(10) MM 2003 - Tiffany Wiley

Listening Posts (10)

Listening Posts vary in definition. It can be a point in the process where companies can collect and analyze feedback from their customers. It can be a station for intercepting electronic communications. It also can mean separating two main reports and looks at another media story or event of the week. In assuming those definitions, it all portrays as news being dispersed throughout the world by communication. 

Listening Posts are shared amongst individuals that possibly knew nothing of the incident that is being talked about. Imagine walking in a public area such as a convenience store or a clothing store and you get informed of the latest news just by shopping. I know that has happened to us all before. Sometimes people call it ear hustling. I know I have been in situations that I have learned about various incidents from shopping, walking around campus, enjoying a good meal, or out on vacation. 

There has been many times where I have over heard my parents talking about what they have just previously watched on the news. When I was a lot younger, I didn't pay much attention to what was being discussed about. The older I got I began to get more and more interested on the conversation to where I would take it upon myself to research it. The more I was able to understand what things really meant the more I would become afraid. 

Listening Posts are not just about reported news. This could be news in the family or news on campus. Talking amongst friends on campus informed me on a lot of situations. Some campus incidents including friends becoming pregnant, the rankings of the school in which we stand academically and athletically, killings on campus, and suicides on campus. I was informed on a lot of new campus information when I was a freshman and still is receiving more to this day. 

In all honesty, I feel that some forms of news should make you a bit timid or afraid. After analyzing listening posts I became more eager with obsession of research. What makes Listening Posts so unique is that you don't even have to have a desk top, computer, phone, or tablet. If you just listen and pay attention to your surroundings, you would be surprised at what all you could learn.