Enlightened in the Dark of a Theatre - a Response to the class discussion - 'Why do People Still Go to Movie Theatres?'

The primary reason that I attend a movie is for the immersive experience. I quite enjoy sitting in the dark, surrounded by expensive speakers, staring at an abnormally large screen with minimal distraction. Film is a popular activity in our modern culture and most people believe one deserves to be seen under these conditions. In the past I was not able to articulate the reason I enjoyed the theatre so much. After our class discussion with Mr. Miller I can do so easily. I believe that film is one of the most effective, if not the most effective, ways to express yourself. Creating or telling a story for the public to see with their eyes is very insightful. People tend to understand something better when they can both see and hear it. It makes sense that our population would want to see something like this in an immersive environment such as a movie theatre.

 I mentioned above that film is a popular activity in our culture. Many people go to a movie, regardless of their interest in the film simply because it is a social event. I can honestly say I have never actually done this. I will attend a movie as a social event, but I will never see a movie I have no interest in. People also attend movies for their cultural significance. I definitely believe this to be true. I have seen movies on their first night in theatres only to see someone dressed in costume. I find it incredible that a screenwriter can create something so spectacular that on opening night they have fans willing to dress up as the characters they have created.

-Guinn

Using Your Voice - a Response to the Class Disscussion- 'What is Communicated Through Music?'

Many things can be conveyed through a single song lyric. I, however. never took the time to think about this until recently. I've always known that emotions, stories, and social/cultural messages can be told through a song, but I guess I held the fact that this is simply not all a song can hold in my subconscious. Political, religious, educational, and historical messages, and messages about sports, news or defiance are all messages and themes that a song may contain whether we realize it or not. 

A song holding an underlying touch of defiance seems very intriguing. It is incredible that someone can convey a need for unity, or exploit a horrible truth by simply putting their message on paper (or any other medium) and publishing it so that it is available to the public. I believe that now more than ever artists need to convey messages they feel strongly about through their lyrics. It is one of the best ways a person in a position of power can bring our country together. I believe it is essential to use your voice if you have one.

-Guinn

An Internetless Existence - a Response to Emily McCurry's Blog Entry, "The Evolution of Entertainment: What Life Would be like Without Music and Movies"

In Emily Mccurry's entry she mentions how very difficult and different life would be without music and movies. I very much relate to the article she has written. I feel that my entire existence revolves around these two things. I have yet to go through a day without so much as seeing a clip from a movie or hearing a popular song lyric. The entire human race very much relies on technology in order to function, but I feel that I would be lost without the two things McCurry mentions in her blog. 

Movies and music are a large part of who I am. I not only enjoy them, but I very much want to work in the music or film industries when I am older. I love these two expressive arts for that reason exactly. They are a way to express yourself when simple verbal or nonverbal responses fail you. I, however, also depend on the people I surround myself with (mainly my family) to keep busy. Even though I cannot imagine life without the internet, if I was forced to live without it I would still have ways to express and entertain myself.

-Guinn

Just Enough, or a Little Too Much? - a Response to Emma Hayes's Blog Entry, "WHAS11 Reported Kroger Shooting Well"

Emma's article, "WHAS11 reported Kroger shooting well," mentions their accuracy of informing the public about the recent and random shooting. I also watched this channel at this time and I too completely agree with the fact that they gave the public this information with surprising accuracy, not leaving a single detail out. 

However, did they give just enough information, or a little too much? Well, technically when it comes to informing the public you cannot exactly provide too much information, but when there are almost no news stories other than this it seems that there should be a limit. I can honestly say that there is no possible way that there was almost only a single news story to report. 

While the Kroger shooting was extremely important breaking news, it may not have been necessary to make eleven of the total fifteen stories included in the broadcast about this particular situation. I am not saying that the story did not deserve attention, but it almost seemed as if the story was smothered on the 5:00 PM broadcast.

-Guinn

Do They Have a Choice? - a Response to Morgan David's Blog Entry, "Missing Girl or Missing News?"

In David's article, "Missing Girl or Missing News?," she mentions Jayme Closs (a missing girl). She talks about how when a news organization (WHAS11 in particular) runs out of relevant stories they report fluff. I agree and understand what she is saying. 

However, if there are no longer any locally relevant stories to report they may not have any other options. The best they can do is report a legitimate news story regardless of its relevance. I record notes on WHAS11 at 5:00 P.M. as well, and I can honestly agree with Morgan. Local News organizations report nothing short of fluff when they run out of stories containing relevance, but do they alway have a choice? Click here for a link to her full article.

-Guinn

All That Is Available - a Response to Christeen Florence's Blog Entry, "Been There, Read That"

"Been There, Read That"  is the title of an article that can be found on Christeen Florence's blog. In her blog entry she talks about how as she perused through local news websites she realized that they all contained the same story on their front pages. She understood that this was because the story was breaking news, but feels that they could have given different approaches. I both agree and disagree with her take on this. Occasionally news organizations can definitely dig a little deeper and provide the public with new and other information, they can provide their information in a different way, or they can provide different sources or witnesses. 

However, sometimes you literally cannot tell a story differently because of a limited number of sources, leads, and information. Sometimes when a news story is really fresh the news organization simply wants to make the basic structure of the story available to the public because that is all that is currently available to them. The news organization will wait to tell their story fully until they have received as many details as possible. Christeen's take on the ways in which local news organizations seems to me mostly accurate and very interesting. Click here for a link to Christeen Florence's full article.

-Guinn

Where to Put Our Trust - a Media Critique

When a news organization quotes only one source in an article you naturally question the truth. Often when only one source is present the truth is distorted in some way. On October 26, 2018 Lauren Adams published a news story on WLKY titled, 'Police: Shoplifters become physical, pull a gun on security officer.' The article mentions several quotes coming from the police department, but does not include anything from the witnesses. 

The story is not able to be denied, but if the police are the only source provided in an article you can definitely question a story's validity and verification. The article does not mention or provide surveillance footage regardless of its possible existence. If there is in fact surveillance footage it should have been provided, or at the very least mentioned in the article. The public deserves the full truth and that can only be given with multiple sources. Below I have provided a link to the article.

https://www.wlky.com/article/police-shoplifters-become-physical-pull-gun-on-security-officer/24294936

-Guinn

An Intriguing Lack of Importance - a Media Critique

One obligation a journalist has is to make the important interesting. Not only was this story interesting, but it was not exactly relevant or important to the public. The story is titled 'Trial of Jeffersonville Man Accused of Killing His Father Continues.' While this may be a source of intrigue it is not necessarily important and that is exactly the opposite of a journalists obligations. First of all, the news story directly affects a small number of people. It essentially only affects those in the story: Darren Cave, Earl Cave (his father), his mother, and his sisters. 

Because the story does not affect a large number of people for a large amount of time it shows evidence of its lack of importance. Earl Cave was murdered by his son on October 8, 2015, but the article was published on October 26, 2018. Darren Cave has a trial this coming Monday at nine a.m. and a couple of other testimonies on other days. Even though these trials will take place soon the actual crime took place over three years ago. If the story was neither relevant or important to the public then, it is most likely neither of those things today. Below I have included a direct link to the article.

http://www.wave3.com/2018/10/26/trial-jeffersonville-man-accused-killing-his-father-continues/

-Guinn