Module 3 Recap – Taylor Wing
Module 3 Recap
Hello fellow classmates,
Attention and information were the focus of the module this week. Attention is more valued over information. The attention based economy is becoming the more prominent one over the information based economy. According to Simon, “What information consumes is rather obvious. It consumes the attention of its recipients” (Simon 1971). Attention is limited whereas information is all around us. Attention is valued and desired because it is what we choose to focus on. Lindsey makes a good connection between the day of her wedding versus other days when she is not the sole recipient of the attention. This is connected to the idea that media represents our society rather than the outside world. Language does not always reflect reality as media doesn’t either. They both can be interpreted differently. Media controls and mediates reality due to the content shown or ever the lack of certain content. This supports the notion that the attention based economy is the more prominent between the two.
In module three we continued to expand our knowledge on representation vs. reflection of what the media has on society. The tools we have been given throughout this course has helped me gain a better understanding of representation. Most of what we watch on the media does not reflect reality. It is hard to understand true meaning vs. media reflection. Understanding representation of the media has helped me with understanding the importance of attention. There are different terms for information depending on how much attention has been given to it. There are certain aspects in the media I never realized was not talked about often like poverty. The title of one of the articles I read for module three is called, The Poor Will Always be with us, just not on the TV news by Neil deMause and Steve Rendall. This made me wonder if media producers are concerned poverty would reflect our society if portrayed more often. Why are they made invisible? Because people do not want to focus their attention on negative aspects of our everyday lives. Simon Kuper states, “The media have probably always ignored the poor, but we continue to do so even as poverty becomes the most pressing problem in developing countries” (Kuper 2013). Just as my group member Caterina says, most producers of media are upper class or middle class and will provide us with what society wants to see rather than the truth of what is happening in the world we live in. Shannon Ridgway shares with us, “American media has a history or ignoring the marginalized in our society” (Ridgway 2013). She proceeds to talk about the importance of truthful and diverse media in order for the appropriate media education opportunity. Our world is consumed with mass amounts of information, which should be truthful information that represents the reality of our society.
