Our society has made it so that the media is omnipresent in our day-to-day lives. Whether or not we like to admit, it is an integral part of all of our lives, whether it shows itself in the obvious forms of print and television or whether the information is relayed more subtly, such as through music. The question, when it comes to media, is how far do we allow it to control our lives? How much reliance do we have on it? And is it safe to depend on it too heavily? Personally, I feel as if we shouldn’t rely on it as heavily as some of us do. We can’t trust the media to always act responsibly, for personal responsibility, when it comes to media, is the most vital. We need to understand that the media (the news channels, editorials, the radio broadcasts, etc.) is just there to relay information. And so it is up for the individual, each one of us, to take and gather this information and to dissect it and process it in our own mentalities to formulate our own opinions, our own ways of thinking. Far too many of us succumb to believing exactly what the media outlets tell us, which is the wrong way to go about it. I try my best to keep up with current events. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Most of the information I receive is from the internet, for I seldom watch television and hardly ever listen to the radio. I despise the media sometimes. Some of the headlines given, for example, on late-night news, to me seem completely irrelevant and ignorant. So many issues pertaining to the larger world around us and these media outlets choose instead to ignore relaying us that information for some “local news headlines”. That’s the problem with the media sometimes. Real news hardly gets out. Global news gets cast aside because we remain to self-indulgent, only concerned with what affects us, when we should really be more encompassing towards a universal perspective to try and do and learn what is right for the world around us. That’s not to say that there aren’t media outlets which actually relay this type of message, but for the most part few of us try to seek any other perspective except the ones thrown in our faces. So this is where personal responsibility is key. Each individual must make the effort to learn the greater scheme of things and not copy the views of those around them. A machine shouldn’t speak for men, nor should no man speak for any other man. The media will always have it’s respective bias, but it is up to us to decide what we do once we pick up that ball. Do we run with it? Or do we even pick it up at all?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
3 comments:
You're very right. Many news media simply relay information. And there are those that "bend" the information in order to convince the American people of things. The aftermath of 9/11 is a good example of a time when many news channels manipulated people's thoughts and feelings by construing certain information.And it worked apparently. People feared of another attack and Bush took advantage of that. It all goes back to us ultimately. People should in fact question the media instead of simply digesting all the things they say.
"And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want."
- John Mayer (Waiting on the World)
Very true and I would have to totally agree on your views about the media. There are many sides to the news that we watch and hear, but it is up to us to decide what we take in, to come up with our own opinions. People should not always completely give in to the media and believe everything they hear.
I also see that your in a band. Just curious on what kind of music you guys play.
I'm not going to lie to you Froggy, I stopped reading halfway through. I just think your Blog Name is pretty cool!
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