Social Movements and the Media

1.After watching the videos for this assignment, I strongly believe that the media is in charge of the news and setting the agenda. It is the media who is able to decide what organizations get time on air or get an article in the newspaper. Without the media telling us about what is going on across the country we are uninformed and oblivious to the bigger issues going on across the country.

2. It is extremely important for us to have media that directly represents the interests of people of color because I don't think generic media is focused on those interests at all. It seems as though these groups are getting the media attention about their lifestyles they need, so I think it is important to make sure everyone in the country is getting the news they feel is the most important for them. I think in order to make these interests of underrepresented groups the interest of the mainstream, we need the media to make it more common to cover these topics. If the minute media started covering news they had paid attention to every groups needs we would have found it normal. I think as our country is becoming more and more united and less segregated these issues are becoming everyone's issues and news and should be covered by the media.

3. From what I understood from the clips given to us, the war was presented in a very positive light at the beginning. We were told that Saddam Hussein was behind the whole 9/11 attack and our freedom as Americans was at risk because of the supposed weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. By absolutely no means am I an expert on what happened during that time, mainly because I was extremely young and did not fully grasp the concept of terrorism or war at the time, and could have totally misunderstood what was going on in the country. However, I do believe that at that time this is what our President found as the best solution to keep our country safe and the media was just supporting him, which is exactly what everyone should have done.

4. When it comes to recent social protests, I really feel as though the media has completely overlooked each and every one of them. I do not watch the news frequently, read the newspaper on a daily basis, or even check the Internet for current events so I do not think I would have been well informed about these events anyways. Regardless of how I handle current events, I do believe that the media should have been covering these social protests. Obviously a large group of people came together to protest something of importance, so we should all respect this and learn about their cause.

5. From the video we watched in class on Monday, I was under the impression that a majority of that footage was from past news coverage. With that thought in mind, I think the media gave the civil rights movement quite a bit of press compared to what the social movements are receiving today. I think this coverage opened up the country's eyes to how serious the issue of segregation was and could have had a positive contribution to the civil rights movement.

6. I really do strongly believe that the media has a major role in setting the agenda for what we all read about and think about when it comes to major issue going on in the United States. As citizens of one particular region, we are unaware of what is going on across the country from us and depend on the media to keep us informed. I wish that the media would begin to cover those issues that would be important to minority groups because if I, and other citizens, were more aware of these issues we might be more open to change. I think a major problem today is that many of us are not exposed to these issues so we are very unaware that they even exist and it is the media's responsibility to keep us informed and aware.