BLOG: Media Scare-apy
Considering the "scare factor" in the media
By Corey Cook, Blogger
June 13, 2008 | noon
Self-diagnosis. Not a good thing to do, in the medical sense of the term. In fact, with problems of validity on places like the Internet, it can be down-right fatal.
With self-diagnosis, people can scare themselves silly, confusing the common cold as a sign for their contracting a flesh-eating virus. However, sometimes having a little scare like that can make you realize how important it is to take care of your body. In some aspects the media do self-diagnosis at times, causing the public to be scared (or think) about nothing that they can control, and yet to some degree, that function is a necessary part of the media.
Before the events of 9/11 occurred, America was far from perfect internally, but it seemed that we had limited our attention externally to the world (well, except for the Spice Girls). Post 9/11, it seems the media are just flowing with everything international. Everything from television shows, movies, even cable channels have now gone global. The media seem to be screaming about problems and concerns that are happening in other parts of the world, such as terrorism fears or medical scares, and people are listing and addressing them here.
While in some aspects, many international problems that the media show may never become an immediate threat, having the awareness is just as good and can help us find ways to confront those problems if they do happen in America. On the other hand, the media do, at times, overemphasize some aspects, and in turn, cause people to ignore what is happening around the world. It is not that people genuinely should not care, but there are far more issues inside our country to worry about.
Crime, drugs, illegal immigration, rising gas prices and inflation are some of the many focuses that media have taken, painting a dark picture of our country. Depending on where one stands, this can be good or bad. On one hand, it is good to see the media not try to hide that fact that there are hard times in America. Television shows such as CSI and investigation shows like NBC’s To Catch A Predator do not hold back and show the grittiness of the world, causing Americans to rethink their ideals over what it means to be an American.
On the other hand, the media can overplay this fear at times. The media can make it seem that we are too vulnerable. This view of media portrayal has been classified in some journalistic circles as the “mean-world” effect. Some shows, for example Law and Order, and news programs give the sensation that America is an unsafe place to live. To some degree, the media are correct about that depiction of America. However that is not always the case. Contrary to belief, across the whole country, crime is actually decreasing in some aspects, and yet it is sometimes the leading headline on some nighttime news reports.
Sometimes it is good to be scared or worried about something because after thinking about it, you have something to be worried about and the media do, too. Sometimes we need to hear about the media report on a rogue asteroid that could possibly be heading towards Earth because it could happen someday. However, the media also need to have caution when exercising this power because it does not take that much to turn people’s fear of something into paranoia of the unknown, and history has been the greatest indicator of that. From the Red Scare of the 1950s to the fears of terrorism felt today, if history has taught us one thing, it is if we let our fears get the best of us or neglect them altogether, we will pay with our money, our happiness and possibly our lives.
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