Welcome to Media Medium, a digital space where I look closely at what it means to be an engaged media user. With as fast-paced as the world around us is, it’s worth taking the time to reflect on our own habits to become more mindful and digital consumers. I hope you’ll join me on this journey to become more media literate!
Civic Imagination: The Final Frontier
The civic imagination, according to The Civic Imagination Project, is the “capacity to imagine alternatives to current cultural, social, political, or economic conditions;” it is necessary to imagine better futures to achieve them. It’s hard to think of a more visionary future than the one depicted in the various Star Trek series. The Original Series,…
Stereotypes in Media: The Band Kid
It’s not a revelation to learn we’re living in a society infused and inundated with media. In the articles we read, clips we watch, songs we listen to and so much more, stereotypes are pervasive. People from certain cultures are portrayed as negative or fetishized, those with non-heteronormative gender identities are commonly depicted with certain…
Banned Books: Then to Now
In honor or Banned Books week, we’re going to be examining the rise and continued relevance of book banning, as well as how the topic has continued to be portrayed. Origins of banned books Book bans are not a new or unusual thing– the first banned books in the United States dates back to 1637.…
An Exercise in Fact-Checking
This week, we’re taking an in-depth look at how fact-checking works, using a recent example from the Reuters Fact-Checking team. More specifically, I’ll be taking you through the analysis of a recent piece of misinformation that made its way around the web in the United Kingdom. The Claim: In late August, several posts regarding COVID-19…
Digital Considerations
In this digital day and age, it’s pretty easy to recognize an obvious scam. Every few weeks, I get a text message that asks me to put in some type of identifying information, whether it’s my phone number, name or even credit card information. In fact, I get so many scams I easily pulled one…
Daily Media Use and Privacy
This week I’m taking another look at my media usage… but with a twist. What type of data is collected on the sites and apps I use? Let’s find out and see what we can learn. 6:00 a.m.: News and social media notifications. As always, the first thing I do in the morning is check…
On Information Access and Net Neutrality
Net neutrality was quite the buzz word back in 2019 when a series of states passed legislation after the Federal Communications Commission repealed net neutrality laws from in 2017. States like California, Colorado and Maine sprang into action to pass their own net neutrality laws (read more about the specific legislation from The National Conference…
Daily Media Use
This week, I chose to document my media usage during a typical school day. How does your digital consumption stack up? 6:45 a.m. – Check notifications: When I wake up, the first thing I do is check my notifications for messages from friends or major news updates. In an attempt to limit the time I…
Anna Campbell 