Module 3: Final Thoughts
As I begin my discussion of Module 3: Attention, I cannot refrain from touching on the recent atrocities that have captivated media attention on a global scale. On June 9th, 22 year old singer and former The Voice contestant, Christina Grimmie was shot dead by a deranged fan while signing autographs and posing for pictures. On June 12th in the same city of Orlando, Florida at Pulse nightclub, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history occurred. 50 people were killed and 53 suffered severe injuries. The gunman, Omar Mateen claimed allegiance to ISIS and appeared to have homophobic malice. Footage of grief-stricken parents and bodies being carried out of the club flooded the airwaves. These brutalities have ignited an outcry with our country collectively seeking answers. The tragedy not only lies within these heinous acts themselves, but within the young lives that will never see another day. To quote Bruce D. Barthalow, “Mass violence is arguably one of the most difficult phenomena to explain, let alone predict” (YouTube, 2013). Recent media coverage has now forced our attention on examining critical issues such as gun control, gay rights, politics, and the overall welfare of this country. As we remember those who have fallen, we must ask ourselves, from where did this intolerance spring? In times of national distress, does the media operate under an information driven economy or an attention economy? And finally, does the representation mirror the reflection?
According to Michael Goldhaber, as we continue to evolve, we move toward an increasingly attention-based economy. Although he argues “attention, unlike information, is inherently scarce” (Lankshear, 2001). The reason, he explains is because “‘each of us has only so much of it to give and [attention] can only come from us-not machines, computers or anywhere else’” (Lankshear, 2001). Goldhaber believes that since we all possess an innate need for attention, an attention driven economy is what we all ultimately crave. Richard Lanham agrees that we have an abundance of information and “‘are drowning in it’”. He provides a spectrum of the varying degrees of attention saying “no attention gives you ‘raw data’; some attention gives you ‘massaged data’; lots of attention gives you ‘useful information’; maximal attention gives you ‘wisdom’” (Lankshear, 2001). I believe while the media aims to make the audience feel heard, attention can still be lost in the flood of information. Attention must be paid in order to successfully thrive in this society, one that requires informed attitudes and change.
The controversial issue of media violence versus real violence appeals to the following core issues we have been studying: visibility, representation, and attention. In Chapter 5 of our text, Sternheimer discusses the common belief that school shootings are a direct result of media depictions found in television, movies, and most graphically, in video games. For a time, she too subscribed to this notion as it was heavily supported by the news media; until arriving at the realization that little evidence actually backed these claims. In fact, studies have shown “violence has declined as media culture has expanded” (Sterheimer, 2015, p. 104). While there is great concern over juvenile crime rates, it is interesting to note that “adults are far more likely to commit violent crimes” (Sternheimer, 2015, p. 104). Statistics prove juvenile crime rates have actually declined. Why then are we as a society frantic about the criminal culture among our youth? The answer Sterheimer argues is quite simple- juvenile violence “constitute[s] a large portion of crime news” (Sterheimer, 2015, p. 107). It is a media representation that fails to accurately reflect the societal reality. I agree with Sternheimer’s constructivist view on the matter and believe that in order to understand juvenile violence, we must not make the media a scapegoat; but rather examine violence itself and the root causes. One of the most apparent causes of youth violence is not their action movie intake but a factor far more pressing, poverty.
There are approximately 72 million people under the age of 18 in the U.S. 31.8 million live in low-income families and 15.8 million are born into poor families (Jiang, 2015, p.1). Part of the reason those statistics are so staggering is because due to media representation, we are completely unaware of the poverty crisis plaguing the United States. The media’s attention to the poor population is just that, poor. To quote Simon Kuper, “I’ve read columns by prisoners and by people with terminal cancer but I’ve never seen one by someone living on benefits” (Kuper, 2013, p.1). “American media has a history of ignoring the marginalized in our society” and the poor are no exception (Ridgeway, 2013, p. 1). Shannon Ridgeway goes on to explain the 4 major issues with the media’s depiction of the poor: 1. The poor are invisible, 2. The poor are seen as statistics, 3. They are poor due to bad life decisions, 4. The poor are riding a temporary stretch of bad luck. In “The Poor Will Be With Us: Just not on the TV news,” it takes a candid look on how the poor demographic have been represented by news media. DeMause and Rendall explain that when issues of poverty are broached, they are “discussed solely by experts, with no poor people appearing on-screen at all” (DeMause, 2007, p. 4). To echo my fellow group member, Adilene Sanchez, I, too found the video, The Child Poverty-In Their Own Words to be incredibly poignant as well. I felt the raw testimonies of children affected by poverty reinforced the idea of “the medium as the message.” I believe in this instance, seeing actual poverty-stricken children discussing the luxury of food, it was a successful message. Unfortunately, we are not exposed to these accurate representations with regularity. How does my understanding of representation help me to understand the value of attention? It has become increasingly apparent that discerning reflection and representation requires the utmost attention and with that, a deeper understanding of media literacy.
