OTM: Automatic Attitudinal Responses

The way I would structure my On The Media assignments is that I would always start out with an overview of whichever particular story that I was covering then I laid my opinion out in the next paragraph. I would follow that up with the 5 different contexts (physical, psychological, social, cultural, and temporal). When it came to my opinion, on some post I remained to stay objective while on others, I just said exactly how I was feeling.

OTM 1: Roanoke Catastrophe!

I definitely had my share of primary certitude regarding this post because I have strong feelings when it comes to gun violence. It seems like within the last year or two that there have been too many incidents and tragedies with shootings. Whether it has to do with police officers (no matter the race) killing what looks to be innocent citizens or other citizens (e.g. Sandy Hook) unleashing bullets on other people. I don’t think that guns are the problem, I believe that certain people with guns are the problem. Now I haven’t had anyone in my family die by a horrific situation like this but the reason I believe that I feel so strong about it is because I’m tired of turning on the TV and hear another story about a killing. I tend to be more affected when it comes to children and innocent citizens because I always think about if that was my family. It doesn’t seem like you can go anywhere without feeling insecure about your safety.

OTM 2: Offer a Helping Hand Instead of a Voice

This post was talking about the photographs of kids, showing a graphic devastation of what had happened to them. It specifically had to do with the refugee boy who was shown fully clothed with his head plowed into the sand but unconscious because he drowned. What about the other image of the little girl running through the street naked stung by napalm. Writing about those images in this moment made my cringe and take a pause for a second and that is why I mentioned that we are blessed here in the United States. Most of us are, perhaps because there are homeless people. My automatic attitudinal response (AAR) unveils itself on this post because I’ve always lived in America so I am only accustom to one type of living. The reason I don’t want to just be a voice is because I believe that you aren’t fully committing by word of mouth. Actions speak louder than words and in my opinion, I live an excellent live so I want to make a change by helping others prosper.

OTM 3: Kim Davis! Right or Wrong?

 I was heavily opinionated when it comes to Kim Davis and the decision she made with the gay couple denying marriage licenses to them. Now I have an ethnocentric position regarding Kim Davis solely by her behavior towards the gay couple. I am a Christian just like her so I was not judging her based on her religion and I wasn’t even mad at the fact that she doesn’t support gay marriage but going against the law is another story. I do believe she was arrested on the morals she believes in but now that I have taken some time to read my post and react, I do think it was the correct decision to follow through with the arrest because it violates the law. I remained to stay objective about it although I support gay marriage because I personally don’t find it offensive that she doesn’t support gay marriage because tons of people don’t. The only big problem I had like I said was that she went against the law.

OTM 4: Primary Debates 2015

I seemed to have a hidden presumption when talking about Donald Trump and the presidential debates of 2015. To be honest, I didn’t have much of a background on Trump at all, I mean I knew who he was and that he hosted “The Apprentice,” but not a lot beyond that. I didn’t really know a lot about the type of character he was but who doesn’t know his famous slogan? “You’re Fired.” I feel like I used this given information plus some negative information that I have received from friends and family about him and automatically judged his character. Stating all that, I still don’t want him to run our country because I find him to be a compulsive liar and I don’t really trust anything he says plus thinking of him with all the authoritative power that is granted to come, I’m afraid that he’ll continue to plunge our country downwards.

OTM 5: Social Media Campaigns

Social Media is a topic that I have particular certitudes with because I’ve had many experiences with it and it’s something that changes on a daily basis. This post had to do with social media campaigns and I was saying that the Internet can either help or hurt people. The example Bob Garfield described was about this woman named Nicole who found a solution for her cancer through a campaign. Now she didn’t actually find a cure off Facebook but she liked a page which featured people who were in the same position as she was which then somebody offered her information about a certain doctor that she needed to go see. By that person’s generosity, she was able to get cured. I also said how social media can hinder someone as well by mentioning the show, “Catfish”. My example is that I have followed girls on Instagram simply because they are cute. In doing so, I make sure I am careful about the information I post on the Internet because it could be some creeper behind that computer who will stalk me especially if I distribute personal information.

OTM 6: Darkode, Are We Really Safe?

I had an automatic attitudinal response about hackers because I had an experience that happened to my mom over the summer break when someone who claimed to be the IRS called her telling her to send an amount of money or she was going to jail. My primary certitudes about hackers is that they are con artist and are willing to say whatever they need to in order to extract specific information out of you. I don’t know how I would’ve handled that situation if I was in my mom’s shoes because I am gullible but at the same time, I think you would know if you paid your taxes or not. Also when it comes to signing up for things on websites, I try and hold myself accountable for my actions and watch out for certain material that they might ask me for. This might sound corny but I after I fill something out online that wants me to provide the company with my address, phone number, etc. I always have my mom double check it because she can usually spot if something is off or if it’s a scam. So when it comes to hackers, I try my best to monitor myself.

OTM 7: Playboy Covering Up!

Looking back on this post that was put up about a little over a week ago, I’m now realizing that I am a hypocrite of my words. I wasn’t lying when I said I have never subscribed to Playboy when I was younger because my mother held me to higher standards. At the same time, I don’t like to view women as objects but in some cases, I do just to be aroused. It’s the truth and I do feel a little cautious and prejudged by admitting to it but I realized I was somewhat being deceitful. I do have an ethnocentric position on this because I feel like being a male alone, I will be viewed as dirty and cruel for wanting my own personal satisfaction. I am, however, glad that the magazine company has decided to cover up the women for their own sake so these women can have some sense of respect. I’ve never heard anyone talk about a playboy women in a positive manner regarding her “outstanding personality” or “fantastic smile” to throw out some examples. I usually only hear about them in sexual terminologies and I find it to be extremely unfortunate. I feel like I have an AAR about women’s rights and the faults that come with that because I have a sister. I feel bad for women in our society because they are supposed to stay in the house and cook meals and clean but at the snap of a guy’s fingers, they’re supposed to adjust themselves to be sexy. It’s extremely unfair.

I absolutely loved participating doing the weekly OTM Post because I know that I learned so much valuable information that I would’ve never known about before. The problem that I have is that I am never usually aware of what is going on around me and that is rather dangerous, I don’t watch the news unless it just happens to be on. When I was little, I didn’t have the full knowledge to understand everything happening surrounding myself but I couldn’t do anything about it and I frankly didn’t care. Now that I am 20 years old (about to be 21, November 30^th) and still don’t watch informs me that I need to pay much more attention and I feel that the OTM Post has opened me up in that way.

There is something about listening to a podcast rather than watching a newscast on television, I think it’s just the fact that you are using your ears to listen attentively and reflect. The picture for some people including myself sometimes can be a distraction and I’ll kind of tune out whatever the newscaster is saying. Although if I don’t have the option of the pictures then I find myself fully engaged in the conversation and reacting on a much more personal level.