Yes, this Friday is the last day of classes, which means next week is final exams for students. This week’s Media 101 class is also covering how mass media affects the world globally. We discussed how the digital divide hinders the ability to communicate to everyone. We reviewed how foreign authoritative government’s often control their media content in regards to what is shared or what their citizens can access.
Students also learned that mass media is highly influenced by cultural imperative, as some international countries and even organizations are more powerful than others, and therefore capable of pushing their media agenda on a less dominant society. We discussed the societal issues of what is public opinion means – that not everyone is going to agree on the same solution to solve a problem.
Freedom of speech gives everyone a voice and can use various media outlets to make a difference. Unfortunately this past year, we have seen censorship of conservative posts. We have even witnessed those who have incited violent posts be removed on social media platforms by big tech companies in order to protect the general public. Yet, in order to coexist, we still need to learn to respect each other’s view points.