Beginning this class about media and its affects on the family, I understand we will be focusing on commercial media and types of entertainment that are positive and negative which I am quite interested in. But at the start of it all we covered the basic definitions of media.
Coming from the Latin roots meaning medium, middle, or in between. In modern times it is defined as the content that serves as the form of communication between sender and receiver.
I really let this sink in as I walked from class to class all week and I realized just how important media quality is. Everything from sidewalk and parking lot layouts to Google and Super Bowl advertisements are classified as media. As I walked down the sidewalk I realized its placement was a message sent that I was supposed to walk here not on the adjacent grass strip. The message was left, I recognized it, and followed it without question or hesitation. Media is ingrained into every piece of human existence.
I do not propose that money will solve the issue or that I have an answer to the problem. But I found it curious that $150,000 dollars a second were spent on just the timeslots available for Superbowl ads last year. That doesn't take into account the research teams paid, the actors involved, the scripts, camermen, etc. You get the picture. Media used to sell often pointless, but fun consumer goods has millions of dollars behind it. Where road signs and other vital information is barely funded by the minimum viable amount. I remember my first ticket was given for speeding on a portion of road that didn't even have a speed limit sign up for another 2 years. Knowing what I know now I probably could have fought it, but as a new 16 year old driver I simply hung my head and paid the ticket.
Since then I have been surprised how often I am uncertain of speed limits for miles of road in one state or another it always seems to be a problem. And this is just one example of when vital media fails.
What about:
- When can you make a legal u-turn
- How close does an aircraft/drone/helicopter have to my house before it is considered trespassing on private property
- How much can I do in an emergency if I am trying to help injured individuals before I am liable for any death or injury
- Doctor assisted suicide
- Copyright laws can be convoluted
- Paparazzi vs stalking
- The exact lines of what police power is and interactions are supposed to be like
- Landlord and tenant contracts limits and powers
This lead me to think about the gaming industry. Games may just be virtual but they always have clear rules, warnings, error messages most times to help users not only succeed in following the rules but enjoy it. Games normally have more rules and restrictions than real life yet thousands including myself enjoy them. I believe this in part because the restrictions and guidelines are made so clear and the complicated goals of the games are unfolded so simply that it is clear. How many people would enjoy being confined to a single block of a neighborhood or a small cluster of buildings? Yet in racing games, first person shooters, real time strategy games, etc. maps and environments are often limited by the very nature of being virtual. And most gamers will comment or complain about these boundaries occasionally, but in the end they still enjoy the games. There must be something we can do to make the rules of real life more clear and accepted by society and I believe media will play a key role in that effort.
I have always known that media played an important role in my life but I didn't until this week I did not understand the breadth of that role played.
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