Pg. 82
In today's society, one form of media that is ever popular are the news chanels and news stations. There was a time long ago, when news was news, no matter how bad it was. Todays' stations are politically represented by Democrats, Republicans, and/or Liberals. Depending on the station, reporter, and the actual news can mean a whole different array of story-telling. I know that Fox news is considered a "Republican" news station because some members of my family would refuse to watch it just for that reason alone. Reporters and stations alike now will add there own spin or small twist to the story to make it better for their audience. For example, a few years back the media had a frenzy with shark attacks claiming that sharks were starting to attack more and more people all of a sudden. However, statistically this is not true. Oddly enough during this media craze, there were actually about the same amount of attacks compared to the previous years numbers. For some reason, the shark attack feeding frenzy was created making many Americans in a shocked state of mind with much disbelief. Gladly enough, the problem was not the sharks, nor the victims...it was the news' fault for portraying something to be way worse than what it really was.
As for news programs such as "The Daily Show" I feel as if they take the everyday news around the world, and sometimes water down the story or adding in there own details. They brilliantly put a different type of spin to the show that attracts different types of viewers. These shows in turn, educate the public about current events, provide entertainment, and in ways can even make things a little bit more interesting. In all honesty I do not think programs such as The Daily Show and The Colbert Report were created for the purpose of educating the public about current events. However, entertainment is very important in our American society. These shows entertain and educate at the same time while poking fun at minor problems with our world, which can basically be considered genius.
Honestly I never thought of it the way you wrote about. I do believe that yoyr very accurate about the way news programs put there own twist on what they are reporting. I just find that all normal news broadcasts deliver bad information. Its unfortunate that the news portrays information that is not always correct. In example with the sharks, it's not right that the news broadcast would make people fearful of sharks when in all reality the average number of attacks was the same as any other year. I think that if the news doesn't have enough information they twist things up, just to provide supposed news. As for the daily show I find it more entertaining then a regular news broadcast and I would much rather watch it then a normal news broadcast. The media always adds something extra to their story, like you said it just depends on what the station and reporters political status is. Although I don't feel that it's right to potentially frighten the public with their news stories. They never give you all the facts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement that every news program adds their own twist to the news they present to satisfy their target audience or to sway people who are unsure on a topic to the news program's side. However i do believe that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are still used for educating about current events, they just add the comedic spin to it to help ratings and keep people enthralled. Sure they to not cover all aspects of a story, nor give all the facts about it, but as you made the point in the beginning of your post neither do the "reputable" news stations.
ReplyDeleteI don't totally agree with how you were saying fox news is soley republican because i have family that is deomocrats and they watch fox. I don't know where you exactly got that from but i would be interested in knowing. Otherwise everything you said i would totally agree with. I think not actual news shows are the ones who add their own opinions and side storys to what they are delievering rather than the actual news shows. Just because that are so straight laced.
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