How the Media Treat Murder
This article came across to me as rather disturbing and I have decided to blog about this for my next entry. (Sorry I'm getting back to more serious articles to analyze, guys) The article basically speaks about how the media chooses to disseminate certain information whilst keeping certain details away from the general public. The issue at hand in this article by Newsweek is that the murders of black women in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina are being ignored by the media, despite the probability of a serial killer on the loose. Instead, the media chooses to disseminate information pertaining murders of white women. Here we do not know the real issue of why the media has omitted such information from their articles, however, to the general public, this may come across as some sort of prejudice.
My main basis of analysis here would mostly pertain to the fact that the media filters certain information they choose to disseminate. As we have learned in Unit 4, Mass Media is the medium in which the general public receives information. Mass media, however, does more than just provide information. It educates, entertains, and most importantly, influences the lives of those who receive this information. The linear transaction model shows the one-way transaction of information. However, in real life, most media, be it the newspaper, television, or radio, are based on the interactive model, which shows that feedback from the receiver occurs. Based on this article, we can see that, due to the feedback received from viewers (receivers), the media is being put in a bad light because (according to my view) they are being accused of prejudice against the black minority in America.
Why the media choses to filter such information is a mystery (they too, have their politics). According to the article, some have said that some of these black women who were murdered were involved in drug abuse and prostitution. As such, the media chooses not to take this situation seriously because no loss is done to society as they are the malcontents of society (Pardon the words I use, this is just based on my perception and understanding). Nevertheless, this has caused much alarm from the general public, especially the black community, because they feel like they are being fringed from society. The media probably has a reason for doing this, however, they should still appeal to the receivers and not show any form of bias or prejudice.
*check out the url if you'd like to see the full article =))
This is bad. Why is society still distinguishing the blacks and whites? We are all humans and we all deserve the right for our voices to be heard. The loss of human lives (and the presence of a serial killer on the looser) is definitely a serious issue. Prejudice and discrimination needs to be eliminated in such states, fairness and equality needs to be injected.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, the media is a powerful tool; but it is too powerful since it can retain and filter out information or sources it does not wish the general public to see. Perception here also plays a huge role - how we see the world and what we choose to ignore might have its pros and cons, but in this case, the cons are obviously more evident.
Hello there! :)
ReplyDeleteThis article that you chose simply reflect how the African-Americans in USA are treated differently (in fact, unfairly). We've talked about these issues in our SOC101 classes right?
Moreover, the media just wants to filter the stuffs that would bring them too much unwanted attention, and publish other stuffs that readers love to know about or simply, things fitting to their agenda that they can gain from.
Anyway just to add, there is something which I read from Newsweek recently. It's also on race, "Rooting around in the past -- why genealogy can be painful". It's written by an African-American lady. One of the quotes she mentioned was "The past is never dead. It's not even past." True enough, despite the historic win of Barack Obama, racism and discrimination still exist and is very closely tied to the nation's history. Sad to say, all these cannot be resolved totally unless we're all colour blind.
heyyyy noyaaaa!
ReplyDeleteanyway , from your post, we can once again, see the impact of mass media and how much ccontrol they have with regards to the amount of information that they want to portray to their audience.
anyway, on a more personal note, THIS IS PURE RACISM PLEASEEEE! i mean no matter what occupations these women are in, they are still human ! and we should never ever discriminate against anyone! SHAME ON THE MEDIA FOR SETTING SUCH A BAD ROLE MODEL!
claudia(:
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Hi Kat!!!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that the media does not always portray all the information and it is biased according the majority of the society. This shows that they are actually trying to appeal to the masses. That's why it's called MASS MEDIA =)) YAY!
hey! i think media is propaganda. but the msg sent still depends on what we decode to be given meaning. e.g: when that dood was caught in NKF, the media condemns him as someone bad and so he is. as simple as that. but the media could also have shut the issue up and we would be completely blind. seee? they're control what we know. ok. i dunno if this is relevant. bahahah. but all aspects of media is relevant luh. ladidadida
ReplyDeleteHELLO! Interesting article.. hmmmm.. i feel sad for the people who are affected. seems really sad. the broadcasting industry should do something about this!
ReplyDeleteKATZOZ!
ReplyDeleteHey!
Good evaluation. Interesting article you picked. I think that the minority deserves just as much chance to express themselves as the majority because the majority can actually contribute to the society.
HI cut into tiny pieces!
ReplyDeleteDoes that ring a bell in your head?
I am Rani, your primary school classmate. I discovered you blog and was wondering who is this intelligent individual till I saw your name.
Is that really you??!!
I dont know how are you, what you're doing.. but I have fond memories of you. :)
About your writings, they speak loads about you, your maturity and how ou decipher things. great critical analysis going on there. keep it flowing..
Take care
Keep in touch
Rani
(yuvirago@hotmail.com)
HEY KAT
ReplyDeleteyour analysis i really cool. i never thought about media like that before. didnt think that the media would actually hide such things away from us. but now i do agree that it might be possible becos there are probably reasons why they keep such things from us, maybe like to reduce chaos or prejudice or bias or something.
byebye
hi kak kiki KO kak why did u choose tis boring article as ur last post? nevermind even though its boring i still tink ur analysiz is quite gud. very sad story actuali. tink media shud include evryone includng d minority so they wont feel left out.
ReplyDeleteThe media has been doing such things for a long time and everyone knows it has been that way. It's up to these people to filter the news and also know what's already being filtered by the media.
ReplyDelete