crossing my fingers... sure hope I went down the right path.

As I read the prompt for this blog I was very happy that we were asked what parts confused us… so let me just go ahead and tell you that everything confused me. Well, the first time I read the article at least, and even after the second time I read it, I still ventured to a fellow classmate’s blog to see if the idea I had about it was on track.


Then I read the darn thing a third time. I’m still not promising any amazing thoughts, though…


Anyhow, the press sphere. An interesting concept proposed by Jeff Jarvis about how the media and press has changed the way people perceive information through the news and other news sources. Jarvis focuses on how stories can really be developed, or made, depending on a different input, rather than just the story itself. He mentions how with the addition of links and discussions online the story can take a new direction or meaning, and the idea may even be distorted.
Jarvis says that we have a desire or need that is fulfilled through the addition of all these extras when the press ‘enhances’ a story. In his diagram of the sphere some of the influences are peers, government, work, and media – just to name a few – and it is easy to see how these could influence a person into seeing something a little distorted.
I like how a fellow classmate said something about the press sensationalizing the material to really get the public interested. It is sad that in order for our society today to pay attention to basic news, it has to be all glammed up with additives. A story in the world today can’t merely survive on its own without the ‘other stuff’ that makes it interesting. It seems as if in order for a person to make their own opinion of something, or to understand something, they must have the opinion or ideas of someone or something (government, press, etc.) else.