Module 3
One quote from Lankshear and Knobel’s Attention Economy in particular resonated with me. I had the hardest time absorbing the information from this article, but I felt that it warranted a mention in my summary. According to the text, “Goldhaber envisages two ‘classes’ within the attention economy. These are ‘Stars,’ who have large amounts of attention paid to them, and ‘Fans’ who pay their attention to Stars” (Lankshear and Knobel, 2001, pg. 3.) The essence of Goldhaber’s argument is that there are few people who receive a great deal of attention from many who are happy to give that attention. This can lead those outliers, such as the homeless, to be completely ignored. Even though this article is about the economy, I couldn’t help but relate this argument back to my experiences within the United States educational system over the last twenty-seven years. Growing up, it always seemed as though there were a few “Star” students in every class. In my case, I went to a small private school for elementary and middle school, so these students were the same in every class. They excelled in every subject, were athletic, and beloved by all of the teachers. They received the most attention and praise. The rest of us “Fans” worshiped them because of this. We were taught to look to them as an example and essentially to compare ourselves to them. Yet because of this, I often felt that everyone else’s accomplishments fell through the cracks. Sure there were mentions of other successes, but it seemed as though they were always in comparison to one of the star student’s achievements. I am curious, did any one else experience this growing up?
I thought I understood what the newscaster’s meant when they throw around the term poverty in the media. I assumed, as I think that most members of our society who fall within the middle class bracket do, that the term poverty spoke only of those individuals who live their days devoid of the basic human rights. Author Shannon Ridgway demonstrates in her article 4 Problems with the Way Media Depicts Poor People, why, before this course, I made this assumption. Ridgway argues that although the media does feature a few segments now and then about those who are impoverished, “media representation isn’t enough; diverse and accurate media representation is essential.” (Ridgway, 2013, pg. 1.) In making this comment, Ridgway urges us to consider when taking in media messages, the following facts: the poor are invisible, the poor are often described only in terms of statistics, it is assumed or shown that the poor are poor due to their own life choices, or that they are not poor but simply “down on their luck.” (Ridgway, 2013, pg. 1-4.) After analyzing the subsequent information provided to us in the Paying Attention: Poverty and Media Literacy subsection of this week’s readings, I feel as though my eyes have been opened and my attention has been brought towards an entirely different form of poverty that exists within the confines of our own society. I was shocked to learn that there are many families, working families, who live well below the poverty line. This was not news to me, however, I was saddened to learn just how many people in the United States live below the poverty line.
I found the video titled Child Poverty- In Their Own Words, to be truly heartbreaking. How did you react upon seeing this clip? I cried. Incidentally, the filmmakers knew exactly what they were doing in adding the young boy singing a blues song about struggling to survive. It plays on one’s emotions and set the emotional tone for the entire clip. As a parent, it shook me to the core listening to the stories that some of those kids had to tell. I believe that it is the goal of most individuals who are lucky enough to call themselves parents to provide their children with the basic human necessities. By necessities, I mean food, shelter, education, and love. I can only imagine how difficult it may be, for both the parents and the children, when the caregiver struggles to provide one or all of these things. I wish that I was able to speak to those children directly, to hear more of their stories and wish the best for them as they continue to grow. I was elated to see that organizations, such as The Children’s Defense Fund, exist and work towards building a brighter future for these kids through eradicating poverty altogether. Their website layout was superb. They provided a full range of statistics about poverty, firsthand accounts of poverty experienced by children, as well as visual aids such as graphics and photographs.
One graph in particular stood out to me. I have provided the aforementioned graph below this text. In this visual aid, it shows where, in comparison to other nations, the United States ranks in child poverty. I was appalled to see that we are ranked SECOND in all of the industrialized nations. Yes, second. Likewise, Global Disparity: A Food Diary, provides an excellent visual comparison depicting global food shortage. I have a background in Food Science, so I was not at all shocked to see how much junk food was consumed in the average American household. We have set up our society so that it is cheaper for a struggling family to buy a bottle of soda than a bottle of water, McDonald’s than salad fixings, and chips rather than fruit. Yet, I have never, ever heard this information given on the news. Food deserts exist in low income areas and though there have been groups dedicated to bringing healthier meals to these individuals, it is still a problem that is somewhat unique to America as displayed by this visual food diary. I am glad that, as I grow to become more media literate, all of these things have been brought to my attention.
The information provided to us about violence and the media was not at all what I expected. What did you assume the text and video was going to say going into this subsection? I anticipated more information centered around how the media is feeding into our violent culture, influencing children, and causing a more violent society than ever before. For this is what they insinuate on the news. I was completely shocked to read in Chapter 5: From Screen to Crime Scene that “as media culture has expanded, we have seen dramatic declines in rates of crime and violence in the United States.” (Sternheimer, 2013, pg. 104.) Furthermore, Bruce D. Bartholow, reiterates in the video Effects of Media Violence on Mind, Brain, and Behavior, the fact that violence has always existed as a form of entertainment, from the roman coliseum, to the first American film. In this video Bartholow provides background information about the history of violence as well as presenting his research results from studies focused on predicting aggression. I thought the experiment they did measuring aggressive thoughts and feelings by assessing whether subjects chose violent words after playing video games was completely fascinating. The results produced evidence that subjects were feeling more aggressive immediately after playing the video games, but after a certain period of time, that aggression faded away. Do you know anyone who plays video games on a regular basis? Do you find that they are more aggressive after playing them?
