Media experiences have reinforced my existing worldviews and values and also have changed and expanded my views. The textbook says: “If we are unaware of the impact media has on our lives and decisions, or if we engage in self-serving bias by fooling ourselves into thinking that the media affects others but not ourselves, we run the risk of being controlled by the media rather than being in control of our own lives.” (357) The text also says that only watching programs that confirm your worldview contributes to confirmation bias and narrow-mindedness. (358) THINK by Judith A. Boss suggests reading or watching coverage of the same issue or news event on another channel to overcome bias and narrow-mindedness. I do this because you cannot rely on one source for your news because one story can be interpreted and given so many different ways. I do not do this with every story I read or see, but it is interesting to do so especially with news surrounding politics.
I think that nowadays it is inevitable to not have any participation in the media. The media is continuing to grow and spread across the world. In one way or another, we have all been influenced by the media whether we are aware of it or not. I liked the excerpt you got from the text that we have. It is extremely important that we learn how to set aside our values and what the media has to say about them. It is good to hear different ideas out, but we need to evaluate them well and have it affect us in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. News that you are presented with should always be double checked with different sources. I also make sure that whenever I hear something on the news, I look at different perspectives or the other side of the story before making a conclusion about the information I am given. I also agree with the quote you put from the reading. It is very likely that we may get sucked into believing what the media want us to think, if we do not pay attention to how much the media influences us and if we do not stop to think that we may in fact be fooling ourselves by thinking that it doesn’t.
ReplyDeleteI really like the quote you showed because I too believe it's true. We all engage in the media through different ways, basing on what we read or listen and having it affect our lives in different ways. I also agree with you that we should no reply on what we read and listen because sometimes it may or may not be true. That's why I always like to have sources to back up my claims. So when you tell others yourself, they'll believe you more as well.
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