Media Blog #2: The Coverage of the Boston Marathon Bombing

    On April 15th, 2013, the Boston Marathon took place, but it met a brutal end. At the finish line, two bombs were placed. When they detonated, they killed 3 people and wounded 144. One of the first reactions was panic. The bombers got exactly what they wanted: psychological terror among the people. Many posts, assumptions, and theories were made about who committed the crime and why they did it. There was an overwhelming fear cast upon the American people. There were news casts that seemed to scream "CHAOS, CHAOS, CHAOS." But there was another reaction as well, one of community and strength.

     As spoken here by Steve Colbert on the Colbert Report, there was no denying that the events that took place on April 15th were horrific, and terrifying. However, these events also shed light on a beautiful aspect of the American people that is sometimes forgotten. Not only is Boston tough, but the whole of America is capable of banding together, and pressing on through the thickest. As mentioned in the video, runners who had already completed the marathon ran an extra 2 miles to a hospital nearby to donate blood. Around the families of victims, candle light vigils were held, and those victims will never be forgotten. 

The internet had a great deal to do with the spread of fear, as well as the spread of strength as this photo of Mr. Rogers began popping up on feeds everywhere. As people began to pay more attention to the volunteers, a greater sense of community was developed.

Many celebrities (such as Steve Colbert and Amy Poehler) spoke about the bombing, but through the sullen clouds, we found hope.

 There was the time for sadness. But now is the time for strength. Our hearts are with you, Boston. 

   

A top comment from another, lower-quality version of the Colbert video.

Media Blog #1: Thrift Shop by Macklemore

"I'm gonna pop some tagsOnly got twenty dollars in my pocketI-I-I'm a huntin', lookin' for a come-upThis is  (expletive) -ing awesome!"

  

 Wow, talk about catchy, amiright? Although that might have sounded slightly sarcastic in your brain, I promise you it's not intended that way. The lyrics to Macklemore's Thrift Shop, although not totally and completely unbearable, are not the most brilliant lyrics in the world. In fact, they discuss a topic that now-a-days could be described as - how the kids are saying - "ratchet". Yet, with its "sick beats", and repetitive melody, it reached number one on the Billboard Top 100. Here's my look into why.

Although there are a multitude of reasons as to why this single became a success with very little promotion, I want to focus on a reason that sets it aside from most singles out there. Sure the song is "catchy", and it has a nice beat and melody, there is one particular reason I believe it caught on:  it's relate-able. Call me crazy, but just think about it for a minute. Songs generally become popular because their lyrics are just vague enough that people can project themselves onto the lyrics. They tend to avoid specifics and focus more on emotion. However, this song does the opposite. Although it doesn't name-drop, it touches on a relate-able topic: being broke and wanting cool things.

Example A: "They be like, "Oh, that Gucci - that's hella tight."/I'm like, "Yo - that's fifty dollars for a T-shirt."/Limited edition, let's do some simple addition/Fifty dollars for a T-shirt - that's just some ignorant b*tch"

In today's economy, I think it's safe to say that this is a common thought of the common people. I mean, why would you bother spending $50 on a T-shirt when you could buy 10 T-shirts at a thrift store for the same price? That's just some simple addition. Let's be real, "Limited Edition" is limited thinking, and today's moto seems to be "do more with less". Especially when it comes to the amount of clothes people are wearing, amiright?

Overall, I believe the song captures a modern morality. Plus it has little kids in it, so they definitely got me on the need to nurture. I've been receiving thrift-store "come-ups" since I was a kid, and now I just want to dress all the little children in moth-eaten sweaters <3

Hello!

      Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Gemma, and this is my first official post. This blog has been created with the intention of fulfilling requirements from my zero period critical thinking class. Although most of you probably know that, some may not. Anyways, I thought I'd take this post to make a brief introduction and get some practice in before I actually do things.

     First things first: this is a media blog, meaning it is my job to analyze the media I see everyday. When I was first assigned this, I was very excited. But right now, I'm kinda nervous. I've tried blogging before, but this is different. Now, I'm at the mercy of my peers (although not really, I'm not officially being judged). Practically everybody I know is going to see this, and even though I don't know a lot of people, it's still pretty scary. Sometimes my thoughts are unorganized, and sometimes I can't explain them. But I'm going to try my very best to get my opinions across. Please bear with me.

    I decided to start off with a quote-image (quote by Banksy, photo found on imgur, also please pardon the language), because I felt that it emulates what I understand about advertising so far. To put it simply, if you can place a product in the way of someone and them loving themselves, you can sell them anything. 

    But there's more to media than just advertisements; there's also music, tv, radio, news, etc. It's everywhere. Sometimes it feels inescapable. Sometimes it feels suffocating. But through this blog, I'm going to cut my way through the thick-plastic-plastered-photo-shopped-airbrushed-nip-tucked-smog-blanket of media that surrounds me in my day-to-day life. Wish me luck!