Weekly Reflection Post

My first college class in 20 years is complete and I learned a lot of new things! One topic in particular that’s really stayed with me is the topic of Media Literacy and how truly important that skill is.

As we know we live in the information age and never in history has so much information been so readily accessible to the masses. From the palm of our hands we’re able to access news and information from around the world, even as it’s happening. Technology has played a huge role in the evolution of media and its availability. The challenge is that same technology which has helped create the information age also afforded everyday people with the ability to broadcast and develop content on their one. So media and messages we see on a daily basis have become increasingly hard to validate.

It’s for that reason Media Literacy has become critically important and I feel it may be something I took for granted, I was not aware of how many people in our society are not media literate. Without that critical skill they are taking in everything the see, read and watch online as fact!

Unfortunately there is a great deal of misinformation and often sinister motives behind that information which the untrained eye will miss. In our global, digital society, that misinformation can have lasting impacts on government policies, personal decisions and in some cases, national elections. We witnessed the power of this in the form many Russian misinformation bots targeting individuals on social media platforms to persuade their decisions during the 2016 Presidential Election.

Instead of questioning sources, examining the content and analyzing what the goal is behind the message they are reading, many non-media literate people take what the see and read on the internet as fact!

As technology continues to evolve the importance of media literacy is only growing. We’re entering into a time where “Deep Fakes” are beginning show up. Those are a clear challenge to a normal functioning society as they are extremely difficult to spot even for experience media critiques.

This post is not meant to be alarmist. I see a silver lining and it comes in the form of the education of our society. From older generations to lower income populations, there needs to be programs dedicated to growing the media literacy of our society. Without it, the gap will begin to widen similar to the Digital Divide where those who have Media Literacy skills will be well informed while the non-media literate people in society will fall further and further behind with the lack of knowledge and misinformation they are digesting on a daily basis.

Our world is not getting less digital and the information will not slow down. We need to help all citizens understand how to engage, dissect and understand the media that’s presented to them. I feel that is of critical importance for the growth of our society. I have this course to thank for opening my eyes to this critical need in our society.

Weekly Reflection Post

I’m usually all for technological advancements but Deep Fakes have me scared.  During a point in history where there is so much political and social divide in our county and the world, Deep Fakes have the ability to push that divide further.

I feel it’s important that the US government and the governments of the world develop ways to combat Deep Fakes.  There is already a huge issue with inaccurate news reports and people who are unable to determine what’s true due to a lack of media literacy.  Deep Fakes would push that issue further.

Jordan Peele did a video to bring attention to the potential of Deep Fakes.  He did a side by side video with a video of President Barack Obama, speaking for him.  It was scary how real the Obama video seemed.

The fact that some people, and in the near future most people, have access to a technology that swaps faces and sometimes voices on people to make them look like they are saying something is incredible.  I normally try to look on the bright side of things and point out the positive effects of something, but this technology scares me in a very deep way.  I see horrible potential of fake news stories manifest from Deep Fake videos depicting world leaders saying statement they did not actually say.  The technology is so good, and getting better, that it’s very difficult to spot a Deep Fake.  The News Media will have their hands full trying to validate video sources as real and the public will look at videos as actual footage.  The potential for global harm is huge and I feel there needs to be preventive action against the technology and the companies developing it.  From elections to global conflict, this technology offers the ability to create fraud and information conflict like no other technology before it.

All of these seem great for the user and in many ways they are.  They help us track our miles, our calorie intake and our heart rates.  The provide us with goals to achieve and a digital converged experience where we can have our music, running route and heart rate all in one digital device.

Here’s an eye-opening Ted Talk on Deep Fakes:

Weekly Reflection Post

As our world becomes more and more digitized the value on our personal data increases.  Big Data is in every aspect of our lives, including our Health and Fitness.  Most of us have used and currently use some type of fitness tracking app.   May My Run, Nike+, Fitbit, Peloton and many others.   There are personal devises we use as well, like smart watches and smart phones.

All of these seem great for the user and in many ways they are.  They help us track our miles, our calorie intake and our heart rates.  The provide us with goals to achieve and a digital converged experience where we can have our music, running route and heart rate all in one digital device.

What many do not realize is the about of personal data we’re providing our fitness app with.  They are able to monetize our activity data as well as our profile data.  Many fitness companies will use this information to better streamline and update their apps for a better experience.  But many also turn that data into revenue by providing analytics companies and health insurance companies with insights into the health and wellness of their users.  The data can be drilled down by age, race, gender, region of the country, world, etc.   This information is extremely valuable to certain companies and we as users are just providing it free of charge.  Actually, we’re paying a company to take our personal data and sell it for profit. 

There are benefits to the users, better health, better insight into their personal activities and that can have many long term positive impacts.  It’s just the use of the Big Data that users should be weary of and another reason personal privacy and personal data need to be a right protected by the Constitution.  Some of us will be wise to not give too much information up, but the majority of the public is not digital literate enough to realize what they are giving these companies when they sign up.

Weekly Reflection Post

It was shocking to read the case study in our text book by Kristal Brent Zook.   It spoke about how less then 2% of radio stations and television stations are owned by African Americans. The article describes how there were some programs in the past put in place by the FCC for example that began to help close the enormous gap that is caused by racism and inequality. 

The implementation of a Minority Ownership Policy began to help by providing tax incentives for people to selling stations to minority owners.  The incentive worked and black ownership started to steadily rise over the seventeen years it was in place.  It was still a far cry from equality in broadcast ownership and a reminder of the overt racism that the African American community has been subjected to throughout history and still is today.   Sadly, this small step towards an even playing field was removed by Congress in 1995 and the percentage of Black owned TV and Radio stations declined. 

The article mentioned how little has been done since 1995 and how large companies continue to buy up small owned stations, many of which were the few Black Owned companies in the industry.  Looking on the FCC’s website you can see what was explaining in the article the Diversity Committee which was put in place by the FCC to address this issue and submit reports on diversity and minority ownership has not formally met in over two years. 

This article is a few years old so I looked on the FCC website and found that the group does not even have an official section of the website.  It has been achieved and hasn’t been updated in 2013.  That’s incredibly disheartening and provided further examples of the disregard and racism the Black Community faces.

Organizations like NABOB (National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters) are fighting for equality and providing Black owners with support to fight in this unequal playing field.

This is a problem not only for the Black Community but for the country as a whole. Programs we are watching and listening to are lacking the culture and diversity that make this a great country. By not having equal ownership in broadcast stations diverse views and cultural representation are excluded. In the process an entire community is keep down in the name of profit gains and racism.

Programs like the Minority Ownership Policy need to be put back in place and more programs need to be implemented to provide funding support and incentive to Black and Minority Owners to purchase stations or start new stations and begin to change this narrative.

Weekly Reflection Post

The digital divide is the one of the major problems facing today’s modern world.  As some countries and regions of countries flourish with modern access to broadband internet.  Other regions of the world are left in the past.  Without equal access to the internet civilians of the world are intellectually isolated and unable to connect with modern day news, events, communication, and everyday tasks such as banking, research and knowledge gaining.

One way to help solve this problem is to pave the way for internet to be easily access regardless of your location.  For areas in the US for example, the government could provide mobile phones to impoverished areas and provide incentives or funding for ISPs to enhance or deploy new internet infrastructure to rural and hard to reach areas of the country.   In these modern times, access to the internet should be considered a basic human right and need to operate in today’s society.   That’s why it’s also critical even for areas that have internet access to ensure their content is access to disabled individuals like hearing and sight impaired citizens.  Audio readers, enhanced visual aids, closed captioned.  Disabled Citizens lack of access is another form of digital divide and one that can easily be addressed. 

That idea to be expanded to countries around the world.  Many underdeveloped countries have virtually no access to the internet. 

It’s global problem that needs a global solution.  The UN should develop a unilateral program to help countries without access develop ways to deploy internet infrastructure.  Those improvements would not only help the lives of their citizens but would eventually benefit each country economically, expanding the knowledge and education levels of their citizens