Calista Nelson / March 21, 2024 / MCO 427
Assignment Details:
To gain better insight of our media habits, students are asked to create a 24-hour media diary. I chose to keep track of my media usage mid-week on Wednesday. This assignment became an eye-opener as I set aside the time to be fully aware of my media consumption and dive deeper into the real vs. fake.
6:15 a.m.: I generally wake up early for work. I have to leave in about 30 minutes so I scroll for 5 minutes to wake myself up. First, I skim the notifications on my lock screen to see two email news articles. One being The New York Times covering the population decline due to newer generations having less children. The other being The Washington Post’s coverage on Trump’s father’s dementia. Then, I mindlessly scroll through instagram to see many dog videos before getting out of bed.
6:45 a.m.: I spend my short drive to work listening to Noah Kahan’s newer album.
9:00 a.m.: I have a 10 minute break at work. I spend this time scrolling through TikTok for a quick mind break. I notice a few ads; one being for Taco Bell and the other Kiala Greens powder. Otherwise, it is mostly influencer clothing and interior design content.
11:30 a.m.: After my shift, I go home to get ready and head over to a local coffee shop. During this time I listen to a podcast. Today’s podcast was “Ali Barton: Cognitive (in)flexibility & trusting your gut,” on Women & ADHD with Katy Weber. I listen to this podcast when in need of motivation. Listening to people talk about ADHD, in which I can relate, helps me stay aware of my habits and motivated to work past them. These podcasts are conversational and meant to bring awareness to the subject. However, Ali Barton is a licensed mental health counselor, so this episode came from a professional point of view.
1:00 p.m.: At the coffee shop, it’s time for homework. Today’s assignment is for my Global Feminist Theory class, a reflection on Orientalism and its connection to foreign policy and gender. I reflect on information read in academic journals, checking the names, dates, and publishers.
4:30 p.m.: Before logging off, I check my email then head home. I listen to music during the drive.
5:00 p.m.: I watch the “Quiet on Set” docuseries on HBO Max while cooking dinner. This documentary goes in detail about the unsafe work environment at Nickelodeon. Here is a New York Times article about it.
8:00 p.m.: After 2 episodes, my partner and I head to bed. I spend a little while scrolling on Instagram. A couple things caught my attention.
A Gay Times article on a new IVF breakthrough – IVG – that could give LGBTQ+ couples an opportunity at biological children. Their information comes from a research article by scientists at the Oregon Health & Science University. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I found it interesting and spent some time reading about it.
A video of Arizona State Senator, Eva Burch, sharing that she is pregnant with an unviable fetus. She made the difficult decision to share her need for an abortion to the Arizona senate. Burch’s intentions in sharing her story were to show the reality of what it is like to get the healthcare she needs due to Arizona’s abortion restrictions.
Final Thoughts
After my 24-hour media diet, I am intrigued to do further research on the information that was presented to me. The two articles that stood out to me were the Gay Times IVG, and the New York Times, population decline. These did not necessarily seem fake to me, but they seemed to be extreme.
After doing some research, I have found that in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) has not yet been tested on humans. In fact, it could be even two decades before we see this happen. While the information is not necessarily false, it is quite far-fetched.
The New York Times article mentions that the economic boost, relying on the high population, is “about to change.” This is also far fetched as the population is projected to rise up until after 2080.
As a result, I will put efforts in paying closer attention to the wording used compared to the actual information being presented.
Overall, I saw much less questionable content than I expected. However, I am aware that this could be dangerous as a lot of disinformation content is staged as factual. I notice that I am more inclined to fact-check Gay Times as I have found their articles to be very far-fetched many times before. I find this to be a pattern on social media in general as the more intriguing content is more likely to be shared. Many news outlets, whether with intentions to share factual information or not, want attention drawn to their articles over others.