Looking back at my CS4 experience

I am going to cut straight to the chase. My experience with this course was certainly interesting since I do sport interest in media and its development.

However I feel like the amount of new knowledge and understanding I earned is rather minimal. It was more of an affirmation of my own views on most aspects of the media. Which is why I am a bit disappointed, since I feel like simply taking wisdom from one space isn’t the best thing, I like my beliefs challenged so that I have to overthink them and see if they can stand a test of scrutiny.

Yet I felt like something was missing;

My own personal biggest interest in the media is the different discourses taken by media outlets, as well as the manipulation of information via the editing of distribution of said information.

While this was touched upon within the framework of the course (Fake News, yes I too am sick of that word) I felt like the focal point of that discussion was aimed too much towards the current big news outrage… well… Fake News. I guess I just would’ve liked to see and to hear more about the withholding of certain pieces of information in order to shape the general information given, especially since this too is of great relevancy right now. Maybe I am a bit too cynical though…

All of this may sound negative, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I especially like that it has made me think of the future of the media and reflect upon what it actually means that everyone can essentially produce their own “News product”. In my eyes it will cause quite some chaos, chaos that many people on the internet are already experiencing, but chaos can be quite interesting, especially figuring it out. So despite my cynicism and general negative Nate attitude; I am hopeful that things will get better.