Christiansen Media Literacy Blogs

Serial : The Best Podcast of All Time           Every morning, I wake up at 5:40, make myself a cup of coffee and sit in the chair in my living room where I can rest my feet on the windowsill and stare out at my quiet street. While I adjust and wake up, I put in my earbuds and listen to Serial , an investigative non-fiction podcast narrated by Sarah Koenig and co-produced by Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder. It won a Peabody  Award after rising to popularity in 2014 by studying the murder of Hae Min Lee and the mishandling of the subsequent trial.          This is a quality piece of journalism because the producers present as much information as possible by guiding listeners through the events without forcing an opinion down their throat. Koenig and Snyder present conclusions, analyze evidence, and sympathize with all parties without making their opinions explicitly clear.          This is the kind of journalism that “the Media” needs. Koenig and Snyder do an excellent job of m

                                                                  Intro Log: My Relationship With “the Media”           A woman approaches my friend and I while we are sitting at a local café. We are speaking casually, our stories blocking out the homework that sprawls across the table. The stranger’s orange-bronzed face is pulled back into an unnatural smile, though her hazel eyes gleam warmly. Through bleached teeth she praises us for being able to hold casual conversation without our phones. I take a slow sip of steaming coffee, flashing my friend an annoyed glance. We thank her politely and return to our conversation as the plastic woman wobbles to her Uber in pumps taller than her.          My friend and I brushed off the incident, but this woman has become the first in a long line of patronizing adults who have tainted my relationship with the media. Snobby middle-aged parents claim to admire my family because I don’t have social media, as if I am a