After five weeks of digital media literacy class I have learned a few things:
- My digital media consumption is fairly average given my age.
- I’m not nearly as smart as I think, at recognizing sponsored content.
- I should be a better contributor.
With this in mind as I set off to accomplish this week’s task of curating sources on my chosen topic of Harry and Meghan. I kept the top two things i have learned in mind. This allowed me to make the third point concerning contributing, as well rounded as possible.
Here are five places I found current solid information on Harry and Meghan.
1. Their website, SussexRoyal, is filled with current solid content. The site had quite a few question and answer sections concerning Harry and Meghan’s exit that spoke to first hand facts. The transparency surrounding important issues such as finances and royal responsibilities was refreshing.
2. Their Instagram is also filled with not only photos but also a newly released video about Meghan’s stint as a guest editor for British Vogue. According to their personal website they hope to share more on social media without the constraints of the royal family media requirements.
3. Harry and Meghan make great fodder for the morning talk shows. The Today Show is doing a good job of covering whenever something large or small happens and include video clips from the show that focus on the couple. Just this week they covered two major stories concerning a trip to Stanford and how they fired their staff of 15 people in the U.K.
4. The Guardian offers a nice British spin on the issue. You can find a good mix of opinion and fact pieces. They are clearly labeled as such and allow the reader quite a bit of thought provoking content. Today, an opinion piece concerning women bashing Meghan was well written and full of content I had not seen in other places.
5. I would be remiss if I did not include the BBC as a good source for finding factual unbiased Harry and Meghan information. They do not have a large amount of content because they do not cover small stories about the couple. They do have a nice folder if you want to reminisce about their wedding.
While I have learned some things, I would have to admit my media consumption is fairly unchanged since the start of the class. I find myself still starting my day with social media such as Facebook and Twitter. I then jump to my New York Times daily update email to get my news. I still watch the news at 5 P.M. to get a quick local recap and I close my nights with scrolling through social media before bed.
The one change that has occurred since staring this class is my consumption of British news outlets like BBC, The Guardian and the Daily Mail. In finding the information for today’s content, I went to all of these and ultimately chose two as good sources. Since it was a work day for me, this was a solid chunk of my media consumption. I did take the opportunity to peek at a BBC article about the environmental impact of a vegan diet. I found some scary new facts about oyster mushrooms that may keep me away from all fungi in the near future. While mushrooms are out, the BBC may be in for a new media source.
