Broadcast Critique Blog Post

Samantha Rozenblum

JOUR 225-001

Due: Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Local News Critique Blog Post

7News WSVN.com Miami/Fort Lauderdale – local branch of Fox News

http://www.wsvn.com/story/22610002/watch-7news-live

To complete this assignment, I streamed the local channel 7 news for Miami and Fort Lauderdale live on the internet while stuck in the airport on a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina. Right away, this exemplifies the strong and wide-ranging impact of video broadcasting compared to other forms of newswriting. I watched the WSVN Channel 7 news, which is Fox news on the local level, on Saturday, November 29 at 11 p.m.

To compare video broadcasting with the style of print writing, I found that the news I watched gave very brief blips of a story. I recognized the dramatic unity and the climax, cause and effect structure of the stories mentioned. However, I also recognized that there must not have been a multitude of local stories for that day because the broadcasters spent about a minute giving extra details and statistics to their stories, mentioned national news topics such as the Ferguson case and the Pope’s activities in Istanbul, and also repeated the weather report three times.

Audio or Video Impact: The audio and video impact of this news broadcast enabled the broadcaster to use fewer descriptions and allowed the images and video clips to speak for themselves. The first story told for the night was a local apartment fire, and I was kept entertained and intrigued as the story transitioned from the reporter, to images of the fire, to an interview with a man living in the apartments, back to the fire, and then to an interview with a fire fighter. I thought this had a great audio and video impact because, in less than two minutes, I saw the apartment before, during, and after the fire, heard the details of how it started, and listened and empathized with the inhabitants of the apartment who are all uninjured but are now homeless.

Timeliness: The weather report excellently exemplified the timeliness of this news story. In south Florida, the weather is extremely variable around this time of year and often dramatically changes from a clear, sunny day to a torrential downpour that can definitely ruin a person’s afternoon plans. The weather reporter broadcasted the weather for the day and for the week and was surprisingly thorough – again indicating that it may have been a slower news day – and repeated his report three times throughout the 30 minute show. He utilized the phrase “breaking news” when discussing what must have been a change in the weather report and also the phrase “more on this in a moment” to transition back to the next news story.

Information, not Explanation: Like many local and national news stations this weekend, WSVN reported on the busy travel of Thanksgiving weekend. This story is logical and easy to report on, and the news anchor showed a couple of interviews with individuals from the Miami International Airport, commenting on how the airport was busy, but not as busy as they had expected it to be. The reporter also gave several statistics to move the story along and fill time, reporting that 1.5 million people will pass through the “FLL” and “MIA” airports this weekend. He simply listed the facts and did not belabor the point.

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Press Release - due 11/13

For more information contact
Samantha E. Rozenblum
Liberty University
(954) 629-0346

For release after 11:45 a.m.
Friday, November 15

Liberty University Announces 10 Percent Tuition Decrease

After steadily increasing tuition for five years, the university finally offers students relief.

The prestigious and rapidly expanding Liberty University, located in Lynchburg, Virginia, has announced that, despite its immense recent growth, it will be decreasing tuition in order to keep prices in-market for students.

This tuition decrease encompasses all students: in-state, out-of-state, graduate and undergraduate students. As a result of the university’s recent explosion, students have been hit hard with tuition increases, particularly out-of-state students.

In the past five years, enrollment has increased from 14,500 students to 16,275 students this year; however, last year’s total enrollment was 16,700 students and applications for this semester were projected to decrease by 10 percent had it not been for the tuition decrease.

Liberty University recognizes that though it is expanding, the university must remain affordable for the demographic of students it seeks to attract, even if it is at the expense of some of the programs Liberty can currently afford to offer.

“Cutting tuition means a reduction in our income, and that reduction will have to be made up in other areas. No faculty or staff member will lose his or her job because of these cuts, but we will not be able to offer as many of the programs as we have in the past,” says university president Jerry Falwell Jr.

Falwell continues that he is “very pleased” that a majority of these programs will be absorbed into other areas of the university. The students involved in these specific programs will have to find more generic alternatives.

These programs include: women’s studies, the ornithology department, the arts and sciences honors program, men’s and women’s golf teams, the human resources management institute, the university hosts and hostesses program, and the department of Eastern languages.

Liberty University, founded in 1971, is the largest Christian University in the world and fervently seeks to train champions for Christ in all arenas of life. For questions or more information, call (434) 582-2000 or to schedule a visit, email visitorscenter@liberty.edu. 

Advertising Project

Copy Platform :

Ad Subject: Liberty University Football - IGNITE Your LU Flames Football Season

Ad Problem: Student attendance to football games has dropped by 25% in the last 5 years

Product Characteristics:
1. FIRE UP before the game with a new and better Gillville and a Carnival-esque Tailgate.

     2. Give us your best SMOULDER and interact with LU Football social media; the more interaction, the more perks!

     3. Stay throughout the entire game in order to attend IGNITE,  an after-party social event (approved late night),

·         Wristband/Stamp given upon entrance to the game allows free entrance to the social.

·         Awards for players as well as most dedicated fans

Advertising Objective: To allure students to attend the games weekly and to be excited enough to plan their weekend schedules around the festivities surrounding the game. We want to foster community between the study body, the sports teams, and even the local community through the new Tailgate Carnival and IGNITE After-Party.

Target Market: Directly, students of Liberty University. Indirectly, local vendors and organizations who would like to advertise or make an appearance at the carnival tailgate.

Competition: Other “social events” such as football games at UVA or Virginia Tech, outdoor activities, private group socials, etc.

Statement of Benefit or Appeal: IGNITE your weekend and enjoy your revitalized Liberty Flames Football experience to the fullest.

Creative Theme:

·         FIRE UP

·         SMOULDER

·         IGNITE

Supportive Selling Points:

·         More involvement (via social media, attendance, enthusiasm/spirit, etc.), more perks

Sponsored Content Piece 

A Whole New Spark : FIRE UP, SMOULDER and IGNITE your Flames football weekend like never before

Do you feel like your weekend is lacking that special spark?

The Liberty Flames football team is hotter than ever, but there is just one problem. To many fans, the football games have lost their spark. This is all about to change.

Liberty University is revamping the definition of college football, taking everything we Flames know about Saturday night lights and throwing it as kindling for the fires of what’s to come.

LU plans on turning up the heat and capturing the heart of Flames Football in three big ways, telling fans to:

·   FIRE UP before the game
·  SMOULDER during the game, and
·  IGNITE after the game

First, the excitement of FIRE UP begins Friday night with a new and better Gillville, complete with better games and Snowflex-quality music. The festivities are amplified Saturday with a carnival-esque tailgate experience – yes, think this past Homecoming Weekend - complete with food vendors and booths for face-painting, henna, and more.

This not only enables members of the community to partake in our carnival tailgate experience, but also allows clubs and groups within the school to present themselves each week. If you or your group would like to host a booth at the upcoming carnival tailgates, register on myLU.

Second, fans are encouraged to SMOULDER throughout the game by tweeting selfies, score predictions, and other encouragement for the players. Be following LU on all social media, because there will be various media challenges posted each week where participants can win anything from a shout-out in Convocation to Flames Cash.

Finally, fans that stay throughout the game will be able to freely attend IGNITE, an approved late-night social event directly after the game, typically hosted in the lobby of the Lahaye Student Union.

A stamp given upon exiting the game after the 3^rd quarter ends will allow free entrance to the social, which is a chill environment for Flames fans to cool off, get warm foods like soup and hot chocolate, and build relationships.

IGNITE will announce the winners of the SMOULDER media challenges, and promises to boast a different, thrilling theme each week dependent on the opponent school and time of year. Bonfires and fan awards are also part of what IGNITE will offer.

The players have been practicing their victory dance…Have you been practicing yours? Bring your body heat on over to support your Flames and together let’s bring this new tradition to life!

Advertising Project Ideas

Advertising Project Ideas

• advertise something NEW with LU football
• emphasize football games are new and better
• link to coach's new vision for the team, or for a statement by one of the players
• emphasize football players - our FLAMES need to be FANNED
• link to videos of the players getting pumped up
• create a theme for the next football game and encourage students to dress up and participate for cash prizes
• boast other popular things like a raffle, discounts in the bookstore, 

Other Ideas: 

-tailgating

-food vendors 

-THE social event of the weekend 

-stay at the games

-rewards! - link to social media

-clicker interaction

-themed tailgate - continue on to games 

Exercise 10.1 - 80's Zales Ad

Name: Zales Diamonds
Advertisement: Lost

1. The promise of the benefit being offered by this headline is that if you, the consumer, are lost and confused, that Zales: The Diamond Store will have all your answers. Even if you don't know the difference between a carat and a carrot, Zales is all you need to know.

2. The illustration artfully guides the reader's eyes from the bold text of "Lost." to the Zales logo by an intricate and beautiful path of sparkling diamond rings. The text is the central focus of this ad, but the jewelry dramatically enhances the visual appeal, and sort of follows in the whimsical fashion in which the text was written. The rings stand as proof for what the ad claims about how Zales selects their diamond, even including the price range in the fine print assuming that some readers will want to buy one of the pieces from the ad.

3. The headline of this ad reads "Lost," assuming that the audience is lacking direction on their jewelry purchase. The body copy strives to affirm to the audience that the Zales representatives are trustworthy, professional and truly the masters in their field.

4. This ad provokes readers to take their all their jewelry questions to the Zales "experts" because they are the masters of diamonds. Even the simplicity of their subtitle "The Diamond Store" leaves no room for confusion on what Zales specializes in; it's not "a" diamond store but it is "the" diamond store.

Christians in the Field of Persuastion

     As ambassadors for Christ, it is absolutely essential for Christians to dive into the field of persuasion and advertising.

     In an industry that entices the world with promises of beauty, status, peace, clarity, and ultimately fullness of joy, followers of Christ can view this work environment not merely as a showcase for their own creativity but also as their mission field.

     However, this is no simple task by any means because of the pull between financial success and the way we ought to live and communicate truth as defined by the Bible.

     Christians in the advertising world reach a moral dilemma when their companies and the nature of the industry expect near-idolatrous devotion and promotion to a product or cause that the Christian knows will not make any consumer truly happy forever. That cup of coffee, those shoes, that vacation, or whatever it may be produces a satisfaction that is temporary at best!

     However, Christians in advertising can use their persuasive powers for good. In a skillful and still highly persuasive way, the creative Christian can capture their audiences attention by emphasizing the goodness and enjoyment of their product in a wholesome setting (which drives consumers to praise God), rather than taking the easy cop-out for grabbing attention by emphasizing a product’s sensuality.

     First Timothy 4:3-5 says that, "[Some] forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer."

     Not only can Christians enter the field and thrive because of the Holy Spirit inside them (Who can provide them with vision as to how to success in business and simultaneously glorify God), but Christians can also use visual rhetoric to promote non-profits that seek to help others and glorify God as well. Advertisers can use their abilities to promote self-sacrificing nonprofits, and even link them up with larger, more lucrative corporations and donors.

     Rather than enticing consumers with unrealistic claims and misleading prices, the Christian persuader can be convicted by truth to use their abilities to send out messages for the genuine good of their audiences. 

Response to The Persuaders

Response to The Persuaders

The Persuaders, a FRONTLINE documentary about the philosophy of advertising, sought to highlight the heights and depths that advertisers will venture in order to facilitate a “brand experience” for a sleepless consumer market.

The amount of time, research, rhetoric, psychology, ingenuity, and immense funding that is pumped into the advertising business is astounding. In this documentary, I was particularly struck by:
• The constant pull by advertisers for our emotions in order to foster brand loyalty
• The work of Clotaire Rapaille
• & The intrusive collection of information by Acxiom

First, the advertising industry is endless and all-encompassing; there are ads in nearly every corner of our 24-hour-day.

I was intrigued when the documentary discussed the impacts of “emotional branding,” and how a positive brand experience can breed a literal “cult-like devotion.” Market researchers picked up on this in such a way that they actually study cults and apply those emotional principles to the way that they construct their advertisements.

Second, Clotaire Rapaille, a phenomenally successful market research guru, was perhaps the most interesting part of this video to me. Formerly a child psychologist, Rapaille applies his Freudian background to marketing and teaches that consumers are driven by unconscious impulses and associations.

Rapaille calls this his “code” on luxury, and he teaches seminars where he helps clients to unlock their own past and to apply the principles of object-emotion association to reach consumers. I loved the three stages of his creative sessions and the way that he coaxed the participants into a new way of thinking.

Thirdly, the video mentioned Acxiom, a massive data base that not only tracks most details of a person’s life and spending habits, but also projects where they will be in the future based on their current lifestyle. This data base and others track internet searches, vacation spots, hobbies, demographics, and goes on to sell this information to other advertising companies so that they can advertise exactly what we like exactly where we are.

The Persuaders mentioned how commercials tell us that we come first, immediately appealing to our self-centered human nature. Ads tell us they want us to live better, longer and happier, and to splurge on ourselves because we’re worth it. This technique of elevated flattery extends beyond advertising into most other spheres of life, from politics to relationships. I liked how the documentary concluded with the true statement that “we are all persuaders.”






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