The Beginning of GRA 345.1

It has definitely been a culture shock transitioning from the U.S. to Southern Spain, and finally to the long awaited destination, Madrid. Even from the first few classes in Visual Issues in the Media, I´ve learned how different the culture in Spain is in comparison to the United States. When I do look at the media here, I try my best at all times to distance myself from being American and having a biased view; through this I have seen both positives and negative aspects in the Spanish media.
The first thing I noticed about the media here in Spain is that it is liberal and opinionated; the media really has no restrictions to how one-sided an argument can be. The newspapers themselves are outwardly left-sided or right-sided, a few being neutral as well. While the newspapers outwardly choose a political stance, the journalists also are not hesitant to fully support or criticize an event, person, or political decision. This is really far from how the news works in the United States where news must be indifferent to sides in order to be valid and credible. U.S. journalists practice the form of writing that tells a story based strictly on facts.
The lack of censorship in Spanish media was also very surprising. I have seen many gossip magazine covers here with topless women on the front cover. Although these women may be on the beach, American media uses censorship even in gossip magazines to avoid vulgar pictures in the media and any sort of nudity. It may be because while America acknowledges sex and sexuality as a big part of our culture, it still feels the need to oppress it in its media. Spain on the other hand embraces sexuality and sex as part of the culture and really finds no need to deny its presence through its media. As of my first month here in Spain, these are the biggest things I have learned and I hope the longer I live here the more I will be able to open my eyes to even more things.