hopeful career in public relations

Each and every one of us may have different goals in life and mass comm class has helped me identify what I want to do. Throughout the semester, we've all been faced with different career opportunities and how we can achieve the goals we may have.

I started off wanting to be a journalism major. Taking the the intro to journalism class last semester showed me that maybe writing all day everyday wasn't for me. While I decided that I didn't want to write full time, I also knew that I didn't want to leave writing behind all together. Public Relations was an option for me, not only because it allowed me to keep writing but because it involved a bunch of other things that I really love.

While public relations departments around the world focus on creating a high profile, good image for their company, there are tons of other things that PR deals with. Writing press releases, organizing events for the company, and creating relationships with the external media are just somethings that any public relations department does for a company.

While my group and I organized our event for the American Diabetes Association, I realized that I really enjoyed being the person who created the press release and had it printed in the newspaper. That was a big sense of accomplishment. Aside from that, I felt like creating positive relationships with the people I dealt with to make the fundraiser a big success was something I was good at. I enjoyed meeting with and emailing business owners and other professionals required not only "over the computer skills" but real like skills as well.

Although I may seem like a pretty quiet guy, I really enjoy meeting new people, understanding them and what they have to offer, and how maybe we could help each other out in the future. If its one thing that I'm really good at, it's that I'm a people person. I can literally get along with anyone. I've always been like that and I think it's a pretty good trait to have.

Over the summer, I hope to have an internship with the DNR down in Annapolis. I think this will provide me with real life experience.

I know PR isn't the easiest career to have and I have realized that it can be pretty strenuous (lying, spinning stories, etc.) But since its something that I really enjoy, I know I can do it and be really good at it.

Athlete, what a title to have. According to Websters dictionary, an athlete is someone who is trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength. I like to think of athletes as freakishly fit business men ( or women). In today's world of celebrity athlete, image (either good or bad) and marketing are everything. From cell phone pictures gracing the pages of TMZ or god-like looking photos on the cover of SI, image either makes or breaks (see: Ben Rothlesberger) an athlete.

Image aside, in todays world, athletes are making money in almost every way imaginable. From appearing on commercials to raking in big bucks from a sponsor, if money is to be made, an athlete will make it a million times over.

Athletes aren't athletes anymore. They are trend setters, marketing experts, and a public relations department all wrapped into one. Young people looked up to athletes all the time, trying to imitate the way they play or they way the act. Personally, I've never really understood that. Sure, they may be excellent athletes, but at the end of the day, they are people just like you and me. I don't care if you're Kobe Bryant or Tiger Woods your'e human and you've made plenty of mistakes (just ask Tiger).

To me, athletes shouldn't be role models at all. Like I said before, they are people just like you and me. The only thing separating them from us is the amount of money in their bank accounts. To often these "professional" athletes make poor decision after poor decision, just proving my point that they're human.

Athletes can market themselves all they want but I'll never fall for the "almightier than thou" approach. Sorry Kobe, you're image is still tarnished even though a house is sitting on your wifes ring finger.

Big diamonds, big houses, and fast cars are all part of the label as a professional athlete. All of that is awesome and I'd love to have it, but it isn't everything.

This blog isn't the most uniformed one that I've written, sadly that reflects the behavior of professional athletes. Good today, bad tomorrow. You never know what you're gonna get with them.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/26607/athletes_shouldnt_be_role_models.html?cat=40

YouTube = good marketing, Good marketing = record label signing

Hmm...the question of the day, has YouTube killed the video star? Nah, it hasn't, it's just enhanced everything about marketing that anyone could ever think of. YouTube provides a stage like none other, allowing amateur artists to become overnight sensations. As more and more people are discovered over the inter-web, more creative ways of marketing are being developed. Instead of posters in CD stores, and billboards on the side of the road, today's artists show everything they've got online. Whether it's from private videos shot within a celebrities home, or a clip backstage at a concert, artist's are becoming more and more open with their fans. In my opinion, everything musical artists are doing today benefits them greatly. Instead of being out of the public eye, artists are now becoming one of "us" by baring it all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTErC6Goq84

People notice when artists are just like one of "us". By them noticing, people become more and more intrigued and are very prone to by any musical artists work. This means more money for the artist, and that YouTube and the internet actually work as an effective marketing tool. To me, I'd buy something from an artist that I can see out of the spotlight before I bought a CD from just another stuck up celebrity.

While there are a select few people who make it big off of YouTube or some other source online, I don't think record companies will ever become extinct. I believe this because not everyone will become online sensations. Some people take time to become good, therefore they need the big record company behind them, providing a backbone to their work. When people see "def jam artist" on a CD or on Itunes, they are more prone to listen and buy that piece of work because it comes from a famous company.

As time passes, and more people become YouTube stars, it will only be a matter of time before they are picked up by a big record label. While YouTube is good for marketing, I don't think it will ever fully destroy the usefulness of a record company.

Cronkite Journalism Gone and Forgotten

Straight from the example on our directions, Walter Cronkite was once "the most trusted man in America." To say that about another journalist today would be blasphemy. Back in the Cronkite days, the facts were reported and that was it, however today that isn't the case. In the journalistic world of today, you need to have an edge over your opponent. Needing an edge over your competitor may be due in fact to the ever growing world of journalism. If people want to get noticed, they need to be different.

Being different is good and all, but not when it comes to the news and the facts. I don't understand the need to twist and lie about stories just to convey the news. To me, the facts are the facts are the facts and they need absolutely no changing.

I'm not too big into politics so I couldn't tell you who believes in what on Fox News or CNN, but I do know that most of the time the things they do and say are often products of either their imagination or the network owner's imagination. For example, news outlets owned by Rupert Murdoch are only going to portray Murdoch's ideas. To me, that is wrong to the umpteenth degree.

News reporting should be fair and balanced however that isn't the case anymore. CNN, Fox, etc are all sectors in a very biased and unfair world of journalism. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1067

FAKEality T.V.

In today's world, I really don't think their is such a thing as "reality t.v." anymore. Any show that is supposed to be reality on MTV or VH1 is totally scripted in my opinion. Whether it be fake fights, broken relationships, or just the people in general, it is all fake. Lauren Conrad of The Hills, openly admitted to the show being scripted on more than enough occasions.http://www.realitytea.com/2009/06/19/lauren-conrad-admits-the-hills-is-scripted/Before searching around online, I came across the word "metascripting", which is when the shows producers have an outlined objective for each show and each cast member has to act accordingly within that outline to produce the show wanted. Like I said before, reality shows are fake.

I do belive that at the very beginning of the "reality show" boom, the episodes and people were truly real. As time passed, producers probably realized that in order to keep the show going, they needed to make things a little juicier. The only way to beef up the show was to script it just like they would script a movie. If they weren't able to keep the audience entertained and interested in the show, it would fail and that would be the end of it. MTV and Vh1 producers aren't dumb though and they know a little (or alot) of scripting can go a very long way.

Reality shows also impact the people that watch them in so many ways. From walking, talking, and acting like a reality star to crying over a breakup scene, people are affected by these shows. In my opinion, that isn't a good thing, at all. When people try to act like someone they're not, it makes them look dumb. I just don't understand some of the people that try to act like Snookie or The Situation from the Jersey Shore. Do they not know that they look totally stupid?

Maybe one day people will come to their senses and undestand that the "reality" you see on MTV and Vh1 isn't reality afterall. But I guess for now, just let them keep fist pumpin'.

Here today, not gone tomorrow

In my opinion, the Dundalk Eagle reigns supreme as far as the importance of a newspaper to one person or thousands of people.The eagle presents stories to and for the citizens of "DunDOCK". Eagle readers and subscribers alike look forward to the issues each week including local news, local school news, and anything else to do with the area. People who read the Dundalk Eagle are those of whom who live in the distributing area. I believe that people often come to this paper rather than the Sun or anything else to find the real news they want. The news that affects their everyday lives in the county that they live in. Compared to alot of newspapers, the Eagle costs a measly twenty-five cents. I also believe that this paper unlike many papers will withstand the test of time.While major newspaper are getting smaller and smaller, (namely The Baltimore Sun), the Eagle, dating back to 1969 is only getting bigger and bigger serving more and more people in the Greater Dundalk Community. The Dundalk Eagle serves a population that is, on average, 39.7 years old. I would think that these people actually like picking up a real newspaper opposed to viewing one digitally on a computer. The "real feel" of a newspaper for these people is aesthetically pleasing and probably supports the effort of buying one. I'd like to think the Eagle is going to be around for a long time with nothing getting in its way.

http://dundalkeagle.com/

http://www.televisionbroadcast.com/article/95488 ( I know this deals with t.v. but it goes hand in hand with local news vs. big time or national news)

Looking at the numerous magazines racks at the grocery storeI've came to the conclusion that we never know what really is the truth about anyone these days. Without personally knowing any of the celebrities gracing the covers of OK, Star, and Enquirer just to name a few, then we truly have no idea. Pictures of medically altered bodies, and headlines like "dark secrets" and "addicted to plastic surgery" really bring to life that Hollywood and everything "celebrity" is definitely a world within another. I'm not quite sure if I'm in the majority or minority here, but when I see these magazines I usually just tend to shake my head and laugh at them. Some of the things you see on the covers and inside the issues are totally stupid. I really don't care if Lady Gaga is a guy or a girl or whether or not Octomom has 8 kids or 25 kids, sorry. Alot of people on the other hand enjoy seeing these things. I was behind a lady at the store the other day who bought almost every tabloid on the rack. It was during the blizzard, so I hope she just picked them up since she needed extra toilet paper and wasn't actually going to read them. These magazines tend to always be giving you the negative about someone or something. Putting a certain spin on it just to make it interesting. These creative writers who spin stories in order to get better ratings for the company rarely have any desire to keep the persons best interest at heart, they simply create fallacies so the company can receive better ratings. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather listen to nails on a chalk board than read or look at anything inside these magazines. But oh well, to each his own, I guess.