50 Year Old Perspective On Media - "Blackberries are something I eat."

Name: Mary Alice Hohenberger      Age: 56

1. What forms of media do you use? (i.e. TV, computer, internet, iPhone, iTouch, iPod, etc.) Lap top, occasional radio (public), NY Times on line.
2. Does “the media” influence your life? If so in what way? (i.e. my job, my relationships) Of course, which is why I limit it. The media is paid for by advertisers, the advertisers control us by planting seeds of fear and self doubt. %  minutes in front of a TV with a magazine and my self esteem plummets as well as my belief in a future.
3. Can you imagine your life without the following: TV, the internet, cell phones: Not with out my cell and my computer, where once we had culture driven technology we now have technology driven culture. TV is a different story. I love the TV free life.
4.  Do you think age affects your understanding of media? If so how? Hell yes! I am behind the media 8 ball - blackberries are something I eat!
5.  Can you imagine living in a country without having access to media ( internet, television, the computer, etc.) I dream about it- it’s a recurring fantasy. In places where there is little or no media cultures are individual and rich in many ways.

TV

1. Did you grow up the TV? It got popular when I was a child.
2. If, so how has the television influenced your life? When I young was it made me believe in a system of false values. I measured myself and my family and our lives against what I saw on TV- everything came up short. I believed if I bought toothpaste I would have love, if I bought Noxema I would be beautiful and that if I didn’t use Head and Shoulders shampoo people would talk about me behind my back.
3. Do you watch TV? NO Why? If not, why? For the reasons stated above, also because I know how easy it is to numb out in front of a TV, how hours just melt. It takes us out of our own lives- we can begin to feel like the TV faces are our friends. If so how much? 1 hour every few months but very often a lot less, often none for years on end.
4. What about television do you like? Sometimes there is a special documentary on then I will seek out a TV, or sometimes someone interesting will be on Oprah, then I have a guilty pleasure at a friends. Why? I am in control of what I see, how long I watch.
5. What about television do you dislike? Commercials, especially drug advertisements. The quick sound bites the noise the fear mongering.
6.  Why? The commercials make natural life seem like a disease the news creates fear out of everything and it is destroying the imaginations of our children and taking away their ability to concentrate. It makes them want food and toys that are worthless and often harmful.
7. What are your favorite shows? N/A
8. Why do you like those shows? N/A
9. Do you think television and the media is too dominating in determining society norms? ABSOLUTELY
10.  If you didn’t or don’t watch television why? It robs us of our lives, and hampers the development of us thinking our own thoughts. And was it your own decision? YES!

 Computer/Internet

1. Did you grow up with the computer and the internet? No, I was grown when they came along.
2. What do you mostly use the computer for (i.e. academic purposes, business purposes, personal purposes (email), etc.) Email, occasional news, writing and business.
3. What websites do you use visit most often? NYT online, Indeed.
4.  What are the reasons behind your usage of those websites? News and jobs
5. Do you use Facebook? No
6. Do you feel your privacy is safe when using the internet? We have no privacy any more, the internet is only one of the ways we gave it up.

Print Media

1.  Do you read the newspaper? I peek at the front page to see if anything big (911, or a quake, a war, a natural disaster or an assassination) has taken place while I was dreaming. If so how (online, print, iPhone/iTouch)? Online.
2. Why do you prefer that method? Ecological
3.  Do you read books? Yes!
4. If so how (print or electronically)? Print
5. Why do you prefer that method? It is solid, a good book carries the energy of the writer and all its readers in its pages, I like the feel and the smell and the ability to flip through them, mark them love them and pass them on.
6. Can you imagine a world without newspapers and books in print? Yes and it breaks my heart. 

Blogging

1. Do you know what blogging is? Yes
2. Do you blog? No  
3. What is beneficial about blogs or blogging? I have not quite figured that out.

School/Job:

1.  Job Status (i.e. working, student, retired etc.) Unemployed in my old career, building my second career.
2.  What do you do? I was in the corporate world for 25 years as a trainer. Now I am a counselor.
3. Does the media help or influence your job? Yes, If yes, how? It makes people feel bad then they come to me for counseling and I help them get their heads back on.

Changes in the Media

1. Is there something you wish you change about any medium? Newspapers used to deliver news; who what where, how and why. Although they were always biased a bit it was never as blatant as it is no. If so what? Clear information- with the editorial commentary on the editorial pages.
2. Is there something you wish you understood more about the media? Why we let this happen. We are all so suckered in by it, we all are!