The role in our society that Media has in the 21st century is immense. It doesn't matter whether or not you personally keep up to date with the media because it affects everyone in some way, shape, or form. If you keep up to date with the media, then you are directly influenced about what to think about certain events based on what is being said in the media. If you don't keep up to date with the media, then you are indirectly influenced about what to think about certain events based on the reactions of actions of others who do keep up with the media. I realized that the media's role in our society is to directly influence people on what to think and cater to an audience of particular ideologies in order to sell advertisements to a loyal fanbase. In the past 2 years, I have realized that once you detach what you are hearing in media from the apparent goal of mass media, it is very easy to "see right through" media that is made to rile you up and steal your attention from more important things in your life.
I have analyzed the NBC Nightly News through this assignment on what exactly each story is catering to and why the news is airing that particular story in the first place. Through me looking through each story with a fine tooth comb and answering these questions of why I am watching this story, I saw that most of the news stories that were being reported, only shared the general summaries of each story. I know it sounds obvious that most people don't want to hear about a story that isn't important for the general public to know for hours on end. But it surprised me of how inattentive the general public is to the point where each news source has to do their best explaining a news story in a few minutes or less. The reason this realization pertains to me is because I post financial analyses of cryptocurrency and stock markets on YouTube and Twitter. In conjunction with my realization with the shortness of stories in the news, I also realized that my YouTube statistics say that 99% of my viewers don't make it past 10 minutes of some of my 40+ minute in-depth financial analyses. It all boils down to this: everyone wants the bottom line. In the context of most financial analysts, nobody wants to hear you talk about different possibilities of a market. They just want to hear you say "buy" or "sell". Since being more aware of this, I have put a more conscious effort in keeping my analyses short and sweet and explaining further when needed. I have been posting videos since I started in my first semester of college and now I take it seriously and even have a cool setup to record with.
I have analyzed the NBC Nightly News through this assignment on what exactly each story is catering to and why the news is airing that particular story in the first place. Through me looking through each story with a fine tooth comb and answering these questions of why I am watching this story, I saw that most of the news stories that were being reported, only shared the general summaries of each story. I know it sounds obvious that most people don't want to hear about a story that isn't important for the general public to know for hours on end. But it surprised me of how inattentive the general public is to the point where each news source has to do their best explaining a news story in a few minutes or less. The reason this realization pertains to me is because I post financial analyses of cryptocurrency and stock markets on YouTube and Twitter. In conjunction with my realization with the shortness of stories in the news, I also realized that my YouTube statistics say that 99% of my viewers don't make it past 10 minutes of some of my 40+ minute in-depth financial analyses. It all boils down to this: everyone wants the bottom line. In the context of most financial analysts, nobody wants to hear you talk about different possibilities of a market. They just want to hear you say "buy" or "sell". Since being more aware of this, I have put a more conscious effort in keeping my analyses short and sweet and explaining further when needed. I have been posting videos since I started in my first semester of college and now I take it seriously and even have a cool setup to record with.
Despite people looking to the news as a source of information, there is one misconception about the news media that most people fall for: that some outlets of news media are politically biased because they want to push an agenda for spreading their political ideologies. It's easy to make this argument because it is clear that most news media have political bias so it would make sense that they are pushing their own political agenda. In reality, if you dig deeper in knowing how to market towards an audience, it is clear that the news media is appealing to the emotions of people who are already have a political opinion in order to captivate them. The bigger the audience, the more money the news network can charge for showing advertisements for products or services right beside their captivating content. So you can really boil down the misconception that news media is out to push a political agenda just to saying things to just maintain a catered audience in order to make more money.
Being a critical consumer and producer of media means that whenever you consume or produce media, you are constantly aware of the impact that saying something, hearing something, or reading something has on you or on other people. If you are a passive consumer and producer of media, it is almost synonymous to being a "sheep" by believing everything you hear or read and not caring what saying your controversial opinion online sparks up and just saying it. Everyone should be a critical producer and consumer by constantly asking questions such as: "Why does this story seem to have holes in it? There must be something more to it." and/or "Will saying this online produce a meaningful discussion? Or will it simply make people feel attacked?"
Being in the Media Scholars program has definitely brought me into contact with people with opposing opinions which challenge me. Going into college, I wasn't really involved/educated on politics because all I saw were loud disagreements online, in the media, and in person which made me to not have the desire to care. Once I turned 18 and was able to vote, I took the responsibility seriously and educated myself on politics and learned a lot about myself through discussions between me and other Media Scholars and during Media Scholars class leading up to the 2020 US election. Through learning about politics late, I learned that no matter what political ideological differences I have between others, I don't let politics get in the way of relationships.
As a Media Scholar, I have gone on a lot of field trips with the most memorable one being the trip to the Newseum. The Newseum is now closed but being able to see the history and impact of news media on the world was very cool. The interactive exhibits were fun as well.
Being a critical consumer and producer of media means that whenever you consume or produce media, you are constantly aware of the impact that saying something, hearing something, or reading something has on you or on other people. If you are a passive consumer and producer of media, it is almost synonymous to being a "sheep" by believing everything you hear or read and not caring what saying your controversial opinion online sparks up and just saying it. Everyone should be a critical producer and consumer by constantly asking questions such as: "Why does this story seem to have holes in it? There must be something more to it." and/or "Will saying this online produce a meaningful discussion? Or will it simply make people feel attacked?"
Being in the Media Scholars program has definitely brought me into contact with people with opposing opinions which challenge me. Going into college, I wasn't really involved/educated on politics because all I saw were loud disagreements online, in the media, and in person which made me to not have the desire to care. Once I turned 18 and was able to vote, I took the responsibility seriously and educated myself on politics and learned a lot about myself through discussions between me and other Media Scholars and during Media Scholars class leading up to the 2020 US election. Through learning about politics late, I learned that no matter what political ideological differences I have between others, I don't let politics get in the way of relationships.
As a Media Scholar, I have gone on a lot of field trips with the most memorable one being the trip to the Newseum. The Newseum is now closed but being able to see the history and impact of news media on the world was very cool. The interactive exhibits were fun as well.
Living with my fellow Media Scholars the first year of college was fun and aided to my education by surrounding myself with people who encourage me to create. The people who I was surrounded by in High School would never care that I decided to start publishing financial analysis videos on YouTube. Living and learning with the Media Scholars community has sparked my creative skills. I will definitely use what I learned about the power of social media and the general public's perception of the Media in my professional career in order to help get business ideas off the ground quicker.