When I originally researched all the Scholars programs the spring of my senior year, the Media, Self and Society program really stuck out to me because I was drawn to how the program looks at the media but also positions this understanding in our American society and also our own role in the media. I had decided to major in journalism at that point, but I wasn’t sure what it would look like to be in that career field- I was basically signing up to be the media at that point, but didn’t even know it. Now, looking back over my two years in Scholars, I see that being part of the Media, Self and Society program has grounded my role as a member of the media and equipped me to have a more comprehensive understanding of how the world and individuals interact with it.
The Media, Self and Society programmed equipped me to be able to look at media with a critical eye, which has enabled me to both further enjoy media, whether it be the news or a well-done movie or television show, or see how a piece of media can be misleading or harmful. Media Scholars really empowered me to think critically about different streaming services and how we are impacted by big companies, like Netflix, Disney+, HBO, or Hulu. We began this conversation about media companies in class last fall, and it was around that time that I had really gotten into High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and the Morning Show, which were produced by Disney+ and Apple TV, respectively, to encourage people to purchase subscriptions to their show. I think this class discussion made me more conscious of where I’m getting my media from, and helped me be a better consumer of where I want to invest getting my media from. Additionally, a more recent assignment we did was to analyze the media’s stereotyping of women, and one of my groupmates discussed how women are stereotyped in movies by not developing female characters, focusing on their romantic relationships, or having them take on stereotypical roles in the plot, among other marginalizations. Even a movie like Wonder Woman, which I always thought as a progressive movie, has some flaws when it comes to portraying women, which I wouldn’t have noticed if it wasn’t for Media Scholars. Overall, the critical eye for media that I’ve gained from the Media Scholars program has been able to make me a better consumer and analyzer of media that I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of.
Being a “critical consumer” of media means to me that you recognize the different nuances of the media and the media company, and recognize if it’s up to par with what you want. For example, if you want to read news who provides a well-rounded outlook on the area, but a particular outlet only writes about news that’s focused on the white, heterosexual community, than you would most likely not want to patronize that outlet. If a movie company, like Disney for example, produced movies only with female characters that are underdeveloped, then you wouldn’t want to patronize that particular company and its movies or streaming networks. I think it’s really important to be a critical consumer of the news because it can affect how you view the world, and the Media Scholars program has helped me become a more conscious, critical consumer through our assignments and discussions over the past two years.
A large portion of the Media Scholars program is, of course, the classmates that I was able to discuss these ideas with. The varied personalities and backgrounds of my Media Scholars peers provided a challenge for me over the course of my time in the program. I expected the program to have more journalism or communications students initially, but in reality there were only a few, and consequently, we thought about the media in a very different way. I think this gave me a very different insight into the media because I could see the media from my classmates perspectives-- I learned the news and politics is not everyone’s priority, and that some of my classmates are much more interested in movies, TV, and sports, which aren’t my first thought when it comes to media. Over my Media Scholars career, I’ve come to realize these other perspectives give me a better understanding of the world around me, which is important as a member of the media.
I think in light of the coronavirus, it’s hard to weigh how the living-learning program could have impacted my experience in the program. I think in the first semester everyone was trying to figure themselves out and what it’s like to be a college student, so there weren't a lot of opportunities to genuinely get to know each other, as everyone was all over the place. With us getting sent home early second semester, and then being online for the fall and spring of our sophomore year, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity to enjoy the living proximity to my Scholars peers. I enjoyed being close to the friends I made in the program and wish I got more time with them and to get to know other students, but it was an unprecedented experience and not easy to see how we could continue the living aspect of the program online.
I think throughout my time in Media Scholars, my biggest contribution was being one of the few students who actually was actively engaged in the media. During class discussions I was able to share my insight as someone who reports and pitches stories around the College Park area as a staff writer for The Diamondback. Also, I was able to share the overlap of my journalism studies with media discussions. I know I really enjoyed when Alison shared her experiences as a journalist to expand the discussion of our media conversations, so hopefully I was able to provide that in a more localized way for my peers.
Overall, I’ll miss my time in Media Scholars very much and will most take away from it to take a very critical look at all the media I consume. I’ll remember to take myself out of my confirmation bias bubble, and certainly look at the role of the media in a different way.
