Week 1: Media Autobiography

When we talk about media, the things that came across my mind first are television and internet. Because we can get information so quickly from these two types of mass media. We just simply turn on the television or the computer, and we can find out what is going on in this world. These two types of mass meida may be the most popular among the eight types of mass media.

To me, out of the eight mass media, recordings, and radio are not my favorites because I have to use my imagination when getting information from these media. I would say that I am a visual learner. When I was a toddler, books would probably be the first medium that I used to receive information. My mother would buy me books that have big words and big pictures for me to learn. As I was growing up, I used books a lot more frequently like everybody else because we all learned things from textbooks at school. If the books consist of pictures or other visual aids, I would definitely read the books. Therefore, I do not like to read other books like fiction as they contain words only. Even though books are not my favorite, I would still read books as a medium to receive information. When I was growing up, I did not read newspapers because there are words all over the page. After I got into middle school, I started to read newspaper daily. The reason was that the newspaper was free and could be found in each subway station in Hong Kong. Therefore, I developed a habit to read newspapers on my way to school. However, after I came to the United States, my habit was curbed because I find the newspapers in US are boring. The newspapers did not attract me to read. In Hong Kong, the editors and reporters of newspapers and magazines always use big bold titles as headlines, which always make poeple curious and attract them to read. In US, I only read magazines, and I never read newspapers.

Television and Internet are my favorites. As I mentioned, they are very convenient. I can just sit at home and still be able to know all the things that are happening in the world right now. In the US, the drama and movies sometimes have some sex scenes or violence scenes; however, in Hong Kong, not a lot of sex scenes and violence scences will be shown on TV because people in Hong Kong are a little more conservative. Those scenes will not be banned, but there will be a big chance that parents will complain and report to the authority. In the US, people maybe a little more open-minded, and there more channels for parents to choose for their minors; therefore, the situation is better. In today's world, people (including me) cannot live without computers. People can barely live without turning on the computers everyday and do something else instead. For example, students will take online class, and they will be asked to read some materials online and write a response to it. Business people will send e-mails to their business partners, they have to check e-mails everyday. Internet is powerful, green, and it makes everything efficient.