...Author of “Taking Sides in Ferguson”, Noah C. Rothman, insists various news stations are becoming part of the issue when they, “became more part of the story. In some cases, they became part of the unrest itself.” (Rothman 20). The biggest problems with today’s news coverage are objectivity and sensationalism. In particular, objectivity is a conspicuous issue with today’s news coverage. In “Challenging ‘He Said, She Said’ Journalism”, Linda Greenhouse utilizes various examples of media exempting objectivity within journalism. The concept of objectivity is the problem of news coverage, because the idea has become severely disfigured. Superficial journalism manipulates context of the coverage in the goal to remain objective. The news coverage of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh...
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...watch, George Zimmerman. The media described Zimmerman as ‘white Hispanic’ who shot a black boy without suggesting that he might did that to protect himself. So why do media keep calling Zimmerman as a ‘white Hispanic’? It is because they believe that sensationalism can attract more readers. Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old high school boy who was shot after having an argument with the neighborhood watch, George Zimmerman. After the shot was fired, polices arrived and found Martin shot dead by Zimmerman. Zimmerman was taken to the police station for questioning but was released later due to lack of evidence. Zimmerman claimed that he shot Martin because he was self-defending from a violent young boy. After several weeks of protesters and misleading news, Zimmerman was soon charged with murder. The trial began on June 10, 2013 and on July 13 the jury released him. Two years later, the department of justice declared that there...
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...It is sad to see so many people become mesmerized by the constant gossip, ludicrous lies and scandal that so often get thrown at them. What is more is that they don’t only believe this but find some sort of joy in it too. The simple fact is that we have been numbed of all sensitivity towards violence, rape and murder, and the newspapers have to keep up with our continuous craving for juicier, more ‘interesting’ news. The death of a four year old child seems to be made unimportant compared to the ridiculous resolutions passed by one of our ministers. This is what sensationalism is all about. A public ploy with the sole purpose of selling newspapers – and it works beautifully! The business of news-making - and it is most certainly a business – has two key components nowadays: to influence and to sell. Unfortunately, to inform is not very high on their priority list anymore. This is the simple truth that many of us don’t seem to realise. The media and newspapers in particular have transformed into a corporation that will practically do anything to simply increase their profits even to the extent of altering news. Our idea and expectation of news agencies are for them to objectively inform us of what is happening around us and not to entertain us with information that time and again humiliates others. We oftentimes think the catchy headlines of an article are ingenious and clever. In my opinion, the only things these newspapers catch out are their readers. It wasn’t too long...
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...However, the media often creates bias, misrepresentation and sensationalism which creates misinformation to achieve these goals, throwing all sense of journalism away. Through, the use of misrepresentation, stereotyping and sensationalising, misinformation spreads quicker than ever. The use of stereotyping is highlighted in Pat Ferrucci’s Ted talk “shouldn’t sports be colour blind”. In this Ted talk, Ferrucci addresses the language used in the media when describing athletes of different races. He highlights how the media uses specific language, depending on what race you are. An example of this is a comparison between Tom Brady and Cam Newton. Journalists often describe Tom Brady as "intelligent or praise him for his effort” instead of talking about his raw talent. In comparison to this, when journalists describe...
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...Abstract Tabloid Journalism is a part of American society that is continuing to grow more popular, and become a cultural custom. Tabloids started as a small newspaper back in 1903 with Yellow Journalism and now there are magazines, television networks, websites, and phone applications. Fascination with celebrity lifestyle has always been around and because of the mass amount of tabloids it is easier for the average American to receive information. Keywords: Tabloid, Journalism, Society, Culture, Celebrity, Yellow, Sensationalism, Magazine, Newspaper, History. “Bill Clinton: I Screwed up with Monica” is what the headline on the National Enquirer website read yesterday morning, should we care? If so, why do we care? Celebrity tabloids have become a standard to individuals in society whether it is liked or disliked. While standing in line at the grocery store, waiting at the checkout, it is hard not to notice the headlines on the magazines next to us reading absurd things such as “Michael Jackson Found Alive At Disneyland” or “Male Able to Give Birth” and although we know how crazy these things look, we still find ourselves flipping through the pages and let our curiosity get the best of us. Tabloids are found in just about every vehicle of media, television, print, radio, and of course, the Internet. According to Miriam Webster Dictionary, a tabloid is compressed or condensed into small scope featuring stories of violence, crime, or scandal presented...
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...Detecting Media Bias Joshua Davenport HUM/114 June 21, 2012 Dr. Geneace Williams/University of Phoenix Detecting Media Bias Part A The importance of making critical evaluations of news stories comes to play in the recent stories about the Trayvon Martin & George Zimmerman case. This is a story about a young black teenager and a neighborhood watchman that shot and killed the boy. Many news stations reported the story showing pictures of both of them that had been taken years prior to the actual event. Trayvon’s pictures showed him as an innocent boy and Zimmerman as upset and angry in a much earlier mug shot. The media shows bias to both these individuals and seemed to be concerned with sensationalism, rather than finding out the true facts in the case. The concern they showed at the time the story broke, appeared to be geared towards selling the story and building the story into a racially motivated incident. The news was not completely clear or accurate and the investigative methods were not sufficient in either depth or breadth. The stories promoted the idea that Trayvon was an innocent young black kid who just happened to be out late at night and that Zimmerman was just looking to act as judge, jury and executioner. The pictures of George Zimmerman seemed to promote prejudice and negative emotions from the audience. They used bias in the news by deliberately ignoring more current pictures of both these individuals. Many of the news...
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...Essay 1 The biggest issue causing hesitance in rape victims’ openness about their experience is the shame and humiliation that comes with it. They were taken advantage of, causing extreme psychological damage; and it is often very hard for a victim to come to terms with the rape. Another factor on top of this is that often victims think they will possibly be blamed or disbelieved when they come forward. These unfortunate circumstances cause many rape victims’ hesitance in coming forward about their victimization. Another major problem for many rape victims these days is the mass media sensationalism surrounding the crime. Having your face as the victim of a rape plastered all over many news stations is far from appealing and thus many victims may choose to hide in their shame rather than report the crime. However, not all cases are covered by the media and may not have the “celebrity” status that those covered by the media do. There is still however one major constituent in rape victims’ hesitance to come forward – actually facing their rapist. To bring a rapist to justice in the American justice system, one must go through the necessary legal trials and this process generally takes years. Throughout this time, the victim of the rape will have exposed him or herself to the rapist. And, in the end the victim will have to look their rapist in the eyes as they point them out in court. Rape is taken extremely personally by victims, and they fear their assailant holds the same...
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...Setting Boundaries in the Media “But we do not live in a perfect world. We live in a world where gossip passes for news, and sensationalism passes for journalism” (Bernhardt, Naked Justice). This quote shows that not because the media publishes something does it mean that it is important or relevant to current events since the media manipulates and publishes what it wants for selfish purposes. The media is also a business, and like any business, its goal is to make profits, and sometimes it uses questionable tactics to do it, for instance, publishing inappropriate content, intentionally omitting facts, and including insignificant and irrelevant information. There are situations in which the media publishes obscene, harmful, vulgar, and offensive...
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...Krista Michael Mrs. Cooker ENG-101-038 2 December 2014 Santaria Sacrifice Practiced in the United States of America and abroad, ritualistic animal sacrifice is a component of the Santería religion. Santeros, practitioners of the Santería religion, accept this as a necessary part of their church. Attempted denial of religious freedom has led to the sensationalism of animalistic offerings but they are a small part of the religious observance. Aversion to bloodletting, ignorance and misinformation have led to the misrepresentation of Santeros as dangerous members of society and Santería itself as a communal danger. An Afro-Cuban religion, Santería is a Spanish word that translates as devotion to the saints. It is also known as Regla de...
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...Embedded Journalism and War Reporting Dion E Jones University of Phoenix COMM 220 Maureen, Duffy M.A. May 13, 2012 Embedded Journalism and War Reporting Journalism covers the principles of reporting in different circumstances such as the time-based news as in press conferences or untimely news of crisis, disasters and conflicts. Even though the reporting objectives are vast, and the journalists are expected to perform their duties without any fear or bias, it is the responsibility of the journalists to observe certain ethical considerations. At times, what journalists consider their responsibility may prove to be harmful for others. The policy of embedded journalism is debated mainly because, it compromises the military’s safety, security and strategy, through its bias and unethical reports; the presence of embedded journalists should not be allowed alongside fighting forces. Ethics of Journalism and War Reporting The question whether something is ethical or not, is gaining worldwide scrutiny these days. With the advent of social media, people have access to so much detail regarding the circumstances of the world. The journalists who are active through social media seem to provide all the minor details to their followers notwithstanding the ethical aspect of such information. The line between what...
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...There are several factors that can influence justice in America. I find that you can read and work up information all day on justice in America as far back as history goes. The constitution of the United States Supreme Court helps set careers and regulations of factors that do influence America. Some of them can vary in topics from your race, crime, prisons, policing, and courts. Organized crime may be defined as systematically unlawful activity for profit on city guide interstate and even international scale. Crime organized keeps their illegal operations percent and members confer by word of mouth. Gangs sometimes become sufficiently symptomatic to the call organized. The act of engaging in criminal activity as a structural group in referred in the United States as racketeering. The criminal organization depends on the part of support from the society in which it extends. It is frequently expedient for it to compromise some of society’s upright memories, especially people in the judiciary, police forces, legislature, and cultivation of mutually dependent relationships with legitimate business. The five factors that influence a justice decision are Constitution, Precedent, Judicial Philosophy, Intent, and Public Opinion. According to an article I read in a book from David O. Carpenter the Constitution states, “We, the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote...
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...Week 1: Introduction to Critical Thinking This week, Madam Aznur started our learning by explaining about the differences between the critical thinking and creative thinking. Critical thinking is a cognitive activity-associated with using the mind and basically is using by the left brain, while creative thinking is using by the right brain. Being the type of person that likes to read about any argument or debate about some matter especially when it comes to economics and politics, I can confidently say that critical thinking is the most important subject I’ve ever offered in my academic life. My abilities to recognize technique used to make certain position more appealing, reflecting an issue in a structured manner, drawing conclusion, synthesizing information and presenting a point of view were a complete joke. Having all these disabilities, I believe critical thinking, as a subject, is the best thing has happened to my academic life. I intend to attentively to study this subject and allow it to have an impact on my academic and social life. Week 2: The Basic Structure of Argument During week 2, I’ve learned about the basic structure of an argument. Argument can be simply defined as a series of statements used to persuade someone of something. There are two main components in argument, which are the premise and the conclusion. We also learned about proposition. Proposition is a declarity and it can be either true or false. We also have been taught about statement:...
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...medication, and his long term treatment goals are being met. Having constant supervision will ensure that Li does not experience an uncontrolled psychotic episode again. Furthermore, supervision would provide Li with guidance and support for Li. Finally, the conditional release would ensure that maximum public safety is achieved. Empirical evidence The media overall has had a negative impact on Li’s situation. The media tends to focus on sensationalism. Positive improvements in mental health are ignored or not reported. Negative experiences in mental health are given over coverage. The majority of newspapers articles on mental illness selectively and almost exclusively focus on the violence and dangerousness of mental health. Likewise, Levin (2205), in a study of approximately three thousand articles in seventy major outlets determined that 40% of newspapers stories associated mental illness with crime and dangerousness. Many violent stories end up on the front page of newspapers. There is a grave concern of media misinformation and sensationalism. The majority of people’s primary source of information on mental illness is from the media (Edney, 2004). In 2003, newspapers were the fundamental source on information about psychiatric disorders for 74%of 1300 survey respondents (Whal, 2003). The media has a significant impact on public perception and opinion regarding mental illness. Furthermore, Granello and Pauly (2000), revealed that those who engage in moderate to heavy viewing...
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...media (mis)representations of crime in society? You may choose to review official statistics on crime here: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook. This is a resource to be used in writing your response, at your discretion. It is not required. GRADING Your project will be graded on the strength and clarity with which you communicate your analysis of the data. This will be broken down the following ways: · Use of course material · Organization of ideas · Formatting of paper · Quality of conceptual points · Quality of supporting evidence Ethan Salley Sociology 215 Media Project The media has been a source of controversy and speculation in a variety of social issues. Whether it be race, crime or even gender, the media has a tendency for sensationalism to promote viewership and to captivate their audiences. Modern media has many shortcomings, especially in regards to realying...
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...The biggest story of 2013 in the Los Angeles area is the manhunt of Christopher Dorner, an ex-Navy Seal and former LAPD officer. Christopher Dorner had been fired from the LAPD nearly four years ago after reporting unnecessary conduct by another officer and in those four years he was planning something no one saw coming. Dorner posted a manifesto on his social network page and on February 3, 2013 it all began! His first 2 victims had been shot and killed and there were more deaths to follow. Dorner was after any and all law enforcement and anyone involved with them and LAPD had no idea what else was in store. The manhunt lasted for a little over a week and authorities had no idea where he was or what his next move could have been. Somehow, they caught up with him finally and it all ended with a cabin on fire and Dorner allegedly dead. ABC 7 was not subjective, they reported the information they had, and the reporters did not seem to make subjective comments in the first report. Some information I found odd to be reported was the preschool Dorner attended. Has the reports continued, it started to seem like all the stations were being subjective in their reports. Fox 11 news was the most subjective; the reporters shared how terrible they thought the events were and hoped for Dorner’s capture. In both stations the information that was omitted or never spoken of in detail was how good of a person everyone knew Christopher Dorner as. There were people who wanted to share their experiences...
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