(The Secret Life of Walter Mitty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voZ2CJUJXmk )
My name is Gili Loew and a senior here at Hunter College, majoring in Communications with a concentration in Media Analysis, and minoring in Human Rights.
Growing up in Israel we did not have more than two TV networks, two big newspapers which represented each side of the political arena, and a few cable channels. Our exposure to what is happening in the world was limited and my times biased.
As our country always attracts so much controversy, and it is so much more complicated than black and white, and who are the bad guys vs. who are the good ones, I decided that watching the news in Israel was tiring, manipulating, and at times obnoxious. more than once I have heard the adults say, "I don't see a point in watching the news anymore" or "I stopped reading the newspaper because it is bad news all around." Inside I was angry and frustrated that people around me get that impression of the world because this is what the media is choosing to deliver to their newspaper pages and TV screen.
As I grew older and managed to shape my own opinion on matters of the world, I realized how important media is in showing us on one hand the reality but on the other, how is the reality portrayed by the outlet and people it is given or represented by. As a person who likes to fight for is fair, equal and right, I decided to pursue a media and human rights career, in order to use media as a mirror and not as a mind manipulator. This way, I could help not only viewers who are seeking for the truth and reality of places they cannot reach on their own, but also to those who are ranked high up in our world hierarchy and financial abilities, who could and should witness the atrocities of our planet. In this way Vice News and Witness play a big role model to my ambitions.
I am hoping to enter the diplomacy and human rights field with much more knowledge of the technological tools we are given in our modern world that could help underdeveloped, neglected and even dangerous parts of our planet, to reach an equal level of surviving, safety, and fortune we have here in America and other western countries. With that being said I do admit that my favorite media outlets are photographs and films, that touch my emotions in ways that other ways of art cannot. The work of a director (and I consider an excellent photograph to be a directed piece of art) is a brilliant way of accessing people's hearts without even realizing they are taking something with them when leaving the theater/photo exhibit.
I hope to create something like this on my own one day, and be a part of a changing world.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2011/feb/24/john-moore-photojournalist-bahrain
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