STEREOTYPING IN MASS COMMUNICATION
Stereotyping in Mass Communication is one of the reasons why people are demeaning and underestimating those students who are taking up or under the course mass comm. Before I get into details, I just want to explain briefly what Stereotype means. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, stereotype means to believe unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristics are the same. Yes, unfairly. As the saying goes “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Stereotypes are a generalization of characteristics and are often used in a negative of prejudicial sense and are frequently used to justify discriminatory behaviors.
I, personally, as a Broadcasting student, I have received thousands of jokes about mass communication. “Mass comm? Mass comm-portable sa bahay?” “Kaya ka lang nag mass comm kasi walang math” “Gusto mong mag artista noh?” “Diba kahit sino naman pwede maging DJ/Reporter?” and a lot more. Even my relatives and friends are saying those demeaning words to me. I was never got affected nor it changed my mind. My heart will always be dedicated to my course. I took Mass Communication not just because I’m talkative but because I know that I will be a DJ someday or a reporter (well, there’s a fat chance I don’t want to jinx it though). On a more serious note, it is a sad reality that there is not much money in media. But if you’re enjoying what you’re doing then you don’t really have to work for it or consider it as your job and if your heart tells you to do so, go for it.
Before I end my blog, I just want to make things clear for all those who are stereotyping my course which is Mass Communication. Well, first of all, we do have math classes under our course. We don’t usually stay at home to do our projects or our works so you can’t say that “Mass Comm-portable sa bahay”, we have tons of shootings, editing, researching, etc. Yes, I also want to be an artist someday if there’s a chance, why not? Lastly, anyone can be a DJ or a reporter of course, even if you did not take Mass Communication. But it’s still different when you have knowledge about your chosen field. Just like any other courses, we also take our course seriously and we work hard to be what we want to be in the future. We are very talented people, we know how to critic movies. We know the strength and weaknesses of every movie. We also go through hardships, we also take written exams, we do have thesis and finally, we have those sleepless nights. A. LOT. OF. SLEEPLESS. NIGHTS. We are not petiks. That’s buhay mass comm!!