My most memorable experience I've witnessed through media occurred on my third week of the 8th grade. It was right before the dismissal bell of my dreaded foreign language class that the loudspeakers erupted, filling the entire classroom with a sense of worry and confusion. Airplane, New York City, and Trade Center were the three muffled words we were able to make out. Because our classroom was situated in the schools basement, we had minimal cell phone service, or access to the internet and television. The loudspeaker message was unclear over the loud voices of my classmates, but I knew the message couldn't have been a pleasant one. The mass communication via the loudspeakers provoked group communication amongst the teacher and students.After a few misinterpretations, the facts were confirmed, and the students of 8-409 were huddled together while experiencing history. It was a matter of minutes until our parents marched into the school building to escort us to the safety of our own homes. Upon arriving home, my family and I sat silently in front of the television, reluctantly absorbing the tragic news. I can swear that at that moment, the world came to a complete stop. That morning of September 11th left behind a mark of discomfort; one that will never leave my imagination.
The role of the media was so powerful in shaping my experience of this tragic event. When my classmates and I were buried in the basement level of the school building with a week source of mass media and communication, we were struck with fear, and no facts. When we were released from our position, and mass media became available, our entire understanding of the tragedy fell into place. Without mass media, only various bits and pieces of the experience were collected, blinding us from the picture as a whole, distorting our true knowledge of the event.
In retrospect, my understanding of the event has changed. Whether we like it or not, culture plays an important role in our every days lives. Culture, coined by Barren as the 'historically transmitted pattern meaning embodied in symbolic forms by means of which people communicate, perpetuate, and develop their knowledge about the attitudes towards life,' guided my feelings and emotions regarding the events I've experienced that morning of September 11th. Before the media was able to notify me of the events occurring fifty miles away from home, I was already caved in to my cultural surroundings and overcome with worry and fear.
The media plays such an important role in life, society, and culture. Without media, the world wouldn't be what it is today. 10 and a half years have passed since the terror attacks of the World Trade Center, and thanks to media, the world is still able to investigate the facts. If it weren't for the media (books, internet, newspaper articles...), my knowledge of the attack wouldn't be as extensive, and my interest in the subject wouldn't be as strong.
References:
Hanson, Ralph E. "Chapter 1." Mass Communication: Living in a Media World. Washington, D.C.: CQ, 2010. Print.
S. Baran , "What is Culture?"
I agree with you about mass media allowing us to get facts and keep obtaining facts about an event that has occurred. It also reminds me of the fact that because an event like 9/11 had so much to be discussed and everyone had and still have a million questions, mass media also plays a large role in allowing people to come up with conspiracy theories and then try and prove or disprove of them. My brother was is going to be 18 years old soon recently shared what he found when watching a documentary about 9/11 and how some people believe that it wasn't commercial flights that crashed but instead army planes hijacked by different terrorists and that the commercial flights were crashed into the ocean. When he told me this theory, I tried Google-ing the idea but couldn't come up with that theory only a million more theories came up. And even in my own post about 9/11, I included links about the collapse of World Trade Center 7 which was believed to have been reported by the BBC (and Fox) before it actually collapsed.
ReplyDeleteMass media has allowed the world to be constantly updated on the events of the moment. While it was occurring, especially in New York, we felt the sense of urgency and the devastation of what was happening. In the after math, almost 10 years later, we are able to understand the event a lot better then that initial first day. What actually happened on those planes no one may ever know, but thanks to the media we can view the actual events and come up with out our theories on it.
ReplyDelete