My reality is limited because I do not engage in many types of media. I read the newspaper about once a week and don’t really watch TV. I try to catch up on the news a little by browsing msn.com or cnn.com for updates, but I don’t end up doing that very often. My main source of media is books I read for entertainment. I suppose my perceptions are limited by the books I read and the few bits of information I absorb by browsing the Internet and the newspaper.
If I engaged in more media I’m sure I would be more informed. If I would read the newspaper regularly, as well as informative magazines (Time), and watch the news on television, then I would have more sources of information to formulate my own opinions from. I might also understand other people’s perspectives more thoroughly if I knew which types of media they were gaining their knowledge from and might be better able to connect with them.
Critically analyzing the messages, the medium and the gatekeepers helps to make me more aware of what their motives may be. They can report an event in a certain way to convey a certain message to the viewers. For example, news is reported on the radio and the broadcasters may talk about a horrible incident that has occurred – a bloody riot breaking out somewhere. The descriptions they use could shock and upset a lot of people, but by conveying the message on television, and by showing live footage of the riot, people will most likely be even more shocked and upset because they can actually see the screaming and the fighting and the blood. I think that seeing something horrific hits people harder than hearing about it.
When I read or hear about something in the news I use knowledge from closely-related past issues to form images in my head. When I hear about a place that has been hard-hit by a hurricane, my mind automatically jumps to images I saw on the news of hurricane Katrina. I link prior events to present events to navigate my understanding of stories. Most of the headlines present in these media today are negative and upsetting. It’s refreshing to hear about something good happening in the world, but those stories don’t seem to make the front page or the headlines very often. Therefore, I usually try to let news wash over me.
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2 comments:
I agree about the pictures that flash back when seeing a new event...it's so easy to think of those katrina images when associating with hurricanes!
Heather, I liked what you said about John Mayer being a sort of gatekeeper...he affects me with his lyrics, which are obviously his opinion.
I think it is interesting to listen to music to get these views/insights because it offers another way to see the world. Of course, we must always be aware of who is filtering the message.
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