In today’s world, we wake up every morning and check our Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and whatever other apps we follow. We live in a society where we are bombarded with thousands of images and headlines daily. The biggest feat of our generation is going to be learning how to become “media literate” and/or smart and educated media consumers. I have had the privilege to take various media and communications classes in college. I have learned how important it is to think critically think about the information I am presented with and understand all the aspects that play into media today. Especially with the influx of tragic events in the news and the campaign season upon us it is important to be a savvy media consumer, especially when it comes to viewing the news. There are a few things you can do to become a smart media consumer; consider the sources, the audience, and understand what goes into the careers and publicity of celebrities.
When viewing the news, Twitter, or articles shared on Facebook it’s important to consider the source. It’s important to know that news networks are businesses. They are not only trying to share the news, they are also trying to keep good ratings. High ratings attract more sponsors, which help networks stay afloat. Therefore the news has become more for entertainment to attract viewers. We need to keep this in mind while we are watching the news because only certain events are getting aired. Events that we can relate to, events that make our jaws drop, events that keep us glued to the TV. Not to say the news we get isn’t important, it’s just that we aren’t getting global or well-rounded information. It’s easy to feel like the world is decaying, that humanity is on the decline. In reality, those are the type of stories news networks are seeking, that is what is getting them money. When viewing the news you need to remember that there are still good people in the world and amazing things happening every day. We just don’t see this every day on the news because that is not what journalists are seeking or what the networks are selling.
Since networks need to appeal to their viewers, they take highly into consideration the demographics that are watching them and that is why it is important to consider the audience. Family? Kids? Teenagers? Democrats? Republicans? How are they spinning it to appeal to you? When it doesn’t interest you, do you keep watching or do you immediately close the page, change the channel, or keep scrolling through your social media site? In this sense we are getting extremely biased views if we are only watching or following certain sources appealing to our own opinions. Fox is always criticizing Democrats, CNN is always criticizing Republicans, E! News is always letting us know the “inside scoop” in celebrities' daily lives and incidentally they are all shaping our view of the world around us. Where are the neutral sources that look at all situations from all sides? Most of them are publicly funded like PBS. They have more room to be neutral because the people they are appealing to are not in turn going to be the reason they make money. Unfortunately, in today’s society we have come to like to hear what we want to hear and see what we want to see, and it’s not so fun to hear opinions that differ from our own, so we don’t watch these neutral sources. In today’s world we are a bunch of one-sided media consumers. It is important as viewers to consider the audience and what aspects of the information are being highlighted and what aspects are being played down in order to appeal to us, so we became more rounded media consumers. It would be in our best interest to follow a number of sources that appeal to a number of demographics and then find the middle ground where all the information overlaps because that is when we are going to get the most accurate and wholesome stories.
Especially when it comes to popular news sources we need to consider the people featured in it the most, aka celebrities and politicians, usually have a lot of people working for them: people who pick out their clothes, who outline of what they are going to talk about on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and who formulate how they are going to be presented to the rest of the world. We see them, but what we are getting is well-formatted plan from a team of publicists, political analysts, media analysts, stylists, directors etc. It is my great regret to report that even the Beyonce we know and love is a collection of events, media coverage, quotes, tweets, images, and articles that were highly strategic and purposely placed for viewers to see. Not to say that I don’t believe in Queen B any less, and she probably sat down and planned this all with her team; all I am saying is that her image didn’t accumulate naturally. As much as we love seeing Barack Obama, Donald Trump, or Hillary Clinton on SNL, the whole point is to soften their image in the public eye. For example in Tina Fey’s book she mentions how Sarah Palin’s campaign wanted her to be on SNL and called and asked if she could be, not the other way around. Donald Trump seems to be a super blunt and honest candidate, who is finally saying what America needs to hear, but that’s all part of the campaign. Don’t think for second that Donald Trump is not getting coached on his non-verbal skills or working off a rough outline that was written by his team. He is sinking to a human, non-professional level to get the appeal of the everyday people as a strategy even if it might be similar to his usual demeanor. Just remember that in today’s world the people we see, or look up to, or compare ourselves to are constructed images. As individuals it’s valuable to recognize the messages in the media and the strategies used by celebrities and politicians, so we can fully understand and examine the information we are presented with instead of blindly accepting everything that we see.
