This video was an interesting change of pace from other assignments that made me think on a smaller scale in comparison to this one. The video, explaining how the media can over sensationalize stories or instill fear in individuals, made an effort to educate how even their own program had been problematic by suggesting the problems of a small minority could affect a majority in the near future.  Although I’ve learned that fear appeals aren’t the most persuasive way to persuade others, media’s wide scope and influence makes it hard for people to not come into contact with individuals who have been influenced by these appeals. This has made me consider the older generation’s fears more, as they had limited sources of information in comparison to us and therefore were more likely to agree with peers on information presented in news channels. Our younger generations now have had so much more contact to factually-based and non-fact-based news in the early years of their life, it will be interesting to see how future generations learn to adapt to the rampant spread of lies and fear appeals through different forms of media.

This picture represents the younger generation’s contact with a variety of technology and media sources from early on, which I don’t see as either a positive or a negative in itself. With proper education, the younger generation may be more capable of determining fake from real news than older generations are.