Does Media Drive Culture or Does Culture Drive Media? (VIDEO)

quotI think about culture in terms of our collective consciousnessquot replied Cassandra James who is currently making history as the first transgender actor to play a transgender role Dr Terry Randolph on a daytime soap opera ABC39s General Hospital quotI think that we are all connected and there39s only one race the human race but we39re not always capable of navigating the magnitude of that all the time Culture sort of oscillates from these giant waves of collective consciousness to small family units It really lives in storytelling the kinds of stories that we tell just by being in the world and the way that we interact with each otherquotquotCulture is a big mix of everything The good the bad and the uglyquot said actress Manni L Perez the recipient of an Imagen Award for her gueststarring role in NBC39s Law ampamp Order SVU quotI39m Caribbean which is big mix of things in the pot from indigenous to African and European things that go further back beyond me I feel very blessed to be able to share the story of my family and my ancestors my people so they can get a better idea of who I am and who we are as a collectivequotquotIt39s definitely a chicken or egg situation and incredibly fluid on a daytoday basisquot said ESPN staff writer Joon Lee who was nominated for the 2021 Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting quotWhat we see represented in the media whether it39s traditional media or on social media is a direct reflection of the change that we demandquot Lee went on to share that he was discouraged from pursuing a career in sports media because of his race as there wasn39t a lot of Asian representation in that arena quotI made it my personal mission to be the change I wanted to see within sports mediaquot he declaredquotBecause of the internet and the way we communicate with one another I think we39re seeing it lead more toward culture driving mediaquot commented Ramtin Arablouei host of NPR39s Throughline and a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Audio Reporting quotYou can define culture as the water we swim in If you ask a fish 39How39s the water today39 it won39t know When you39re living in a culture you don39t know the difference until you step out of it These days because of the demand and the push from people who are consuming media we39re seeing media adjust to those demands in a way that gives me optimism for the futurequotquotI think saying that the media drives culture is giving media way more power than it deservesquot James added quotAt the end of the day we created media Media is a fabrication of our society of our technology of our relationship to technology and media itself We created a monster and it got away from us so now it39s not always reflecting culture accurately and that39s the shift that we39re pushing for and demanding Ultimately media is something we made a tool that we invented and I think that shifting that perspective helps to disempower media and helps to empower ourselves in our own storytellingquotThe discussion turned to representation in each of the panelists39 respective industries whether that of acting or journalism Gabriela Baamp241uelos actress and host for Univision Creator Network expressed a universal sentiment quotI want to see a day where we don39t even have to think about diversity or inclusion That it just is When we get to the point where it39s not an issue Where we can all just accept each other just as we are and we don39t have to think about itquotquotI look forward to relaxing a little bitquot James agreed quotIt39s very obvious to me that people still have no idea who trans people are that people have no idea what it means to be Asian in this country to be Asian American I feel a great sense of responsibility in my work but I look forward to a time as things shift and change when I can relax into my authenticity instead of being hyperaware of every part of who I am so I represent everyone all at once I look forward to a time when there39s less pressure on usquotBaamp241uelos similarly shared her hopes for less pressure on actors from minority groups to represent their entire community in a single project a pressure she feels is not bestowed onto nonBIPOC actors quotThere39s a lot of pressure once you get that role a standard set from everyone in my community to look at me and say 39Wow that girl did it she did it39 It39s about time that we get brought into movies and television and media and spotlight that we can be anythingquot she exclaimed quotWe can be from different cultures and ethnicities and not be boxed inquotArablouei shared similar sentiments of wanting the permission to write on topics beyond what correlates to his culture and identity quotYou39re often pigeonholed into doing stories that are only about your community and your own backgroundquot he explained quotFor years white men were able to tell whatever stories they wanted and I think real progress will be when people of different backgrounds can do stories on anything too and aren39t just limited by where they came from and how they lookquotquotJournalism is predominantly a power structure favored toward a lot of white upperclass peoplequot Lee asserted quotThere39s a definite blind spot in terms of how to cover these stories in a way that feels authentic I think that39s especially true during the rise of Stop Asian Hate A lot of media outlets were unprepared to cover those issues with nuance It39s a wider systemic issue in terms of just trying to figure out the best way to cover those stories and making sure people are educated enough to talk about minority issues and communitiesquotJames wrapped up the panel by sharing quotJoon used one of my favorite words 39nuance39 We39re all craving that and I want to share to all those listening and watching today approach your work with empathy I think we39re really suffering as a society due to a lack of empathy There39s such a centering of self and ego that has done a lot of harm and continues to put harm into the world We all need to practice empathy and lead with love because that39s the only way we39re going to come back together and invite people to join us on this journeyquotClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Does Media Drive Culture or Does Culture Drive Media? (VIDEO)

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Juan Ayala

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