Module 3 Reflection

I never thought of attention being scarce but comparing it to information I now realize that is the case. I also never considered the existence of an attention economy, which is something I had never heard or thought of before reading this article. The article brings out “The idea of an attention economy is premised on the fact that the human capacity to produce material things outstrips the net capacity to consume the things that are produced‐such are the irrational contingencies of distribution”. This is further explained by Goldhabers six points of relevance. First, in an economically advanced society youth are ether consumed by school or by media. He feels that this has started a Cultural Revolution making people feel that getting attention is a fine thing. Second, there are two classes: stars and fans. Stars get the attention, and fans give the attention. Third, being in an attention economy requires that you know how to pay and receive attention. You must also be able to discern between real and illusionary attention. Fourth, the attention economy is creating large new markets. These are markets for technology that allows you to get more attention. Fifth, the attention economy requires a new different type of privacy. You must be “out there” privacy earns a new meaning in this sort of context. Lastly, attention is “indexical to originality” meaning you can’t simply repeat what someone else did. This implies that there is endless originality or at least that is what people are trying to create. In the article we learn that Lanham has similar views as Goldhaber. Lanham “insists that we cannot continue to apply concepts, laws, practices and the like that were developed to deal with the economic world of goods to the emerging economic world of information. Entertaining and exploring the notion of an emerging economy of attention looks like a step in the right direction”. Others in the article agree and expand on what Goldhaber and Lanham have describes as the attention economy. Along with this new attention economy comes other concepts such as contact displaying, meme-ing, scenariating, attention transacting, culture jamming, transferring, framing, and encapsulating. I loved the last sentence of the article really summing up an important point, “If we continue to believe that formal education has something to do with helping prepare (young) people for the world they will enter, it will be worth exploring further conceptions and implications of the economics of attention, and relating them to our conceptions and practices of literacy education within formal settings”. From this article I gained a new perspective on attention and how it relates to both media and our lives.

One thing that I learned for this reading is even though here in America there is a huge problem with poverty and inequality there is little media coverage on the issue. There is however a slight increase of coverage when a catastrophic event happens such as hurricane Katrina. I found it baffling to see that in a case study that ”In a handful of stories—primarily on CBS— poverty issues were discussed solely by experts, with no poor people appearing on-screen at all.” How can such a large issue be ignored? How can the people not be heard? It was also interesting that when these poor people were asked to speak they were told to tell a “generic story of suffering” right before they would transition to a specialist or rep to ask for their viewpoint or what policy was getting put in place. I found it disappointing to find out that “One thing that is clear from coverage is that if you’re poor and want to get on the nightly news, it helps to be either elderly or in the armed forces.” I find this completely bias. It’s sad to see that in this day and age that to have network news coverage of the nationwide problem of poverty be scarce unless you are elderly, military or a major disaster has happened. News coverage tend to increase on this matter around holidays which I find hurtful. It would be like telling your mother you love her, but only on Mothers Day.

While looking at the pictures from this article I couldn’t help but feel slightly ashamed. I just got home from having dinner with my family out at a restaurant where we all had a great meal, that was not exactly cheap. I feel that living in America and the financial status that I live, I don’t think twice to stop and go get a Starbucks or go out to dinner. When I saw the picture of the “ Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp” I couldn’t help but feel sad. You see that they have little food for their family. Looks like mostly grains and possibly beans. I can’t imagine living on that diet. But when you look at the picture closely you see the boy on the far right still smiling. It’s probably all he has know, and he seems content with it. As much sadness that I felt, I also felt a great sense of appreciation for living in this country and having the food and resources that I have.

In reading the article about children and poverty is so saddening that they have no control and have to live in these sometimes difficult circumstances. I grew up with a single mother and we did not receive any child support from my father. I remember as a young child always being concerned about money myself. I knew that every time we went to the store it was for necessities, it is hard being a child and wanting certain things but ether being scared to ask for something or guilty for actually getting it. It was interesting to see how things such as race, ethnicity, employment, education, family structure, and region effected the percentage of children considered to be low income and poor. I was also surprised that it has slightly increased in recent years. It seems like people are really trying to make changes and help others but this has actually become more of an issue. It is also sad that there is a higher percentage for those that are younger, it is completely out of the control of a three year old. Although seeing these statistics made me feel sad and empathetic towards the people in these situations, it is important for us to learn about.

“For the most part, the poor in America’s media are invisible. And why? Because no one wants to see that or hear about it.” I have to agree in this day and age people in general on a daily bases likes to see our society in a brighter light. The media in general knows that people like to a have a warm and fuzzy feeling. When the article discussed that families can be trapped in a poverty cycle and mental illness can be a factor that contributes to poverty hit a heart string for me. My aunt’s father went through a rough time and suffered from mental illness which contributed to his homelessness. Outside factors of poverty are not always discussed. It angers me to think that people think that people feel that homeless or people living in poverty should just “pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, they could find a decent job, get an education, and escape poverty once and for all – as if it’s that easy.” Society needs to become more aware of what really is going on behind the scenes and the issues that go along with all of it. The media in general need to paint a clearer picture for people to understand.

Watching the videos was hard, it really pulls your emotions out putting yourself in the shoes of these other children. I thought the song that the first boy was singing throughout the video was especially powerful and beautiful. Hearing the one girl talk about her mother working four jobs and never being home sort of reminded me of my mom. Although she didn’t work four jobs the job she had did demand extremely long hours and then with all the chores of the house she was always tired in the extra time she had for me. It is hard hearing the difficult situations these people have to go through, I can’t imagine going from a size five to size zero because of not having enough food to eat. In the second video I really liked how she said that child in poverty is one of the biggest problems from the future. It really is, these children are our future generations and they need to be healthy and nourished. I also loved when she said that our biggest threat is not an external enemy but an internal failure. It is such a different real perspective making us realize that as a nation we do have failures and we need accept them and make changes to correct them.

I like how this article supported the video children’s defense. I found it interesting that since “ Poor parents have fewer financial resources and often experience more stress, and as a result their young children are less likely to be read to, spend less time talking to adults, and hear many fewer words each week than children from more affluent families.” I can see how this can lead to a family poverty cycle that just never ends. Family and financial stress can mostly definitely affective cognitive development in a child. It not only can affect there minds but research has shown that “ Children in poor families are five times as likely to be in fair or poor health as children in non-poor families.” I was happy to read that “child poverty in the United States could be substantially reduced.” I believe we can do this with wage increases for those who can work. This would help the children who have provide supplemental income for their own families to be able to redirect their energy on education instead of supplementing their parents income. This would prevent robbing children of their youth and allowing children to “reach their full potential”.

Sources:

Child Poverty: In their own Words. (n.d.). Retrieved June 13, 2016, from https://youtu.be/MLrTZ5IG_Eg

DeMause, N., & Rendall, S. (n.d.). The Poor Will Always Be With Us Just not on the TV news [Editorial].

Ending Child Poverty Now. (n.d.). Retrieved June 14, 2016, from http://www.childrensdefense.org/library/PovertyReport/EndingChildPovertyNow.html

Fricat, A. (2008, May/June). Global Food Disparity: A Photo Diary. Retrieved June 13, 2016, from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/05/26/522670/-Global-Food-Disparity-A-Photo-Diary

Jiang, Y., Ekono, M., & Skinner, C. (2015). Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children under 18 Years, 2013. New York: National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Kuper, S. (2013, March/April). Poverty’s poor show in the media – FT.com. Retrieved June 13, 2016, from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6e8b7882-9672-11e2-9ab2-00144feabdc0.htm

Lankshear, C. and Knobel, M. (2001). Do we have your attention? New literacies, digital technologies and the education of adolescents. In D. Alvermann (Ed.), New Literacies and Digital Technologies: A Focus on Adolescent Learners. New York: Peter Lang (forthcoming

Marian Wright Edelman: 2015 Poverty Report. (n.d.). Retrieved June 14, 2016, from https://youtu.be/EL_hnQAzzww

Ridgway, S. (2013). 4 Problems with the Way the Media Depicts Poor People. Retrieved June 14, 2016, from http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/09/poor-people-in-the-media/