JEM Students Explore Representation of Social Groups in Mass Media
JREM 466 Spring 2023 Class: Assistant Professor Guy Harrison leads the Spring 2023 JREM 466 class. The class examined the representation of different social groups in mass media.
Senior Colton Pennington celebrates his video essay winning three categories as part of the JREM 466 Spring 2023 Video Essay Festival.
As part of the School of Journalism and Electronic Media’s JREM 466 Media, Diversity and Society class, students produced video essays examining how different social groups are represented in mass media.
The student video essays were submitted as part of JREM 466 Spring 2023 Video Essay Festival where a panel of JEM faculty judged the competition. Winners were announced at the end of the spring 2023 semester.
JEM Assistant Professor Guy Harrison said one of the goals of the class is to train the next generation of storytellers to tell those stories responsibly. He said certain social groups are underrepresented or unfairly represented through mass media, and the class offers students a survey of how different social groups have been historically, and continue to be, represented.
“I think the class has relevance because everyone is a media consumer,” Harrison said. “Whether that be social media, television, movies, music, I think helping our students be aware of the messages that they’re getting through mass media, as they are consuming it, also helps them.”
Harrison said inviting other faculty to judge the video essays as part of a video festival was a way to showcase some of the best work students produced.
Taking first place in multiple categories as part of the 2023 festival was JEM senior Colton Pennington.
His video essay, “The Model Minority Stereotype”, examined the history of mass media portraying Asian-Americans as the ideal minority group in America and the impact that has on the community. Pennington’s video essay won Best Overall Video Essay, Outstanding Technical Production, and Outstanding Scholarly Achievement.
Pennington said this was the first time he completed a project such as this and it was a great feeling to know faculty enjoyed the video. He said he deeply enjoyed the class, especially discussing the topics his classmates were covering, and hearing other people’s perspectives.
“I think this class is one that would be useful to anyone here at the University of Tennessee, but is especially important for those who are looking at working in the media,” Pennington said. “Being able to see how certain groups have been harmfully portrayed in the past, and the present as well, can help us to not repeat those mistakes and hopefully make the media more positive and inclusive going forward.”
Other winners included JP Vasquez, who won the Outstanding Narration spot for his “Racial Ambiguity in Media” video essay and Macy Roberts, who won Class Favorite for her “Mixed Race Couples in Media” video essay.
To view all the video essays, click here.