Mormons in the media has always been an interesting topic to me because, obviously, I'm a Mormon.
The first session I attended talked about Mormons gaining publicity with the media, and coming into the spotlight. Originally, the media directed at the LDS church had been pretty negative, portraying our religion as a cult, devil worshipers, etc... Although a lot of that criticism and negativity has continued throughout the years, with the recent Presidential election and Mitt Romney becoming a very prominent Mormon, a lot of that media attention has turned towards curiosity and searching questions. It was interesting to see the difference in opinions between those that vigorously oppose anything that has to do with the church, and those that are truly curious.
The second session I attended dealt with The Book of Mormon Musical. (The good thing about writing in a blog, is that I can express my opinion. And sometimes, it doesn't match up with everything I learn.) This session, I found out that I never want to be a journalist that goes against the teachings of the church. I remember one girl explicitly saying how, if the musical had a rating it would be rated "R", and then goes on to say how wonderful it was and how, as Mormons, we need to be "open minded".
As much as I agree with the last statement, I couldn't validate her opinion. I couldn't complement her opinion with my own, because I've always been taught that the prophet's word is not something to be taken lightly.
Other than that, I found that the Church had paid for an advertisement in the playbill and thought that was a wonderful marketing strategy, because, obviously the Book of Mormon Musical is not church-endorsed, so most of the audience wouldn't be members. So re-directing them to the church website with all their questions was probably a really smart move.
All in all, the Mormon Media Studies Symposium was intriguing and enlightening. I really enjoyed it.
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