Podcast: the challenge of radio?

Since Podcast becomes an assignment for us in the media convergence class, I have to get to know about it even if I never heard about it before.
I read a paper today which talks about the emergence of podcast makes the traditional radio industry face the big challenge since everyone can easily subscribe the content from podcast with easy -get sofeware. I have to say, this is the similar question about whether the newspaper will disappear, both the survival discussion about the traditional media.
However, I still believe that everything exists to some reasons and the traditional radio station will not disappear sooner, at least in China, due to its special characters. In the city where I was living in China, the radio is the main and most important medium for a special group of people – taxi drivers.The taxi drivers drive the cars all day and they can hardly spend too much time on the other media. When they drive the cars, listening to the radio is the only way for entertaining and getting the news. Besides, there are several radio stations particularly prepared for the taxi drivers, called communication radio stations. In other words, the taxi drivers are the target audience of these radio stations. They provides the traffic information for the taxi drivers such as which block is in jam, the entertaining programmes such as talk show which closely related to the taxi drivers lives and the interactive programmes such as the drivers can call in to do some little competitive games. Besides, the radio stations also hold the parties which the radiobroadcasters and the taxi drivers can communicate. This makes the taxi drivers to feel like they have another family.
In short, some particular media will exist until the day when there is no need for it to exist. But before that, it can exert its particular effect which cannot be replaced by others.

"super girl"

Jenkins talked about the "survior" and "American Idol" in his book to demostrate the participatory culture in the media convergence time. This reminds me the other very popular TV program in China called "Super Girl" which is also a singing competition like the "American Idol".The “super girl” lasts for 3 seasons, attracts millions of audience and evokes many controversial discussions on the internet. The champion of the show will get the contract with the music company and being figured as the new super star.
There are several characters for "Super Girl" to be an example of participatory culture. First, all the candidates who attend the competition are the normal people in our daily life and every one can go and have a try. Second, the champion of this TV show was decided by the audience who can vote by sending texts through the cellphone. These charaters made this TV show so popular because the audience think that they can extend their power and control the fate of the candidates.
Although the reality is not so optimistic since the media company is the biggest winner by winning the money and audience, there is an illusion for audience to celebrate.

Media person

Just now, I was talking to my friend who is in Europe on the MSN. He told me that he was on the coach from Bristol to London and using his blackberry to talk to me! Oh, why am I so surprised! This is a time of media convergence, isn't it? People should do anything on anytime with a media tool.
Ok, I just want to say that it sounds ridiculous and ironic that I am taking the media convergence class while I am becoming a non-media person here. No newspaper, no television, the only thing I have is an out-dated laptop and a cellphone which can only make calls. Ok, I just want to make some tiny complaint about this kind of life. See, it is the power of the media, I feel so bad without it.

exist or disappear? Newspapers!

After reading the article "How to save your newspaper", I realized that the prospect of newspaper is really on the edge of cliff and I am also astonished that the newspaper will really disappear in some major cities.
This article reminds me that a popular issue we talked in China -- whether the newspaper will disappear. Generally speaking, our teachers would like to convice us that the newspaper will never disappear which it may change to other form so that we can have a sweet fantasy for our future career. Moreover, there are indeed some reasons to demonstrates the future of newspaper such as the old people's preference for traditional form of newspaper and the high reliability of information of newspaper. These factors made the future of newspaper still prosperous.
However, we should realized that the excessive attention on attracting advertisement and the neglect of content making will bring disaster to the newspaper industry since there are so many competitors in present life, even the audience can be content creators.
But, I don't believe that the future of newspaper in China will disappear since the existing of political newspaper which do not depend on the advertisement income. As long as it can resist to the change, there is still a long way for it to go.

I suddenly remember what my father said when I decided to choose journalism as my major. When I talked about this issue to him, he told me the newspaer will definitely not disappear within 50 years (in China). But what will be the reality? No one knows.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines's Day!

Ok...No valentine, No happy, No day...

So many Chinese youngsters are high on the Western Festivals nowadays. They go out for fun on Christmas Eve, Halloween Nightand even Thanksgiving Day. Many old people in China critized this in afraid that the Chinese traditional festical will be ignored and forgotten several generations later. However, I don't think there is any need for the old people to worry about. By lacking of cultural background and knowledge, the Western festivals doom to be the reason of entertaining for Chinese youngsters. If you don't believe, you can check the people they go out with and the activities they do. Eventually, you will find no matter what the festival is, they will do the similar entertainment with the same person.

Blog generation

Actually, I never thought that managing a blog will be an assignment for me, even though I owned another blog for a long time. I opened that blog about two years ago when I began to majored in journalism & communication in China. I remembered that during that period, several friends asked me if I have a blog, then I realized how popular and important the blog is in our life. But I don't know whether this popularity comes from the special condition that we are journalism major students or from the whole social environment. Until one day I saw a programme on TV which is a talk show about an eighty years old grandma keeps her blog for her grandchild who is about to born, I finally realized how popular does blog in people's lives.

Nowadays, various kinds people use blogs with different purposed. The movie stars keep their blog to communicate with their fans and annoucce the latest news of them, the bussiness men use blogs to propagada their products. However, as far as I know, most people keep their blogs to describe their daily lives which is like a diary in old days. The difference is that they can share this publicly with their friends and family members. From my point of view, blog is a good way to share experience and life with people, espcially the friends who are far from us. Since a sister of mine who is eight years old and the eighty years old grandma have their blog, may be we can call all of us "blog generation".