Welcome to Communication 240: Business and Government. I am looking forward to a creative and productive semester. I look forward to getting to know each of you and watching you evolve as effective communicators. I am excited to be here at TCNJ. I enjoy teaching this class because I teach from a practical perspective. It is so satisfying to help so many of you get prepared for your professional careers. We will be examining communication from a number of different directions all in the context of real life in both business and government settings. A few of the many paths that we will explore include investigating how messages are created from the perspective of the sender to how they are received from the perspective of the receiver. The channels used, the effective of culture in the formation of a message and the networks used. We will understand how to effectively communicate in business and examine how messages travel in a business environment whether you the management or subordinate. Additionally, we will focus on the presentational skills needed to give a talk, train an employee or ace a job interview, just to name a few. We will address the message shared in government and politics by using the 2008 Presidential campaign to examine the message and learn that making important decisions is more than the charisma but, analyzing the message. We will observe and apply technology and explore how it creates and changes in the message in new and fascinating ways. And, lastly, we will focus on networking and interviewing that occurs in professional settings. Blogging on our class blog will be an important method of capturing our thoughts. We will be using this blog to communicate in many ways in the class, so it is an important class requirement that you visit this blog a few times during the week to keep abreast of assignments and other important class information.
We will be using blogs as a means of recording our learning and studies. Every student is required to blog. You can begin by posting your blogs on our class blog post or as the semester evolves, create your own blog. Whatever the case, it is important that you remember that this is an extension of our academic classroom. You must use appropriate grammar, spelling and ideas in all your posts. Also, trying to rush through an assignment or making a weak effort in posting will be evident for all persons to see. Also, be sure to adhere to copyright issues in all posting. Only your originals work(s) whether words or pictures may be used. Please check out the Com 240 links throughout the semester for helpful places needed while in this course. You should feel free to email me at the address on the syllabus at any time for help, questions, concerns, or possible class absences.
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The Presence and Posture of Palin
The 2008 presidential election faces many new challenges and opportunities due to the advancement in technology. There are definitely many options existing for communicating. Based on Watching Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, and reading blogs from both the Asbury Park Press, and viewing various videos on ABC, there are many differences that effect both the value and trust in the information provided. Is there a most effective channel? No, I do not believe there is. Time wise, the general public will be drawn to the message delivery system providing time efficiency. Money wise today most owns at least one television set, has some access to newspapers, either in print or in an electronic format. The matter of being computer savvy and having the option and understanding on how to use the Internet, is certainly growing. The, all things considered, clarity of the message is definitely an issue. Those lucky enough to have access to all technological applications of media available, stand the best chance to have the most complete and accurate information to assist them in evaluating and selecting their best presidential candidates. Technology reshapes the messages that one may hear, see and read, because today, it allows for no one to have the last word when stating an opinion. Print media tends to be flat in the sense that once it is printed and in our hands, there is no way to respond at that point in time. Today news becomes “yesterdays’ news” almost immediately after it is read.
The Republican’s Vice Presidential hopeful, Sarah Palin, according to ABC’s blog and George Stepanopoulos, reaches out to woman under the age of 50. The younger the target the more the person would be in tune with technology and blogging. It make sense then for campaign leaders to use blogging and post information to those who blog to accomplish reaching this demographic. According to Stepanopoloulos, ratings for McCain since Palin’s announcement narrowed and reversed the gap between Obama and McCain from 50% and 42% to a more narrow percentage of 8% or 41% to 53% in favor of McCain.
According to the Asbury Park Press blogg, “Bloggers are becoming more ingrained in the political culture, even breaking some of the bigger stories during this year's presidential primaries. It was the left-leaning blog Web site The Huffington Post that first reported on the "bitter" remarks made about small-town Americans by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
NBC’s blog on NJ Nightly News reports having news available around the clock provides instant reporting venues like blogs and Web video, and politicians will need to be more aware of all the information floating out in virtual space. Now, political conventions more than ever before, have seats reserved for bloggers. It was also stated that blog-powered coverage offer a more varied look at the facts that neither have improved or detracted from media used in the past.
The messages I am reading in newspapers and magazines are not as balanced compared to adding the information available on television and on the Internet. During Palin’s acceptance speech, I paid particular notice of the channels she used. She appears very confident and spoke clearly. She stood tall and engaged her constituency. Naturally, candidate’s speeches are written by someone else, but she appeared to pull it off quite well. The hot buttons for Palin appear to be when she is questioned about her experience overall and as Governor of Alaska and compares it to Obama stating his community experience. She becomes defensive and her eyes widen. Her fists are clenched and hammered into the air. She points her finger most times when stressing a point and not a preferred form of communication used for emphasizing a point. After all, she is not reprimanding her children, but rather speaking to individuals to sway in her favor making first and lasting impressions.
In my opinion blogs have a good place in the media. Blogs allow people to have more freedom of speech 24/7 than do other forms of media. I did find new information on Palin that disturbed me. By watching a video on a utube blog, I learned she did not support placing Polar Bears on the endangered species list. I am, as are many others, an animal advocate. Her team of “close woman friends” mentioned she killed and skinned a Moose. Good for her! (I guess it’s good if you live in Alaska, are a female trying to make a point and have 5 children that depend on you to provide sustenance.) But frankly, where’s the meat? As far as her issues, I didn’t find anything dramatically new. Finally, blogs do open a new channel to expand my perspective on this falls campaign.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080825/POLITICS/808250355/1001/newsfront
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12634554/Blogs%20grow%20in%20numbers,%20power%20and%20influenc
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