I thought that what we learned in this class is very vital to our growth as young media professionals. In taking this class, I enjoyed the topics we covered. Some I knew nothing or little about. One topic was the Tim Wise video and white privilege. Wise had so much passion on his subject matter, that made me re-think on a lot of things. Looking back on subjects we discussed in class, I can see things more clearly, especially in broadcast news. In during our group project, which was over the good and bad in broadcast, I look at the news in a different light. I can see the news trying to reach out to minorities on and off the camera, giving new and more opportunities to them.
Even in our blog assignments we did, were not only enjoyable but very informative. One that was very entertaining was hip-hop. Now I am very familiar with hip-hop and its roots but I never really broke things down to its image and how it was marketed to the public. Another blog was the minorities in Ads. This one you clearly had to actually break-down commercials and see the underlined meaning behind it, and you see that most commercials are not directed to, or didn't have any minorities at all.
I thought the minority power points were pretty informative, discussing how the media portrays and stereotypes different groups. I found the Latino power point very interesting, I wish we could have devoted more time in discussing that minority group. I liked how we had open discussions on just about everything we talked about.
Now I know this is a journalism class that deals with these topics in the media but a lot of this information could be thought as a class outside this profession. The subject matter we discussed in class could be talked about anywhere because it deals with topics outside of the media as well. Its stuff that everybody at least hears or sees on TV. Race and gender have been touchy subjects for years and I think that this class is a prime example on how things are and how they can be fixed. For example the Kerner Commission paved the way for minorities in the media and from what Ive seen today, it has done good so far.
This class has opened my eyes to several things in the media. I look at commercials more closely, to see how minorities are portrayed in them. Ive taken a closer look at broadcast news to see how we (minorities) are portrayed in them as well. Also looking to see if minorities are viewed in negative or positive ways then whites. Not only do I see race differently in the media but also gender as well. Ive seen some crazy Ads in my day portraying women as objects but in putting to use what Ive learned in class, I can clearly see and judge more closely on the subjects underlining message.
Last but not least, I want to talk about our group presentation, which to me was by far the best thing I ever did in class, and the class response was crazy. In doing this group presentation I had my doubts. The subject that we covered, I knew nothing about it. My group was the best and we got the job done. Are subject was about the catsuit of Serena Williams in the 2002 U.S Open, and how the media portrayed it in the media. We had a good power point that discussed a lot on the subject. The thing that amazed me the most was the class response to the subject matter. I think a big part of our grade we got was probably because of the classroom participation. I felt that we hit on good points ant the class reacted.
In all this was an enjoyable, entertaining and informative class. This is a class that should be taught to everybody in college.
