More Than Ever, Media Matters
Remember the days before cable television streamed onto our flat screens—when network news told us what we needed to know, soap operas tugged at our heartstrings and educational programming entertained the kids? Well, it appears that with the turn of the century came a turning point for mass media. These days, we find comedians reading the news, teenage moms with top ratings, and Katy Perry on Sesame Street. Though more channels and less structure provide more options for viewers, the sundry presentation of information which has become the norm is creating a generation unable to differentiate fact from fiction on the airwaves.
In the early ninety’s, media maven Linda Ellerbee recognized that this aggressive influx of diverse content was perhaps dangerous for young minds. “Media literacy is not just important, it's absolutely critical. It's going to make the difference between whether kids are a tool of the mass media or whether the mass media is a tool for kids to use," she said. With this notion, she launched “Nick News” on Nickelodeon to give young viewers an opportunity to evaluate and discuss the news of the day –to weed out those important facts and figures they may have missed between cartons and commercials.
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| Showing off their project at the seminar. |
With the same goal in mind, The Boston Globe and UMASS Boston partnered to provide local students with an opportunity to not only recognize the power of media, but to understand that they can contribute, starting now! On a blustery November day, Ursuline Academy’s senior Communications class joined other local students for the “Media Matters Writing Conference” at UMass, where they attended various workshops hosted by Boston’s most notable communicators. The goal of the program, which is in its sixth year, is to introduce young minds to the importance of journalism and media messaging, and to instill an early interest in communicating.
In one room, Sean P. Murphy of the Boston Globe spoke of our society’s reaction to investigative journalism, while down the hall Rebecca Steinitz of WriteBoston taught students to cleverly construct a food review (using delicious props). Later that day, The Globe’s Derrick Z. Jackson presented colorful photographs narrated by colorful anecdotes, while Dan Rea of WBZ Radio's NightSide discussed the importance of radio as a medium for our nation. Though some aspects of the program appealed to students more than others, many left with a better understanding of how they may one day contribute to the media medium, in one form or another.
While students attended mid-day workshops, teachers enjoyed a lively presentation from award-winning media veteran Liz Walker, formerly of WBZ-TV, whose message was one of “love.” In a sermon style speech, she encouraged those educators before her to love the students they teach and to help them to realize their potential in our society. She emphasized great impact of those messages sent by Martin Luther King in response to the political issues of his time.
To integrate this "field-trip" into the Ursuline curriculum is to provide students with an opportunity to explore the channels of communication so that they may begin to recognize the impact of messages and the ways in which they can contribute. Though most students remain undecided about a job in journalism or communications at this point, they have come to recognize that those messages they see on television, online or in the newspaper are shaping their society. It is up to them if they wish to join the conversation.
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| "Media Matters" to these Communications students. |
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