My media experiences go something like this. Currently I get most of my news over the internet, or through the only televised news outlet I watch or pay much attention to called Russia Today. I stay away from Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and the local news typically because I've noticed the superficiality of it. Fox News illustrates this perfectly. I might look over the newspaper sitting on the dinner table each morning and browse over the cover stories and I might read what looks interesting, but other than that I don't really read the newspaper, although I read De Anza's La Voz every week. I love the opinions section most, as it provides sort of an intellectual forum for college-age students, which is interesting.
Typically I stick to the main stories to meet my "quota" of what I need to know in terms of what's going on in the world. As long as I'm familiar with the key issues I'm fine.
I'm an avid reader and I love reading nonfiction. I don't really read any fiction - basically just reading it if it is needed for school. I just can't get a grip on stories and have trouble keeping track of characters, dialogue, and whatnot and I find it confusing. Nonfiction, however, actually teaches you things that can be applied to daily life. Fiction seems to be reserved for entertainment, while nonfiction combines entertainment with productive information. I also like watching documentaries. Some of my favorites are "Loose Change", "The Corporation", or anything dealing with government conspiracy or controversy. I also like reading about secret societies, art, architecture, unexplained phenomena, foreign countries, foreign languages, or anything foreign.
I subscribe to three magazines: Nintendo Power, Popular Science, and Xbox Magazine, through I don't read any of them much anymore as I've lost interest in them and have been more interested in books. I think magazines have withered into yellow journalism and lack the accuracy of books. I think they're too mired in flashy pictures and the articles are more about what is grabs your attention, rather than what's real. Popular Science for instance always has covers showing military technology and "green" this and that and I find it annoying. Magazines seem to lack much philosophical basis.
I'm not a huge movie person but I love psychological sorts of movies, most notably ones by Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange). I think most movies are junk and are merely there to make money. Documentaries spark my interest more on average.
I don't watch tv very much, but I used to be obsessed. The only few channels I watch are PBS, Discovery, and History. I don't watch any dramas or comedies at all but I used to watch Family Guy, Simpsons, and South Park all the time. TV is a similar case to movies - mostly flash and less substance.
I listed to the radio on the way to school but don't really listen to it aside from that. I like the classical channel, classic rock, jazz, and there's this talk radio channel called KPFA 94.1 that I listen to. Some of the guests on these things are just amazingly ignorant about the issues they talk about. For instance they'll talk about banking and guests know nothing about the illegal nature of the Federal Reserve. Or they'll talk about global warming with no word about alternative viewpoints.
I use the internet the most of all the media. I watch a lot of Youtube videos, and read a lot of articles on independent journalism sites. There's this one I like called vigilantcitizen.com where corporate symbolism is explained (look it up). I frequent the sites davidicke.com and I like watching videos about government cover-ups, my favorite being 9/11 and the Kennedy Assassination. Videos with Alex Jones are good too.
Growing up I had little interest in the media and just spent my time playing videogames, watching tv, and whatnot, but now I find it more interesting. Particularly learning about propaganda techniques and the way the media is run and how information is created, etc.
I don't really care about working in the media, as my big interest is art (my major) - specifically architecture and painting. I don't really see a future working in the media because I think it's just mired in corporate greed, mis or disinformation, and everything else. Since alternative sources get little light, it seems like a precarious area to get into.
