*What are the advantages and disadvantages of having the
media catch the events firsthand on tape?
If photographers and journalists were not allowed to
document the events, how would the public react to not being informed of
ongoing events?
Is the censorship of the press enough or should there be
more censorship?
We have grown up living in a world
where information of events and such are readily available to us (in HD,
too!). My entire life I have not yet
been affected by the media coverage of world events because no pictures that I
remember seeing have been visually impacting.
However, the recent Boston Marathon bombing came as a shock to me. At first, I only heard of the bombing and
watched the news coverage of the event right when it happened. I was glad I was able to see what was going
on in the nation and not just read of it.
Then came the next day when pictures were sent in to the media. I still remember clearly the picture of the
man in the wheelchair with both of his legs blown off, bones sticking out, and
flesh hanging being rushed off to the nearest paramedic. That was actually the moment when I really
felt fear. After seeing that picture,
it hit me that people are being seriously injured and I could be next.
I
guess one of the advantages of having the media coverage of events is that we
can see exactly what is happening, whether it be good or bad. The entire nation can then be united in
those moments of watching what is happening; we can all see and understand what
is going on around us. I feel like this
way we are more informed since we humans are visual learners, too. However, there are the disadvantages to look
at. A disadvantage would be that the
gruesomeness of the event (as in the case of the Boston Marathon bombing) would
spread fear and panic much faster had the images not been shown on national
television. Those images remain in the
minds of the population since the contents of the images are so shocking. I feel like if the media has more control
over what it shows to the public, then it will be safe to inform the public of
what is happening.
Hi Lily! You make some very good points here. I remember seeing footage for hours and days of 9/11 and feeling so emotionally connected to the situation 3,000 miles away from my life. It wasn’t so much that the entire nation was is a state of fear and chaos as it was placing myself in the shoes of the victims and their families. You are right. Had I merely read about this incident, depending on the writer and their writing style, I don’t think I would have been affected the way I was. I actually got to a point where I felt so sick from watching all the coverage that I had to switch everything off in order to restore some sanity to my life while I was caught up in a world that had been turned upside down. Even today, the photographs I see from that day make me wince.
ReplyDeleteI like how you said the advantages of media can be good and bad because we can see what is actually happening. Sometimes we don't like what we see but that is just the world we live in sometimes bad things happen and the media is just showing us what that is.
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