Time to get subscriptions folks,” the 2016 Nebraska Teacher of the Year wrote on his Facebook page. “Digital is only $9.99 a month. I’ve used the subscription I have at work but I’m getting a personal one today. The work they do is too good, too critical, and too necessary to our local community to have it die like this. This can’t happen on our watch.”” a video on newspaper and if they matter.

Listening to the Nicco Mele podcast really got me thinking. Major moment in history was the fall of the Berlin wall and many people thought of CNN and cable news and covering that. death of JFK, important part to history. 9/11 with the live press conference twice a day. The killing of Osama bin laden was found out via twitter and facebook. In a matter of 90 minutes, the information of Osama bin laden death was everywhere. Nicco explains the 3 core parts of journalism are production, distribution and the funding of journalism. Production and the distribution is in a very good place and well understood. What doesn’t make sense is how we make money, and fund through digital journalism.

Some very viable information that explains things from a statistical perspective. Newspapers are in a business crisis. There is half as much journalism in the United States as there was when the Berlin wall fell down. In 2007 root beer Murdoch bought Wall street journal for 5.4 billion dollars. Today, you could buy ginnett, milcatchi, tribune, ny times, washington post, boston globe and still have money leftover. Last few years, newspapers have seen a double digit decline.

The decline in the industry has taken a toll on the PR and journalist professionals. They need to adapt to the 21st century and the consumers need to not only make needs but to also put the correct information out there for the people.

Pros and Cons to Facebook

Marcus Zegarowski

Hello everyone!

It is good to be back blogging after a two week layover of it. I have missed this a lot and today’s blog is an interesting one to say the least. The topic is on The Facebook Dilemma.

Before I get into the Facebook Dilemma, I first want to introduce the groundwork of what Facebook is, how it was created, by whom and what facebook did for the world. Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg and he did it in his own college dorm room at Harvard with a few others. Facebook is a website which allows users to sign up without any cost and to connect with friends and family. It also allows you to connect with anyone in the world as long as they accept friend requests. It allows its users to share all types of things like music, videos articles, news and their own opinions or thoughts on it. Very cool website to have and it honestly changed the world. video of how to operate on facebook.

The ideas that resonated with me were a mix of both positive and negative. The positives of Facebook is it allowed people to have a voice. It allowed people to come together and bounce ideas off each other. The communication level during the Facebook era became a lot easier and comfortable. Facebook also created a news feed that honestly got there. It creates an awareness that people now have that they did not have before.

The negative said is that facebook became so aware of its users. Facebook began working with data companies that most people aren’t even familiar with and they started knowing things about its users that normally they shouldn’t know about. Facebook needed to increase its revenue because it was flattening so that became an option for them. More negatives is it created a ruthless environment where people could say whatever and it did hurt a lot of people. Mental health became a more vital part of humanity.

Another negative is that it people became hurt from facebook and its freedom of saying whatever to whoever. Facebook ended up fixing that…I guess.

Section 230 protecting private blocks and screening of offensive material of communications decency act. This act basically says do not hold the internet at fault if feelings got hurt on Facebook. It took facebook to make the rules and they basically said violence is not allowed on the news feed, in the comments etc. If violence was created by a user of facebook then that specific user will be kicked off immediately but facebook is going to allow people to go right up to the edge. Going right up to the edge creates more users and more conversation which leads to more revenue. Revenue is their main goal and I do not blame them.

The most inspiring part about this video was Cairo Egypt 2011. A facebook user created a facebook page showing all of the violent acts made over there to innocent people. The facebook page maker did not expect his page to explode like it did. His mindset was not just letting stuff happen in his native country but to try and get it out there just to know he did do something. In just three days 100,000 people joined the page. The Tonesia strike had thousands of people and it all started from Facebook. He called for a revolution and it eventually had the corrupt leader step down.

Facebook has its pros and cons and I believe Mark Zuckerbeg wanted to do it for a good cause. To change the world in a positive manner but all great things come with bumps and bruises and that is what he had to go through.

The Weight of Social Media

Hello everyone, it is great to be back blogging again. Last week’s topic was about an experiment that I took place in. I decided to go four full hours without any technology. It went well for me in a sense, because I enjoyed the peace of mind and the books that I tapped into. This experiment led to another idea on, if and how social media gives us the ability to make us feel more connected. Humans have the ability to contact almost anyone at any given moment. It is definitely crazy to think about. The question is, are my friendships and relationships made more complex by their existence online? Do my relationships with my friends get better due to social media or do they get worse? It is a very interesting topic to think about and here’s my status on it.

https://www.hastac.org/blogs/jkuiper/2017/11/30/social-media-good-bad-ugly

I think social media in regards to friendships has a significant amount of strengths. For example, being able to contact people who live far away while keeping the relationship strong is an important aspect of friendship. Also being able to see how my friends and others are doing by looking at their updated social media pages is indeed a benefit. Reaching and getting in contact with a larger audience is also a strength because it helps to put yourself out there and even build a bigger bond with someone you care about.

For example, my best friend who was my roommate at Prep School is from Ghana and he lives in New York, very far from me. I have seen him about three to four times since we graduated and it is hard to connect in person but we talk via social media every single day. It varies between instagram, snapchat, text message and even facetime. He is my best friend and usually in life when you go long periods without seeing someone, you lose that bond you once had. I don’t think we’ll ever lose that bond because of the online social media world we have on our hands.

Social media also can build an individual’s brand. An example of this is someone in my family. My older brother is in the NBA and he is a familiar face to millions around the world. He uses his twitter and Instagram for his brand to help put himself out there to make money. Different advertising and marketing people like that and want him to promote their stuff. He then makes money off it. For example, is ethika underwear for men. He advertises them by posting instagrams of the product.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FCSVpCG4WoAAkEd-.jpg%3Alarge&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fethika%2Fstatus%2F659048406913036292&tbnid=Cjfe5taH6inpfM&vet=12ahUKEwiT-MiF18XnAhUB0KwKHYJ7BHwQMygAegUIARDDAQ..i&docid=SbmoJIzf-yiXaM&w=1535&h=2048&itg=1&q=michael%20carter%20williams%20ethika&client=safari&ved=2ahUKEwiT-MiF18XnAhUB0KwKHYJ7BHwQMygAegUIARDDAQ

On the other side of the spectrum on how social media is a blessing, it also can be a curse. I think we all know, talking via social media and not face to face is a lot easier.

Social media is looked at as a drug. A video about how social media can control our lives is really mind blowing. Social media makes people addicted to it and it can cause people to compare to each other. When you compare yourself to others especially on social media where everyone post their successes and no failures, it leads to stress and anxiety. People look a lot happier on social media than what they truly feel deep down and that is the sad truth. The most important thing about social media is to use it the correct way and not to post for others approval.

Social media has its strengths and its weaknesses, and I am not telling you what to do but the best thing in regards to social media is to use it the correct way by keeping up with the people you love and appreciate. Also, to express yourself in an authentic way while showing love for others.

Marcus Zegarowski

No phone No Life! I Disagree!!

Hello everyone, I am excited to share with you an experiment that I participated in. I decided to go four full hours without my technology. That includes my phone, computer, ipad and my television. That means I was away from social media for a whole four hours. That sounds impossible right! I thought the same thing. It actually was a beautiful four hours.

I decided to complete the four hours without technology from around 6pm to 10pm because that is the only free time I have with school and basketball taking over my life. To begin the four hours, I began asking myself if I can really do this. I also did not do myself any justice, because I started off in my room where my phone, computer and my television take place, so technology is just screaming at me to use it. I stood strong and decided to think of things to do and still remain productive.

Many things came to mind while staying away from technology. First, I decided to go to the basketball gym to shoot and get my mind away from boredom. Usually when I get up shots at the basketball gym, I play music. I began looking for my phone to plug it in, but then I remembered that I cannot use my phone. It was a close one and I am happy I left my phone at the room. As I began shooting at the gym, I didn’t realize how calm and silent the gym can be without the music blasting. I liked the silence a lot and it helped me focus on the task at hand and that’s perfecting my basketball craft.

When I got back to my bedroom, I planned to try and be productive as possible in the two hours remaining. I began thinking of things like reading, making some food or having my girlfriend come over. Having my girlfriend come over was hard because I was not allowed to communicate with her so that wasn’t a possibility. I took a shower and decided to read. I like to read books that help my perspective and mentality to help improve my mindfulness. Here is a great article on how reading increases mindfulness.

I was reading a book called Chop Wood Carry Water and I couldn’t stop reading it. It consumed me and made me forget about technology. It was great and I am really happy I decided to read that book for the remainder of four hours without technology.

The discoveries I made were very helpful on learning more things about not only my surroundings but myself. I learned that, not only can I survive without my phone and television, but I can be very productive with the time provided. I was definitely able to go all four hours without my phone even though my girlfriend was pretty mad about it. I had to tell her why I wasn’t responding and she completely understood. I then told her all about my experience and she decided to try it. I said, “but you still have to communicate with me”. All in all, I really enjoyed this experiment and I will continue to get away from my phone and television for periods of time.

is the Attention for the Good or the Bad?

Attention economy is apart of our everyday lives and it is a blessing and a curse. Attention economy rewards the apps and companies that we give our attention to. Attention can be servicing their website and searching for stuff that pleases the consumer. Then it leads to consumers getting alerts on email, instagram, advertisements on youtube and sponsored posts on social media feeds that is related to what you originally searched for. attention economy video.

For example, my favorite website to shop is Nike, and whenever I go on the Nike app or website, later that day and throughout the week, I will get emails and sponsored posts on my social media telling me to buy certain things. Also, my search page on youtube will contain things about nike, all because I showed some interest in their service. The downside of this is that I do not like the posts on my feed from accounts I do not follow, and that happens when I show some attention towards Nike.

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/04/738719658/netflix-promises-to-quit-smoking-on-most-original-programming

The key ingredient in the attention economy is the relevance of what is gaining your attention. If it is relevant at the time, than the consumer will stick around, which then creates more opportunities for the websites and apps to sell. Obviously, it is impossible for sites to generate relevancy unless they truly know the consumer.

Personally, I feel very overwhelmed from these sites trying to gain my attention. The more sites and advertisements flooding my feed, the less I am attracted to their services. Another example on how attention economy overwhelms me is the process of getting my attention on netflix. I will try and watch a show on netflix, and say I do not like it. I will stop watching the show but then get shows related to the show I did not like on my feed. I may like one of those shows but since it is related to the original show I disliked, I now won’t even give the show a chance.

Although, the flooding of services on my email and my social media feed can be a lot, there is another side of me that appreciates it. There is an attraction towards services trying to gain my attention. I believe it is just how humans are. Humans like when people or even services try to get their attention.

I believe there is a middle ground on being connected to the positive side of attention economy and being able to tune it out. I like the idea of being able to get alerts from things you find pleasure in. I like Nike, and getting ads, sponsored posts on instagram and a few emails is cool. A part of me does want to continue to pursue whatever nike has in store for me. It creates a connection between the consumer and the websites or apps. The more services do it, the less or attracts me. It is an odd combination and it may not be like that for everyone. Attention economy is a powerful concept that will continue to make vast improvements to become more personalized for the consumer.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
What topics do you think you’ll write about?
Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.