Blog 1 Reasons for Media Studies

Adults and especially children are constantly bombarded with media of all sorts in the world of Western Civilization in the 21st century. They see it and hear it nearly constantly from the moment they wake until fall asleep. With the growth of the internet and the web, the continued expansion of cable and satellite television, home theaters, technologically advanced video games, cell phones, iPods, satellite radio, podcasting, and the exponentially growing technological advances continually appearing in digital entertainment and communication, students desperately need skills to decipher this tidal wave of information. Traditional media such as books and newspapers, and even the broadcast networks hold little influence in this overwhelming flood of viewpoints. Our society, and each individual, is continually fed a steady stream of ever more convincing and oftentimes subtle pitches, aimed at marketing a point of view and philosophy ranging from the broad whetting of the appetite for consumables, to politics, education, personal behavior and, most notably, “values”.
These points of view are not always in the best interest of the students and the society they will lead in adulthood. The messages are crafted in many cases with a surprising amount of forethought to the effect and desired result on the “consumer”. It becomes not just the art of advertising and influence, but in many cases an exact science in which a campaign, (advertising or political), is honed to demographic perfection. These messages can be so effective that without the proper knowledge of how to read them, they penetrate to an unconscious level in the consumers’ mind, often leading to a decision about a product, (again, consumable, political, philosophical), based on a “feeling” rather than rational thought.
The effectiveness of the media at delivering its’ message, coupled with the overwhelming presence of media in our lives at the beginning of the 21st century, means that giving students the tools for media literacy is crucial to their success as adults. Ignoring media studies means leaving young people vulnerable to manipulation, at its worst, as an individual open to predation physically, psychologically, and economically, and as a culture socially, politically, and spiritually. At its’ best, media can fulfill its’ promise as the great communication tool for people across the globe, allowing access to pertinent and useful information to people regardless of geographical, political or class boundaries.
Electronic media, and that is principally what we are discussing here, can be viewed as the literature of the 21st century. It should be taught in addition to classical art and literature, not instead of. It is only through an understanding of the foundations of human civilization that students can understand the modern world and it only through understanding the media of today that they can shape its future.