Hey guys, there's something that I've been wondering for a while. Have you ever decided to go travel somewhere or have friends in other places in the world and you read the news and you hear of something really awful and you get worried and start to call your friends to find out if they are all right. last year i spent a month in Israel, Egypt and Jordan just traveling around. I did this all without the permission of my parents, we had been in a little fight and I was a little homeless ha ha, but regardless, we did keep in touch while I was there. I remember my parents calling me constantly and saying this just happened and that happened and he was killed and there was a bombing here and how am I not scared and when am I coming home. Now this is all fine because that is just a natural parent thing, that I'm sure we are all sick of. Also there was a huge storm in the New York area last year sometime and my roommate got a call from relatives in California asking if he was okay, if he had managed to keep his stuff from flooding, if the electricity was all okay and so on. My roommate stepped outside and said that it wasn't even raining. Now what I am actually getting at is that I'm trying to understand why the media is biased. The media only seems to talk about the bad things that are going on. while I was in Israel I never experienced any of the things that were being talked about in the news, sure perhaps I was lucky, but I would like to believe that we are getting biased information. The media reflects and talks about the things that we want to hear. It wouldn't be successful if they talked about things that people didn't want to listen to. Which makes me believe that we as a people seem to only get pleasure out of hearing negative things. Earlier today I was watching a talk on Ted.com by Cameron Sinclair who is one of the founders of Architects for Humanity. he was talking about a bunch of projects that they had done in developing countries developing housing for them and also local areas in the US. After Hurricane Katrina, we all heard about everything negative associated with the rebuilding process, about how so many people lost their homes and had to move to other areas, about Fema and about the government not being able to handle the situation. But he also said that there was something that wasn't mentioned in the media, and he didn't understand why the media selectively portrays what it wants. He talked about the town of Biloxi, Mississippi that didn't wait for the government to aid them, and didn't wait for Fema and instead took the rebuilding of the town into its own hands and started a volunteer organization amongst its own residents to rebuild their entire community. And there was no word of this in the mainstream. So my question is this. Is the information provided to us in the media catered to what we actually want to hear? Do we as a people only ask to hear the bad things? And if so what are the reasons. I feel that there is a huge problem with this and that perhaps we need to reconstruct our entire information system in the united states. I don't think I know how this can be done, but I feel that it is possible. There exists such a thing as a Measure of Happiness, and Americans are some of the unhappiest people in the world. We strive to achieve so much, we are one of the most developed countries in the world, we have all the opportunities in the world open to us. We don't live in shanties and we have sanitation and clean drinking water. Every necessity in the world we have and yet we are some of the unhappiest people in the world. This strikes me as somewhat of a strange occurrence. We strive so much to be at the top but we sacrifice happiness int he process. We need to rethink our situations, and perhaps this starts with just changing our demand, and surrounding ourselves with happy thoughts. Media surrounds us with everything negative we could ask for and if we don't want the negative we have to look for the positive, shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't we be abundant with everything positive and then try to take ourselves down to earth to see the negative? Any thoughts?
4 comments:
I feel that the media doesn't reflect negative things because society wants to hear that. Of course in any setting there will always exist some small form of bias. As an individual you have to be aware of that throughout life.
The United States has a high murder and homicide rate. Yet, other countries exist who have similar societies and environments as the U.S. so why the U.S.?
What is shown on the nightly or daily news is what effects societies actions on life. In the U.S. the news often highlights the dangers, murders, homicides and guns all before the first commercial break. The news shows that terror instigates Americans living their lives in constant fear. In cities in Canada it is the polar opposite. People don't lock their doors and don't go about each day fearing guns or rapists. And on their nightly news the first headline stories concern more simple, lighthearted events not the horror and violence. If the stories on the news changed so would society.
As for Israel, most people are lucky enough to not have to experience the effects of attacks and terrorism. Despite the fact that during this year alone there have been approximately 17 terrorist attacks within Israel.
So then wouldn't the us benefit in a different form of news. If the news is a reflection of what effects societies actions doesn't that also meant that the news is what makes people react to those catalysts. It seems that if the format in which information is presented in the US would change then the people would act differently. So why is it that noone has taken that initiative. If the news is what allows americans to live in constant fear, can't we also have a type of news that will make americans live with a constant smile?
Likewise to anonymous, I don't believe the rape and murder and sensationalized horror we see on television is reflective of what we want to hear. America is a relatively safe place, for the most part, and especially compared to a lot of other countries in Africa or the Middle East or even Latin America.
I was told that in Russia, during Soviet times, most of the movies made, the most popular ones, were calm, simple movies. Ones that reflected peace and the good life, so to speak. Meanwhile, America was running Hollywood into a multibillion dollar explosion and action gallery. The countries reflect what is lacking in their lives. Russia didn't need all the terror and action, they had a healthy dose of it in reality. America, on the other hand, was that sedated life, and it's form of escape was the action flicks.
Does this relate to our times? In a way, I suppose it can be said that the news drives not to satisfy us, but to shock us into submission. Terror and crimes lead the headlines not because they are so common or the populace ants to see it, but because it draws your attention and it puts you in a paranoid state; you keep returning to the news for updates, to know when it is over. This is an art form, working almost subconsciously, one can even argue. If all the news showed was an accurate reflection of sedated American idyllicism, would anyone really turn to the news, would it be such a driving industry? No; thus their assault on our better judgment. The good doesn't sell the same way. The paranoid king: "I know I am paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?"
First off, Aureliano i love the name, its very nostalgic of late nights not going to bed unable to put the book down :) and secondly, thats a very interesting point that we are fed not what we want but what we lack. But can you really say that America is lacking in problems? Perhaps in the form of terror to people such as crime we may be relatively safe, although I would sooner visit Iraq than take a walk in some intercity neighborhoods in America. And what about the other problems, like the infrasructure that supports or cities, the lack of safe public drinking water to many people, the increasing population and inadequate housing. What about all the superfund sights and the brownfields, the deadzones in the mississippi. How about the fact that south California has to take water from north California to support its swimming pools and golf courts and the already poor supply of that water. What would you say about the pollution problems in city, our dependancy on cars and poor public transport.
I agree that perhaps we may live an idyllic lifestyle but we in no way lack problems, it just seems to be a different sort of problem. So then why does the news ignore that. Why are most unaware. And lastly, I can understand your view when thinking of domestic news, but what of international news? Why does that have to be the same, Why is international news not lacking in terror. Everyone knows that Iraq has its share of violence, so then why do we still hear about violence in Iraq, they certainly aren't lacking any.
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