Media Autobiography

Mari Yoon
Cecilia Deck
Journalism 2
8 April 2013

Media becomes more and more prevalent each day, especially in the digital age. Different kinds of media I’m surrounded by include books, newspapers, magazines, audio/musical recordings, radio, television, and the Internet. Although some of these said forms of media are proving to be a little more primitive than others as time passes and technology advances, I would have to say I am most experienced in my use of books, Internet, and television.

            I am well acquainted with all of the said media; I had used television, radio, and newspapers and magazine articles for several current event and school related projects. I very rarely read the newspaper in its printed form for pleasure, mainly archiving them through the Internet, mainly because the sheer size and type of paper is inconvenient and messy. However, I love to read magazines for leisure, or whether it is about current interests, such as home making, and cooking. I think my favorite type of printed media would be books, because they come in all different shapes and sizes; with varying types of information, as well as more in-depth opinions and facts with a said topic.

            However, growing up in the digital age, I would have to say the most valuable type of media would be the Internet. The Internet has all forms of media in an electronic form, so it is very convenient. However, I feel like electronic forms of media and communication takes away from the sentimentality that can be formed through the printed word. The Internet is certainly very pragmatic, however I feel like it can be almost impersonal and distant –– which makes me caught in between two worlds because I love practicality, however I value the sentimentality in works that reflect culture, refinement, and effort. I think the Internet is a great way to store and record all different forms of media, and to make it available for all.

            One thing I feel strongly about is how modern music doesn’t seem to send a very obvious message to its listeners in the present; it can certainly set the trend for tastes in music, different styles in fashion, and even spur on controversial topics to a debate. Rather, I think music serves greater as a historical tool to understand the ambience, emotions, and even thought processes of the time period in which it emerged from.

            Lastly, the radio is a useful tool; through something so simply complex as a frequency/sound wave, we’re able to communicate messages from so far away. I feel like the radio is a very undervalued type of communication/mass media tool. But as a person who doesn’t drive yet, and derives news and other kinds of music from mainly the Internet, I have yet to fully appreciate radio as a type of media.

            I hope to transfer to UC Berkeley so I could get an undergraduate for an English major. I aspire to be an editor, however that’s subject to change. I think as an editor, I will have to be familiar with the different types of mass media, and its relevancy to current culture.