Deciding to join the Media, Self, and Society program within College Park Scholars was the one of the best decisions I made leading up to my time in college, second only to the decision to attend the University of Maryland, College Park. Knowing I did not want to be in a Scholars program that would overwhelm me with work to add to my existing workload for the rest of my studies, Media, Self, and Society seemed like the wise choice because I almost felt above this area of focus since media has been such an intrinsic part of my life as someone born just before the turn of the 21st Century. However, the value I have been able to get out of MSS has been much greater than I could have ever imagined prior to college. Not only have I met and gotten closer to some amazing people within scholars and MSS in particular, but I have also gained valuable skills through MSS that I can both use now and especially utilize in my future life and career aspirations. Above all else, the Media, Self, and Society Scholars program has taught me to dive deeper into ideas and issues, including media, rather than just analyzing them at their surface level.
In today’s climate, media is a buzzword that can stir up a lot of controversy depending on who you talk to. For example, if you only listened to what President Donald Trump and others in his administration’s past and present have said about the media’s role in our society and more specifically in our political process, you would frankly think that the media is essentially a mob run by some horrible people trying to ruin all that is well and good on this Earth. This has been going on since the dawn of Trump’s run for office, and I have always felt incredibly discomforted by his demonization of the media. As I gained more and more experience and knowledge in my MSS colloquiums, though, I grew to understand more and more the danger of this anti-media rhetoric. We must understand that this is not just about mean words and hurt feelings. These attacks against the role and value of the media have very real and, in many cases, violent consequences. For example, during the summer of 2020, when protests fighting for Black lives erupted all over the country, there were numerous instances of violence from both the police and protesters against media members trying to bring light to everything going on in the protests. This violence, while horrifying, should not be considered very surprising after years of President Trump verbally tearing down the “mainstream media.” It was especially unsurprising when I have been taught so much in MSS about the value of media in our society and political process. Media should be able to share truthful information with the public without government intervention. When someone like President Trump spews dangerous rhetoric about the media and devalues and dehumanizes the individuals responsible for sharing this truth, we risk jeopardizing our very political process and democratic values on which this country stands.
Witnessing the President and his administration’s attacks on the media, especially with my Media Scholars experience, I have been able to dig deeper into the effects of the attacks and notice how Trump’s misinformation about the media allows for many to gain a misunderstanding regarding the role of media in our lives. For those who trust the ideas that Trump expresses, it is again unsurprising to see how those who hang onto every word he says have grown to distrust the media. If the media acted the way that Trump wants them to act, at least to him, they would do nothing but butter him up (which some outlets do) and tell him everything he does is the right thing to do. Because of this, when members of the media have tried to pressure him with tough questions, Trump has demonized them and would sow doubt into the minds of every one of his followers about the ability to trust the media. The MSS Scholars program has taught me how important it is to not necessarily support “the media” itself, but to uphold the values that make the media so important to the construction of a civil society. We must support the spread of truth and facts in our media consumption so that we can maximize the number of people who are informed and invulnerable to any potential misinformation that could possible misconstrue these media values.
One important concept to understand in order to take away this vulnerability to misinformation is to be a critical rather than passive consumer and producer of the media. To me, being a critical consumer and producer of the media means not always consuming and producing media mindlessly. In other words, consuming and producing media critically means actively pondering what you are consuming and producing means, the extent to which the media is truthful, and what impact the media could or has had on those who are exposed to it. While I believe that being a critical consumer is more important than being a critical producer of the media due to consumption generally being more widely exercised than production, the importance of media production should not be understated. When someone produces a form of media, they can either be a critical producer by actively thinking about how their message will come across and how it will impact those who consume it, or they can produce passively and somewhat ignore those ideas. While I feel I produce critically with the little amount of media that I produce, my consumption can vary between critical and passive. While my time in MSS has taught me how to consume critically, there are still times when I will passively consume because it is hard to be a critical consumer of media as someone exposed to media from the time I open my eyes in the morning to the time I close them at night. Because of this significant amount of media that I consume on a daily basis, I am even more grateful at the skills I have acquired in the MSS program.
Through the Media, Self, and Society program, while I have admittedly been exposed to a lot of media and overall ideas that have reinforced rather than challenged my beliefs, it still has given room for those with other beliefs to speak up and share them with everyone. Although there wasn’t much challenge to my beliefs, it has still made me more informed on issues as a whole as well as on people from different backgrounds than myself. Going to a small Jewish private school from when I was 3 years old all the way through high school graduation, I was very limited in my exposure to people with different backgrounds than me as well as in the ideas I was being shown. While I oftentimes held beliefs that challenged those that I was being exposed to, I still felt very restrained in my learning and experience. Once I was able to leave my bubble and attend the University of Maryland and College Park Scholars, I felt completely refreshed. The viewpoints that I frequently came across at my school, specifically from my classmates, were challenged as soon as I arrived on campus. The Media Scholars program showed me ideas and concepts that immediately made sense to me, contrasting with those that I viewed at my school back home.
Sharing a living-and-learning community with these other Media Scholars has provided me with more benefit than just new surroundings. My college career to this point has been full of ups and downs, highs and lows. Sometimes, I get to the point where I feel like I cannot keep going, where everything seems to be going poorly and I get into a bad headspace. However, within this type of living-and-learning environment, I have been afforded the opportunity to be pushed when I could not see myself moving forward. In addition, I am inspired by the different area of work various Media Scholars have been able to experience. It inspires me to reach my full potential and to be a more active friend and citizen.
While this learning environment has been a significant contributor to my progress as an active contributor to my communities, it was the opportunities to contribute to the Media Scholars program that really helped me grow. I appreciated the wide variety of opportunities afforded to me by MSS to provide that contribution to the program, whether it was in our live class discussions, group projects, or even just my weekly reflections. In these weekly reflections, for example, I would be tasked with thinking critically about whatever topic of media we are discussing that week. Not only did I get a lot of value out of being able to reflect on what I was learning weekly, but I also appreciated the engagement that I received from Allison and Kelly, my Scholars instructors and coordinators, on each reflection. This feedback made me feel valued as a Media Scholar and it shows that I was heard. These were not just insignificant comments acknowledging the completion of the assignment like “Good” (which I get from another one of my professors.) The responses I received were thought out and made me truly know that they were taking the time to read what I had to say. This is just a microcosm of a larger attitude within the Scholars program that consists of valuing their students and truly wanting them to succeed.
Through my time in the Media, Self, and Society program, I have learned to look at things from different perspectives other than just at the surface level, which I look forward to utilizing in my future endeavors. Allison and Kelly allowed me to look deeper at issues that were pressing either for us personally or for our country and world as a whole. It was especially important to me as I got more into social issues and eventually decided to switch my major to public policy. MSS also gives me a unique perspective on issues because we looked at them from a more media-centric angle and how media plays a role in our political process. Media is an important aspect of policy, and I look forward to drawing from my knowledge and experiences in MSS as I seek to further meaningful policy in the United States and beyond in my public policy career.
In today’s climate, media is a buzzword that can stir up a lot of controversy depending on who you talk to. For example, if you only listened to what President Donald Trump and others in his administration’s past and present have said about the media’s role in our society and more specifically in our political process, you would frankly think that the media is essentially a mob run by some horrible people trying to ruin all that is well and good on this Earth. This has been going on since the dawn of Trump’s run for office, and I have always felt incredibly discomforted by his demonization of the media. As I gained more and more experience and knowledge in my MSS colloquiums, though, I grew to understand more and more the danger of this anti-media rhetoric. We must understand that this is not just about mean words and hurt feelings. These attacks against the role and value of the media have very real and, in many cases, violent consequences. For example, during the summer of 2020, when protests fighting for Black lives erupted all over the country, there were numerous instances of violence from both the police and protesters against media members trying to bring light to everything going on in the protests. This violence, while horrifying, should not be considered very surprising after years of President Trump verbally tearing down the “mainstream media.” It was especially unsurprising when I have been taught so much in MSS about the value of media in our society and political process. Media should be able to share truthful information with the public without government intervention. When someone like President Trump spews dangerous rhetoric about the media and devalues and dehumanizes the individuals responsible for sharing this truth, we risk jeopardizing our very political process and democratic values on which this country stands.
Witnessing the President and his administration’s attacks on the media, especially with my Media Scholars experience, I have been able to dig deeper into the effects of the attacks and notice how Trump’s misinformation about the media allows for many to gain a misunderstanding regarding the role of media in our lives. For those who trust the ideas that Trump expresses, it is again unsurprising to see how those who hang onto every word he says have grown to distrust the media. If the media acted the way that Trump wants them to act, at least to him, they would do nothing but butter him up (which some outlets do) and tell him everything he does is the right thing to do. Because of this, when members of the media have tried to pressure him with tough questions, Trump has demonized them and would sow doubt into the minds of every one of his followers about the ability to trust the media. The MSS Scholars program has taught me how important it is to not necessarily support “the media” itself, but to uphold the values that make the media so important to the construction of a civil society. We must support the spread of truth and facts in our media consumption so that we can maximize the number of people who are informed and invulnerable to any potential misinformation that could possible misconstrue these media values.
One important concept to understand in order to take away this vulnerability to misinformation is to be a critical rather than passive consumer and producer of the media. To me, being a critical consumer and producer of the media means not always consuming and producing media mindlessly. In other words, consuming and producing media critically means actively pondering what you are consuming and producing means, the extent to which the media is truthful, and what impact the media could or has had on those who are exposed to it. While I believe that being a critical consumer is more important than being a critical producer of the media due to consumption generally being more widely exercised than production, the importance of media production should not be understated. When someone produces a form of media, they can either be a critical producer by actively thinking about how their message will come across and how it will impact those who consume it, or they can produce passively and somewhat ignore those ideas. While I feel I produce critically with the little amount of media that I produce, my consumption can vary between critical and passive. While my time in MSS has taught me how to consume critically, there are still times when I will passively consume because it is hard to be a critical consumer of media as someone exposed to media from the time I open my eyes in the morning to the time I close them at night. Because of this significant amount of media that I consume on a daily basis, I am even more grateful at the skills I have acquired in the MSS program.
Through the Media, Self, and Society program, while I have admittedly been exposed to a lot of media and overall ideas that have reinforced rather than challenged my beliefs, it still has given room for those with other beliefs to speak up and share them with everyone. Although there wasn’t much challenge to my beliefs, it has still made me more informed on issues as a whole as well as on people from different backgrounds than myself. Going to a small Jewish private school from when I was 3 years old all the way through high school graduation, I was very limited in my exposure to people with different backgrounds than me as well as in the ideas I was being shown. While I oftentimes held beliefs that challenged those that I was being exposed to, I still felt very restrained in my learning and experience. Once I was able to leave my bubble and attend the University of Maryland and College Park Scholars, I felt completely refreshed. The viewpoints that I frequently came across at my school, specifically from my classmates, were challenged as soon as I arrived on campus. The Media Scholars program showed me ideas and concepts that immediately made sense to me, contrasting with those that I viewed at my school back home.
Sharing a living-and-learning community with these other Media Scholars has provided me with more benefit than just new surroundings. My college career to this point has been full of ups and downs, highs and lows. Sometimes, I get to the point where I feel like I cannot keep going, where everything seems to be going poorly and I get into a bad headspace. However, within this type of living-and-learning environment, I have been afforded the opportunity to be pushed when I could not see myself moving forward. In addition, I am inspired by the different area of work various Media Scholars have been able to experience. It inspires me to reach my full potential and to be a more active friend and citizen.
While this learning environment has been a significant contributor to my progress as an active contributor to my communities, it was the opportunities to contribute to the Media Scholars program that really helped me grow. I appreciated the wide variety of opportunities afforded to me by MSS to provide that contribution to the program, whether it was in our live class discussions, group projects, or even just my weekly reflections. In these weekly reflections, for example, I would be tasked with thinking critically about whatever topic of media we are discussing that week. Not only did I get a lot of value out of being able to reflect on what I was learning weekly, but I also appreciated the engagement that I received from Allison and Kelly, my Scholars instructors and coordinators, on each reflection. This feedback made me feel valued as a Media Scholar and it shows that I was heard. These were not just insignificant comments acknowledging the completion of the assignment like “Good” (which I get from another one of my professors.) The responses I received were thought out and made me truly know that they were taking the time to read what I had to say. This is just a microcosm of a larger attitude within the Scholars program that consists of valuing their students and truly wanting them to succeed.
Through my time in the Media, Self, and Society program, I have learned to look at things from different perspectives other than just at the surface level, which I look forward to utilizing in my future endeavors. Allison and Kelly allowed me to look deeper at issues that were pressing either for us personally or for our country and world as a whole. It was especially important to me as I got more into social issues and eventually decided to switch my major to public policy. MSS also gives me a unique perspective on issues because we looked at them from a more media-centric angle and how media plays a role in our political process. Media is an important aspect of policy, and I look forward to drawing from my knowledge and experiences in MSS as I seek to further meaningful policy in the United States and beyond in my public policy career.