Merging Media Venues. . . . .

As a group, we vary significantly. We are all college students, yet we put varying degrees of significance upon staying in touch with what's going on in the media. In today's day and age, it's impossible to avoid the news. In times past, if you didn't pay for the paper, and you didn't watch the news, it was pretty easy to be completely out of touch. However, things have changed! We have all definitely proven that we spend time online, and as such, we're all familiar with the HUGE headlines that occur. (You know, the world coming to an end and all. . . .) At the same point in time, how much time we put into the smaller items totally varies. Most of us appear to be a "snippet" newser. We pick up what we can going through our day, but we don't really seek it out. That's how I am; that's how it appears the majority of my classmates are. How we get our snippets, however, varies greatly. There's the newspaper crowd. . . . but they're really small. There's the TV posse', and they seem to lean towards that bent for the mindlessness of it all. Then, there's the online group. We all seem to be a member of this one. We catch the headlines when we hit up a search engine, and from there, we delve deeper if we so desire. If it's interesting, we'll check it out. . . . if not, we'll move on. A few of us (and I am one of them) use word-of-mouth. A special friend, or a parent, makes sure that we aren't left out of the loop. Radio is another venue that many lean towards. About the only time this group seems to have to themselves is the time spent in commute. :-)

Ooo, civic literacy! Time to pull out the big words. . . . . . Civic literacy seems to imply an "active" participation, and most of us do NOT seem to actively seek the news out. The big bits worm their way into our lives, and we assimilate it as we will. What we get, we get, and if we don't. . . . who really cares? Certainly not us, the college aged crowd; we've got life going on!

So we welcome the bloggers of past back into our midst. . . . Hedges would probably call us lazy, stupid, and self-absorbed, since we were too involved with our own lives to seek out what's going on in any other venue. Sullivan would more than likely encourage us to stay a bit more connected, since this is life as we know it, and it's the only we'll have. . . . live it in the moment!

As far as an actual discussion, this one is a bit difficult to facilitate, being completely honest. It's hard to compare and contrast such a personal matter. Some of us prefer to listen (radio), some prefer to read (paper), some prefer to watch (TV), and all of us must be online, and, at least on occasion, emerge from our cave and interact with others. Sullivan and Hedges obviously hold the news in high regard; that's part of their living. However, a discussion of OUR habits boils down to just that. . . . . a preference. We're all different, and while we might seem to follow the same pattern as someone else. . . . in the end, it's just a preference.