I stood on my tip-toes with hands clasped behind my back, peering over a sea of bright green; the seemingly endless “Spirit Line” extended beyond my eyes’ reach. “One Oh!” they all chanted with pride. The massive spamming on MySpace, Facebook, text, and AIM had succeeded.

For the past month, I had turned my garage into a sweatshop. From the afternoon heat until the moonlit nights, my team and I sweated each and every day to compile a skit. Our performance was aimed at one goal - to elevate our class spirit. When I glanced into that crowd of cheering seniors, I smiled to myself, seeing how our efforts had inspired the student body to come together, but I quickly come to realization that it wasn’t all accredited to our performance, but rather to the power of the media - the internet and the force of widespread communication, which brought upon our triumph.

I often use the media to reach out to my peers, because through the media, I am able to communicate and convey different perspectives to my audience. Most of the time, they don’t realize it, but once I bring up the topic of media influence, they condemn it as ‘evil.’ They call me Hitler. No, not the sadist that slaughtered the Jews, but the master of propaganda.

Yet, the media has never had as much control as it does now. It has become a channel of communication - a power tool that shapes our views in society and influences our actions. It is everywhere. In order for me to exceed my expectations as the “dictator” I must be fluent in the media. As I delve into the realms of psychology, visual arts, and marketing, I come to understand more and more about this media. It’s easy to see why so many connote it with evil, because it is a force of influence. But the media in itself is not evil. Indeed, Hitler had used it for devastating purposes, but when the media can bring together so many students and spark their school spirit, it is fair to say that the media is not so evil at all.

We live in a media saturated world, a world in which the media constructs and represents reality. I am a member of this world, and a student of this media.