Media has become an intangible, mysterious, and omnipresent term that has been associated with so many different areas that defining and segmenting media has now become as much of a task as analyzing the content within it. This curriculum has helped ground the term as well as its implications in my life, giving me a toolbox of new lenses and outfits to critically assess the media that I both consume and produce. Media, for both myself and my society, has become a staple to our culture, most likely because it has been engrained in our ancestors as well. While we think it is novel to have discussions sparked from media such as the movements in wake of George Floyd, Freddie Gray, and so many others, what less were Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches on the same justice over half a century ago? The list goes deeper, through politics and entertainment and sports and almost every pillar of human interaction and interface. Understanding media in my life means understanding the role of this giant on the lives of others; the society. Media’s implications on myself are as they were for years before me and years in front of me – media somewhat defines who we are because media somewhat defines what we know. Legendary American linguist Noam Chomsky says “any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the US media”, and this is exactly what media’s role is in society: to dictate. Media’s role for both myself and society is a place to relax but also a place to be influenced, become informed, take charge, and make change. Our creation of media is merely the revolution and overthrow of the dictatorship, bringing new and diverse perspectives to the conversation. Entering the Media, Self, and Society Program, I was naïve to the true implications media had on myself, never understanding the proper agenda the corporations have towards the public. While I do not have a pessimistic view on media’s control on people, I have an empowered voice to help others become informed on how to better consume and create media with a purpose.
One example of media content that I have witnessed now more than ever is the constant reposting of social and political issues. Primarily on Instagram, social activist accounts such as @soyouwanttotalkabout, @chnge, and so many more have taken serious issues and made short, concise content for it, in which people religiously repost. Many are thinking, why is this an issue? The causes are legitimate and now this information is reaching a wider audience than ever before. The fault is in the treatment of this reposting. This trend has become a bandwagon popularity stunt more than a social activist campaign for many who take part. There has been a cancel culture associated to this trend, where some (not all) will unfollow/block you if you don’t also share the information. The purpose of this content is, supposedly, to inform other people, but reposting dozens and dozens of shorts about wearing masks, mental health issues and injustice in foreign countries begins to lose traction faster than it informs people. This trend results in more people just scrolling through it instead of engaging because of overstimulation. This type of media encourages people to be content and proud of the small information they know instead of encouraging society to be continually curious on social issues and continue investigation. Some positive content that I have seen similar to these other pages show multiple sides to similar issues as well as link diverse websites and sources that allow individuals to manage what they consume and how involved they want to be in the conversation. Informing others is one thing, but empowering others to inform themselves gets them much more involved in the conversation. My time as a Media scholar is what allowed me to view this trend in a more critical light and educationally challenge it. The consumption of media has become more and more passive, so by using tools that I have gained from Media Scholars, I have been able to academically challenge content that is otherwise seen as benevolent and effective.
|
Critically analyzing President Donald Trump’s tweets was something that was so unique to the scholars experience, now having an expansive toolbox of content-criticizing lenses to segregate truth from fiction. Being able to categorize Trump’s tweets into groups and then place them into context through current events and agendas allowed us to not only deduce fact from fiction, but also deduce why Trump might have said what he said. These tweets included information about voter fraud, COVID-19, and national security, all of which could be traced back to an agenda of Trump’s. My time in Media has allowed me to not only track what could be false information through fact and source checking, but also understanding the implications and intentions of the spread of misinformation. A lot was learned on this subject in a study of Facebook and their issues with the spread of fake news on their platform, with their combating actions pioneering the wave of fact-checking posts seen now on Instagram and twitter.
|
To me, being a critical consumer and producer of media means not contesting, but criticizing all information and stimuli on media platforms. With media now being in our hands with smartphones, the mindless scrolling and reposting of content has become easier than ever before. I see myself as a critical consumer and producer; before I ever share anything, either on or off of media, I first check the information with other sources or warn others that what I saw and am sharing in quick conversation might be omitting or altering truth. Media scholars certainly tested me to do this along with challenging my previous opinions on media. I have always been a heavy critic of the media, so while in many cases this program taught others to lean closer this way, I was actually challenged to think more benevolently of media. Coming from a business concentration, my understanding of media was that everything is concentrated around profits instead of informing the public as a primary initiative. Media Scholars has opened me up to connections of real people that got into media and journalism and broadcasting because of their love of informing the people, of which has not waivered since their entry to the industry.
Being able to formally and informally interact on media issues allowed me to gain a much needed perspective on media. In many ways, our consumption of media has been tailored to our habits and preferences, differing from the content that others receive without us even knowing it. By making the program conversation-driven, discourses were focused around the diversity in our consumption and our awareness to this concept in many ways. A specific example of this that was extremely interesting was analyzing print media to analyze what the publisher and writers thought were the most important for us to understand. Being able to compare different print medias brought awareness to us that what we consume and choose to pay attention to varies so widely, so by accepting this and being open to listen to others, we were able to better understand our society and media’s impact on it through discussion.
Scholars offers more opportunities to give back than any other program I have been involved in. One group I am a member of that does this is the College Park Scholars Mentor Program, in which I assist freshman scholars in becoming successful assets to the university. Having these opportunities at the disposal of scholars is vital to the program, as it allows us to invest in our community while growing as individuals as well. |
As an aspiring financial planner and advisor, receiving, digesting, and analyzing breaking news to make quick and heavy decisions will be part of my daily job. My scholars experience not only sparked my interest in this field where I will be giving back to others to help them achieve financial literacy, but I will also be able to analyze media in an efficient manner to achieve this goal. Understanding how media is covered, why it is covered in the manner that it is, and the underlying notions implied by these variables will allow me to make more informed decisions for the benefits of my clients. Overall, scholar has taught me how to be a part of something much larger than myself, which will continue to inspire me to give back, work hard, and inform others for the betterment of our world as a whole.