The New World: Media

If you were to ask about scale and hierarchy, white space, and soundbites back in January, I would’ve stared at you with a blank face. Coming into winter semester, I had no clue about anything film or writing for the eye. Nothing. Just writing articles from classes in high school.

Media Literacy

            Sources, videos, news sites are screaming to be verified. Not by their supervisors but content consumers. When engaging with news, social media, and online content, critical thinking is essential. Bias lives everywhere and misinformation spreads quickly, so as a media consumer, we must verify, verify, verify EVERYTHING.

            Dan Gilmor in Mediactive that we must be skeptical of everything and exercise our judgement of what we’re reading. Evaluating the credibility of sources helps prevent misinformation.

Telling the Good Stuff

            Over the semester, my awareness has expanded on content creation. Sure, I knew about storytelling and “that stuff,” as I would call it. But I learned the ability of becoming a good storyteller.

            Being a good storyteller is crafting a piece where the audience is engaged, gets educated, and can feel something. Knowing who you’re writing to and why can make the audience resonate with your story. In my articles, I try to use emotional language so the audience can feel something and stay engaged with the piece.

 In my second article, I wrote about the Apalachee school shooting because it happened so close to my hometown—20 minutes to be exact. I used real stories on the day of the shooting to connect with my audience and make them feel empathy from the side of a chief deputy and a student who was present during the shooting.

A pic from my visual essay project

Finding my voice as a storyteller hasn’t been easy. Usually when I write, I write to get it done. But I found my voice as a storyteller by writing about something I’m passionate about. Knowing a lot of depth about your story creates your voice. I’ve become really involved in my research to understand exactly what I want to say.

Live, Laugh, Learn New Things

            From creating a podcast about the TikTok ban, a visual essay about a protest for democracy in downtown Greenville, to a mini documentary on the order on the increase in clear-cut logging, I would say I learned a thing or 2 about digital storytelling.

            I flew a drone. I collaborated with my colleagues on projects. I learned a whole new software that I was scared to learn because I stuck to Canva for a long time. I learned about video production and how time management is one of the most important things in filming (and life, duh).

            And you, reading this on my e-portfolio. I created a website too. I learned all these new skills that will take me far in my future classes, internships, jobs. I mean, I already got hired this upcoming summer to create a website for my dad’s custom-home construction business.

            From learning about a new language through Digital Storytelling, I’ve developed a new interest I want to explore. I want to continue working in video production and photography. Being behind the camera and directing my projects was definitely my favorite part of this class. My dream job is directing my own movie. But, right now, we’re starting off with directing mini documentaries and public service announcements.

Woman Up

            From the intimated freshman girl who had barely any experience in digital media/storytelling to a confident rising sophomore woman, I’ve not only learned new digital creation, but I’ve grown as a person. My confidence in my work and myself has skyrocketed.

            Even if you’re not a digital media/communications/other social majors, I’ve learned so much from Digital Storytelling that I will carry on into what life has for me!