Media Journal

-10:23 a.m.

I was waiting for the bus, looking around. Then I noticed the advertisement printed inside the bus stop. Honestly, I always know that there is some advertisement inside the bus stop, but today is the first time I know what the advertisement is about. I find that fact very interesting because the advertisement is literally the media that's "around" people. People like me always unintentionally ignore its content because it has already become part of the environment. Who can remember the color of his/her neighbor's door?

-2:25 p.m. 

-Waterfront

In the afternoon, I went to Target. In the Waterfront, media are everywhere: they are always around shops. When asked about where media are, people rarely answer with "in the shops" because information distributed by those media is always about the shops near them. Those advertisements are mostly telling people about discount and sales. This kind of advertisements, though not noticeable, is still effective because they help people buy cheaper stuff and help shops earn profits. However, those advertisements are not that noticeable because they don't give people enough surprise. It's quite fair to see sale information inside the shop itself, isn't it?

-4:30 p.m.

-61D

In the bus, there are media as well. It's also hard to see those advertisements. The reason is quite simple: those advertisements hang too high. People don't always loop up if not necessary. If a medium wants to be noticed, it must be easy enough for people to interact with. It is really hard to see those posters hanging on the top of buses, no matter how fancy those posters are made.

-4:30 p.m.

On the way back to house, there were couple of interesting media. The Poli Billboard looks very old. Also, it says it's originally "created" (I am not sure what Poli is) in 1921. So I guess there is probably always a Poli Billboard standing in the crossing there, though maybe the board itself has been replaced several times. The old look of that billboard and the fact that it is always standing there make the Billboard part of the environment. Even people who first time visit this place might not be able to notice this board because the board merges so well with its environment. The whole set makes me comfortable. The medium becomes a scene.

In contrast, Chaya is more noticeable. For those who don't know Japanese, some new characters other than Rome Characters can be refreshing and impressive. For those who know Japanese, those characters are just saying "come back home". It is always a good idea to use some outstanding signals in media, such as foreign characters.

-5:04 p.m.

Back to Squirrel Hill, I saw some media I hadn't noticed when leaving home. The stickers on the car are certainly media. They are not controlled by any companies or shops, not controlled by any kind of capital. It's just purely out of personal intention of the car owner. I find it more like posts on Facebook: personal and suggesting "who I am".

In the end, I just want to say something more general. Those media which are at unnoticeable places are usually public service advertisements. Maybe it is suggesting that most media are still in the hands of those rich and powerful people. And other kinds of media, which are unnoticeable simply because of being merged into surroundings, still have effects on us, even though we might not realize. Such as the Billboard I mentioned before, it perfectly becomes part of the environment and we just enjoy the sight of it. Furthermore, like the sale boards in shops, they pass sale information to us. Because media are so common in our daily life, we are affected by them anytime and anywhere in so many ways without realizing them. People might be easily manipulated by media around them if they do not have abilities of critically judging media. They might be exerted with different emotions or subconscious intentions by others. If we carefully think about those media-related issues, we might find those issues can be legal, moral or even more serious.