Natural Disasters

The media is an important part of our daily lives. It shapes and molds the lens through which we see the world. It controls everything you see, read, and hear. Media also determines what is said, who said it, how it can be said, and who can hear it. The news for a lot of Americans calls them into action. Depending on what is being discussed it can really sway your emotions. The News can make you happy as well as make you sad or angry. Contrary to popular belief manipulation does not require a device or hypnotism; we are being brainwashed right before our eyes. Television is that most sophisticated media of worldwide communication and viewers are completely susceptible to the media molding their opinions and attitude; as well as influencing what is acceptable and what is not. There is an unconscious “groupthink” mentality that taints news coverage and allows only one side of a debate to receive a fair hearing.  When that happens, the truth suffers. In this essay, I will discuss the types of bias and manipulation, how it affects us, and the ways to prevent it.

The power and consequently the responsibility of media, especially mainstream, is something that shouldn’t be underestimated. It often sets the agenda amongst the general public and is the reference point for the majority of the discussion surrounding it. For many, what they see and read in the media forms the basis of their opinions on most important topics. Despite warnings not to, many believe that everything they read in the media must be true.

The media controls many thoughts and facts given to the public that may or may not be true. With the Internet at fingertips across the world, news spreads faster with little evidence provided. Over the last century, the world’s speed increased with news inventions such as cars, electronics, and the Internet. Society’s mindset transformed from hard working to free handouts; therefore, when news sources make a statement, humankind believes it without researching the topic at all. Sometimes, news reporters make legitimate statements that are misinterpreted by readers. The words of the writer are at fault for perspective or understanding of news rather than the interpretation the readers obtain.

The year 2017 has seen a plethora of deadly disasters. Disasters, natural or man-made, are extremely disturbing events that cause hardship, suffering, injury, and death. A disaster can be detrimental to human societies and their way of life. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, mudslides, and wild fires can cause everlasting changes to humanity, biomes, and the planet. Likewise, man-made events, such as war, terrorist attacks, or toxic spills can be just as damaging. One job of the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) is to insure that humanitarian aid is provided to relieve the pain and suffering caused by all types of disasters. In addition, saving lives by utilizing our resources is the main goal of the UN. Norman Borlag once stated, “The destiny of world civilization depends upon providing a decent standard of living for all mankind.” Therefore, the issues that will be addressed using the $50,000,000 plus anonymous contribution will involve providing humanitarian aid to disaster torn areas in order improve the standard of living and preserve human dignity. This is the most important dilemma facing the international community today.

An important yet under-discussed issue for our time is the media bias. Everyday free speech is broadcasted across the world but with underlying agendas of communication companies. Many broadcasts engage in the assaulting of political candidates or display of tragedies to prompt viewers to believe the media states the exact truth. However, a majority of people do not decipher the tone and mood of the channels and papers which secretly distribute the opinions of the news company rather than solely the news.

Traditionally, media outlets have been mediums that provide a spinless look into the facts of what takes place in the world. The media will cover a wide range of topics, from politics to government to natural disasters to terrorism. But, especially in recent times, the media has become less of a sphere of objectivity and more of a bubble for surrounding consumers with biased and perspective-based news. There is a degree of bias in most sources of news, whether it is in reporting on terrorist attacks or politics. In order to restore the media’s credibility, they must reform the way they cover news stories.

In today’s society, remaining connected and knowledgeable of current events and the newest trends is vital to staying ahead in business, education, and social standing. This information is supplied to everyone through the internet, newspapers, television, and radio. One can tune into stations such as CNN, NBC, Fox News, Al-Jazeera, and many others (“SQs of Media Outlets”). In order to meet the needs of viewers, readers, and listeners, the ideal media system would contain accurate, quick information, with a purely impartial view on the facts as they are known. However, this modern media system has not maintained an objective view, pushing opinionated and slanted reporting onto the population in order to create profit and gain customers. The exploitation of information media for personal gain has created a toxic and inaccurate present, constant in today’s society.

Broadcast news can be dangerous, not because of what it reports, but because of what it doesn’t. This applies to all forms of media. As time has gone by the media has changed from what I remember as a child watching the news. It was the election of Ronald Reagon, I remember that it was a big deal. In this time we trusted the media to tell us what was going on in the country. Not to mislead us and not to lie to us. To give us the facts and not the opinions of a select few, I didn’t really know any different until I the got internet, and in the mid ninety’s I saw the beginning of the change in media but didn’t know it. So I ask now what has happened? In this essay I will review some facts on media bias and where we are today. I will

When an individual would like to be informed of the vast social, political and economical events of the world they naturally turn to television news outlets or their favorite internet news source. We humans as seekers of knowledge and truth, would like to think the objective of news media first and foremost is a matter of keeping individuals properly informed. This may very well not be the case. Popular television news, as most of the population can agree, has become a polarizing, dramatic and opinionated trainwreck. With that truth achknowledged, aside the large number of events on the planet, major news networks should highly consider discontinuing their programs as a consequence of their toxis level of bias and their seemingly infinite perspective imperatives. News used to be an apparatus intended to inform people about current events, however its present status is begging to be proven wrong.

An independent foreign observer might be surprised to see that what role does the media plays in our society. The people consider information fed to them by the media as gospel truth. The politicians, bureaucrats and elites are so afraid of media, that whenever something wrong on part of government is shown to the people, the

The basic purpose of mass media is to provide the public with easy access to reliable and accurate information, yet there is a shift in priorities, as coverage focuses more on what the audience wants to hear rather than actual facts. This focus can become dangerous when biased westernized

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." This quote by A.J. Liebling illustrates the reality of where the media stands in today's society. Over the past twenty years there has been an increase in power throughout the media with regard to politics. The media's original purpose was to inform the public of the relevant events that occurred around the world. The job of the media is to search out the truth and relay that news to the people. The media has the power to inform the people but often times the stories given to the public are distorted for one reason or another. Using slant and sensationalism, the media has begun to shape our views in society and the process by which

There has been a large increase in natural disasters in the U.S and in the entire world recently, these natural disasters include Earthquakes, Floods, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Tsunamis, and Wildfires 4.4 billion people have been affected by natural disasters, and 1.3 million people have been killed from them, according to Childfund.org. The countries that have been most affected by these natural disasters recently have been Zimbabwe, China, Peru, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Columbia, Sierra Leone and South Asia. In just the past year, floods devastated Thailand and food shortages struck East Africa. The current food crisis has put about 18 million people in Africa’s region at risk of deeper starvation. And extreme weather will likely increase in the next few years, according to recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

For thousands of years, people have always thought that floods and disease were the doings of the gods. The ancients believed that natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, and storms were because the gods were angry and they were punishing their people. Over the past few hundred years, scientists have been able to connect certain diseases that are caused by natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, and hurricanes. Water and vector-borne diseases accompany these disasters and negatively impact the population, and while there are ways to decrease the negative impact of infectious diseases caused by flood water, there are not enough financial resources available to implement these solutions.

Thousands of our nation's men and women were fighting for their country, yet the media limited the amount of information that they chose to pass on to the public. Each day the media is faced with the choice of making decisions of what news to pass on, when that news could make a significant difference in someone's life, or in the fate of our nation.