CNN.com

Lanna Mayes, Lori Enriquez, Tracy Roquet

Top Featured Stories:

1. Girl, 10, says husband raped, abused her

The first thing that catches your eye after logging on to CNN.com is a picture of a 10 year old little girl from Yemen, Samaa. She was sent off to be married by her parents to a 30 year old man that raped and abused her. She filed for divorce and is now against the rules of marrying at a young age.

2. Oil plunges on supply increase

This story was basically about how the cost of barrels of oil has risen to an absurd amound making the cost of gas unheard of.

3. Inflation eats up paychecks

This story is about how the cost of food and other necessities has gone up drastically due to inflation. Americans are spending way more money than they need to in order to get the necessities that they need.

4. Secretive refinery plans spook farm town

This article was about how a refinery company plans to build a refinery to replace a farm. The idea causes controversy.

5. Remains identified as 2 Israeli soldiers

Israelis are proud of the 2 bodies that are found because they are a symbol of victory.

Most Popular/E-mailed Articles

http://www.cnn.com/mostpopular/?iref=hpallmostpop

These articles are mostly based on entertainment, political news, and the war in Iraq. The "front page" talks more about issues most important to Americans today, while the most popular articles have to do with entertainment.

The Site's Incorporation of Nontraditional News Formats/Journal-style Blogs

http://www.cnn.com/exchange/blogs/

Reporters/Journalists for CNN and experts on the particular issues are the bloggers of these blogs. They use people such as the CNN political ticker, Anderson Cooper, Jack Cafferty, CNN Sci Tech team, and the CNN medical unit.

Discussion Boards

Users have a space where they are allowed to comment on the articles. Most comments seem to be strictly with the article. Once in a while there is some conversation, but not a great amount.

Incorporation of Multimedia Content

http://www.cnn.com/video/

Videos are found in line with the top story on the "front page" of CNN.com. Video links relating to the story are embedded in the text of the articles, as well. CNN gives their own videos and use turner.com for the media players.

NEWSWEEK.COM

The top featured stories on newsweek.com are featured in a slide show and can be viewed with a photo and a sentence summary. If you click on the photo you can be immediately directed to the story and catch up and the world wide events



1.The Exchange-The prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah began, causing complicated effects for Hamas and Gaza. A picture accompanies the story and shows prisoners in handcuffs being lead along.



2. What Obama Believes- Obama is asked about his religion and his strong faith. This is the cover story and the photo on the cover is of Obama with his hands folded, head bent as if he is praying



3. Royally Squeezed-With financial crisis hitting hard, the Queen of England starts to feel the pressure of the crisis. The photo for the story is a simple photo of the Queen smiling.



4. A Bargain Bailout?-Policy makers announced a detail plan to buy shares in the companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac due to dropping mortgage rates. The stories has a photo to accompany it and displays a balance with money on one side and a house on the other.



5. Google This-McCain is critcized for not being able to use Google but argues that it is not a problem. A photo is published with the photo and is of McCain smiling for the camera.



Newsweek.com provides the top breaking news stories, but it also displays a list of the most popular articles. A top ten list is presented on the right side of the web page and allows the viewer to see the most popular stories of the day and the most emailed. These are different from the top five stories because the most popular and most emailed stories are stories that people are just interested in and stories that people viewed the most. It's not necessarily the hard hitting news, but it's stories the public takes interest in.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/146214
http://www.newsweek.com/id/145768
http://www.newsweek.com/id/94993



The site allows for all types and kinds of bloggers. Bloggers write columns or ideas and can leave comments. Bloggers who put their stories or ideas out there are reporters, Newsweek correspondents and Editors of the magazine. Bloggers can also post their comments about any type of story that is out there. The bloggers who post comments are mostly subscibers of the column. The link below is directly to the different blogs provided by Newsweek.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/38700



Newsweek.com provides discussion boards for their clintel. Anybody who wants to provide their thoughts or comments on a certain story or article they can. People can leave comments on the blog or articles. The articles vary between conversations like and people just leaving their thoughts. Some of the conversations are heated arguments on the topics that were discussed!



The site is great about providing photos with most of their stories. The site also provides videos for some of stories and even has a column of all the different videos available. The photos and videos are provided by Newsweek.com. These clips can be accessed to watch, to share, and to email to those that you wish to gain access about news from around the world.

To get all the videos go to http://www.newsweek.com/

or for just a few...

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1243698382/bclid1659850332/bctid1668060695


Group: Erika, Rollie, William

FOXNEWS.COM

Catherine
Katelyn

Top Stories
1. Israel Swaps Terrorist for Remains of 2 Soldiers-includes pictures and video
A man convicted of murdering an Israeli man and his young daughter and 4 other prisoners are released in exchange for the mutilated remains of 2 Israeli soldiers.

2. Slain Mom's Cars, House Searched-includes pictures and video
The home and vehicles of a North Carolina woman who was killed were searched in order to gather evidence for an ongoing murder investigation.

3. House Atwitter Over Blogging Rules-includes an image and video
Texas representative, John Culberson is worried that new rules for Internet usage will affect communication with his constituents.

4. Red Planet Closeup-includes pictures
New photos of Mars provide more evidence that there was once water on the planet.

Most Popular/E-mailed articles
Foxnews.com does contain a list of most popular and most emailed articles. However, while the most popular are listed on the home page, the user must click on an article in order to view the list of most e-mailed articles.
Neither the most popular or most emailed articles are consistent with the top stories. Most of these articles are entertainment news, or ironic, sometimes humorous, news stories. All of the articles are very brief as opposed to the in depth reporting in the top stories.
http://www.foxnews.com/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,383641,00.html

Nontraditional News Formats/Blogs
On the homepage there is link that takes the user to a list of blogs. There are several blogs listed on this page, http://www.foxnews.com/blogs/index.html
http://onthescene.blogs.foxnews.com/- On the Scene:Breaking News Blogs
As the title suggests, this blog is all about breaking news. The writers of this blog are various reporters.
http://greenroom.blogs.foxnews.com/- Alisyn in the Greenroom
This is a blog, written by Alisyn Camerota, is about the behind the scenes action at Fox News.
http://gretawire.foxnews.com/- GretaWire
In the blog Greta Van Susteren, host of On The Record with Greta Van Susteren, provides topics for users to comment on. Therefore, the real authors of the blogs are the users.
http://weather.blogs.foxnews.com/- Janice Dean the Weather Machine
Janice Dean, meteorologist for Fox News, blogs about the forecast. She does include a brief personal paragraph on most posts.

There are several other blogs available. Most of the authors are reporters or experts in the subject of the blog.

Discussion Boards
Users of Foxnews.com can comment on any of the articles as well share them through e-mail or post them to a myspace or facebook page. However, this site also offers a Fox Forum. In this forum some of the most opinionated contributors post editorial articles for the users to discuss. The discussion of these articles seem to be related directly to the article rather than the author themselves. They don't seem to have a conversational flow. Rather, they are individual opinions posted with no relation to one another. Users do not seem to comment on another user's comment.

Multimedia Content
Foxnews.com contains several images and video clips. There is a link on the home page to take the user directly to the list videos on the site. http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html
The source of all of the videos is Fox News. The clips are played directly form the site.

New York Times

Chris, Tori, Lauren

Top Stories

1. Consumer Prices, Driven by Fuel, Surge 1.1% in June- Fuel prices increasing more quickly then expected leading to more stress on the economy.

2. Airlines' Woes Seen in Delta and American Losses- Expensive jet fuel has caused airlines Delta and Americanto lose a little over a billion dollars.

3. Israel Frees Prisoners in Deal With Hezbollah- Hezbollah is giving Israel sildiers, in return for an Lebanese murderer, Samir Kuntar. Pictures are available of Samir Kuntar in 1979 and on Wednesday.

4. Democrats See a Need for Further Economic Stimulus- President Bush disagrees with the Democrats wanting to have a second stimulus. President Bush doesn't agree because the first economic stimulus has not yet been completed.

5. A.L. Win in Lengthy Farewell to Stadium- The All Star game was an exciting one for its fans and players, this was the last game that will be played in Yankee Stadium. A picture is shown of Justin Noreau sliding into home to score the winning run.

Popular Articles

New York Times does offer a most popular section or e-mailed, blogged, searched, and movies. The front page of the website is mostly based on econmic issues, where as the most popular page is more entertainment, but still including political issues. http://www.nytimes.com/gst/mostpopular.html

Journal-Style Blogs

New York Times website has a mixture of different subjects of blogs. The blogs are posted by The New York Times and independent authors. http://www.nytimes.com/ref/topnews/blog-index.html

Discussion Boards

Users can comment on opinion articles, most of the time the comments information purtain to the article itself instead of carrying on conversations about other subjects not related to the article. The comments are sharing opinions about the articles and others comments posted.

Videos

The videos on the New York Times website are uploaded from the New York Times. http://video.on.nytimes.com/

abcNEWS.com

Timothy Green
Leanne Meador
Deborah Reyes


2.
Israel Mourns Its Two 'Sons". This report covers the demise of two soldiers that have been kidnapped two years prior and are now pronounced dead. Also provides a link to a slide show.

US Envoy to Join Iran Nukes Meeting. US Envoy will make rare appearance with other powers at talks with Iranian envoy which are aimed at persuading to halt activities that could lead to the development of atomic weapons. Also provides a link to a slide show.

Economic Jitters Hitting Treasury Market? Analysts report reassurance to investors of the safety and stability of United States treasury bonds. Also provides a link to a slide show.

Delta, American Report Bleak Financial. Crippled by fuel prices, airlines report billions in quarterly net loss. Also provides a link to a slide show.

Obama Land(s). Race leads in Barack's direction but just enough doubts keep it close where polls suggest a wide spread between the candidates. Also provides a link to a slide show.

3.
Yes, this site does offer a list of the most popular and most emailed articles to the extent that they offer more video clips and visuals. http://abcnews.go.com/US/MostPopular

4.
This site offers other news formats such as blogs. For this web page there is a reporter such as Jake Trapper who is a senior National Correspondent for ABC News. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories. His particular blog is called Political Punch.

5.
Discussion boards are available for this site having comments that are strictly to the article while few are formatted as conversations with one another.

6.
ABC does incorporate multimedia content, in this instance it is the source itself. This site offers a link to videos that you can reach by clicking on the images.

CBS NEWS

CBSNEWS.COM

Group Members: Daphne Clement & Taren Shelton


TOP STORIES

• Inflation Skyrockets On Energy Costs - This article talks about inflation and how consumer prices have rapidly increased due to rising energy prices. This article also contained an image that consisted of a square with four different pictures. One picture showed an image of gas prices, one was a photo of the meat market at the grocery store, another was a flight attendant with his head in his hand and the last one was a hand holding one dollar bills.
• Hezebollah Returns Dead Israeli Soldiers - This article talks about two soldiers, Udi and Eldad, who were killed in the war in Lebanon. This one also contained a picture of the two coffins of the men who died.
  

These next three articles were not main stories but were still featured on the front page

- U.S. Envoy to meet Iran Nuke Negotiator: William Burn will be meeting with the Iranian envoy to talk about putting a stop to the making of atomic weapons.
- Obama: Mag cover insults Muslim Americans: Talks about the New Yorker satire of Obama and his wife as terrorists burning the American flag and talks about how Obabma reacted and feels about this issue.
- McCain to Outline Education Plans: This article is about how McCain will expand opportunities of education for children not doing well in school.

CBS NEWS offers a list of the most viewed articles.
* These stories do not differ a whole lot from the featured articles. They are mostly all about politics or serious national issues. The only one that went outside of the box was an article about how to cook different steaks, but even still the opening paragraph talked about increased prices in meat.

The CBS news site incorporates nontraditional news formats as journal style blogs. For example, Katie Couric, an anchor and managing editor of CBS evening news has even titled her blog as "Couric & CO." Couric and CO is a web log made up of CBS News producers and correspondents from around the world who cover the news. This web log is a forum type blog to engage readers in conversation. The blogger gives the reporters a way to talk back to the viewers and readers.
*Bloggers include a variety of reporters, political pundits, and experts on other issues.
Sharyl Attkisson - an investigative correspondent who focuses on government spending and tax payer issues.
Jeff Greenfield - a senior political correspondent who is a veteran political media and culture reporter.
Chip Reid - Capital Hill correspondent and has covered congress since 2004.
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/couricandco/main500803.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/politics/horserace/main502163.shtml
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/politics/fromtheroad/main502443.shtml

CBS News also has discussion boards for engaged users. The comments on oil prices and where it comes from seem to be in converstion with one another. This conversation is strictly about the video clip that is posted. The commentators seem to be having an ongoing conversations with more than one user. Users can comment on news articles and opinion pieces as well.

There is also a link on the front page of the website that allows you to see all the videos they have posted. The videos come from the source itself, they are not uploaded by users.
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?source=nav_video

MSNBC.COM

The name of our site was MSNBC.COM.

Ashley Bridges Bianca Morin Becky Sanchez Kim McComas

Question #2

This story had a photo slide show with images of the members handing over the bodies and also images of the family member in grief.

Fueled by Gas Prices, Inflation Rate Surges
Consumer prices shot up in June at the second fastest pace in 26 years. Two thirds of the increase was due to soaring energy prices.
This story had no images.

Poll: Obama isn’t closing racial divide
Blacks and whites still hold different views of Senator Barack Obama mainly because of race.
This story had an image of Barack Obama at the 99th annual convention.

World Court tells US to halt execution
On Wednesday the U.N.’s highest court ordered the US to stop the executions of five Mexicans on Texas death row pending review of their cases.
This story has an image of world court judges hearing arguments on the case.

Al wins Marathon All-Star game in 15th
The American league had a 4-3 victory at Yankee stadium.
This story had an image of all-star Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins sliding into home plate.

Question #3

The MSNBC.COM web site does offer a link to the most popular and most emailed news stories a well as links to the most popular and most viewed video stories as well. What you go to the web site you have to click on the tab that says “More News” and from there scroll down and you will see the space where it tells you the most viewed, top rated, and most emailed news articles. Then if you click on the tab for videos it takes you to an archive of videos with the same options of watching the most viewed, or most popular ones of the day. Most of the news articles as well as the video clips are different from what is on the main page of the website, there was however one stories about the oil and gas prices that was unanimous from front page to most popular to most emailed as well. Other than that, the stories were completely different.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25700149/ (news articles)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25589588/ (news articles)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25700027#25700027 (video clips)

Question #4

Under the category on the front page, subsection "communities" are two sections "world blogger" (http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/16/1201977.aspx)and "photoblog"(http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/). The World Blogger has a link on it that lists all of the journalists involved the world news; blogs are on particular issues. The Photoblog's multimedia editor is John Brecher; there posts of different pictures with blogs on each one. At the bottom there are also slideshows listed such as "Week in Pictures"; "Week In Sports", and "Celebrity Sightings". MSNBC.com offers a very comprehensive listing of active blogs for the blogging fan.
Ads of the Weird: The wacky world of advertising - http://adblog.msnbc.msn.com/
allDAY: The official TODAY blog - http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/
Alpha Channel: msnbc.com design and concepts - http://alphachannel.msnbc.msn.com/
At Bat: Baseball beyond the stats - http://atbat.msnbc.msn.com/
Beyond the Arc: College hoops blog - http://beyondthearc.msnbc.msn.com/
The Body Odd: Strange medical findings - http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/
Clicked: What's happening on the Web - http://clicked.msnbc.msn.com/
Cosmic Log: Explorations in space and science - http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/
Daily Nightly: The NBC Nightly News blog - http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/
Daryl Cagle's Cartoon Weblog: Political cartoons blog - http://cagle.msnbc.com/news/blog/
Deep Background: NBC News investigates - http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/
Does It Work? We test health products to find out - http://doesitwork.msnbc.msn.com/
Extra Points: College football blog - http://extrapoints.msnbc.msn.com/
Field Notes: NBC reports around the country - http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/
First Read: The day in politics - http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/
The Fit List: Workout tips from celebrity trainers - http://fitlist.msnbc.msn.com/
Hardblogger: Political blog from Hardball staff - http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/
Inside Dateline: Behind the scenes and stories - http://insidedateline.msnbc.msn.com/
The News Hole: Countdown with Keith Olbermann - http://thenewshole.msnbc.msn.com/
Open Mike: Looking beyond the sports scores - http://openmike.msnbc.msn.com/
Photoblog: Pictures that caught our eye - http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/
Red Tape Chronicles: Bureaucracy, scams & sneaks - http://redtape.msnbc.com/
Test Pattern: TV, Web and pop culture musings - http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/
World Blog: NBC reports from around the world - http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/Your Biz: Small business and entrepreneurs - http://yourbiz.msnbc.msn.com/
Zeitgeist: News and pop culture analysis - http://zeitgeist.msnbc.msn.com/

Question #5

When you click on any of the stories listed there is a link at the bottom to post a comment on Newsvine. Some of the comments are solely about the articles but most have at least a part of them devoted to responding to what someone else has said. There is even a place at the top to rate which of users is leading the conversation.

Question #6

MSNBC.COM incorporates a lot of the different kinds of media that are out there for the consumer to use and explore. When you go to their site there is a homepage for just the videos, and another page for the photos that they have, even a page related to community. All three of these have blogs that you can engage in as well as pod casts that can be downloaded to your phone or computer. There are even links to their shows that run on MSNBC and NBC networks. You can find what you missed from those shows. All the blogs that a person might want to respond to are at the bottom of the page under the community home page. MSNBC.COM is trying to reach out to as many people in a variety of different ways so that people can make the most out of their news and time.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032105/ (community page)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8004316/ (video page)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4999736/ (photos page)

Top Headlines:
1. Consumer Prices Rise at Fastest Pace in 26 Years
“Surge in prices blamed on rocketing energy prices, reflecting big gains for gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas”.

2. Still Grieving, Still Angry (video)
“Chandra Levy's parents discuss the unending pain of a murdered daughter and frustration at lack of progress in solving the case”. This is the only headline that contained a video, it is of her family "Rembering Chandra," and speaking of the difficulties that come with having her murder unsolved.

3. Hezbollah Returns Israeli Bodies
“Guerrillas hand over the remains of two captured soldiers as part of a prisoner swap with Israel.”

4. Some Accord on Afghanistan
“After weeks of verbal combat over Iraq, candidates offer Afghanistan plans with striking similarities”.

Most Popular:
These articles differ because this section has two articles that directly talk about the economy, but mainly while the articles have different titles; it revolves around the same topics, such as the war, the campaign trail and Chandra Levy.

Blogs:
The majority of the Blogs listed were either reporters or editorial columnists. They have several sections for differnt topics, including: Arts and Living, Business, Local, National, Opinions, Politics, Religion, Sports, World, and the Post. To us, this appeared to be the same as sections you would find in an actual newspaper.

Discussion Boards:
It really depended on the article when it came to the comments; listed on some articles were more conversational style but the majority just listed their facts regarding the article. However, It listed a place on most articles where you could comment and the website also listed direct discussion boards under the headings of news and opinions.

Multi-Media:
The multimedia on the Washington Post is uploaded by the source itself. They have a variety of videos listed for you to watch under several different headings. Some of these headings include: Personal Tech, Green, Small Biz and Leadership.

**click on underlined titles to be transfered to the site.

WWW.TIME.COM

Erin, Bethany, Mike

The top featured stories listed on the home or front page of Time.com are featured in a slide show with a picture, headline, and a brief summary of each top story. By clicking on the numbers below the brief summary changes the top story preview. The top five stories are as followed:

1. "Where Iraq and Iran Meet, Uneasily"
The stretch of border at Iraq's southeastern tip is still the most problematic for Iraqi military commanders despite the many military checkpoints because there are not enough troops to cover the lengthy border between Iran and Iraq.
-This top story does provide an image in the slide show of the Iraqi police patrolling the beach in the border town of Al-Faw.
-Also made available under the brief summary for this top story is a video: "Iraq Journal: The Road to Amara and Basra".

2. "Best (and Worst) Sports Executives"
TIME has chosen some of the distinguished-and not so notable- sports executives and asks for readers to rank each executive on a scale from 1-100.
-This top story does provide an image in the slide show of six sports executives in a box format.

3. "Obama's Conservative Mideast Pick"
The return of Dennis Ross, a career foreign service officer, to Barack Obama's Democratic party is a reassuring message to many in the United States.
-This top story does provide an image in the slide show of Barack Obama and Dennis Ross with very stern faces.

4. "Do Breast Self-Exams Do Any Good?"
A new report, just published, questions the usefulness of breast self-exams finding that they do not save lives and may lead to twice as many unneeded biopsies.
-This top story does provide an image in the slide show of a black women wearing only a thong performing a breast self-exam while standing.
-Also under the top story summary a link is provided to a special report, "The Changing Face of Breast Cancer".

5. "Coming this Fall: Free Textbooks"
A pilot project, Flat World Knowledge, aims to upend the publishing industry, and help strapped students, by offering textbooks free of charge online.
-This top story does provide an image in the slide show of three textbooks (spine facing inward) with an apple on top of the books, a very traditional image of school and books.
- Also provided under the brief summary is a link- "How to Make Great Teachers" -an article about teaching rewards and how they have come by their craft.

Time.com does offer both a list of the most popular and the most emailed articles on their home page that are updated every hour. The most popular and the most emailed articles themselves are different. The most popular articles have to do with the featured articles such as "Do Breast Self-Exams Do Any Good?" and "Obama's Conservative Mideast Pick". They also deal with a wide arrange of other topics from earthquakes to the truth about plastic. The most emailed articles mainly deal with health issues especially focusing on weight and wellness. This is possible because people are more concerned with their well-being and wants to express how they stay healthy. Also, readers find interesting facts that they would like to share with the public therefore they email them to Time.com.
Most Popular/Most Emailed Articles

There are blogs for nearly every category of news, politics, entertainment, work/jobs, technology, etc. The blogs on this site are as followed: Time.com Blogs

1. Swampland - Political
2. Tuned In - Entertainment
3. Curious Capitalist - Business
4. Real Clear Politics - Politics
5. Work in Progress - Jobs/Work
6. Looking Around - Books, Art, & Architecture
7. The Middle East Blog - News
8. Nerd World - Technology & Science
9. The China Blog - News
10. White House Photo Blog - Time Photography

Each blog, listed above, is directly related to a certain category that has authors that are directly related to their field. For instance, the Curious Capitalist blog has two bloggers: Justin Fox who has worked with Fortune for over a decade as the chief economics writer and Barbara Kiviat who has worked with TIME magazine for five years covering business and economics.

Not all blogs seem to be news-worthy. There are a few blogs that have stories that not today's headlines, just topics the authors are interested in. For example, The China Blog posts issues relevant only to China. This blog is written by authors who are experts about Asian culture or more plainly just interested in it. This site does incorporate nontraditional news formats such as the blog Work in Progress where a staff writer blogs about work. The most recent post in this blog is pictures of her new born baby and her decision on maternity leave.

Time.com does not have a discussion board per say but on the blogs people can post comments on the bloggers post. For example, in the Work in Progress blog she has a post about Pantyhose at Work and people have commented on this subject extensively. Most comments on this particular blog talk to the blogger as if they personally know her, as well as conversations between the people who have left comments. Time.com also has a Topics menu that can be used as a discussion board on the most news worthy issues that are listed. People can participate in discussions on any particular subject.

Time.com has an easy to use multimedia source with videos, podcasts, graphics, and photos. The source of this content, such as videos, are mainly posted by Time.com, the source itself. The graphics are unique in that they have graphs, maps, and other sources to help portray statistics. Also, Time.com has very interesting Podcasts categorized by channels such as Special Reports, Entertainment, Politics, and Environmental channels.
Photos
Graphics
Podcasts
Video

Dove evolution: October 2006

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

Dove Evolution
First broadcast: October 2006

Our group chose this commercial because we believe that dove is showing us a good example of how young women are having distorted views of what beauty really is because of Hollywood, fashion models, and extreme dieting. This commercial shows us how an average looking women can be transformed from computer images into a super model. This commercial makes a very powerful statement of the "lack of reality," of beauty today in the media. The goal of this commercial was to be "an agent of change to educate and inspire girls on a wider definition of beauty and to make them feel more confident about themselves."
The Dove commercial is an informative commercial that shows a distorted view of how are culture is perceiving beauty. There are many similar commercials out today showing a false concept of beauty. Commercials such as the chanel no. 5 perfume shows a beautiful actress being chased by a man because of her scent. Most beauty commercials today only have actresses, anorexic models, and computer fixed faces on their advertisements when we really need to show society that beauty is not just skin deep.

Lanna Mayes
Tracy Roquet
Lori Enriquez

Truth-Typo

There are several different advertisements on television that protest against the dangers of alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. Since the millenium, viewers have been watching a series of commercials aimed at giving their audience knowledge about the dangers of cigarettes and the truth tobacco companies try to hide. This particular commercial has a catchy tune that you find yourself humming along to. It also gives you important information that persuades you that smoking kills a dramatic number of people each year. We chose this ad because it also stimulated our group visually more with the use of animation, which we also imagined could be used to deter younger children from smoking. There are also younger actors starring in the ads to appeal to a younger crowd. The commercial is set in a very public place: in the middle of the street a major tobacco company stands on, and there are always people watching-usually with stunned expressions on their faces.

We decided to compare the truth commercials to other ads that try to dissuade people, especially those of a younger age, from using drugs or alcohol or smoking cigarettes. The ads that do that are the "My Anti-Drug," and "Living Above the Influence" commercials. Their main way to get their point across is to use dramatic scenes to truly show the dangers of drugs. The difference with the truth ads and this video is that instead of trying to scare you out of smoking or doing drugs, they give you important information and facts that make you think-while also entertaining you with catchy song and dance. This ad still sends out an important message but also leaves you humming a tune the rest of the day.

Group Members: Bethany, Mike and Erin

Dove - Evolution Commercial (October 2006)

Beauty is a strong aspect of status in our society. When we think about beauty we don’t see anything controversial about it. Young girls see these models and women on billboards as role models and someone they want to look like. Dove recently made a commercial that gives the audience a different look about beauty. For those who are unaware of the computer generated aspects of the beauty industry this clip will be eye-poppingly entertaining as the ad takes you from a rather plain looking woman and transforms her into a stunning billboard beauty queen. This Dove commercial expresses and criticizes the media and the pressures our world puts on beauty today. The music chosen gives the commercial a dramatic taste, which draws us in and makes us realize how beautiful this commercial is.
By pushing hard on the social consciences side of the spectrum, through its inner beauty adds, Dove is positioning itself as a supporter for women’s rights. Compared to Pantene, Dove did not try bluntly to sell its product, but expresses the monster of the corporate world and the standard placed on beauty. It is pushing its products by letting its unique social stand elevate its brand name while tying it to a social cause. It’s almost as if Dove is going against what they are initially after, which is to make their customers feel and look beautiful. What would people say if a video game company made a commercial on how video games badly affect children? This was a risky move on Dove’s part, but the message was clear
and overall awesome! Dove has given themselves a superior image to others and a fighter for all normal women.

No End In Sight - Movie Trailer - Bush Admin and Iraq

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MdU09oD-OU

V for Vendetta - V's TV Speech

V for Vendetta
2006

The group chose this movie clip not only for its action scenes and visual effects, but also because it makes valid points about government. The first point informs people about the negative capabilities a government can have on its people. For example, if an individual or a group of individuals obtain government positions, these individuals could possibly pass laws and regulations that would work against the people. The clip also states that a government has the capability to use fear and oppression as tools in order to convince the public that the government is supreme, and that it has the answers to solve the problems at hand. Finally, the movie points out that if people don’t like what a particular government is doing, the people should then question the governing methods that are being used. A government should serve its people instead of the people serving its government.

A movie that is similar to V for Vendetta is the film 1984. This movie has the same basic foundation. The people in these movies are fearful about the world around them. The people also feel that change is needed, but people are hesitant to take civil action. The freedom of expressing your opinions freely has been taken away and is looked down upon by the government in both movies. Also, the role of media played a vital role in both movies. The media told these people how to act in public, how to dress, and how to conduct themselves in private. The idea of “Big Brother is watching” is displayed in both movies.

Chris
Lauren
Tori

Soul Asylum's Runaway Train

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psP1bKKEtHg

Title: Runaway Train by Soul Asylum
Date of Release: 1993

This particular music video is interesting because compared to other music videos, it sends a message across to people all over the world. It not only shows missing children and the year that they have been missing since, but it updates the photos of the children depending on the area you are in (ex. USA and U.K.). The photos are not always the same missing kids. This music video features the names and pictures of missing kids in a public video service style, rather than just being shown on a milk carton. It not only entertains you by the music, but it actually helped people find their missing children, and it also helped missing children find their way home.

The music video by Collective Soul called "The World I know" is about a businessman who on his way to work reads the newspaper to find out all the bad things that are going on in society. He feels the sadness and attempts to jump off a building until a pigeon lands on his arm making him realize that life isn't all what it seems. So, this video just shows all the bad things going on and what it could possibly drive a person to do. However, the Soul Asylum video helped society find most of the missing children and actually made a difference in society. There are many music videos/songs that talk about helping or changing society, but this video goes above and beyond what a music video has to be.

Daphne
Kevin
Taren