Reflective Thoughts about Media and Government and Me

Nikkie Prosperini
Media and Government
11/24/08

Before this course, I really do not know what my attitudes were towards media coverage of government. I suppose, I would have thought it negative, just because then I was not at all fond of our government. All that I really heard about before hand was about scandals involving political figures or something about how Bush’s approval ratings were dropping (not exactly a shocker, but it was in the news).

After this course, I have sort of come away with a new mode of thinking in that perhaps there is some difference between government and politics. So, while media coverage of politics can be negative, media coverage of the government could be positive, or vice versa.

But even after this course, I think that our media is not doing its job as well as it should! Postman’s book and looking at so much of the election coverage brought that home for me this semester. Our media really needs to step up and take a stand in the types of stories they choose to feed our nation. It is like we have said in class: The media may not tell us what to think, but they tell us what to think about. And, I think our society needs to be thinking more about real issues in our world not celebrity gossip or rumors about political figures.

Also from this course, I learned more about politics and elections than I ever knew before. Studying everything that was talked about and looking at how things were covered and how the coverage shifted during different times of the election was interesting as well. It was interesting to look at the trends in coverage, and I think I learned how to better spot those trends from taking this course. I think we are all very lucky to have been taking this course during the 2008 Presidential Election. This course has also taught me that’s it is okay to stick to your beliefs if you have sound reason behind them, regardless of what others think.

I don’t know that I wished I had learned any more from this course. I am very pleased with what was learned. I took a lot from this course and will continue to use the knowledge that I have gained in the future. I definitely feel like I am more of a well-rounded person for having taken this course. It gave me more insight into politics and government and media, which were some areas that I was lacking sufficient knowledge in. Thanks, Doc.