Blog 2: CBS Thought

In regards to the media correspondent Jeff Greenfield in his video dubbed "Media Convergence" I personally agree entirely with his closing statement.  It included his concern about society and users of unconventional media gathering methods in this information age needing to sustain the concepts of personal relationships and respect for history.  As I stated in my first blog I do sincerely belive that interpersonal relationships between co-workers, customers, friends and especially loved ones are very important and that it seems some people let todays convenience of other methods of communication hinder that.  These methods and the advancements made technologically in communication are utterly important to the progress of our country and economy but the priorites for things that Greenfield stated such as the love for story telling, vivid language, and a respect for history should be much higher on a personal stand point.  Individuals should find a balance in their time spent using these information and communication methods and time spent with other individuals giving them the opportunity to have intelligent and engrossing conversations.  In a more broad sense, and most likely more of what Greenfield is talking about, the reason that the media broadcast "Sunday Morning" and CBS news among other broadcasts still endure is their sense of relation to the direct viewer and priority set upon these fundamental values.
-Chris C

Blog1: Media Junkie

Don't get me wrong I use the internet frequently, especially because I recently invested in a smart phone accesible to the internet, but my usage is almost entirely educational with the occasional facebook log on. I am from a very small town in southeast Kansas and the ranch my family lives on is in the middle of nowhere and still have yet to find an internet service that would load a webpage in less than 10 minutes haha. I scored an 11 on the internet addiction which was low enough to not be classified haha but its not like I am completely technologically illiterate or against it. I believe much stronger in the fact that, as the book mentioned as well, abuse and mindless use of the internet minimalizes social interaction. I understand the convenience of conference calls, web cam meetings, and other media based communication but the personal interaction between 2 people face to face or with a group of people is a connection that cannot be immitated by other media communication channels. Enough of on my rant but atleast I covered the part of the question as to why or why not media usage is the best usage of my time. During the summers and mainly during semesters here in manhattan as well I work outside atleast 8-10 hours a day and most of the time in areas without the best cell phone service. I use the internet at nights to surf the web, log on to my facebook or listen to music but that could just be a one or two hour session. I do have a long distance relationship with my girlfriend so that adds to my cell phone usage but I limit text messages to a very minimum especially when I am working. I am a sports fan and an hour or so of watching television a day is about the maximum I can stand and I have never had a consistent show that I watched every week. To generally conclude my first blog post ever haha I would say I interact directly with a form of media about 4 or 5 hours a day and that I try to limit my usage of media to being productive and wasting a little free time.