Grand Finale..

Thank you all for visiting our blog, and sharing your comments and opinions. This will be our final blog entry. :( We have all enjoyed sharing our opinions on different topics, and hearing your opinions in return. Each comment to one of our blog posts has given our team feedback on what people really think about Florida A&M University, the media, and the new Multipurpose Teaching Center Gym. Your comments helped us with our individual events, and shaped how we planned them. We understood what you liked and disliked, and we took all of it into consideration when we completed each of our assignments.

Each of our events focused on fictitious social events happening on FAMU's campus. I was directed to plan an event showcasing FAMU's student media. With the comments made to my posts I realized the importance of having people of color in the media. People notice when a commercial, TV station or any other media outlet is missing someone of color. Hearing your opinion helped me to choose who I wanted to speak, make presentations, and guide workshops for my event. Ebony said her blog post comments helped her to see peoples views on the new gym vs. the recreation center. She realized how many people are into blogs now and how important it is to post your blog early to draw people to it. She also learned how essential blogging is to PR. Ajonelle said her blog post comments helped her to see people's perception of FAMU, and the importance of HBCU's. It helped her with her event because she realized bringing people together from an HBCU can help bring the moral and school pride up between alumni, stakeholders, and current students.

This entire blogging experience was a great idea. As PR professionals this is something we must do everyday and maintain to help our businesses prosper. Blogging is essential to PR. It lets us know what issues or concerns people may have with the companys we work for. Technology and media is forever changing and as PR profeesionals we must keep up with them. Thank you for your time and your comments.

Our finalquestion for you is What do you think about the amount and level of PR for FAMU? Do you think the school is being fairly represented in the media, and what do you think the Media Relations department can do to better the image of the school?

FAMU New Gymnasium vs. FAMU Recreation Center

Florida A&M University is definitely improving inspite of previous setbacks. FAMU has not only secured its accreditation, but they have now built a multi-million dollar gymnasium. The Multipurpose Center Gymnasium sits nearly 10,000 fans and will be home for the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and the Men's and Women's basketball programs. The state-of-the-art facility houses classrooms, a dance studio, a computer with 24 work stations, a TV production room, banquet room, indoor track, a swimmex pool and an examination and treatment area just to name a few.

However in Summer 2006, FAMU Recreation Center opened. Its facilities consist of The "Energy Bar" which provides a wide variety of nutritious and refreshing juices, smoothies and wraps to satisfy even the most hearty pre-or post-exercise appetite. Resistance and Cardiovascular Training Areas, which is equipped with 12 TVs and allows you to tune-in to your favorite shows while you get in shape. A Group Exercise Studio, which offers a large and aesthetically pleasing space, which is sure to meet your group fitness needs.FREE One-On-One Personalized Fitness Orientations,FREE Body Composition Testing, FREE Group Exercise Classes, FREE Regularly Scheduled Health, Fitness & Resistance Training Educational Seminars, FREE Wireless Internet Access and Professional Massage Therapy which is a paid service.

My question to you is, do you feel The Multipurpose Center Gymnasium will attract more people than the FAMU Recreation Center ?

Where has all the color gone?

Every time I turn on the television, look at an advertisement, or pay attention to any form of media, I notice the lack of color plaguing our consciousness. African Americans have made a tremendous impact on the media industry within the last 30 years. We appear and sometimes dominate anchor positions on news programs, television talk shows, plays, production companies and more. African Americans direct hit movies, take leading roles, and in the last 5 years won Oscars for extraordinary performances.
Even with all the accomplishments of my race, I am still fascinated with the appearance of people chosen to represent African Americans in the public eye. I have been approached by people of other races on numerous occasions, and most are surprised when they hear me speak. “You're not like a normal black girl” “You're not really black person, you speak and act different.” Then I have to bite my tongue, and ask the person what exactly is a ‘real’ black person. Most black people that are placed in advertisements or positions to be seen are mostly lighter skinned, mixed race or seen as ignorant, or too comedic to take seriously and incapable of intelligent conversation. Why is it that darker skinned people are limited in the media industry? Are the old prejudices of skin color, beauty and intelligence still affecting the minds of people to this day? I think so, almost every time I get excited about seeing a black person represented in the media, I become discouraged because I feel like whoever it is, does not accurately represent nor appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of my race.
The corporate people that have the power to make the decisions seem to think that it’s easier for the public to see a pretty black person with lighter skin in their advertisement then a person of darker skin. Are these occurrences the age old lighter is better mentality, or an unconscious mistake by the media industry?
What do you think, is the media industry purposely putting African Americans with darker skin in the background? Do you think it’s a conscious effort to force African Americans to have and keep a negative self image?