Insia Saleh - Outline of essay on effects of media over society

I. Introduction about Media: Media can make or break the society.

A.Media reporting is not for the benefit of the public but benefit to themselves, which they can get even going out of their way.
B. 1. The media, facing fierce competitions in their own world, always reports incidents dramatically and sometimes even in sleazier way to attract the viewer ship but gives little thought to the ramifications and consequences of an eye-catching coverage of the story.
2. The way of reporting is in such a way as to allow people to get a false impression for the sake of a good story.
3. Media also sometimes gets biased and shows only one sided story, pushing a viewpoint, instead of reporting news in an objective way.
C. 1. They exaggerate certain irrelevant stories.
2. In order to get good ratings and to get rich, media is often held in a similar level regard, like politicians, in blaming other kinds media like violent movies, video games and music.

II. Body:

A.Media repeatedly reports the crime in such dramatic manner that one can have a false interpretation of doing the same thing.
1.Virginia Tech killer, Cho Seung-Hui was reported as a kind of hero by reporting his pictures on front page, with weapons in his hands.
i.By reporting again and again gives importance to the killer, who receives publicity and anyone who want to become famous can inspire by that and repeat the same thing and gain publicity.
ii.New York Post reported one of the pictures of the shooter on their newspaper on April 18, 2007, and said, “After he killed two people but before he slaughtered 30 more at Virginia Tech, killer Cho Seung-Hui sent NBC a package, including this chilling image…”
iii.New York Post again reported on April 19, 2007, “Virginia Tech killer Cho Seung-Hui took a break between murders to mail a chilling multimedia missive - which included videos explaining the twisted reasons why "I did it. I had to!" and dozens of snapshots of himself in hostile poses with guns.”
iv.Word usage like “chilling” and “hostile poses” are attractive for one who can be easily convinced and weak minded person who want to become famous.


B.Media generally gets biased and favors one side over the other and shows only one sided story.
1.By presenting only one side of the story concerning the war in Iraq, the mainstream media gives the American public an incomplete and inaccurate picture of what is really happening and they avoided reporting about the consequences of the war.
i.During Iraq war voting, media was passively supporting the war and was giving reasons why we should go for war.
ii.On August 21, 2002, The New York Times reported, “The Bush administration has floated a succession of possible justifications for war with Iraq -- Saddam Hussein's purported links with international terrorism, Baghdad's membership in a worldwide ''axis of evil,'' Iraq's efforts to develop nuclear weapons.”
iii.The New York Times on Sept. 30, 2002, reported, “Undoubtedly, Saddam Hussein is eager to procure weapons of mass destruction, including a nuclear bomb, and to dominate the Persian Gulf region. These facts provide the basis for strong arguments in favor of removing him from power.”
iv.By reporting all these reasons favoring war, changes people’s minds and they get public support under the influence of politicians.
v.But after 5 years, now all know that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and unnecessarily we plunged into a war.


C.Media reports only interesting story through which it can get more viewer ship and avoids important stories.
i.Media is an industry and all businesses concern with the advertising and selling their merchandise and same concept is followed by the media.
ii.The media gives more attention to violent acts than to acts of kindness.
iii.Newspapers reports, “One US soldier and two Marines were killed and seven other service members were wounded in Iraq, along with at least 18 deaths from a suicide car-bomber near the Syrian border. This brings total Coalition deaths in Iraq to 1,800.” But news of a baby girl with a circulatory condition who needed surgery getting medical help from US soldiers and a concerned nurse did not become news, nor will it be included in a media release.---Michael Yon Online Magazine
iv.Media reports gossips like Jennifer Lopez delivered twins in its front page and charity acts like Brangelina’s charity was reported somewhere in the small section of 5th or 6th page.

III. Conclusion:

A.Media gets biased, reports in a dramatic way and also in a sleazier way to increase its viewer ship and to sell its product. We have seen above, all the taunts and tricks that media uses to make money.
B.Fair and accurate reporting could do much to change the public’s opinion, merely by providing both sides of the story.
C.Great care should be given to the way media reports stories. Improper reporting techniques can lead to “contagion” crimes (copycat crimes)
D.The media must retain the ability to present information accurately and quickly, while presenting many points of view.