Final Reflection

In my final reflection of this class and everything I’ve learned I find myself actually being grateful for the knowledge I have acquired. Unfortunately I can’t cay that as often as I’d like for the classes I’ve taken so far. I’ve learned a lot about the media, I’ve had my expectations met, I’ve seen the differences of how I see the media and how the world sees it and I’ve discovered how it all fits into the Lord’s plan for us.
What have I learned about the media? I’ve learned that you really can’t always trust what you see. After working on the media issue dealing with photographs and the ethics of manipulating them I now know that most pictures you see in advertisements have been altered in some way. I always knew that was out there but I never knew the frequency of it. I’ve learned to be a little more skeptical about what I see advertised. I also learned a great deal about the origins of the media; how it started and who influenced it. It was actually pretty interesting to learn who actually invented the television (Farnsworth) and that he was LDS. I’ve learned that public relations isn’t looked on as favorably by other communication fields but is a very valuable service to businesses. I’ve learned the social value of freedom of speech and the press. I now know the democracy needs journalistic excellence to keep citizens informed. I understand that media has a dramatic impact on society whether it be television viewing by children or hidden messages in adult advertisements. One very interesting lesson that sticks out in my mind is when Dr. Robinson showed the class the ads with the word “sex” spelled in them but not where you see it right away. I couldn’t believe that was actually a method used by companies to get people to buy their products. I now look for that in advertisements.
My expectations coming into this class were not very high considering it is a 101 class. I expected decent discussions in class and tedious projects and homework. I’m taking this class for a minor and I really just wanted to get through it. However, my expectations were not met. They were exceeded. The discussions in this class were all very interesting and I rather enjoyed them. I enjoy when teachers can go on tangents and it is not taboo. Dr. Robinson did an excellent job of including the class and finding out what we were thinking instead of just throwing history facts at us the whole time. My expectations of the projects and papers were also exceeded. I have been very impressed with the group presentations and how professional they are. The students haven’t treated this like a lower level class and I have enjoyed that.
In my comparison with how the world sees the media to how I do I’ve noticed some differences and similarities. I think the world and I are both skeptical of ads. I think we are different in what sells us. For example, sex doesn’t sell me the same way it does the world. Furthermore, after this class I understand more clearly how it all fits into the Lord’s plan for us. I see now that the different forms of media and advertisements give us a chance to exercise our agency, as well listen to the Spirit when something misleading or deceptive is being portrayed as good. The media can be a tool for much good and righteousness as well as being a tool for destruction and evil. It is up to us to think critically about what we see and hear.