What I have learned from this class

When first signing up for this class I figured there would not be too much to learn about because I felt that I already knew a lot of the information that was going to be taught; however, was I in for a surprise. This class taught me about mass media and touched base on a lot of topics that I did not know too much about. Different topics such as film and digital technology, which I believed I knew a lot about; however, there was a lot of information like the creators of the forms of technology and how it affects the mass media. Another thing that I really attained a lot of information from was from the media pioneer presentations. I learned a lot about creators of different mass media technology tools and how they used these tools to affect the mass media and mass audience. I attained a lot more information than I was expecting to get out of this class mainly because I thought I knew a lot of the information that was going to be taught. However, as a whole I found this class very beneficial for me to gain a better understanding of mass media and how it affects a mass audience.

How does mass media shape the public’s agenda of issues?

Mass media has become such an important aspect to people’s everyday life that there is no doubt that mass media shapes the public’s agenda of issues. The mass media shapes the public’s agenda of issues by deciding what people should think about and making that the main focus of the media. This is done through numerous forms of mass media technology such as television, radio, newspaper, and social media sites. Due to the fact that the topics within the mass media are so easily accessible it makes it a lot easier for the mass media to shape the public’s agenda of issues. The public should know that the mass media is not trying to tell them what to think, but to show and tell them what is important right now that they should be thinking about. This can be a positive and negative thing. On the positive side the public will be informed of breaking news and crucial information. However, this could be viewed negatively because certain information that may pertain to an individual may be over shadowed because it is not considered crucial information that should be portrayed in the mass media.

What I Have Learned This Semester

Over the course of this semester, I have learned many things from the different types of media and the effect they have on individuals and society, to the specific laws that pertain to certain mediums. However one of the most important things that I learned this semester was the massive effect that media can have on society as a whole. Television, radio, books, and magazines can have huge impacts on people and they way they think and act. Media acts as an agenda setter meaning that it dictates what should be on people's minds at a given point in time.

One of the things that I found most interesting was the way mass media varies from culture to culture. In China for instance, media is extremely monitored and censored. Characters on television are not allowed to use words such as "ok," and other slang terms that are ever present in our culture and society. I also find it interesting how Western culture continues to creep into other societies.

Lessons Learned

In this class, I learned a lot about mass media that I was unaware of before. Before this class, I had no idea what mass media actually was. I thought it was just newspapers and television broadcasts. I did not realize there was so much more to it.

Out of all of the mass media topics presented in this class, I think that mass media and globalization was the most important topic. Media globalization is happening throughout the world quickly due to the Internet and social networking. It has pretty much taken the world by storm, and I do not think most people are aware of the effects it is having on the way we communicate with other countries now.

Another thing to consider is the new integration of social networking into mass media. The addition of social networking is able to spread news faster than ever before. With a simple click, the news can be spread to millions of people all over the world. It is incredible how people can be instantly connected to the news while others can be disconnected.

Without mass media, there would be no way of communication with others in the world.

What I learned

I have learned so much from this class that will help me in the business world. I have learned many ways in which the media is incorporated into our daily lives and that there really is no way of escaping it. I also learned a lot about advertising and what the techniques of a good catchy ad and what they do to draw you in. Also I was able to learn about the different ways that news can be twisted and lean to one side depending on the news channel that is broadcasting and how it can be very biased. I was able to learn about public relations and how it is a persuasive tool to helping companies and other things get out of trouble when they are taking a lot of heat. I was also able to grasp the concept of how mass media has an enormous impact on society and how mass media can reflect a political system globally not just the U.S. I was able to learn about how widespread media is and how every country have their own rules and regulations on how media is perceived.

What I learned

This class was always entertaining and even on the days we stayed for the full hour and 20 minutes I was consistently interested. I really enjoyed all of the videos we watched and I feel I really learned the most about advertising. I now watch ads with a critical eye, and am often criticizing them on my own and with friends. I also learned about media conglomerations and their motivations for conglomerating, something I previously had not thought about.

I think in general I am wiser about media in general, I learned about so many media pioneers and I enjoyed the presentations. I feel more informed in general and was actually able to put my knowledge to use by impressing my boss with my knowledge of who created Amazon. I really enjoyed the class, and in general would recommend it to other's.

What did I learn?

Through this class I have learned the many effects of mass media across all areas of life, business, and global reach. Mass media in its many forms has the ability to reach many individuals, with a goal of influencing the people it is reaching. Mass media has become a form of mass communication used in many different ways. News has the ability to keep the individuals watching up to date of what is going on across the world. It can also be used as an advertising outlet, which can have negative effects on the audience. All forms of mass media have transformed over the years into mass media as we know it today.
Mass media can also be used as a watchdog to government. Mass media can be effective as a watchdog because it has the ability to make sure the most accurate information is given to the audience, and keeps government as honest as it can by showing these true facts. Another form of news that is effective in giving accurate information is muckraking, which is a reporters chance to dig deep to find the real facts about a story. All of the forms of mass media have an effect on the audience that it is being shown to, making it an effective form of mass communication.
-Michael Bouchie