After hearing Idris Goodwin, Kevin Coval, and James Fallows speak at American Studies Day, I was absolutely amazed at what they had to say! Fallows's speech about media and democracy really made a lot of sense to me and I loved learning about the importance of media working to serve the public rather than profits. When he discussed the media's necessary role of informing the American public, I wondered about the other ways the media informs Americans as well.
As I listened to Goodwin and Coval perform their poems about their own identities, I thought back to what Fallows said about media and democracy. Media is not only important in creating a democracy but also in creating individual identity. When Goodwin spoke about being 'black' and all the representations of that color it seemed apparent that the media played a part in forming those interpretations. The ways African Americans are portrayed in the media and on the news are bound to contribute to an African American's view of themself.
In my case, the media has certainly served to inform me about my identity as a student living in the North Shore. We have talked about this in class before, but the North Shore is certainly quite different from the rest of the world and ultimately those differences are demonstrated by the media.
How has the media contributed to your own identity? In what other ways does the media affect your life?
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