News media is often cited in creating controversy surrounding its pursuit of informing the masses, and even criticized in the way their stories are presented. In time of war they set narratives to shield the public from specific truths that may not fit how they want people to perceive a war. When there’s no real news to be presented they create fluff to raise ratings and increase profits. Some argue that . Some argue that even though the news outlets create these these controversies, those controversies are easily outweighed by the potential good that may arise. problems, they are easily outweighed by their general benefit. On the other hand, some argue that we as a society should not trust the media, since they have been known to deceive us. Still others maintain that it’s the American Government we should not trust, and without the media our society would not be able to discover the truth. Ultimately, what is important to consider when discussing this topic is how much we should hold ourselves accountable when it comes to trusting the media. My personal view on the topic is that we should utilize the media to bring issues to our attention, and take it upon ourselves to consider every possible news source before ultimately deciding what we believe to be the truth.
The news media’s main purpose is to inform the people of different issues happening around them, whether it be on a local or global scale. It is to be the eyes and voice of the people, extending its reach further than any single person ever could. It has the power to build empires, yet it can ruin a kingdom with the stroke of a pen. Living in America we are a very privileged society knowing that our voice can never be taken away from us, for we have the 1st Amendment that will preserve that voice forever. However, at times we can take that for granted, and not realize how important that can be for a nation. In “The Influencing Machine,” Brooke Gladstone acknowledges that, “its not just about what we learn of the conduct of government when speech is free, but that we learn of ourselves. Even more, it’s about what we think of ourselves when speech is free” (21).” We would not be able to fully understand this if it wasn’t for the news media. When they report the news in a truthful way, we are able to see where we stand on important issues and how we can change the things we do not like.
Looking back at all the different government scandals from the “Pentagon Papers,” “Watergate,” to “Hilary’s Emailgate,” the news media have been a big part in revealing the truth in the sea of lies the government has fed our society. Even though they faced severe punishment, these reporters were brave enough to exercise their 1st Amendment right and expose the truth. They are also there in time of moral needs; for example, during the civil rights movement the news media played a big part in showing the ugly truth that was racism. While not every American supported the civil rights movement, the media was able to shine a light on all the injustices African Americans were going through, therefore allowing the people to not only look at their government, but to look at themselves. This exposure lead many citizens to question numerous policies and laws, and it was a stepping stone to helping correct the problem. In instances such as these, when it can help do so much good, the problems that arise with the news media can be tolerated.
|
The news media also helps bring our world together; we are able to explore continents, cross oceans, climb mountains while not leaving the comforts of our own home. The exposure the news media creates can make it possible for people to come together and help others in times of need. I think of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, when the news media played a big role in helping spread the word on just how much the people of Haiti actually needed the world to help them through their crisis. According to a report done by the News Media Index produced by PJE, it states that for the entire week of Jan 11-14th 43% percent of all links in news blogs were about the Haiti Relief effort. In addition, many news organizations provided real time information and direct links for people to help. Although many will argue that news media outlets as well as correspondents were there for personal/finfinancial ical gain, no one can deny the outpour of donations, financialical contributions, and physical support from individuals due to coverage provided would not have been possible without the media.
While it can be hard to see the good in humanity with so much evil that surrounds us, when the good prevails the news media is a great at catching that wind and spreading it to the masses. One great example that comes to mind is “Bat Kid”, the amazing story of a young boy from Oregon who beat the odds of cancer and with one wish he was able to bring a nation together. Miles Scott was granted one wish through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and his wish was to be Batman! What started out to be a small wish that was going to take place at a park in San Francisco, escalated to this great event that took over half of the city. News stations herd about this wish and began to spread the word via their websites, TV stations and social media platforms creating a snowball effect that touched so many people from all over the nation. Due to all the coverage Make-a-Wish received, help and support was offered from people all across the nation wanting to contribute in any way they could. The news media used its reach and united a nation, with so much evil around us our society needed a little bit of good to remind us of what we can do as people, and thanks to the news media we were able to accomplish that.
Although it is true that the news media serves a great purpose, at the end of the day the news is still a business, and like in any business the main goal is to make a profit. When news stations start to worry about their profits versus what they are reporting problems start to arise. In such a profit driven nation, it can be hard to do the right thing, for the right thing could ultimately cost someone their job, or worse, close down their business. In order to keep the profits coming in, the news outlets are going to cater to whatever brings in revenue, whether it be keeping viewers happy to increase ratings, or choosing not to report controversial topics for the sake of investors. Although some believe that news stations wanting to grab their viewer’s attention through different tactics causes no harm, these tactics can hurt the integrity of news reporting and further creating more unwanted news fluff.
When news stations start with these tactics, different forms of biases began to develop in order to keep viewer hooked, and so forcing the news to become less informative and more repetitive. For example, Gladstone claims that commercial bias is the biggest bias, emphasizing that , “news needs conflict and momentum. It needs to be new. That’s why news outlets too rarely follow up on stories they already reported,” she also talks about another bias claiming”(62). Gladstone also references bad news bias claiming,, “We are wired to care about anything that even remotely threatens us—so emphasizing bad news is good business. This makes the world seem more dangerous that it really is” (62).” This is an important point to acknowledge because by creating this unsafe reality we as a society rely more on the news to inform us of all the crime around us, thus allowing us to feel safe. While is up to the individual to determine what they feel are the important issues, these tactics as well as visual and narrative hooks become the carrot that guides the horse.
The problems of the media really start to expose themselves during times of war, as Gladstone notes that every form of bias shows up in war. In times or war reporters are embedded with the troops giving them field access, yet in the end the government often times provides the narrative. Due to this many news media outlets tend to edit certain context, as Gladstone points out, “status quo bias is elevated as a matter of patriotism. Reporters don’t wantonly attack leaders when the nation is at risk.” During these times it is in the reporter’s hands to determined the context of what they should report, yet when a nation is at war it is easy for the context of those issues to be lost at battle. Reporters are behind enemy lines during war forcing them to face the reality of death. Gladstone compares reporters to the anguished souls from “Inferno”, a cantica from Dante Alighieri’s poem “Divine Comedy," she goes on to point out that, “few reporters proclaim their convictions. Fewer still act on them to serve what they believe to be the greater good. Even now, arguably another time of profound moral crisis, most reporters make the Great Refusal.” (58). For example, when the government wants to set a narrative on a war it is up to the journalist to decide if they want to make the Great refusal or act on their convictions on how they feel about war and report the real issues at hand. Even whenWhile reporters may choose not make the Great Refusal do stay neutral during war and report the real issues at handstray from those predetermined narratives, for those issues to make their way to the public uncensored becomes a challenge on its own.
|
In the 1990-91 war with Iraq, the American Government wanted to paint an image of an efficient war, with no unnecessary deaths. Due to this predetermined-narrative, many news media stations would censor what was being actually reported back by their reporters. In “The War Photo No one would Publish,” Torie Rose Deghett writes about a photo taken by Kenneth Jarecke during the war that he felt would change the way Americans felt about war. Deghett describes: The Iraqi soldier died attempting to pull himself up over the dashboard of his truck. The flames engulfed his vehicle and incinerated his body, turning him to dusty ash and blackened bone. In a photograph taken soon afterward, the soldier’s hand reaches out of the shattered windshield, which frames his face and chest. The colors and textures of his hand and shoulders look like those of the scorched and rusted metal around him. Fire has destroyed most of his features, leaving behind a skeletal face, fixed in a final rictus. He stares without eyes.
“He didn’t want his mother to see his name next to photographs of corpses.” He explains, “ But if I don’t take pictures like these, people like my mom will think war is what they see in movies.”- Kenneth Jarecke |
Jarecke’s reasoning for taking such a horrific photo, was that “he didn’t want his mother to see his name next to photographs of corpses.” He explains, “ But if I don’t take pictures like these, people like my mom will think war is what they see in movies.” He wanted to show war for what it was, yet when the photo made its way to the office of many editors, few to none published it, for they felt that the American people did not need to see such a tragic thing. This type of censorship is great problem with the media, as Deghett acknowledges, “sanitized images of warfare make it easier to accept bloodless language, such as “surgical strikes” or modern day terminology like “kinetic warfare”.”” Although it is true that censorship in the news may be beneficial, not having the full context of an issue can create a false reality. For example, in the case of Jarecke’s photo not being published the news media created an emotional disconnection to the war.
While some media bias seek to emotionally disconnect us, the media can also try to create emotions, For example, during the toppling of Saddam Husein’s statue on April 9, 2003 many different tactics were used to mislead the American public on what really happened. As Gladstone explains, “Pulling down the statue was not the spontaneous act of the Iraqis, as often depicted by the media, in fact, the square was empty when the Statue was seen by a Marine gunner(67)”. She goes on to state that the marines gave a rope and sledgehammer to people entering the square, the news reporters there ended up using a narrow shot of the few people in the square to make it seem like it was a mass group of people to single the wars end in a blazing glory. If they had chosen to use a wider shot, this act would have not fit the narrative that they set. Due to situations like this, I am hesitant to fully trust the media, holding myself accountable for what I choose to believe in the news and I feel that every citizen should hold themselves accountable as well.
Ultimately, understanding that problems and purposes of the news media will help citizens come to their own conclusion of what extent they should trust the news media. Although it’s true that news media outlets have far greater recourses that any individual, I believe that at times their integrity can be questioned, so we should tread lightly when giving our full trust to them. We should trust the media to report back to us what is happening around the nation or the world, yet we should seek out many different sources to make sure that are given the full context of a story, not just pieces of a story to fit into a narrative that they want to satisfy.
Works Cited
Deghett, Tori Rose. "The War Photo No One Would Publish." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 08 Aug. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.
Gladstone, Brooke, Josh Neufeld, Randy Jones, and Susann Jones. The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.
Deghett, Tori Rose. "The War Photo No One Would Publish." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 08 Aug. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.
Gladstone, Brooke, Josh Neufeld, Randy Jones, and Susann Jones. The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Print.
Formal Essay Reflection
Although I had developed my critical thinking and reading skills, there were still areas that needed to be addressed with this essay. Without any revisions it was clear that I was able to understand the larger conversation and my consideration for the topic. This essay was very effective in presenting general concepts and then using several paragraphs to focus in on specific examples. The areas that needed improvement in this essay were comma splices and homophone spelling. After the revisions that I made I feel that this essay demonstrates my ability to critically analyze the required readings.
Although my introduction had a clear thesis and a relevant perspective, I needed to elaborate on more of the problems that the news media created. Before the revision I just stated that the news media created controversy in way they presented their news stories, yet I did not provide any examples. After providing some examples into how the news media create controversy when they deliver the news I feel that my essay demonstrates an excellent scope.
The one area that I still struggled with was with the format of the essay. Before the revision the essay still had some grammatical errors that needed to be addressed. After addressing those errors, I believe every paragraph is well developed and very well structured. For example, paragraph has a clear point then I am able to use direct quotes from the readings to provide evidence that supports my point. Most importantly I am able to explain what the information means while relating it to my overall argument.
This essay also demonstrates that I am able to efficiently transition between two paragraphs. I was able to show this skill in paragraph eight and nine. In paragraph eight I spoke about the issues that arise during the time of war and gave provided examples from the readings to further support my topic sentence. While I elevated and came to a conclusion, I was also able to relate to the point made in paragraph eight in paragraph nine while providing more examples from the readings.
Aside from a view edits in which I grammatically integrated a few quotes more effectually to better factor in the first person pronoun I feel that this essay is a great example of I demonstrated effective critical thinking, reading and writing. In this essay I was able to organize my ideas by laying out each particular point and then elaborating on those points through well-constructed paragraphs. From the first paragraph to the conclusion I was able to stay on topic and also relate to the readings, while still establishing my own point of view.
Although my introduction had a clear thesis and a relevant perspective, I needed to elaborate on more of the problems that the news media created. Before the revision I just stated that the news media created controversy in way they presented their news stories, yet I did not provide any examples. After providing some examples into how the news media create controversy when they deliver the news I feel that my essay demonstrates an excellent scope.
The one area that I still struggled with was with the format of the essay. Before the revision the essay still had some grammatical errors that needed to be addressed. After addressing those errors, I believe every paragraph is well developed and very well structured. For example, paragraph has a clear point then I am able to use direct quotes from the readings to provide evidence that supports my point. Most importantly I am able to explain what the information means while relating it to my overall argument.
This essay also demonstrates that I am able to efficiently transition between two paragraphs. I was able to show this skill in paragraph eight and nine. In paragraph eight I spoke about the issues that arise during the time of war and gave provided examples from the readings to further support my topic sentence. While I elevated and came to a conclusion, I was also able to relate to the point made in paragraph eight in paragraph nine while providing more examples from the readings.
Aside from a view edits in which I grammatically integrated a few quotes more effectually to better factor in the first person pronoun I feel that this essay is a great example of I demonstrated effective critical thinking, reading and writing. In this essay I was able to organize my ideas by laying out each particular point and then elaborating on those points through well-constructed paragraphs. From the first paragraph to the conclusion I was able to stay on topic and also relate to the readings, while still establishing my own point of view.