This spring semester brought with it the insurmountable opportunity for growth and acquisition of skill as a writer, a consumer, and as a civilian.
Throughout the few short weeks that this semester held, I had found myself stumbling over and into many different realms of media with my new position in this ever-changing landscape, a writer. A producer of written content within the world wide web, open to the same scrutiny and moderate self-censorship that many more-influential-than-I do for a living every single day of their professional lives.
What I found
From reviewing my own and my peers’ numerous articles written over these last few months we see, from these writings, that each of us gravitates towards elements of content (whether that be certain types of news stories, the imagery used, or the entertainment factors of either) that satisfy what we individually consider newsworthy.
Such a classic example of gratification theory, as I recall myself actively searching to include outside articles that supported my own claims, ideas, and statements I made within my own writing, instead of wasting my time on things I didn’t find relevant, interesting, or correct even.
In the meantime, I noticed that in the modern media landscape that we now engage, work, and create within there is an immense responsibility on our shoulders, (as writers, content creators, and as ethically grounded citizens) to represent the truly newsworthy things in this current world as we are, ultimately, powerful agenda setters in our own right and we have the power to influence how people see the world around them and how we, ourselves will cultivate our circles to inform our own perceptions in return.
There’s an article that I wrote this semester that I value merely for the boundary-pushing content it covers, which was of a song entitled, “I’m Not Racist” by Joyner Lucas. I believe the song itself breaks the spiral of silence far too many content creators fall into and makes statements that otherwise might go unsaid, or undiscussed in a civil manner which the song exemplifies.
Here’s to great change and many accomplishments ahead,
Cheers!