Week 5, Media Education Journal Post Assignment

Our introduction to new media struck me as thought-provoking.  The topic of immersion into media was intriguing to me.  Particularly when two videos, Living in an Acoustic World and Television News as a New Mythic Form appeared to be most appropriate.  Both videos were taped in 1970 but listening to them brought me back to how social media plays a role in our lives today.  Both videos talked about reporting news and talked how now (1970) instead of the news being reported folks were becoming the news.  McLuhan made reference to the phrase,  “Making the News” when talking about Sirhan Sirhan in Television News as a New Mythic Form and how that was strange at the time (Wolfe & McLuhan, 1970, p. 2).  Prior to 1970, you didn’t “make the news,” you watched the news.  In Living in an Acoustic World, McLuhan talks about being immersed in the media.  In the talk he states that we are, “Immersed in the feeling of the whole situation.” (McLuhan, 1970, p. 5).

Although the immersion is different toady in 2016 than it was in 1970 we are more immersed in the news than ever. We can, as McLuhan puts it, “make the news” on a regular basis.  Today we can be the news and we can have the news happen to us, because of us. Justin Bieber became news because he posted his songs to YouTube.  Chewbacca Lady became news because she made a short video and uploaded it to her Facebook page.  When tragedy strikes, we see it on some social media site such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram before looking at more reliable news sites simply because we are in the moment. Then we might later read details on a more reliable news outlet. In this in the moment information gathering, we also tend to get “both” sides of the story in what McLuhan called,  “Objective Journalism” (McLuhan, 1970, p. 5).

The challenges that arise with these types of media outlets is that there isn’t time to fact check.  There are a lot of untruths reported on social media.  In our need to get it now, we might miss out on whole facts.  Jenkins points out the problem with this for young people.  In his white paper on Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, Jenkins about how blogs and other social media outlets are so prevalent, that there are consequences that the young may not understand.  He mentions that content being posted is not being supervised by adults because it is often misunderstood by them.  However because of this, the posts of young people, “can bring unwelcome attention from strangers” (Jenkins, 2008, p. 17).  The key issues here in regards to Green’s 3d Model of Literacy is critical.  Those consequences Jenkins mentions could have life-long effects if our children are not taught proper skills.  So we are back to parents and teachers stepping up to ensure our young are well informed.  It means embracing change and even as an older generation, changing what we feel are important skills for literacy and media and adapting some new ones. 

Jenkins, H. (2008, October 19). White Paper: Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century by Henry Jenkins — MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved May 23, 2016, from https://www.macfound.org/press/publications/white-paper-confronting-the-challenges-of-participatory-culture-media-education-for-the-21st-century-by-henry-jenkins/

McLuhan, M. (1970). Living in an Acoustic World | Marshall McLuhan Speaks Special Collection. Retrieved from http://www.marshallmcluhanspeaks.com/lecture/1970-living-in-an-acoustic-world/

Wolfe, T., & McLuhan, M. (1970). Television News Is a New Mythic Form | Marshall McLuhan Speaks Special Collection [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.marshallmcluhanspeaks.com/interview/1970-television-news-is-a-new-mythic-form/