First and foremost, just to get it out of the way, I am a senior International Relations concentrator who needs to take a seminar in order to fulfill my concentration requirements. Not to say that that is the only reason why I want to take this course, but it is certainly an important one. There are of course other seminars that I could potentially take, but I am particularly interested in this Global Media seminar as it seems to take a fresh approach to teaching and learning in our technologically advanced world. I for one am not as technologically advanced as I should be, considering I’ve grown up my whole life with a computer; I am just now becoming comfortable with using interactive features of the internet such as posting videos and blogs. However, despite my slow growing knowledge of the internet, I am still a large consumer of media information, be it from radio, television, newspaper, and even the internet (I at least know how to visit websites). Whether we realize it or not, the consumption of both old and new forms of media plays an integral role in shaping our responses to the people and events that constitute both our local society and the greater global society. We learn about important cultural and political issues through our exposure to different forms of media. Every time we turn on the television, or listen to the radio, or surf the internet, we have the opportunity to learn about events that directly affect our lives. Furthermore, using these various forms of media allows us the opportunity to gain insight into events from which we may feel disassociated. Ultimately, there is essentially almost nothing that is not accessible through the use of the various forms of media available to us today. It is up to us as spectators to decide how to internalize (or dismiss) these forms of media and the information that they provide us.

This brings me to Roland Barthes’ essay “Writers, Intellectuals, Teachers.” One of the most important aspects of this essay is Barthes’ analysis of the student-teacher relationship. This analysis can be used as an analogy for the media and its spectators. As the teacher, the media sets out to portray a message or an argument that it believes to be right or fact. All forms of media take their audiences into account, but ultimately it is only the form of media itself that is accountable for the message it relays. Those who construct the media are thus, as Barthes writes, exercising a “will to power.” The media exercises this “will to power” as being the creator of the stories that spectators view as fact, the creators of the lessons from we which we are to learn. As spectators, we take in what the media presents us, often giving the media the same level of authority that one would any teacher. In this role of spectator and student, we dissect, interpret, and internalize what the media gives us. From this process of analysis and internalization we then form our own opinions and life views. As spectators and students, the information we receive from the media is always a subject of our study.

But rather than simply being spectators, taking in what the media gives us, we must also learn to exercise our “will to power.” That is, we must learn not only to view but also to understand and use the various forms of media that are presented to us. This mission of being able to understand and use different forms of media illustrates the potential usefulness of this course. Studying the history and theory of global media allows us to better understand the different forms and their different functions. Studying the production of media allows us the opportunity to create media of our own and to convey our own important messages that can then by interpreted by others. Ultimately, this course has the potential to set us on the path of becoming teachers rather than students.