First of all, I chose to be a media student because of my major, which is audio producton. Media studies are a big part of audio production because one needs to understand how media is distributed, consumed, and produced in every aspect possible. The more one knows about media studies the more information they will be able to take into the next step of their career. In my case, knowing about the media industry is very relative to audio/music production. It is a business and to know how to be succesful in that business I need to know how that business operates. Specifically, How is music produced, consumed, distributed, etc? How does it compare to other facets of media such as broadcast journalism, publishing, video production? Understaning the flow and heirarchy of the media as an industry as much as I can will be very beneficial. Also, it is hard to deny that the media is in our lifes more and more everyday. From smartphones and their applications to things like facebook and twitter, we are able to access information quicker and easier than ever before. The media is changing and we must be able to keep up. This things go into the reasons I choose to be a media scholar.
(B) What have you learned so far as a media student? How does media inform your life (or work)?
I have learned many things throughout my years as a media student. I have learned how the media affects things in my daily life, politics, entertainment, and how it shapes and distinguishes our culture. I have also learned a lot about how the media is utilized in other countries. We are a technilogically based media society. Media sort of shapes most of our lives. We have one of the most advanced media systems in the world with many layers to it. Millions of Americans wake up every morning and turn on the news to get things like weather information, political information, and local news. Millions of Americans check sites like ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, TMZ, or other popular sites everyday to get their daily fix of information that may not be 100% vital to their day like looking at the stock market or weather might be. At the same time, we are evolving and putting more and more useful information out to the masses with these different social networking sites and pieces of technology. The mediums are there to relay information to people.
Media is also an important part of our entertainment. People are getting better cable packages with HD channels, sports packages, etc. DVR and Tivo have become huge and almost a must have for many Americans. There seems to be a new smart phone coming out every week promising a "Faster" and "easier" life using said phone. This shapes us as a culture at the same time. We have become a culture with a very short attention span. In this fast paced world, we don't give things a lot of chances because there is always something right around the corner ready to catch our attention. Our consumption of media and freedom within the media is really unrivaled throughout the world. We have a very democratic media system when compared to other countries. The most important thing to know about the media is that it is always changing and will continue to do so.
Dominick: I can tell you've had your share of MDIA classes! :D From a writerly perspective, you could improve by offering more detail; otherwise you could easily descend into banal platitudes. For example, "our" "freedom within the media is unrivaled throughout the world" could easily be argued against; we do not have a "democratic media system," etc. Even something like having "a short attention span" could be explored further. Virginia Heffernan wrote a great article in the New York Times a couple weeks ago, railing against the common (and to her, unthinking) use of that term. See if you can find it, and tell me what you think. I'm looking forward to more of your posts!
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