Reworked Media (Apr. 20)

    Last night, I finished my bio, including a suitable picture. In my opinion, it was relatively professional, and I had thought it portrayed an image I hoped to perceive. However, after taking today's class, I realized there were a plethora more factors to consider in a biography photo. Blurring the background or making it white was something I had already kept in mind, but contemplating the aim of my bio, I realized that the photo did not entirely correspond to the person I was 'advertising' to be. In class today, we were yet again introduced to a new website online that is spontaneous for removing the background of a picture. I tried it out and with just one click it was very successful. However, I think for my case, it was better off to keep the background. Mr.Paterson talked about having a white background to make our picture look as if it is floating on the pages. This style will for sure make the page look clean and portray the person as someone who is put together, but in my opinion, I do not really like a white cut-out background. To me, a bio photo floating in the midst of rows of words is a little odd, and having a picture with the typical rectangle frame makes more sense. 

    Earlier in the class, we went on a stroll outdoors which was extremely relaxing. It was such nice weather, and probably because of the ample vitamin D intake, I felt so content in the sun. Apart from the sentimental aspect, this activity opened my eyes to new perspectives and realizations. Firstly, I've never viewed our school campus in such a critical way, through the lenses of an ‘outsider’. Mr.Paterson gave us an explanation so we could observe things from a completely new perspective, alongside a comparison with reality.

    From such a young age, I have always been told that the outside world, especially media platforms deliberately alter things to make them look better than reality. Since this was such a repetitive statement I had drilled into my brain, I never took the extra step in truly comprehending what it meant. Hearing the teacher talk about media using a very clear example helped me almost unconsciously grasp an idea of how exactly the media is edited. For as long as I can remember, I had tried to read the news in a critical fashion. Apart from a few bias news outlets, I thought the vast majority of sources were all relatively neutral because to me, all they were doing was elucidating what happened. In reality, what topic they decide to pick up, what picture they decide to use and how they crop things out of the picture, who they interview to include in the article, which human they decide to bring up in the article is all factors of an 'edited media source'. I believe/hope that at least a few sources try their absolute best to speak from a neutral standing point, but from the second they decide to write about a certain topic, that in itself is already biased. Establishing the real reality and discovering this in class was a substantial development in my educational mindset. 

    At the beginning of the semester, Mr.Paterson mentioned we will be handling politics. I can not imagine how biased politics would be since there are copious advocates of all generations and backgrounds, all very passionate. Honestly speaking, it is a little nerve-racking to tackles these topics and media in general, but I have a positive feeling this will undoubtedly assist students to attain relevant abilities for the 21st century. 

4/20 notes:

Scotland voting age is 16, know about repercussions 

people are not allowed to alter their position

Aging populations overweighs the young, and 

non-inclusive education.