Chapter 5 Journal Entry Part B.

What impact will/has the electronic media have/had on the magazine industry? 

As I showed in my example from American Cowboy, a lot of magazines have websites as well. I think that just as people like having books in their hands, they like having magazines that they can touch and hold and feel. I think that more magazines will go online, but I don't think we'll ever stop having magazines as we have them now. I think that the electronic media will only promote magazines more and find more subscribers worldwide. People don't want to live online -so it is nice to have magazines and books and music, things they can do away from a computer. I think things will stay the same, only more magazines will be online as well. 

Chapter 5 Journal Entry Part A.

Go to a bookstore (not BYU's) and look at the different magazines. Select one that appeals to a highly specialized audience (different from one of your own interests). Read through the magazine and based on the magazine's content (including the advertisements) prepare a description of the magazine's "typical reader." Give specific examples to justify your generalization. 

I went to Borders (at Riverwoods) and was amazed at how many magazines there are! I never read magazines (okay, I read the Ensign and National Geographic), and so I hadn't see all the covers and titles that are available. I was a little shocked with all the magazines for gamers, and all the half-naked ladies covering many of the magazines. 

I picked a magazine called American Cowboy (Western Lifestyle/Travel/People) to read through. The cover had a picture of Ed Harris (who is that?) on his set of a new movie called Appaloosa. Ed had a serious look on his face, a black Cowboy hat, and a scruffy face. Along the top of the magazine it said: Top 10 Western Movies. Other headings on the cover said, "+117 Totally Entertaining Travel Destinations," "Western's Enter a New Era," "Ed Harris: Appaloosa," "Must-Have Looks for Fall," "Bull Riding's Ultimate Showdown," and "Rough Rider: Roosevelt and the West." 

Just from the cover of the magazine, I could conclude that the "typical reader," for this magazine would be, 1. An American, 2. A male, 3. Someone who is either a cowboy, or who loves cowboy things and Westerns. 4. From the titles of the articles it sounds like the magazine is reared for males ages  18-40 (and maybe older too, but it seems that older men aren't as interested in fashion.). 

On the back cover of the magazine was a sexy-looking girl modeling CruelGirl brand jeans for Rocky Mountain Clothing. Throughout the magazine there were a lot of ads featuring sexy cowgirls and cowgirls with cowboys. This is another indication that the magazine is aimed for men, especially young-middle age men. 

When I opened the magazine the first page was a 2-page, full-color ad, for a Silverado Truck. I thought, "How typical." Every cowboy wants a big truck. There were ads for cowboy hats, specialized shoes, saddles, Western-looking light fixtures and more. The ads were generally aimed at men, and at men with money to spend on specialized cowboy gear. There were tons of ads for cowboy clothing, and there was even an article on the latest "looks" for cowboys for fall. 

The Table of Contents featured articles with titles such as, "The Greatest Westerns Ever Made," "Theodore Roosevelt at 150," "Showdown on Kodiak Island," and more. On the next page, some of the departments listed were, "Roundup," "Cowgirl Turf," "Taste of the West," and more. As I glimpsed through some of these articles I realized that there were a lot of real-life stories of cowboys covered. This appeals to an audience of men who are cowboys, and men who wish they were cowboys. The articles were written on around a tenth-grade level, so the average American cowboy could read and understand them.

The magazine also listed ads for Cowboy associations to join, Border Patrol (on horses), and Rodeo ads. There were a few pages dedicated to cowboy events going on in the US with states and phone numbers listed. There was an Advertisers page and a Shopping page. There were letters to the editor and letters from the editor. The editor's picture shows him wearing a cowboy hat and looking very normal and down-to-earth. His article was titled, "Humility Breeds Gratitude." There were pages that advertised the lasted country music, western-themed art, and western books - all geared at the real cowboy, or the want-to-be cowboy. The magazine also referred often to it's website - showing that the magazine was targeted at a media/computer savvy audience as well. 

It was fascinating to learn so much about magazines just from glimpsing through this one simple magazine. 

Chapter 4 Journal Entry Part B.

Which would you prefer to use in your college classes, regular textbooks or electronic textbooks? Why? Which would you prefer for your leisure reading? Why? 

I definitely prefer regular textbooks vs. electronic textbooks. I feel like I spend all day long at a computer as it is, and having to read everything online would simply drive me nuts. I stare at a computer screen at work for hours a day, and then I do a large part of my homework on a computer. I just think my eyes would kill and my head would too, if I had to read all my text online. Right now I have one class (Healthy Living) online and I don't like it that much because I can't do my homework unless I have a computer. I don't like scrolling down the pages and not being able to highlight anything or write notes in the margins. Plus, I can't take my book to class unless I have a laptop. 

I'm not too concerned with the cost of my textbooks right now, and I prefer having something in my hands and on my shelf. I like to study on the couch, or at the table, or outside, and a textbook is something you can take with you. 

For leisure reading I definitely prefer regular books. HOW CAN YOU ENJOY A BOOK YOU ARE READING ON THE COMPUTER? To me, the joy of reading is that you cuddle up on the sofa or in bed, and just read. I take a book with me in my purse and read when I have down-time. It's nice to have a book in the car to read (when my husband is driving) and I often read aloud to both of us (which creates some good bonding time as well).

 I have sweet memories of my mother reading to me and my siblings on the couch in our living room, for hours a day. I also have memories of gathering everyone in my parents room and listening to mom read aloud to us before we went to bed. I sure hope that books remain as they are because I don't want to gather my children around the computer to read to them.

Reading is much more than simply seeing words on a page and understanding them - reading is an experience. It builds relationships - whether that is between the author and reader, the characters and reader, or between people who read out loud or together - books have a very binding quality about them. 

I can see some good in electronic books, but we have enough on the computer as it is, and I prefer books I can see and hold. I love to glimpse through books and I want to have lots of books in my home and on my shelves. I LOVE bookstores and libraries and I really think I could practically live in a library. If a library was simply a computer how boring would that be? The joy of going to the library is that you have dozens of shelves with hundreds of books available for you to peruse and read. There is something satisfying about having a book in hand. :) I vote for books to remain as they are. 

Chapter 4 Journal Entry Part A.

Poll 10 people by posing the question, "Read any good books lately?" How many have they read in the past 6 months? What types of books have they read? What does this tell you about your sample and society?

What an interesting poll this was! I loved our chapter about books because I love to read. However, I don't find much time to read and so I haven't read nearly as many books as I would have liked. My poll was interesting because I found that people have interesting reading styles. 

I polled ten people and these were the results:

Grandma in CA - Reads often, is currently reading a book about arms build up in the 70's and 80's which has to do with a company my Grandpa worked for. 

BYU Student (girl) - The Host (Stefanie Meyer), 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon, A history book on the Great Depression. 

BYU Student (girl) - A New Earth (Erkhart Tulle), The Peacegiver

Co-worker and BYU student (male) - Heaven's Resound; Nauvoo; Isaiah Prophet, Poet and Seer; Joseph Smith - Teaching of Latter-day Prophets; Bible; Book of Mormon; Pearl of Great Price; Doctrine and Covenants; Mormonism and Early Christianity; Temples of the Ancient World; Mere Christianity; BYU Studies Summer 1969 Code Names

Older Brother, 25, works full-time (male) - Princess Academy; The Perilous Gard; Madeleine L'Engle Herself; Book of a Thousand Days; The Lord's Question; The Kite Runner; The Arm of the Starfish; Wit; The Amulet of Samarkand; American-Born Chinese; Every Book Its Reader; The Golem's Eye; Mummy's the Word; A Voyage to Arcturus; Ptolemy's Gate; Bird by Bird; Conversations with Mormon Authors; As Long as I have You; Art and Fear; The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Co-worker (female) BYU student - Pride and Prejudice; started reading Twilight but decided not to finish it. 

Little brother (13) - Book of Mormon

Little brother (15) - The Hobbit; all of the Lord of the Rings (probably for the 20th time); The Once and Future King; The Stilmarillion; Unfinished Tales; all of the Chronicles of Narnia. 

Little brother (16) - The Count of Monte Cristo; Les Mis (abridged); part of The Last Man; We the People (textbook)

Dad - can't remember (He did read some children's books to my little brothers). 

What an interesting poll! What I learned from my small sampling was that some people read more than others. It seems that people who want to read will take the time for it. I was most impressed with people, like my two brothers, who have read so many books in the past few months. It is also interesting to note what kinds of books people choose to read when they do read. Everybody is different and my sample size only shows me that people read what they like, and they only read as often as they choose to make time for it. 

I heard a quote once by a great man that something to the effect that, "You can tell a man by the books he has by his bedside." I agree. It says a lot about a person when you look at the kinds of books they read. My fifteen-year-old brother reads a lot of fantasy, my older brother reads a variety of genres, and my co-worker (I work at the Missionary Training Center) only reads gospel-themed books. My sixteen-year-old brother seemed to be reading classics and I think that is because they are required for his English class. My dad, a tax CPA, hasn't had time to read anything (he does read the Sports page and Stock info). 

In the past six months I have read a few books with my husband. Everyone's reading style differs. Some people read only one book in six months, others read twenty. No matter our style, reading is something that almost everybody engages in for one reason or another. It is a means of mass communication that is still widely used today. 

The Way God Communicates

I love this class! Everything we are studying fascinates me! One thing that has come to my mind is the way that the Lord communicates. The Lord uses different mediums to send messages to His children. Throughout scripture and through modern revelation we learn that God communicates in the following ways:

Face-to-face with His children 

In Dreams

In Visions

Through angels

Through the scriptures

Through a voice or a feeling

Through living prophets

Through physical signs

The medium by which God communicates anything with His children is through the Holy Ghost. There is a lot of noise in the world around us and it's sometimes hard to hear what God is saying. He will communicate His truths to us in different ways and at different times. The beautiful thing is that the line of communication is open. God does speak to His children today. 

Chapter 3 Journal Entry Part B.

There is a possibility that people will be immersing themselves in the world of mass media to a point to where they begin to tune out the real world. What might happen if people begin to overly distance themselves from the reality of the outside world? Are there examples of where this has already happened? 

Feelings

Oh, is this ever an issue facing us today! People are consuming mass media ALL DAY LONG! IT LITERALLY IS OUR WORLD AND MANY PEOPLE'S LIVES. They spend from morning until evening texting, surfing the web, blogging, updating facebook, watching YouTube, using computers at work and school, e-mailing, calling friends, reading magazines, reading the latest book, watching sit-coms, listening to talk radio, going to the movies, listening to their ipods, and more. People don't know how to live anymore!

While I agree that media is for the most part a good thing (in that we have progressed and advanced in miraculous ways), my main concern is that people don't know how to balance media consumption. People are forgetting how to live. I feel like with all the means of mass media that we have around us, it is easy to be preoccupied with one thing - ourselves. Everyone is caught up with informing and entertaining themselves, and many have forgotten that other people exist. It's like we can shut ourselves in our own little world and tune everybody and everything else out. 

I feel like kids don't know how to communicate with adults anymore, or even hold a decent conversation with one of their friends. My little brothers use between 10,000-20,000 texts each, per month! I remember hearing that and thinking to myself, "What do they do all day, text?!" We see this focus on self and this distancing from the world as we walk on our very own campus at Brigham Young University. I hate walking by someone and saying something, and realizing that they have something in their ear and they can't hear me! 

I would like to do an experiment walking from the Wilkinson Center to the Spencer W. Kimball tower and just count how many people have phones in hand, or phones or ipods in their ears. I would like to count how many people in the library are not only on their laptops, but are also listening to music or using their cell phones. The fact is - media is consuming is!  

Facebook is another issue! For example, while Facebook is not necessarily a bad thing, too much of anything isn't good. People spend their lives updating their "lives" on facebook. It's like we've all connected online, but we don't know how to connect in person. What about going and visiting a friend, calling them up, or going on a walk? What about the good old-fashioned lunch date to catch up with a friend instead of just passing them quickly and hearing them say, "Look me up on Facebook." 

Most media is good. It is helping our world advance in phenomenal ways, and helping the Church and kingdom of God flourish. However, people need to be wise in the media they consume. Less really is better. An old poem I once memorized was called, "A Time to Talk," by Robert Frost. 

"When a friend calls to me from the road, and slows his horse to a meaning walk, I don't stand still and look around on all the hills I haven't hoed, and shout from where I am, What is it? No, not as there is a time to talk. I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground, Blade-end up and five feet tall, And plod: I go up to the stone wall For a friendly visit." 

I like this poem because of what it teaches us. While the setting is a scene from many years ago, it applies to us today. Our lives are busy and we have so much going on. A typical reaction to a friend's passing on the road might be to shout out quickly, "What is it?" Not really caring to know. But if we understand what life is really about, we will thrust in our hoe blade-end up (meaning we'll be gone awhile) and we'll go visit. The stone wall is an image of a place to sit and really visit, a talk for longer than a second. Today media is replacing this type of conversation. Too many don't have time to talk. 

Another downfall of too much media is that it is overwhelming to try and keep in touch with everyone. If you have 900 friends on Facebook, you can't possible keep up on what is going on in their lives and send them messages, without spending all day every day on Facebook. 

What might happen or what is happening because of this over-consumption? 

-Children are losing the ability to play

-People don't get outside anymore

-Neighbors don't take walks around the block

-People stay inside

-People don't go anywhere (they can do everything from home)

-Less interaction within the community (you don't go to the bank anymore, so you don't interact with the teller. You don't go out to eat, so you don't interact with the waitress.) Now, this may be extreme, but we are spending more and more time consumed with media and less and less time actually living life. If being online all day is living life, well then, I'm worried about the future. :) 

Examples of it already happening

This lifestyle is already happening and we see it all around us. 

I am always disgusted  when I hear grown men (19-25) talk about staying up all night playing Halo or Starcraft. It is sad to hear my friends say, "I've got to see the fifth and sixth season, I just finished the first four." I think to myself - who has time to watch that many episodes of anything? Don't you have better things to do with your life?! Yes, we can see that this is already happening around us.

The funny thing is that the media we watch depicts others filling their lives with non-stop media. We weren't met to multi-task by talking on the phone, texting, and listening to music while we are driving. We need to slow down, focus, and learn to talk to other people face-to-face. :) The world will be a lot better off if we return to the post-industrialization ideals of family time, good neighbors and tight knit communities. 

Chapter 3 Journal Entry Part A.

Do negative stereotypes exist in the media today? Explain and if yes, give examples - if no, explain why you believe they do not. 

Yes, I definitely believe that negative stereotypes exist in the media today. It is the media that has designed and created them, and it it through the media that we look at others around us and often negatively stereotype them. The media has done an excellent job of creating negative stereotypes of women, elderly people, celebrities, politicians, computer experts, homeless people, smokers, drug-users, and more. 

According to our textbook, we learn that socialization is "the process of integrating people within society through the transmission of values, social norms, and knowledge to new members of the group." (p. 91) This idea suggests that we learn what is important and valued in our society from the media. 

I wasn't quite sure exactly what stereotypes were and so I googled it. Isn't the internet wonderful? I saw from one website that we often stereotype people by race. Others view Americans in certain ways, and we view different cultures through the stereotype image the media has created for us. The website defined stereotypes as, "generalizations, or assumptions, that people make about the characteristics of all members of a group, based on an image (often wrong) about what people in that group are like." ( http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/problem/stereoty.htm). 

From reading on the web I'm learning that there are a lot more negative stereotypes than I realized. There are stereotypes of Iranians, Central American's, Native Americans, lawyers, doctors, public relations people, news writers and reporters, and on and on. I've included some pictures I found by actually searching under the term, "Stereotypical Pictures." 

The media has control over stereotypes. People consume media and then view the world around them largely from the eyes of what they have consumed. If the media tells them one thing, they are likely to view people the way the media viewed them. I think that one of the biggest issues we face with this is the degradation of women. With pornography so rampant in the world around us, women are viewed as objects instead of beautiful daughters of God. Men and women treat women differently because of this. We have a stereotypical babe, California beach girl, feminist, etc.   Here is an example of a typical Asian tourist I found. 

 Here is a picture of a stereotypical German I found online as well.

Through all forms of mass media negative stereotypes are created and displayed. We must be wise and not let the media shape the way in which we view our world. 

Chapter 1 Journal Entry Part B.

Which of the mass media perform the informing the best? Entertaining? Persuading? Explain. 

It seems that all mass media fulfill these three functions to some degree. Some more than others - often it depends on the genre. Newspapers, certain magazines (Time, National Geographic, etc), some websites, and books are the best informers. When I need to be informed about the world around me, I go to www.nytimes.com and read the front page. I also pick up a Daily Universe on campus to be informed on what's going on around our school. Within the Church we even have Church magazines and the Church News to keep us informed on what is going on within the Church. Other media that informs are personal websites, blogs and facebook pages. Then the individual is able to inform others about something going on in their life, or about anything else. 

The mass media that entertain are music (ipods, itunes, pandora), movies (dvd's, movie theaters) tv, magazines, books, video games and cell phones. Each individual chooses the media that entertains them and it is different for everyone. When I want to be entertained I chose the song or movie that I want to watch. However, I am very picky when it comes to the media I choose to let into my life. When I think of being entertained I think of reading a classic novel or a biography. We have examples of entertainment all around us. It seems that the movie theater is a very popular means of entertainment. Some people with Iphones are entertained on their cell phones because they are able to surf the web and watch YouTube, watch TV, or listen to the radio. 

As far as persuading, I feel like tv talk shows, radio talk shows, and certain books, magazines, and websites are able to persuade the best. An example of the power of persuasion in the mass media is Oprah. I just went to Oprah's website and watched a video about Gwyneth Paltrow's workout. I can see how this clip could persuade others to exercise and take care of their bodies.  I feel like Oprah is a large-scale opinion leader. I also feel that music (or music groups) can be very persuasive and can lead others to follow them. I feel like the newspaper is for the most part objective and not very persuasive. However, according to Agenda Setting theory, it does tell the reader WHAT to think about. I personally don't like the powerful influence of persuasion that comes so naturally through the media. Another major means of persuasion is through television commercials. The advertisers are so wise in sending the right messages to get the right people to pay attention to and be persuaded by their message.

It is vital that we become very media savvy so that we can pick and choose what we watch, read, and listen to in order to know how we're being persuaded. Then we can decide if we will be persuaded or not. And, if it is our choice, are we being persuaded? :) 

Our Discussion on Media Violence

I guess what bothered me most about our discussion on media violence was that we didn't define what "harmful" meant.

"For some children under some conditions, some television is harmful. For other children under the same conditions, or for the same children under other conditions, it may be beneficial. For most children, under most conditions, most television is probably neither particularly harmful nor particularly beneficial." (William Schramm)

While I agree, each individual is different and responds differently to different stimuli, there is an effect on anyone who watches anything. We just respond differently. Perhaps the difficult thing is that in a class like this we are looking at the world in general and not at an LDS audience. However, one thing we do know is this - each individual has a spirit. That spirit is affected by what it sees, hears, and feels. Although the scientific world may never be able to prove the effects of violent media on children, we can see from a gospel perspective, that media violence may have a more serious consequence than we know.

Chapter 1 - Journal Entry Part A.

Using the Communication Model, define how each component could be applied to a newspaper article, a magazine article, a radio program, and a television show. Does the model work more efficiently for some media than for others? 

The Communication Model works because when we communicate there is always a sender and a receiver. There are multiple channels through which messages are sent. It was a little difficult to figure out how each of these media components fit into the model. I thought the model worked better for a radio station or a newspaper than for TV or magazines simply because it is easier for the receiver to send a message back to the sender. I've tried to explain how the model would fit into each of these components. I've given examples at the end. 

Newspaper Article

Sender: News organization, Editor, Writer of the article

Encoding: A story is covered and a newspaper article is written

Noise: People are too busy to read the paper, people don’t have a paper, people don’t read the whole article, people read other papers, don’t speak English, paper gets wet in the rain,

Message: The story or article

Decoding: Is this message important to me?

Receiver: Whoever reads the article

Encoding: Why is this article relevant to me? What does it mean?

Message: That was an informative article, I didn’t like the article, that article can’t be true, that article is just words filling up a page, I disagree with the article

Noise: no time to write to the editor,  why would I let them know if I like the article, no time, my child’s on the computer, I need to sleep

Decoding: feedback through e-mailing something to the editor, continuing to buy the paper

Magazine Article

Sender: The Magazine corporation, editors, photorgraphers and writers, advertisers

Encoding: Pictures are taken, advertisements are made, stories and articles are written

Noise: too much money to buy at the store, don’t have time to read, children are demanding, work is demanding, need to eat, sleep and exercise

Message: whatever the theme of the magazine is

Decoding: Is this something I want to read?

Receiver: People reading the magazine, looking at the pictures, glimpsing at the adds

Encoding: This article taught me a lot, now I know what is going on, I want to look like that

Message: The reader’s response to the article or ad, letters to the editor

Noise: There isn’t a lot of ways that people respond to magazine articles, but friends and demands on time may be noise,

Decoding: Our article is successful, people are listening to our messages, buying our advertisements, and copying hair and clothes styles

Radio Program

Sender: Radio Station, Broadcaster, Advertisers

Encoding: Music chosen, scripts written, guests hosted, ads played

Noise: cd’s, ipods’, internet, phones, work, school, radio reception fuzzy, another language

Message: Either a music station, play music, or news broadcasting station, talk radio – talk about issues and current events

Decoding: These messages are important to me

Receiver: Whoever chooses to listen

Encoding: This is why I like this station

Message: I like this station

Noise: Time, no internet to write it, no phone to call in,

Decoding: we have viewers/listeners, they like our message, they like our music

Television Show

Sender: Corporations that own station, individual station, directors, producers, editors, advertisers

Encoding: We want people to watch our show

Noise: Work, no tv, dvd’s, tevo, movie theaters, music, school

Message: Whatever message they send through news, soap operas, sit coms, informational channels, sports

Decoding: Viewers watching and absorbing information

Receiver:  Anyone who chooses to watch TV

Encoding: Why do I like this show?

Message: I love this show

Noise: Work, school, no internet, tv doesn’t work, channel is blocked, have to pay per view, don’t have cable

Decoding: our shows are being watched, people like them

Examples: 

1. Newspaper Article - 

Here in this newspaper example you can see many of the different ways by which the sender has encoded a message and sent it through the medium of a newspaper. Look at the layout, the lettering, the pictures, the stories covered and the information on just this one page. Obviously, the newspaper fits into the Communication Model because it sends messages to mass audiences, most of which are anonymous. The New York Times is a good example of using many means of mass communication to reach people. It is not only a paper that you can hold in your hands, but you can go online and read the paper. Not only that, on the website they show video clips covering the news, have podcasts you can download and have blogs you can join. They are using many means of mass communication to send an objective message of the news going on in the world around us. Opinion articles are great ways in which the sender uses the communication model to send a message and then the receiver is able to give feedback. 

2. Magazine Article - The communication model is used as magazines send messages specifically tailored to meet the needs of the reader. I went to VanityFair.com and there are messages being sent all over. There are blogs you can read with titles like, "Culture and Celebrity," "Politics and Power," "Society and Style," etc. There are ads and pictures all over the place. The message that this magazine sends is one about trend, fashion, class, vanity, and much more. There is even a "Style Issue." VanityFair sends its message to those who choose to read it. Magazines reach the mass public through paper and internet versions of each issue. 

3. Radio Program - www.pandora.com is a good example of how the radio is influencing and sending messages to the mass media. The interesting thing is that this website lets you create your own radio station. This is a good example of how the communication model works because the receiver is able to control a lot of the media and send a message to the Radio sender about the music the receiver wants to hear. 

4. Television Show - TV sends many messages to receivers the world over. The way that the receiver can send messages is by not watching certain shows. In order to know what kind of messages are being sent to mass audiences, you only need to look up the 100 most popular tv shows of our day. This website, http://www.tv.com/shows/top-shows/today.html&pop=true, shows that the top shows on TV are 1. Smallville, 2. House, 3. Supernatural, 4. Heroes, 5. Prison Break, 6. One Tree Hill, and on and on. The Office is sixteenth on this list. I haven't ever seen any of these shows, but I've heard of some of them. Therefore, television shows only reach those audiences of people who choose to watch them. TV isn't a good communicator for me because I hardly ever watch it. 

The interesting thing is that we use media all day every day. As I'm working on this blog for my homework, I'm surfing the internet to find examples (all my examples came from the internet because everything is online now) and listening to music on ITunes. 

The First Day of Class

Today was my first day of class in Comms 101 with Dr. Robinson. I'm really excited for this class, and I can already see how the media has an increasing influence in my life. I'm realizing that it is important for me to spend time to stay up on what is going on in the media in order to be more competent and balanced in life. I really am fascinated by the subtle influence the media has on us and the "manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth," (D&C 38:30). 

As I sat in class I thought of all the influences that media has on me directly in my own life. The first example that came to mind was simply the distortion of women's figures in magazines, billboards, commercials and movies. It seems that the media presents the image of a "perfect" woman, a woman that we all have to somehow live up to. The problem is that we compare ourselves to this image and we fall short, extremely short. Then we try and do whatever we can to conform ourselves to this image, whether we realize it or not. The problem is that not only are women affected by this fake imaging, but men are also. As men view these images and are surrounded by the same media as women, they too, develop distorted images about what women should look like. They then compare us (real women) with the fake images that the media feeds us. What an issue, eh? 

Another thought that I had later today was that in studying the media I would develop an eye of discernment. I think this is so important, especially in our day and age. I want to be able to see past it all and to know and understand the messages that the media is trying to send. I feel this will be helpful as I raise my own children and work with youth in the future. If I can help them to see the real messages, or to avoid the fake ones, they will better be able to avoid the influences of negative media in their lives.

I've been a little behind when it comes to TV watching, radio listening, internet surfing, and the like - so this will be a change for me. It's important to stay up-to-date on what is going on in order to be both faithful and competent, (the goal Elder Bednar said we should be striving for in our education). I guess that's about it as far as my thoughts from the first day of class. Until next time...:)