What I Have Learned

Intro To Mass Media has taught me many things, from how technology has progressed into the technology I use today, to how media is presented to the public. The most valuable thing I learned this semester is media literacy, and how to establish what message is being sent by the media, and to whom it is being sent. In a world where everyone is becoming more Internet savvy and the world is spreading news much faster and easier it is important to know the intent of the information being presented. Everything else that was learned throughout the duration of the course can be broken down into being literate in the media.The information gathered during my group project about children and television also showed a strong need for media literacy because parents need to know what their children are watching and how it can impact growth and development physically, mentally, and socially. Similarly Mark Zuckerberg's creation of Facebook allows many people to get in touch with each other and take advantage of a widely used site to call attention to issues across the globe just as Twitter does. In order to effectively use these sites one has to have a concept of media literacy. This course has taught me to look for the hidden messages in the media and realize what it is there for.