Media's effects on the Stock Market.

For my paper I am going to focus in the effects that the media has on the stock market and its outcomes. After being in the industry personally and with Merrill Lynch it is amazing how much the popular and reputable media has on the outcomes of the stock market for the day. There was once a time when the outcome of the stock market was based on basic principles and ideologies. Although with the popular media that we see today this is no longer true. The market is essentially driven by the information that is received over the media wire.
It is a topic that is important to investments because there are traders that trust on investing on the public media. It would be interesting and potentially unique to see how reputable media such as the Wall St Journal, New York Times, and CNBC can drive markets. The importance of this is that most of these publications use online updates that are becoming the sources of information for traders on Wall St to Lasalle St to London to Beijing. The importance of information in the media to traders has stemmed all the way to sources such as twitter and its counterpart tweetdeck. This is a system in which people can create formations of their importances on twitter to receive news as it happens.
This is a topic that serves a purpose to the importance of media. Companies like CNBC rely on there ability to give the news as it happens so that they can be an important asset to Wall St. With a niche like this they are able to find their target market while also serving a purpose to financial markets, which is one of the largest business markets in the United States. I think that this project could serve a purpose in something that is changing the form of financial markets as we know it.

Research Topic: Formal Regulations on Media

Media and the United Stataes' government have always had a difficult relationship.  In certain ways, the media is very beneficial to the government, however, it can also be a powerful tool to work against its goals, especially its foreign policy ambitions.  As a result, the government tries to regulate media's coverage of military encounters in hopes of preventing unfavorable public opinion to influence military goals.

The first, and perhaps most important, example of this relationship is media's influence upon the Vietnam War.  In the past, Americans had greatly supported troops and the government in military conquests.  However, when the horrors of this war were brought into average Americans' living rooms.  As a result, popular support for the war virtually disappeared, and that greatly affected how the United States changed its military conquests.

Obviously, since the end of the Vietnam War, technology has advanced greatly.  I will study what policies and regulations the government has implemented in order to combat the dangers of media.  This issue has become exceedingly important considering the recent issues of wikileaks.  I will critique the government's effectiveness in anticipating these challenges, and will ask important questions in the legitimacy of the government's regulations.

Topic Proposal: Two Perspectives on Targeted Advertising: The Consumer v. The Advertiser

For my final project I wish to explore the world of targeted advertising within the social media world.  I became interested in this when I was applying for a job within the Leo Burnett Advertising company.  On part of the application I was required to write a short essay on the use of targeted advertising in social media and why I believed it to be important and where I saw it going in the future.   I didn’t have an answer and I still don’t have an answer, and this is why I am very interested in writing on this topic. 

It’s scary to think that Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, and many other search engines and social media outlets are tracking every little thing you do.  Every time you sign up for a social media outlet and provide your name, age, email, gender and geographic location, you are essentially profiling yourself to companies who can then target you with their ads.  Search engines, such as Google, will track anything you search, even key words in your personal emails, anything they think might be valuable that they can then sell to advertisers to target you with ads.  They do this in hopes that the ads they have selected to place on your sidebar will be a product or service that you will want.  Advertisers no longer have to waste their time and money trying to advertise to the larger population.  Now, advertisers can specifically target a smaller sample of people that are more likely to spend their money on the products and services.

For my research I want to look at both the consumer and the advertiser’s perspectives of the issues concerning targeted advertising.  I want to focus on the rise of targeted advertising within the various social media outlets and how companies are legally or illegally tracking consumers’ information.  What legislation is being made to limit consumer tracking and help ensure consumer privacy?  I also want to explore how much companies are profiting over new targeted ads in comparison with older techniques of marketing and advertising.  Do the benefits of targeted advertising outweigh the potential risks to consumer privacy? 

Personally, I am frightened by the idea of my every move being tracked on the internet.  However, from an advertiser’s perspective, targeted advertising is a gold mine.  I don’t believe that targeted advertising is a threat to personal safety and privacy as long as the information taken is solely used for the purpose of advertising and isn’t distributed further to any outside third parties.  The business of targeted advertising is complicated and must be examined through both the lens of a consumer and the lens of the advertiser in order to truly understand both sides of the issue.   

How Netflix and On-Demand Channels are Changing the Game

Recently, the incredible rise of video on demand within the media industry has caught my eye.  The heightened popularity of Netflix and movie-order channels made available through various cable providers are enjoying a very high level of success.  As a result, video rental companies like Blockbuster are being run off the map.  Growing up, I would head to Blockbuster on a Friday night with my parents to pick out the latest movie.  That Blockbuster has long been closed, and I can’t remember the last time I saw one in my neighborhood.  These days, my family simply goes to “Channel 1” on our TV set, and decides on a movie from the WOW on-demand movie channel. 

That being said, I would like to focus my project on the rise on Netflix and on-demand movie channels.  What’s more, I would like to see how this has influenced companies like Hollywood Video or Blockbuster, and the DVD market in general.  For example, has Netflix significantly lessened DVD sales in stores like Best Buy or Target?  Are people still heading to the stores in the same numbers to buy their favorite movies or TV shows?  Quite clearly, Netflix has impacted video rentals, but how was this accomplished?  Through my final project, I will explore this rise in Netflix and other on-demand channels to see how they were so successful.  In addition, I will explore how Blockbuster changed their business model to adapt to this shift in consumption.  Blockbuster had to alter their business to cater to people’s needs, where consumers were now getting video rentals without having to leave the comfort of home. 

Through research, I expect to find that Netflix had a significant impact on DVD sales.  Personally, I would much rather rent a movie for two dollars on my television then pay upwards of 20 dollars for a movie I’ll likely watch once and store away.  Therefore, I believe that Netflix and on-demand channels have completely altered the business model of Blockbuster and have significantly lessened the sales of movies and TV shows in stores.

Wikileaks: A Threat or a Friend

Wikileaks is a website which publishes secret documents in order to promote government, corporate, and general transparency.  Wikileaks has raised a number of questions regarding fair-internet usage, government transparency, and corporate responsibility.

The combination of these issues is why I want to do my final research topic on Wikileaks.  Wikileaks has sparked one of the most controversial internet conversations and fueled the debate between privacy and transparency.  The question I want to [attempt] to answer surrounds the use of Wikileaks: should Wikileaks be allowed to leak cables, even though they may contain sensitive information, in the name of transparency?

Wikileaks operates under the mission that every cable and government document should be public regardless of the information it contains.  The cables linked up to this point include documents as harmless as Wikileaks condemnation of Unesco to the video "collateral murder" which is a video of us soldiers shooting at what seems to be civilians.  Wikileaks uncensored and unbiased approach to publishing these documents has only increased the debate surrounding the website.

Wikileaks raises issues surrounding internet use, transparency, censorship, government and corporate responsibility, and the power of the internet in the hands of the people.  Wikileaks has forced governments and corporations to rethink their security measures and has opened the eyes of the internet public to the realization of transparency.  these factors and issues are the bare minimum of the issues Wikileaks has brought attention to; I want to delve deeper into these issues and determine the effect of the Wikileaks model on the government, corporations, the public, and internet users. 

If anyone wants more information the website is http://wikileaks.org/ 

Can We Really Achieve Diversity?

According to Einstein's article " Diversity & the FCC", how diversity is achieved in media programming is very complex and has a long history. Einstein begins her article by discussing how policy makers use two  methods to create diverse programming, these include FCC regulations and open market factors. These two methods help create diversity for the fragmented audience that tune in to watch TV programs. Einstein in her article tackles the struggle programming networks have had in incorporating diversity in their programming.

Since 1934, broadcasters were told that their goal is to serve the public interests.  Einstein goes on to explain the long history of TV and Radio programming acts that have been created in the media industry. One of the acts that she explains, is the Radio Act that was put into place in 1912,  this act allows for anyone to send information across the airwaves. This Act was later  revoked because the government felt they needed  to regulate the airwaves because there were to many voice on the air waves. After explaining the media acts in TV and Radio, Einstein discusses the diversity acts that have developed over the past few years. In fact, one of the biggest impact diversity acts that was established was the Children Diversity Act of 1990, which stated diverse programming for children was to be both informative and educational.

Einstein, concludes her article by explaining how the FCC has struggled to find and maintain diversity in the media industry. The News Media through time has been forced to develop new economic models in order to achieve diverse programming. Einstein leaves me to question how the Media industry will every be able to achieve complete diversity in programmings with so many FCC regulations and forced economic models.

Topic Proposal: Target Advertising on Facebook

For my topic proposal I want to explore the rise in popularity of digital advertisements, specifically targeted advertisements. Digital advertisements are estimated to pass all other forms of advertisements in revenue by 2016 and continue to adapt to new technological platforms. The optimization of digital advertising is allowing for advertisements to only specifically target those of interest. These ads can be seen on Facebook, mobile applications and Google and are continuing to gain popularity amongst advertisers. Directly targeting consumers based on their past internet use and the information they share, advertisers can now be selective in advertising to those who will engage with their product. I will analyze the specific use on Facebook and the economic and technological conditions that have allowed for the target advertising on the website.

                  In order to analyze the increasing preference of digital advertisements amongst advertisers, I will look at the technological conditions that have allowed for targeted advertisements online and on digital devices. In addition I will consider the economic implications of having advertisements that target only those who fill specific criteria as consumers. In addition to the technological and economic conditions, I will also look at the increasing focus on the accusations against these digital advertisements and the invasion of privacy that occurs. For advertisers, the digital ads allow for advertisements that are reaching those direct targeted audiences. However, for audiences the increasing tracking of cookies and online searches to specifically target individuals is seen as an internet privacy concern.