Products like the subservient chicken and the Dove Real Beauty Campaign can be good and bad in reaching audiences. The chicken is pure entertainment and fun to play with, which people will like. Often times, really entertaining commercials distract from the product itself. After watching, people enjoy it for the entertainment value, but have no idea what it was selling. However, this causes people to pay more attention the next time they see it because they know it was good and eventually they will know the product. I don’t know if this would work the same way for the subservient chicken. People can easily ignore the small link at the bottom for Burger King and just play with the chicken. Having the chicken link sent around to lots of people is the main goal though, and I think that was accomplished.
With the Dove commercial, it is hard to miss the product name, which is good for the advertiser. The more serious subject matter, however, puts Dove in a different position than Burger King. People will either feel Dove really cares as a company because at the heart, they are parents and neighbors and people who care about children and families. It also would them set apart from other beauty products and but them more with health products, which are more of a necessity. On the other hand, people may think Dove is just a big corporation that is trying to use our emotions to sell their product, which is heartless and wrong. It seems more risky to me to do what Dove did because of the possible second response, but it also seems to have a bigger possible pay off. The biggest problem with the Dove commercial that I see is that although parents may be grateful that Dove brought the problem to their attention, they will not necessarily switch. They may think Dove is a good company, but they may also have a lotion that is working well. I think selling the actual product rather than an image helps more because the product is what makes people keep buying.

Chipotle

In the Wall Street Journal on Novermber 23, 2007, there was an article about Chipotle by Janet Adamy. According to the article, Chipotle is the only fast food restraurant with growing sales. It also has the most expensive ingredients and does not franchise. The founder of Chipotle, Steve Ells, hopes the success will encourage other fast food restaurants to use "food with integrety." This means raising animals humanly and naturally and making all products environmentally friendly. I think this is a good idea overall because of the growing health and environmental problems in America. Having healthier, more natural products is a good idea for both empidemics. However, Chipotle burritos are around 1,000 calories each. That is half of the recommended calories for the day in one meal. I know that putting rice, beans, and meat in huge portions in a tortilla and then pouring sour cream and guacamole over it should not be expected to be healthy. I also think the words like "natural" posted all over the store mislead people. I know people who chose Chipotle over things like McDonalds because they believe it is healthier. I think the idea of making products more wholesome is a good idea and I also agree that Chipotle has the right to proudly display that in the store. However, I also believe the customers need to be more aware that natural does not always equal healthy. The article also discussed problems Chipotle has, like people leaving because of long lines and the expense of the food. I think these will obviously hurt the restaurant in some ways, but Chipotle has created so many loyalists that it should not have too many issues keeping customers.

Are bloggers journalists?

Blogs as a form of journalism is a big controversy since the 1990s when blogs first began. According to J.D. Lasica, they are. Lasica says that blogs are a form of participatory journalism meaning that the blogger collects and sorts information and reports on it. She goes on to say that although many are amateurs and have no real background in writing, they use the Internet as an editor, making them technical journalists. She also explains how journalists need to look at bloggers as a true form of journalism and bloggers need to respect journalist’s conventionalism. However others, like Jason Calacanis, disagree. He says that blogs are as much journalism as any other webpage. Calacanis also feels allowing bloggers to be counted as journalists hurts journalism. He says that there is no fact checking or proofreading and therefore bloggers can publish stories much faster than the media. He also feels it would be against the blogger’s tone to make them follow the journalistic structure.
Personally I do not believe bloggers are journalists, at least not as they are now. Although they do collect information and publish it as a story, they do not have the restrictions real journalists have. No one checks them and therefore anything they publish is unreliable and untrustworthy. Also, many bloggers do not want to be journalists and see journalists as elitists who place themselves above others too much. However, if a blogger has credible information that has been proven dependable, there is no reason that people should not regard their opinions as highly as they do other journalists.

Saint Paul Public Schools

According to an article in the Pioneer Press, St. Paul Public schools fell way behind in meeting the targets set for them. In fact, they failed 72% of targets. Targets included things like standardized testing, number of honor classes taken, and number of problems like suspension. Minority groups did the worst on the targets. As a graduate of the St. Paul School system, this article was a little sad to read. Especially considering my high school was 60+ percent Asian and also had a large African American population. One of the reasons I believe schools did so poorly is the testing. The tests don't count towards grades or graduation, so many students don't come to them and if they do they don't try. I never felt standardized testing was a good way to measure student success. I think having the plan a five year plan, which the article said it was, is somewhat useful. This way they can measure improvement which I think measures success better than just meeting standards because it shows growth from where they were. I also think measuring the number of honors classes is a bad idea because many students have to interest or need for them. Plus, when I was in school at least, some of the St. Paul Schools did not offer honor classes. The ways in which the superintendent is measuring the success and growth could be planned out better. However, this still shows that the schools in the district are not doing well enough and improvement is needed.

Television Vs. Newspaper News

Television is m main source of news. I like the way the information is presented quickly with lots of visuals. The fact that you can actually watch real, moving footage of the story is so much better to me than reading a description or even seeing a photo. With events like the War in Iraq going on, television news in able to make the story real. I also like the way television gives you all the main facts with out too much extra detail so you can quickly and easily understand the story. The television personalities like news anchors and talk show hosts also make the news more personal. Viewers get to know and therefore trust the people presenting the news. With reporters in papers, all we see is a byline and occasionally a picture. However these can be downfalls of the industry too. The fast paced visuals do not capture the intensity of some things as well. As much as seeing bombs going off make the war real, the famous “Afghan Girl” of National Geographic magazine shows the struggle of people during war even better. Another plus to newspapers and magazines is the detail they can give to a story. Although I don’t want to know every detail of some stories, I do of others. When this happens, television news leaves you wanting more. Plus, newspapers can print follow-ups of stories so you can see how they progressed. Also, the mysteriousness of reporters adds an objectivity that is important in news. I think the decision between the two depends on personal preference, but currently television news is winning more fans than the paper.