I just recently viewed a video of Neda, an Iranian woman who attended the protest regarding the recount of ballots for President Ahmadinejad in defense of Mousavi, who was the opposing runner-up in the Iranian presidential election. She was with her father, standing there as peacefully as can be when her life was suddenly taken by an Iranian soldier. The Iranian soldier shot her and she instantly fell to the ground. Her eyes wandered upward toward the camera that was shoved in her space, which caught the entire death on film. As the blood rushed out and covered her face, her eyes were at a stand-still and everyone that had surrounded her knew she had passed.
The crowd that surrounded her was yelling due to the shock of what had just happened. A young man next to her was yelling in Farci, “Close it! Close it!”-- He was referring to her mouth, which had been the outlet of her flow of endless innocent blood.
When I first watched this video on You Tube, my first thought was that I was so shocked that this would even be allowed to be displayed so openly--I mean, this was not the movies. There was no corn syrup in place of blood and there were no actors being paid to yell and pretend that they were disgruntled by the death; this was real.
We’re in such a new trend of reality--it’s almost scary if you think about it. However, the video spoke to me on such deep and personal level. When the man in the crowd started screaming, I knew it was a real person experiencing real emotions.
I started to think about how much media is moving toward that direction of reality. Social media is the key that leads to the door, which leads toward the direction of reality that this video portrayed. The issue of ethics is present amongst many, but not enforced and I can’t help but wonder why that is? This must be the new direction for news media. The news anchors will stop having an impact on the television station’s viewers. You and I will become the issuers of news via our cell phones that have video cameras implanted. It’s a frightening thought.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Take a Chance
It’s amazing how much something that you hear can make an impact on the way you feel. I remember when music used to be my MAIN inspiration for everything (It still inspires me greatly). If I heard a song during a time of sadness then I would be reminded of that time of sadness every time I heard that song. For example, the first time that I really felt emotion for a song was when I heard the song, “Redeemer,” by Nicole C. Mullen. She could belt notes so powerfully that it would make you want to cry in an instant.
I remember it as if it were yesterday. My mom and I were sitting in the car waiting for my brother when “Redeemer” came on and I remember not being able to say one word during the song because I was so mesmerized by it. I knew that I wanted to be an inspiration as well. So I practiced and practiced until my vocal chords were all worn out; I basically sounded like Kermit the Frog.
I ended up singing, “Redeemer,” at my eighth grade graduation as well as my senior year of high school. It was my favorite song… to sing and to listen to. It was one of those songs that made my heart skip and my energy surge.
After high school, the Fresno State choir director called me and left a message that inquired me to continue choir at the collegiate level. However, I was no longer interested in choir; I felt that it was something that reminded me of my past, which I no longer wanted to be a part of. It was not because I was a bad person; I have just always been big on enhancing myself. For example, when I feel that I have been too much of something for too long, I always feel the need to move on and expand my knowledge.
What’s wrong with that? Well there is a long list of things wrong with that-- in my opinion. I guess that when something becomes attainable, I feel the need to add more of a challenge to it. Consistency is my enemy, meaning that once I feel comfortable, there is a need for change.
Then, the thought of change comes about. Why is there always a need for change once everything feels comfortable? It almost seems that comfort is code for fear; fear of the unknown. I can’t help but to wonder what the fear of the unknown is.
The unknown is something that is undefined. It is like feeling an unexplainable itch, which makes you want to figure out the culprit even more only to find out that the unidentified itch is a spider, which happens to be the only phobia you have. I can only wonder if it is the destiny of one to become fearful of everything unknown. Sometimes discovering the unknown, reveals the greatest secrets about oneself. Take a chance once in a while! I think it will surprise you.
I remember it as if it were yesterday. My mom and I were sitting in the car waiting for my brother when “Redeemer” came on and I remember not being able to say one word during the song because I was so mesmerized by it. I knew that I wanted to be an inspiration as well. So I practiced and practiced until my vocal chords were all worn out; I basically sounded like Kermit the Frog.
I ended up singing, “Redeemer,” at my eighth grade graduation as well as my senior year of high school. It was my favorite song… to sing and to listen to. It was one of those songs that made my heart skip and my energy surge.
After high school, the Fresno State choir director called me and left a message that inquired me to continue choir at the collegiate level. However, I was no longer interested in choir; I felt that it was something that reminded me of my past, which I no longer wanted to be a part of. It was not because I was a bad person; I have just always been big on enhancing myself. For example, when I feel that I have been too much of something for too long, I always feel the need to move on and expand my knowledge.
What’s wrong with that? Well there is a long list of things wrong with that-- in my opinion. I guess that when something becomes attainable, I feel the need to add more of a challenge to it. Consistency is my enemy, meaning that once I feel comfortable, there is a need for change.
Then, the thought of change comes about. Why is there always a need for change once everything feels comfortable? It almost seems that comfort is code for fear; fear of the unknown. I can’t help but to wonder what the fear of the unknown is.
The unknown is something that is undefined. It is like feeling an unexplainable itch, which makes you want to figure out the culprit even more only to find out that the unidentified itch is a spider, which happens to be the only phobia you have. I can only wonder if it is the destiny of one to become fearful of everything unknown. Sometimes discovering the unknown, reveals the greatest secrets about oneself. Take a chance once in a while! I think it will surprise you.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
News Outlet: Media-induced VS. Self-induced
As I was doing my daily commute to San Francisco from Walnut Creek on BART, I had finally found a seat beside an elderly man. I pulled out my Blackberry and plugged in my earphones so that I could listen to music off of the internet radio, Pandora. I also opened up my Blackberry application for the “Associated Press.”
While I was flipping through each label of news, I noticed my eyes wandering off to see what the gentleman next me was doing, as we all so commonly do. He was reading, “The Wall Street Journal,” in paper form.
I took a moment to laugh. It was a perfect visual aid that represented how much the media outlets have changed within a couple of decades. So I looked around, beyond the gentleman next to me, and noticed that, on average, each BART rider that was under the age of 50 was aggressively focused on their phones. While everyone that was over the age of 50 was pleasantly reading newspapers.
I began to understand why there is so much of a lack in communication amongst the age groups. I always hear the elderly complain about how “fast-paced” the younger generation moves. About how they drive like maniacs and talk so fast that one can barely make anything out of the “gibberish.” When the younger generation talks about the elderly, the exact opposite is mentioned; they complain that the elderly are too slow at everything.
Does the issue have to do with age, in the sense that physically we get older and cannot function as coherently as we used to? Or is the progression media-induced?
I pondered on these two questions that present very accurate debates, but I couldn’t decide on whether one was more of a culprit than the other.
As a society, we are naturally aging as a whole, whether we are part of the Baby Boomer’s, Gen-X’ers, or Gen-Y’ers. For example, we are not born in the same surroundings as our elderly. We have learned how to utilize a higher grade of technology because we were born into the movement. It was never an issue of adaptation; it was more of a “this is how we do things so learn it” concept.
Most of what I’ve learned has been through word-of-mouth. I listen a lot to my surroundings. Maybe that is the difference. The older that we get, the more we discover who we are and once we reach a certain age we are unwilling to change because we are certain of our opinions, beliefs, etc. As a 22-year-old, I find myself constantly changing my opinion because I am still learning about myself as well as the world.
I know that what I believe now, is not what I’m going to believe forever. So, as a result I adapt to new things all the time so that I can absorb as much opinion as possible and form a strong and educated base so that one day I will piece together my own innovative beliefs.
While I was flipping through each label of news, I noticed my eyes wandering off to see what the gentleman next me was doing, as we all so commonly do. He was reading, “The Wall Street Journal,” in paper form.
I took a moment to laugh. It was a perfect visual aid that represented how much the media outlets have changed within a couple of decades. So I looked around, beyond the gentleman next to me, and noticed that, on average, each BART rider that was under the age of 50 was aggressively focused on their phones. While everyone that was over the age of 50 was pleasantly reading newspapers.
I began to understand why there is so much of a lack in communication amongst the age groups. I always hear the elderly complain about how “fast-paced” the younger generation moves. About how they drive like maniacs and talk so fast that one can barely make anything out of the “gibberish.” When the younger generation talks about the elderly, the exact opposite is mentioned; they complain that the elderly are too slow at everything.
Does the issue have to do with age, in the sense that physically we get older and cannot function as coherently as we used to? Or is the progression media-induced?
I pondered on these two questions that present very accurate debates, but I couldn’t decide on whether one was more of a culprit than the other.
As a society, we are naturally aging as a whole, whether we are part of the Baby Boomer’s, Gen-X’ers, or Gen-Y’ers. For example, we are not born in the same surroundings as our elderly. We have learned how to utilize a higher grade of technology because we were born into the movement. It was never an issue of adaptation; it was more of a “this is how we do things so learn it” concept.
Most of what I’ve learned has been through word-of-mouth. I listen a lot to my surroundings. Maybe that is the difference. The older that we get, the more we discover who we are and once we reach a certain age we are unwilling to change because we are certain of our opinions, beliefs, etc. As a 22-year-old, I find myself constantly changing my opinion because I am still learning about myself as well as the world.
I know that what I believe now, is not what I’m going to believe forever. So, as a result I adapt to new things all the time so that I can absorb as much opinion as possible and form a strong and educated base so that one day I will piece together my own innovative beliefs.
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