- 24 Mar, 2021
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For this assignment I want you to keep track of all the media you use – newspapers, CDs, DVDs, books, the Internet, E-Mail, MP3s, your Mobile Phone etc. This can also include which Advertisements you saw, which brands you used …
This assignment has 2 phases. Phase 1
Keep a written record for 7 days of the media you used, the length of time, and a brief description of why you were using it (for homework, for entertainment, to spend time with friends…), and what else you were doing while the media was being used (reading and listening to the radio for instance).
Start from the time you get up – do you have a clock radio set to play a radio station as your alarm? Do you use your alarm on your Mobile Phone? Keep a record till you go to bed – do you watch TV to fall asleep? Is there a TV on in the cafeteria? Do you listen to the radio in the car? Is there music in the gym? Do you read the local newspaper? Record ALL your media use.
What you’re keeping track of:
⦁ Date – self explanatory
⦁ Time – time of day you consumed a particular media
• Duration – how long you spend with it. You may (as I do)
check various websites several times a day. In this instance, you can just give me a total amount of time. For example, I checked CNN.com 5 times yesterday, and spent 30 minutes
⦁ Content – Record the content you’re accessing – fictional novel,
sit com, drama, music sports, etc.
⦁ Medium – What medium did you use? Internet (via phone or
computer), TV, Radio, etc.
⦁ Who you were with – with friends, with family, by yourself?
⦁ Whether it was intentional or unintentional exposure.
Coming home to watch your favorite sitcom would be intentional. Hearing music while you are in the Mall may not be intentional – unless that was the reason you went there.
⦁ Description of media encounter & additional notes – Give a brief summary of your media encounter. For example, watched a movie with friends at movie theatre, listened to music on iPod while riding the bus, watched TV while falling asleep, etc.
This assignment is designed to make you aware of the extent to which all types of electronic media are woven into your daily routine.
Specifically, the assignment should
a)enhance your awareness of the uses, functions, and gratifications of media technology use, and
b) serve as a vehicle for self-discovery whereby you closely examine taken-for-granted aspects of your personal media technology dependency.
Part of your grade depends on the thoroughness of the data – is there a page for each day, are there entries for different times during the day, for each entry is there info on what media, why used, how long, what you were doing, etc.
You will receive full credit if you keep a relatively close track of your media use (we are always surrounded by media, so there shouldn’t be too many gaps during a day).
So, for example, if your media diary consists of – I watched TV from 5 to 8 and listened to the radio in the morning, you will not receive full credit for this assignment. I know you’re using more media than that … Also, the more time you put into this assignment, the easier phase 2 will be.
Phase 2
Phase 2 involves writing your Media Diary Paper.
This paper should be a thoughtful analysis of the uses and gratifications received from media technologies in your daily life.
The combined total word count, for all questions, is expected to be a minimum of 1.500 words.
The Questions:
⦁ Summarize your media use – totals, types of media you used the most, day you used the most media, the least media, time of day you use media most often, etc.
⦁ Why do you use media in general? Identify specific reasons that seem to go with specific media. Are there moods that cause you to tend to use one media over others?
⦁ Do you multi-task – do other things while using media? When and why? Or why not?
⦁ Would you say you use mostly traditional media (newsprint, printed magazines, television, radio) or digital (DVD’s, CD’s, MP3s, the Web, email)
⦁ What is your preferred channel, (tv, radio, mag, paper, video…) to consume mass media and why?
⦁ Of all the media you were exposed to over 7 days what single item stands out and why?
⦁ What did you learn about your own media use – did anything surprise you about the data?
⦁ Before the media diary exercise did you realize how much media we are exposed to on a daily basis, is this a good thing being exposed to so much or so little?
⦁ What are your thoughts about media and Emirati culture.
⦁ What role does your Mobile Phone play in your “media
life”?
Talk specifically about your media use during the period of time for which you collected data – don’t speak in generalities.
Make some tables summarizing your data and refer to them in your paper; actually refer to them by name or number – don’t just make a table and staple it to the paper. For instance you could have one table that summarized how many hours you used each media.
And you could have another table that looks across all the diary and shows how much time you used media for each purpose – for instance, how much media was used for homework, how much for entertainment, how much for just wasting time, etc.
For the best grade – be specific, answer all the questions, do some tables, turn in your raw media diary with all the numbers and timings. Be sure to have an introduction and a conclusion – they can be short but they need to be there. Use good grammar. Use the spell checker.