Classification has always been the main source of the simplifying all of the information

that has been found throughout the span of human thought. Science in its most basic from is

nothing more than just a quest of knowledge “to seek what regularities there may be”(Sagan)

and the existence of that knowledge is explained by classification(Foucault). Today’s society is

dominated by an absurd amount of technologically powered apparatuses like: cell phones,

computers, tablets, tables, cars, and the list ventures endlessly forward and like every “small

step for a man, and one giant leap forward for mankind” there are repercussions(The Space

Race). One of the things that changed with the evolution of technology from its primitive state

to its more modern version is news; once only told by an unbiased, or at least strived to be,

newscasters like Walter Cronkite(Cronkite) and people were forced to watch the whole thing

until what they were really interested in came on has now turned into an extremely selective

and biased way of reporting the news with outstandingly big downsides that has lead society to

be harshly less informed about what is going on around them and more susceptible to having

their opinion swayed with possible misclassification of news.

By the end of 2010 more people claimed to be receiving their news intake from the

internet than from newspapers(Featured in Social Media) and with the simplified access to

articles relating to just about anything whether they are true or not has made it questionable

whether the internet can be used for a reliable source to receive news. When stories could not

be written they were passed down verbally from generation to generation and with every

retelling a new version of the original came alive(Oral Tradition). Back in those days if a story

was told to children no matter how ridiculous it sounded to them it was taken to be true, even

if one day what they said seemed to contradict what was said in an earlier time. Same type of

concept applies to articles and “news” reported online. The internet is one of the most effective

and speedy ways of attaining information and has easily simplified the lives of many with a

special little impact on college students. Although be warned everything on the internet should

be taken as a grain of salt and not assumed to be true unless confirmed by multiple sources or

the main source is someone that can be trusted. Even with confirmation there will be many

discrepancies between similar articles it becomes a hassle to be able to believe something

With the rapid progression of technology newspapers and news reporters on the

television have had to drastically change the way they reported the news and have ushered in a

new way of classifying news. Things that would be reported on CBS Evening News with Walter

Cronkite were not about the latest celebrity gossip nor were they about the difference between

fake breasts and real breasts. That’s what much of news has become, it has brought forth a new

era where people are only selectively learning what they want and are ignoring anything no

pertaining to what they are interested in. Given that being able to go in-depth on something

can someone finds rather peculiar and thought provoking has definitely been one of the pluses

with this new system to receive news, yet what was lost in return is a fuller grasp of what is

going on in the world. Unless it becomes something really big that if they don’t know the basics

of the situation people will laugh of their obliviousness most people will not bother reading

about nor hearing about something that is happening in Africa, prime example the latest social

movement to rock the world “Kony 2012”.

Kony 2012 is a mini-video directed by Jason Russell(Kony 2012) with the main intent to

have people around the world recognize that there is injustice happening somewhere in the

world and something has to be done. Joseph Kony is, as they tell it, the world’s worst war

criminal and when he took over leadership of a rebel army and began stealing children away

from their homes at a really young age and converting them into soldiers(Kony 2012). The video

was geared towards young adults and people in their early 30s and below because it was

savagely popularized by Facebook sharing. Within the first the video has already received a

whopping 100 million views(Kony 2012 Encourage).

The video itself gives a very basic view of what is going on in Africa and has left out

many details that do not allow people to get a full understanding of what exactly is happening

in Africa. The problem with this is that since things were omitted people viewing the video

assume that everything in the video is true and there is nothing else, who knows maybe this

man is a hero to those children because he took them away from poverty and fed them and

gave them something to live for. Since the video claims he is the worst living criminal then

everyone who has seen the video will be compelled to believe and Joseph Kony will now be

classified as the worst living criminal by everyone it’s because “everyone” has seen the video by

now and not seeing it would be an act against social acceptance. The only thing in this video

that can be considered real news in today’s standards is the huge biasness of it. This is also one

of those things that sit at the line of whether it is classified as news or something less. This issue

has been happening for many years and never has it received this much attention nor have so

many people followed the situation so closely, it’s almost sickening how many people jump

onto the social activist bandwagon after watching one video.

Newspapers too have been struck the quickly changing world, newspapers were once

written at a far higher reading level then they are, today most newspapers require reading

levels of 8th to 10th grade(Plain Language). The news also reported on them has slowly changed

from world orientated things to more local and less impactful stories. Many of times newspaper

companies find themselves lacking hard hitting stories because of the view of what people

consider news now that they don’t report on things that should be reported. People these days

care more about Tiger Woods cheating on his wife than the death of Dane Joe.

Works Cited

"CRONKITE, WALTER - The Museum of Broadcast Communications." The Museum of Broadcast

Communications. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.

Foucault, Michel. “The Order of Things.” An Archaeology of the

Human Sciences. New York: Vintage, 1994. Core 1 Resources. Merritt Writing Program.

Univ. of Calif. Merced. Web 19 Mar. 2010. 515-532

"Featured in Social Media." Mashable. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.

"Kony 2012: Encouraging Social Change or Oversimplifying a Crisis?" Health and Human Rights.

"Kony 2012." Invisible Children. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

"Oral Tradition - What Is an Oral Tradition?" About.com Ancient / Classical History. Web. 29

"Plain Language at Work Newsletter15 May 2005 Number 15." Plain Language at Work

Newsletter— 15 May 2005 No. 15. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.

"The Space Race." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 29 Mar. 2012.