Blog Post #5: takeaways from class so far

 So far in class, I’ve been especially interested in learning about Al-Jazeera and how influential it is on countries in the MENA region. I was surprised that I hadn’t heard of Al-Jazeera before since it writes in both Arabic and English. The English section has fewer restrictions from the Qatari government which we learned in class might give the illusion of free speech in this region and have the potential to diffuse tension between neighboring countries. I started thinking about what applications and new sources I frequent the most. I interned at the NY Post this summer and have been frequenting national news sources more often since. Ever since taking this class, I would like to look inward still and outward as well so I can have a more globalized perspective. I have been looking at Al-Jazeera more often with the knowledge that it may be geared more towards a Westernized audience.  

After learning about Star Academy, I was surprised about how it was allowed to air considering it has parallels to democratic political environment. However, we learned that these effects on markets are “indirect articulations rather than direct causations” according to Marwan M. Kraidy in Idioms of Contention: Star Academy in Lebanon and Kuwait.  


 

Link to Photo 


After talking about Star Academy’s interactive environment (along with Al-Jazeera and others) I started considering what my relationship is like with the media. I believe I have a passive relationship with satellite television and often miss the subtleties of what I’m watching because I am on my phone. I have a more active and interactive relationship with social media. For example, I watch Tik Toks and send comical ones to my friends. I will post on other applications, like Instagram or BeReal and react to my loved ones’ posts. While I think it is important to play an active and interactive role in social media, as long as you are not tearing people down for ambiguous reasons (i.e., appearance), I think it can also be amazing to foster a stronger relationship with television too-- there are so many hidden meanings behind the shows I watch and relevant lessons I can learn from them.  


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