Professor Cacoilo
Activists, Interlopers, and Pranksters
September 13, 2018
Media has played, and will continue to play, an important role in our lives. Whether its through social media apps or through newspapers and magazines, the media has found a way to have an effect on society in some sort. Which, of course, can be positive or negative. Media has the power to broadcast news going on, not only around your area, but globally and thus creating public awareness. It also allows the public to have a outlet where opinions can be formulated and therefore opening room for discussion.However, this can also be a negative thing, with public opinion, there is always going to be one that is more popular than the other and this can influence a majority of people to formulate their own opinion based on what's popular.
Although media highlights the events going on in the world it can also distract us from it. It seems like every other day there is a new trend going. Some of which can be new dance moves or some sort challenge. People are too busy trying to be a part of these trends that they forgot the bigger issues going around in the world. This opens up the discussion for fake news, many social media outlets or articles have been written with not enough background information or based off of opinions but made to seem as if it was factual. This can mislead the reader into thinking that what is being written is the truth, when in most cases things are based off of interpretations so as the reader, one has to be careful about the things that they read and research the things that they read.
My greatest consumption of media is through social apps, in my opinion, it is a quick way for someone to be introduced to a variety of topics going on in the world. Whether its about politics or the next big beauty trend I am able to consume all of this information in a matter of minutes. From the minute I wake up, I consume some sort of media. I wake up, I get on twitter, I scroll for a couple of minutes and proceed to move onto Instagram. I then get up from bed, and listen to music, some of which have some sort of meaning. For example, This is America by Childish Gambino, where he brushes on topics like police brutality. I then leave my house where theres billboards and advertising everywhere. Media affects my life in all aspects and defines who I am. Through media, I educate myself and formulate my own opinion.
Media also allows many Activist movements to occur such as the black lives matter movement or the me too movement. One that is personal to me and has impacted my life directly, would have to be the body positive movement. A body activist that is well known and used media as a platform to express herself would be Ashley Graham. She was the first plus size model to be in the cover of sports illustrated magazine. Being a sport related magazine which promotes health and fitness, many people had negative backlash, however, Graham stood by what she believed in and has impacted the beauty community by defining new beauty standards. Her message is that beauty comes in all sizes.
https://womenintheworld.com/2017/08/14/ashley-graham-is-on-top-of-the-world-and-changing-how-the-world-looks-at-beauty/
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