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Student
knowledge grows with media coverage
In
the age of information, it is important
for students to be knowledgeable about current
events and other news going on around them.
A 2003 article by Henry B. Haitz III states
that newspaper readership in young adults
has been declining since the 1980s. Even
the average age of Sports Illustrated readers
is 38. Is it the lack of availability that
is causing this decline or simply disinterest
on the part of young adults?
On
one hand, censorship of the media has been
an ongoing issue all over the world. In
some countries, censorship is a huge part
of their media system. The government controls
every piece of information that goes in
and out of their newspapers, but in the
United States, this is not the case. While
censorship exists on some levels, Americans
are allowed more access to knowledge here
than in virtually any other country in the
world. The First Amendment allows us to
speak freely and publish as we see fit,
with a few important limitations.
On
the other hand, even with this availability
of information, many young adults do not
see the importance of reading a newspaper
or watching a news broadcast to get much
more than the latest gossip on Brad and
Jennifer. This is a rather dismal state
for an academic community to be in.
Most
students attend universities to educate
themselves in order to advance in their
chosen career path. Without knowledge of
the world around you and what is going on
in it, a degree means little as far as social
advancement within a company or practice.
While
it is most important to get an education,
it is also important to be aware of social
issues, even if it's just to have something
to talk about around the water cooler every
day. If you don't have something to discuss
with an educated community, you are excluding
yourself from a very rewarding network of
people who can help you move forward in
your career. Entertainment news, though
interesting, is only one of many facets
of life, especially when one is trying to
establish a reputation as a well-rounded,
educated person.
From
a different standpoint, imagine if every
media outlet were suddenly to disappear.
Nobody would know what is going on in the
world around them. We would never know if
our troops were surviving in Iraq, we would
never know how to pack for an upcoming trip,
we would have no idea what is going on in
our town or even state. Imagine not having
any information available to determine who
we should vote for in upcoming elections.
The already low participation in voting
would drop even further and America would
be controlled by the small amount of people
who would actually have access to the information.
Nobody
likes to think they are ignorant, and information
pioneers created ways to reduce ignorance
by increasing the availability of information
through inventions such as the printing
press and cable television. If these means
are available to us, we should take every
opportunity to utilize them and educate
ourselves beyond what is required in the
classroom. As the cliche states, "Knowledge
is power." If you consider the alternative,
it certainly is true.
Lesley
Nickus is the assistant city editor for
the Online Forty-Niner.
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