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Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ferrix: GMT-6
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Hogwarts RPG Name:
Moritz Schultz (#0f667e)
Ravenclaw Seventh Year
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Nancy Schultz (#ac6f77)
Hufflepuff Fourth Year  x11  x1
|  curly haired prefect - "sometimes I get angry!" - 30/90 - *chicken emoji* - probably @ Disney - I speak dog
SPOILER!!: Responses! Quote:
Originally Posted by MadAlice  Violet had scooted into class just in time and seated herself in an empty chair on the end of a row. She quickly surveyed the covers of the publications--most of them seemed fairly straightforward. The Quibbler, though--it was hard to tell what exactly that was about, except it looked fun!
Feeling like she had better make an attempt to participate before she got too far behind, she raised her hand. "Well, Seeker Weekly seems to be about sports, specifically Quidditch. and the Witch Weekly appears to be a lifestyle magazine--fashion, recipes, gossip, that sort of thing. I don't think they're trying to make a statement about women, they're just trying to market their magazine, and the title would indicate that they're trying to draw in a female audience.
The Quibbler--it's hard to tell what that one is about. You can barely even see its title, the word "SpectreSpecs" is in larger print. The issue itself presumably contains images in 3D and they're making sure you know that they've included free glasses inside to be able to read them with. But really, it could be about anything. Though the whole format seems kind of freewheeling--not your typical layout.
And The Daily Prophet--well, that's a newspaper, right? The strong black-and-white format seems to be trying to say, 'We're a very official publication, you can trust us,' but when you read some of the headlines, it looks as much like gossip as some of the others. I mean, they seem to favor exposes--and alliteration." Violet had to chuckle inwardly at some of the headlines. And poor Albus Dumbledore--with all that was going on in his time, he had to put up with that! Though Violet supposed he wasn't the sort of man to let a news rag bother him much. "Very good observations about all the covers!" Gabi nodded at Violet in approval as she caught up with the activity. "And good point that even newspapers can sometimes have a bit of bias to them," she added. Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassirin Oh, like BIAS, bias. Was this supposed to make them feel a certain way after how everything went down last term? The media had been used by both sides to convince the public that they were right... but had it worked?
Phoebe raised her hand. "When the Neo-Alliance was trying to take over governments around the world, they used the media to project an air of calm and righteousness, like to make people feel like things were very normal and that they should keep their heads down and ignore the bad feelings about what was going on. And eventually, that it was cool to turn on neighbors and friends because of blood status, even if the reader didn't care about that to begin with." "Good point, Miss James. While people tend to think about sensationalism when it comes to government affairs - sometimes doing the opposite can be just as effective," Gabi explained. That would have made things even more frustrating last term if they had all been aware of that! Quote:
Originally Posted by Chelliephone When had media swayed public opinion? Well, there was a lot of instances but a majority of the ones that were coming to mind was related to muggle publications he'd read after his Dad was done with them. But this was History of Magic so he was trying to dig deeper and remember something.
Ah. He raised his hand and waited for his turn to speak, "When Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban initially, the Daily Prophet had pretty much used him as a scapegoat for everything that went wrong, even without concrete evidence. I would assume it was because it was easier to group all the escapees and give them a ringleader so it seemed like only one danger as opposed to many." But they'd painted him so poorly he probably would have never had a way to make it in society again after the Daily Prophet's smear campaigns.
That was pretty sad when one ruminated on it. "Ah, good example!! Yes, before Voldemort tried to steal the prophecy from the Ministry he broke Bellatrix Lestrange and others out of Azkaban, and the media was quick to blame it on Sirius," Gabi gave Evan an approving grin. Quote:
Originally Posted by Stefan Not considering the most recent happenings, Noah had to agree that the media was a powerful thing to influence the people. So powerful that it can change mindsets even, ultimately destroying the essence of unity, community and such.
"Whenever there's a general election about to happen, whether in our world or the muggle community, the media is present to advertise their agendas, host debates, sell an image, and attempt the people to buy into the politicians' promises. This ultimately causes dissent among the population." the Gryffindor shrugged, seeing just how messed up it was most of the time. "The media is a structured chaos, I have to say." it was tricky business, the media. He would know. "Structured chaos is one way of putting it," Gabi chuckled a little. "But you're corrected. Politicans pay lots of money to use the media to make themselves look good and make their opponents look bad," she stated in agreement. Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack Kinsay was already feeling disengaged. History had that effect on her, even when she tried really hard to pay attention for Professor Recard. She just couldn't help it, the windows were distracting. Her spinny necklace was distracting. Everything was so much more interesting than talking about magazines.
But when she caught herself slipping, she tried to reel back in. Just for Professor Recard, who Kinsay did like. Except when Phoebe started talking about the Neo-Alliance. Kinsay wished she hadn't heard that answer. Because. She didn't want to think about the neo-alliance anymore. Couldn't they talk about other things? Why did they keep having to bring that stuff up!!! It made everyone unhappy. And Kinsay did NOT want to think about it.
So when she raised her own hand, she tried to come up with literally anything else she could lack onto. So naturally, she used the very first thing that she could. This time, Evan's answer was the lucky winner. "Professor, why do they call it a scapegoat?" It was on topic because the name was likely rooted in history. Kinsay knew. Why WAS it called a scapegoat? She had no idea to be honest. She'd read it before, but couldn't recall. "I'm not recalling off the top of my head...maybe you could look that up later for me?" Gabi asked with a small chuckle. Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir Anything to do with the media was, ultimately, a study in manipulation, no matter how unbiased those companies to be. That was all anyone needed to know, that was the reason for the word Nem had written, and the concept behind many of the answers they'd been listening to. Manipulation was everywhere, and if you couldn't find it, it was probably working. That, or there was an opportunity to introduce it for your own benefit. Or both; they were not mutually exclusive possibilities.
When the next question came, again Nem said nothing, and just added another line to their parchment in their tiny writing, directly under the first.
this morning
That morning, and every morning before it, and every evening in the Evening Prophet. Every piece of media. Recard probably wanted to hear about notable historical events, and then more specific detail regarding the media in question, but she had asked for an instance in history. This morning technically qualified; it was a past event, it belonged to history, and those working for the different newspapers tried to sway public opinion every single day, regardless of how many people actually noticed.
Applying a possibly-deliberate overly literal interpretation to class instructions had ended in a fair amount of conflict in one particular lesson last term, so maybe Recard had the right of it. Maybe, in some ways, Nem really never did learn.
Not that it mattered, as they were still not supplying a verbal answer. They clicked their tongue a single time, let their gaze drift the window again, and teetered on the legs of their chair, using a toe to correct the balance every now and then. Still listening. Gabi had just assumed at this point that Nem would keep quiet for...well, the whole lesson probably. And if she had seen the small writing on their paper, she would have had no idea what they were referring to. It was best to just move on for now, in her opinion. Quote:
Originally Posted by Kolyander Many notes were being taken in a fine neat script in a medium shade of periwinkle ink. Lately Dahlia had gotten herself into the habit of taking her notes in different colors, simply because she could. A section in her notes was added about the magazine companies possibly looking for certain demographics. She even went as far as she list a bunch that went with each of the covers before moving along to focus on the next question.
How did media sway public opinion. Lia thought the answer was pretty easy. At least in her head it was. The same way anyone would made their opinion on something seem good. They had to talk it up, make it seem like the best thing ever. Boost about it. Get the information out all over and fast. Far and wide. Do whatever it took to knock the competition out. And she was about to raise her hand to speak on her thoughts when she heard what Phoebe James said. Neo-Alliance. Dahlia shuddered at the mere mention of them. The older girl was right though. However it caused Lia to lose her train of thought and instead she sat there in silence staring at what she had written on her parchment. Gabi found it rather odd that Dahlia hadn't contributed - she was usually very talkative, being the Ravenclaw she was! Hmm. Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 Claudine nodded in response to Reccard about her answers. After she fell silent, she busied herself with jotting down key points made by the other students. And eventually Reccard as well. This discussion only reinforced what Claudine always believed in: don’t form an opinion based on hearsay. Or in the case of these publications, don’t be quick to take sides based on just reading.
CLaudine thought for a moment then raised her hand. “Well, there was that gossip parchment here at Hogwarts. Aparecium, I believe? I heard that the writers usually twisted scenarios to make the information seem scandalous.” Talk about ruining the reputation of everyone whom those anonymous writers had written about! "Ah, good answer! There have been more than a few different variations of gossip magazines to grace these halls over the years," Gabi replied. Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy Heath nodded in reply to Professor Recard. True, he had noticed the bright colors and eye-catching fonts, and so had several others, which was why he didn’t touch on it. He was trying to take his answer in a different direction. He listened intently as the professor spoke about media bias. That sounded along the same lines as the point he was trying to make in his previous answer, only worded a lot better.
As soon as he heard the next question, his thoughts instantly turned to the Neo-Alliance’s use of the Daily Prophet and the WWN to spread their evil, but he didn’t want to talk about that… even before Phoebe mentioned it. Just thinking about it dredged up angry, vengeful emotions within him, and it scared him! He looked to the board for a distraction, trying to refocus his thoughts on the task at hand, and one of the images there jogged his memory. His hand went up, and he said, “The Quibbler tried to sway public opinion in Harry Potter’s favor after Voldemort’s return to power. They printed an interview with Potter to counteract the Daily Prophet’s articles discrediting him and Dumbledore, like that one -” He inclined his head toward the Dumbledore article on the board. “If I recall correctly, it was oe of the magazine’s most successful issues.” "Very good, Mister Jones! The Quibbler printed an interview with Harry about the night Voldemort returned - something the Prophet had never bothered to reach out to him about - to try and help raise awareness to his return. Harry was likely far more concerned with warning the world about Voldemort than he was about his image, though," she added as an afterthought. Gryffindors, being all NOBLE and all that... Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl Ivy was...going to pretend the Neo Alliance hadn't been mentioned, even though it did obviously apply to the question, and focus on the other answers while trying to think of her own. Um...
She studied the magazine covers again, trying to think of something besides the Daily Prophet one with the story about Dumbledore...and then, when her eyes drifted to the Witch Weekly one again, finally thought of something else around that time.
She raised her hand. "Witch Weekly published a made-up article Rita Skeeter wrote about Hermione Granger, claiming that she'd used love potions to make Harry Potter and Viktor Krum fall in love with her. It wasn't true, but some people believed it and sent her a bunch of hate mail because of it." It wasn't really a huge historical event, but it definitely was an example of media affecting the public's opinion of someone. "You touched on a good point, Miss Grimm!" Gabi said with a smile. "And that is the consequences of the media's actions. Hermione Granger received lots of hate mail for something she had no control over. Such a tragic thing, honestly," she said with a frown. Quote:
Originally Posted by Emzily Remy giggled a little at the Professors response to her answer. Free stuff and bright colours - yeah, that was something that would draw her in, for sure. As for the next question, the Gryffindor looked back to the magazines that they were discussing and had a big think.
Buuuut… nothing was springing to mind. There were so many articles published every day, so picking just one was a little mind boggling. A name that another student (Ivy) mentioned before her, Rita Skeeter, sparked a memory, however. “Speaking of Rita Skeeter, she once wrote a biography about Albus Dumbledore that had lots of mixed reactions from everyone. I think some of it was true but she wrote it in quite a negative way which had an impact on everyone’s opinions.” She stopped explaining since she suddenly doubted her answer, since it was technically a book rather than one of the magazines or newspapers they were looking at. More students were mentioning Rita Skeeter, which was exactly what Gabi had been hoping for! "Yes, Rita Skeeter certainly took some liberties with that one...all to make a quick buck," she said with a sigh. They could do a whole class on that woman, honestly. Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson Manipulation.
An art or practice for the Greater Good or evil. Well perhaps not evil. For good and.... not so good. But Anakin Skywalker had been manipulated brilliantly by using fear to protect the lives of his unborn children and his wife. And then.... well.... we all know happened next.
Lisa opted to remain quiet and listen to all the answers. Her eyes widened at the mention of the Neo-Alliance. She hadn’t been around last year at Hogwarts and had known little of the Wizarding World but was that the group that caused such chaos last year? She still didn’t know the full extent to what transpired but the mandatory therapy sessions made it sound...... very bad. Lisa wrote the name in her notebook. She would ask questions later.
She nodded in agreement with Ivy and Remy’s answers. Lisa knew of Rita Skeeter’s colorful opinions on the late headmaster Albus Dumbledore. She did find the idea of a gossip magazine at Hogwarts comical. Really ought to look at restarting that... What mischief could she cause through her imagination....? and while her scheming to get Mamie and her brother together had fallen through, she was determined to get back into the scheming. Maybe this time it would be all centered around the reasons WHY mistletoe shouldn’t exist. Lecherous things that she wanted to burn. Burn them all.
It took her a moment but she raised her hand. She had a textbook answer for this question. “Some media outlets can be controlled by a governing body or political party. These groups can practice censorship where they can hide things from ever being published for the ‘greater good’ of the country.” She did hand quotes and all at the mention of the greater good. “It’s wrong to censor... I think it is. Isn’t it better to know the truth?” Another one who brought up the political angle, interesting! "Very good point. If a certain political group controls a publication, they can essentially control whatever is printed - and use that to help change the perception of the 'truth'" she said, using air quotes as she spoke.
"You all brought up some excellent examples!" Gabi said with a grin. "Many that I had not been anticipating. I like that some of you brought up the whole political angle...and of course, one of the most notorious journalists in our history, Rita Skeeter. Speaking of Rita Skeeter...whether or not she was truly a "journalist" could probably be debated. She was proven to get her information through unethical methods by sneaking around in her animagus form, which was a bettle," she began to explain to the class.
"In addition to that, she was very well known for stretching the truth to the breaking point. Often times, she made things up entirely in order to sell a story and get more publicity for herself," she added. It was truly despicable - and honestly, the fact that that woman had gotten so much work despite having an obviously embellished resume was astounding. "However, if could be argued that she was simply trying to get people to pick up a copy of the magazine and provide entertainment along with the facts - and the sensationalism was just a tactic to get the reader hooked, like the magazines on the board have done with colors, headlines and pictures," she explained.
"This brings me to my next question," she said with a pause. "How does one draw the line between being factual yet entertaining? Is it ok to fudge the truth a bit to sell more copies? What is the harm in taking things out of context - who is it hurting? When does it cross the line from being an interpretation of the truth to a flat out lie?" she asked. Yes, she had asked a LOT of questions but it was a very complicated issue, and she wanted them to look at it from all angles! OOC: Thanks for your patience everyone! I was not feeling too hot last night so alas, I posted a bit late. For this question (and feel free to answer just one or all of the prompts Gabi gave!) you'll have about 24 hours and then we'll be moving on to the main activity! As always let me know if you have questions!
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