What we don't know about the media

For this week, I watched the videos Battlefield Minnesota, and The News is What we Make it.

In Battlefield Minnesota, the creator spent time meeting with each of the major politicians in Minnesota, and getting out the message to vote. Shakademic reached out to the youth in Minnesota by incorporating his hip-hop style with politics. I was impressed by the fact that he was able to get the normally stiff looking politicians to loosen up and make themselves seem more approachable. I also felt that it was important that he did not just show one party, but that he included representatives from both the Republican and Democratic side. I agree with Shakademic’s argument that it is very important for today’s youth to make themselves aware about what is going on around them in the political world so that they can make educated choices when voting for the next potential president of the United States. I agree with this because during the time Shakademic was creating this video, I was a new adult, who had also just turned eighteen just in time to be able to vote in the presidential election. Being at the University of Minnesota for my undergraduate degree was influential on my voting decision because I couldn’t escape hearing about political issues from my friends and professors. Though I do not regret whom I voted for in 2004, I do regret not doing enough of my own research on the issues, and if the young viewers of Battlefield Minnesota understood what Shakademic was trying to get across to our generation, they should get the urge to educate themselves on what they are really voting for.

The News is What we Make it was a very powerful and informative piece done entirely in claymation which tackles the ides of media conglomeration, and how they can skew the news and make it what they want it to be and what they believe the public wants to hear. The main character gets interviewed for one of the local news stations on her school’s new school uniform policy. When the story airs that evening, she is outraged when she finds out that the news station has mangled her message into the complete opposite of what she said in the interview. Upon complaining to the news host, she goes to the other local station to get her real message out, but they turn her away. After a night of research, she learns that most of the media is owned by a small number of large conglomerates. She gets her message out to the locals by ambushing the news host. This film brings up a big issue that most people have never thought about before. The average TV viewer believes the majority of what they see, and don’t think that the media would do such a thing as what they did to the main character in the short video. I know that they always tell you to never believe what you see on TV, but when you think about it, most media sources in the US are biased one way or another and will try to make sure that the news stories are in their favor. I took a U.S. Electronic Media course at the U of MN in the communications department, and while it made me a little more wary of how the media in the U.S. works, I still gave the media the benefit of the doubt in that they would present me with accurate and non-biased information. This film made me open my eyes even wider, and I am more skeptical of what the media presents to me.