Exploring Media Literacy's role in Sociopolitical Development

Media Use Journal

1. How has your understanding changed since the beginning of our course?

   Through out the course I learned that stereotypes are alive and well, a little disheartening to realize. I found insight from the "Mean World Syndrome" in that those who consume more media develop false realities more often than those who limit their media consumption. However, this is already popularized in mainstream media - it is just politicized, left, right, liberal, conservative. I feel people are aware of this idea, and when they are countered by an opposing view, they refer the opposition to a different source of information - leaning the opposite way. I am beginning to wonder if it is even possible to create unbiased news because there is always someone profiting from the exposure of the stories or someone funding the work. Besides people like trending topics and sometimes make these topics trend - so popular content will exist. But at the same time wouldn’t this be excluding voices?

2. Has your awareness of the power of the media shifted? In what ways?

   I think the US or at least subcultures in the US are deeply involved in critical consciousness (sociopolitical development). I was looking at upcoming movie and television developments earlier in the year, and came across subgroups who are challenging studio choices for actors portraying characters and were successfully influencing studio choices. They were concerned that the actors should have the same background as the character, i.e. nationality (born and raised) not look. I also came across interviews with some actors questioning if roles portraying LGBTQ+ characters should be filled strictly by LBGTQ+ actors. So maybe these are examples of sociopolitical development in action to be looked at in future classes?

3. Do you have new concerns or feelings about media that were not present before this course?

   The course ended with the emerging theory of sociopolitical development. My understanding is the theory is an extension of Critical Consciousness which centers on systems of oppression and action. But like I stated in the reflection, the US suffers from a disagreement of what oppression is - causing many divides. It was said either in this class or elsewhere, that if we create something there will be somebody out there who disagrees with it, feels excluded, or finds offense to it. I feel this is what we have been looking for in this course - the negatives. Is it possible to have media that clears the five essential questions? Can critical media analysis happen revealing the positives?

4. If you could add another week to this course, what should I have covered that we didn't address in this course?

   If we were to add another week to class, we could investigate trending stories as a whole. I felt we looked at artistic expressions, advertising, broadcast/streaming media, but ignored a while host of works being published in popular culture. We spent the weeks using the essential five questions, but won’t these always reveal negatives? Are there frameworks available for educators, designers, and media producers to use to verify diversity, inclusion, and equity in our work? Are there more critical media formulas or frameworks to explore? We bridged into critical consciousness (sociopolitical development) at the end, but doesn’t this rely on building group collectives that share common ideals of oppression?

   I think I have additional Media Use Journal information in the reflection...