The media is corrupting our society. Do you agree?
Media such as newspaper, television program, radio etc has corrupted our society to a certain extent. One good evidence is that people are now more conscious about their appearance- through the advertisements published in media. Media has been an influencing media. With the advertisements publicizing their products and services such as slimming centre or slimming medicine, people will be easily convinced about the efficiency of these methods of slimming. Some of them might be effective but not all of them are. People might be cheated. As there are more and more of such advertisements, people will be influenced and become more aware of their appearance. They will then try out these slimming methods. This trend of believing in advertisements will continue. There are cases where people consume these medicines, in the end they suffered from illness such as kidney failure. In this way, media is conveying the wrong message to the audience due to its own benefits.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6212758.stm
Drama series and movies also have the intention to carry certain ideologies across. It might change people’s perspective in situations and how they are overcoming challenges. Some has negative image on marriages, causing more and more people to have late marriages or preferring to be single, and some has negative image on living with their elderly parents, thus more and more people are sending their parents to homes or living far away from them. These are damaging factors to the society. While government is trying to do their best to encourage more couples to have children, the media is conveying a negative side of marriages, and changes people’s mindset about it, thus not even wanting to get married, why bother to think of having children?
However, not all reports or articles in media corrupts the society. There are reports on people volunteering to help those who are in need. It shows that the world still cares about their surrounding. This may also influence more people to join in their voluntary work.
Human beings are easily affected by their surroundings. They will follow the changes around them. So, it is the role of media to impart positive values in us. Even though there might be cases where media is conveying the wrong message to us, but I believe that we are suppose to be able to differentiate what is right or wrong, and only do those that are correct, rather than follow blindly.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The problem with the modern media is they do not have a sense of social justice. Do you agree?
Modern media is the present means of communication, such as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, which reach or influence people widely. Social justice is the principle of moral rightness of or relating to human society and its modes of organization.
What is the purpose of media? It is to provide facts and information to readers. But do the modern media fulfill their requirements? Perhaps yes, but there are more to it.
Modern media are very open, in a sense that everyone can contribute in one way or another. The most ‘open’ media would be blogs. It is very common among teenagers and they are writing how they feel about certain things in their blogs. Even though they should be responsible for their own ‘arguments’ in their post entries, many do not. For instance, there was two bloggers in Singapore charged for not following the ‘rules’ when using blogs. One of them is being racist and giving unfriendly comments on other races. This wrong doing is not fair to people of other races, especially in countries like Singapore, which is a multi-racial country. Since media has been an influential medium over the years, some information in blogs might mislead people away from the truth. So, will blog still be considered as media?
In addition, reports and advertisement in printed media might contain additional made up information. I’m not sure about the purpose of these additional ‘facts’ but I believe it is to attract attention of readers, and to publicize their printed form of media. This happens especially in entertainment news. They can be made up easily, and people do believe them easily. Some of the reporters might be paid to change the facts that they know. Well, these are my opinions. What is really happening inside these media, only they know themselves.
As readers, we should cross reference to many different form of media for the exact information, and not to believe on one single source of media. Sometimes reporters do make mistakes. In conclusion, media should provide readers with the facts as much as possible so as not to betray our trust in them. We have the rights to know what is happening to the world and not the stories that are made up.
Modern media is the present means of communication, such as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, which reach or influence people widely. Social justice is the principle of moral rightness of or relating to human society and its modes of organization.
What is the purpose of media? It is to provide facts and information to readers. But do the modern media fulfill their requirements? Perhaps yes, but there are more to it.
Modern media are very open, in a sense that everyone can contribute in one way or another. The most ‘open’ media would be blogs. It is very common among teenagers and they are writing how they feel about certain things in their blogs. Even though they should be responsible for their own ‘arguments’ in their post entries, many do not. For instance, there was two bloggers in Singapore charged for not following the ‘rules’ when using blogs. One of them is being racist and giving unfriendly comments on other races. This wrong doing is not fair to people of other races, especially in countries like Singapore, which is a multi-racial country. Since media has been an influential medium over the years, some information in blogs might mislead people away from the truth. So, will blog still be considered as media?
In addition, reports and advertisement in printed media might contain additional made up information. I’m not sure about the purpose of these additional ‘facts’ but I believe it is to attract attention of readers, and to publicize their printed form of media. This happens especially in entertainment news. They can be made up easily, and people do believe them easily. Some of the reporters might be paid to change the facts that they know. Well, these are my opinions. What is really happening inside these media, only they know themselves.
As readers, we should cross reference to many different form of media for the exact information, and not to believe on one single source of media. Sometimes reporters do make mistakes. In conclusion, media should provide readers with the facts as much as possible so as not to betray our trust in them. We have the rights to know what is happening to the world and not the stories that are made up.
The problem with the modern media is they do not have a sense of social justice. Do you agree?
Modern media is the present means of communication, such as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, which reach or influence people widely. Social justice is the principle of moral rightness of or relating to human society and its modes of organization.
What is the purpose of media? It is to provide facts and information to readers. But do the modern media fulfill their requirements? Perhaps yes, but there are more to it.
Modern media are very open, in a sense that everyone can contribute in one way or another. The most ‘open’ media would be blogs. It is very common among teenagers and they are writing how they feel about certain things in their blogs. Even though they should be responsible for their own ‘arguments’ in their post entries, many do not. For instance, there was two bloggers in Singapore charged for not following the ‘rules’ when using blogs. One of them is being racist and giving unfriendly comments on other races. This wrong doing is not fair to people of other races, especially in countries like Singapore, which is a multi-racial country. Since media has been an influential medium over the years, some information in blogs might mislead people away from the truth. So, will blog still be considered as media?
In addition, reports and advertisement in printed media might contain additional made up information. I’m not sure about the purpose of these additional ‘facts’ but I believe it is to attract attention of readers, and to publicize their printed form of media. This happens especially in entertainment news. They can be made up easily, and people do believe them easily. Some of the reporters might be paid to change the facts that they know. Well, these are my opinions. What is really happening inside these media, only they know themselves.
As readers, we should cross reference to many different form of media for the exact information, and not to believe on one single source of media. Sometimes reporters do make mistakes. In conclusion, media should provide readers with the facts as much as possible so as not to betray our trust in them. We have the rights to know what is happening to the world and not the stories that are made up.
Modern media is the present means of communication, such as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, which reach or influence people widely. Social justice is the principle of moral rightness of or relating to human society and its modes of organization.
What is the purpose of media? It is to provide facts and information to readers. But do the modern media fulfill their requirements? Perhaps yes, but there are more to it.
Modern media are very open, in a sense that everyone can contribute in one way or another. The most ‘open’ media would be blogs. It is very common among teenagers and they are writing how they feel about certain things in their blogs. Even though they should be responsible for their own ‘arguments’ in their post entries, many do not. For instance, there was two bloggers in Singapore charged for not following the ‘rules’ when using blogs. One of them is being racist and giving unfriendly comments on other races. This wrong doing is not fair to people of other races, especially in countries like Singapore, which is a multi-racial country. Since media has been an influential medium over the years, some information in blogs might mislead people away from the truth. So, will blog still be considered as media?
In addition, reports and advertisement in printed media might contain additional made up information. I’m not sure about the purpose of these additional ‘facts’ but I believe it is to attract attention of readers, and to publicize their printed form of media. This happens especially in entertainment news. They can be made up easily, and people do believe them easily. Some of the reporters might be paid to change the facts that they know. Well, these are my opinions. What is really happening inside these media, only they know themselves.
As readers, we should cross reference to many different form of media for the exact information, and not to believe on one single source of media. Sometimes reporters do make mistakes. In conclusion, media should provide readers with the facts as much as possible so as not to betray our trust in them. We have the rights to know what is happening to the world and not the stories that are made up.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Censorship can never be justified. Do you agree?
Censorship is the psychology prevention of disturbing or painful thoughts or feelings from reaching consciousness except in a disguised form. To justify is to declare innocent or guiltless. There are many types of censorship such as media censorships, censorship of music and transparency of government.
Media compromises of television, radio, newspapers and even blogs. Blog is considered as a dairy that is available for all to see. People can share their views there and even comment on other people’s blog entry. "Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure," Reporters without Borders said on its website. There is more freedom of speech in blogs although there are still limitations of each comment. Some parts of the films we watch in cinemas are censored (such as pornography), as the authorities feel that it is inappropriate to show the contents to the audience. Hence, there will be a lot of information loss since there will not be a complete information on what is happening in the world. Innocent teenager might not be able to differentiate the right and wrong doing from the films, if they do not see or heard of the consequences anywhere.
However, there are limitations to this freedom to speech in media. Some people might abuse the power to voice out. In June, Microsoft's MSN Spaces site in
Censorship of music is seen as a threat to musicians. There will be a smaller range of music to listen to if the type of music available is controlled. Quoted from an article: They can't stop me from recording my music, but they will do that to up-and-coming musicians, like youngsters," Mapfumo told BBC World Service's The Music Biz programme.
"If they try to record a song like mine, they will be told they are not allowed to record in any studio. That's depriving those youngsters."
So, censorships of music not only affect the consumers for the particular type of music, but also the producer of it. The entertainment vale of music will hence drop. But the limitation of this censorship is that this music can be produced in other countries, smuggled in and distribute to people there.
Some organizations might not be giving the information we need or suppose to know. For instance, the NKF issue was a big one in
In conclusion, censorships can or cannot be justified, depends on the situation. Hence, I cannot have a clear decision on censorships being or not justified.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4271062.stm
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
What is the purpose of these killings?
Cho Seung Hui killed 32 of his school mates and professors, including himself, in Virginia Tech University. These talented victims are innocent. But why are they killed?
Cho was very quite when he was a child, does not respond to greetings neither did he wanted to be hugged. But shy wasn’t the reason for him to be quiet. He would punch her older sister with shocking violence when they fought. He did not mix with other children. He seems to isolate himself, but why?
Lack of love from his family and society contributes to the thought of killing people around him. Born in a poor family, both Cho’s parents have to work hard to earn enough for their family. So, they do not have much time to spend with their children since they were young. The parents and child did not have the chance to have talks among themselves. Cho’s great-aunt said that Cho’s parents will only talk about their daughter, neglecting their son. Sociologist said that “Cho’s isolation as a youth may have been exacerbated by the strains of the Korean immigrant life”.
Has cultural difference contributed to killings as well? The family immigrated to the United States in 1992. Cho was a loner even before the emigration where he can mix with people of his own race, let alone mixing with people of different races and nationalities. This cause Cho to be more isolated. Even he had any problems, he would not be able to tell anyone.
What about each religious belief? Many people who knew Cho advised his mother to bring him to see a doctor as they suspect he had autism-a pervasive developmental disorder of children, characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity, and emotional detachment. But his mother refused to do so and all she did was to pray in church, hoping her son would be better. These beliefs do not have any scientific reasoning behind. People believe them as miracles do happens and they see it miracles as evidences that what they believe in is true. If Cho’s mother brought him to a doctor, will the situation now be the same?
Thinking of teasing your friends? Now think twice. It was said that Cho had experienced many teasing, accusations and rejections in school. Some people just could not be able to overcome these problems. Similarly in Singapore, teenagers see suicides as the solution to overcome these obstacles. Some people are very sensitive to things that you say, so be careful of the words and language used so as not to kill another innocent live.
There are cases of similar killings happened before in the world. Has anyone done anything to prevent these from happening? They should learn their lesson from their previous experience and not let history repeat itself. Everyone should help in identifying and helping people who are in need of emotional support. If someone were to help Cho to clear his troubles, this tragedy would not happen.
Cho might be following the footsteps of other killers. They have similar characteristics such as planning the killing beforehand, having similar weapons like guns with them and so on.
I cannot decide if the family is to be blamed for this killing. If Cho’s mother listened to people’s advises and bring him to see doctor, the situation might not be the same. She chose to believe in her god. But, if believing in their own god does not work, why will people even bother to believe in it? No matter what, it had already happened. What we can do now is only to prevent similar cases to happen again. If everyone plays a part to care more about the people around you, the world would be a perfect place to live in.
Cho Seung Hui killed 32 of his school mates and professors, including himself, in Virginia Tech University. These talented victims are innocent. But why are they killed?
Cho was very quite when he was a child, does not respond to greetings neither did he wanted to be hugged. But shy wasn’t the reason for him to be quiet. He would punch her older sister with shocking violence when they fought. He did not mix with other children. He seems to isolate himself, but why?
Lack of love from his family and society contributes to the thought of killing people around him. Born in a poor family, both Cho’s parents have to work hard to earn enough for their family. So, they do not have much time to spend with their children since they were young. The parents and child did not have the chance to have talks among themselves. Cho’s great-aunt said that Cho’s parents will only talk about their daughter, neglecting their son. Sociologist said that “Cho’s isolation as a youth may have been exacerbated by the strains of the Korean immigrant life”.
Has cultural difference contributed to killings as well? The family immigrated to the United States in 1992. Cho was a loner even before the emigration where he can mix with people of his own race, let alone mixing with people of different races and nationalities. This cause Cho to be more isolated. Even he had any problems, he would not be able to tell anyone.
What about each religious belief? Many people who knew Cho advised his mother to bring him to see a doctor as they suspect he had autism-a pervasive developmental disorder of children, characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity, and emotional detachment. But his mother refused to do so and all she did was to pray in church, hoping her son would be better. These beliefs do not have any scientific reasoning behind. People believe them as miracles do happens and they see it miracles as evidences that what they believe in is true. If Cho’s mother brought him to a doctor, will the situation now be the same?
Thinking of teasing your friends? Now think twice. It was said that Cho had experienced many teasing, accusations and rejections in school. Some people just could not be able to overcome these problems. Similarly in Singapore, teenagers see suicides as the solution to overcome these obstacles. Some people are very sensitive to things that you say, so be careful of the words and language used so as not to kill another innocent live.
There are cases of similar killings happened before in the world. Has anyone done anything to prevent these from happening? They should learn their lesson from their previous experience and not let history repeat itself. Everyone should help in identifying and helping people who are in need of emotional support. If someone were to help Cho to clear his troubles, this tragedy would not happen.
Cho might be following the footsteps of other killers. They have similar characteristics such as planning the killing beforehand, having similar weapons like guns with them and so on.
I cannot decide if the family is to be blamed for this killing. If Cho’s mother listened to people’s advises and bring him to see doctor, the situation might not be the same. She chose to believe in her god. But, if believing in their own god does not work, why will people even bother to believe in it? No matter what, it had already happened. What we can do now is only to prevent similar cases to happen again. If everyone plays a part to care more about the people around you, the world would be a perfect place to live in.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Nowadays, the mass media do not report the news; they make the news.
Discuss this with references to recent events.
What exactly is recent news? It is a report of late occurrence providing information of what is happening around the world. Mass media is a large number of means of communication, such as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines that reaches or influence people widely.
So, has media been making up stories? I think, only the media know themselves.
I suppose there are news that are made up of purely facts. For example, the reports on health would be true. There are quotes from professionals and experts. Recently, there is a news about certain cancer being easily prevented. A forum is also held to urge countries to try to avert cancers which are preventable. Singapore’s Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan was also present in the forum. Since the forum is indeed held in Singapore, the information are given from the experts and involvement of Singapore’s Health Minister, I believe that these are facts.
However, there will also be news that contain stories made up by media or anyone being interviewed, especially entertainment news. In the news ‘’Prince William and girlfriend break up’’, the reasons given on why they split up are provided by their friends. Will their friends be able to know what is the exact situation Prince William and girlfriend is in? media might be making up stories just to earn publicity.
Media has been influencing people in this world in many ways. Advertisements, convincing people to buy their service or product. Magazines, mostly made up of entertainment reports, might be exaggerating to make their news interesting. Like what one of the reviews in Straits Times stated, “If media could publish just 50% rather than 10% of what you actually know,” media will not be replaced by blogs, which is another medium to get information. Are they really publishing so little of what they know?
Answer this honestly: will you read news that contains merely facts? Or will you rather read news that not only contain facts, but also opinions?
While writing a report, people tend to add in their own opinions. Many might mistaken that they are making up stories. Adding opinions might not be wrong, as long as it is clearly stated, and all the facts are included in the report. People can then gain knowledge about the world as well as getting to know how people living in the same earth thinks.
In conclusion, it is of human nature that we don’t pass the fullest 100% of what we know to other people. So, with the access to many different forms of media allows us to get a few percentages of information adding up to form the whole picture. Since media has been so influential, do not disappoint readers. Publish opinions, not made up stories.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
“YouTube has no ethics, it’s been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money.” Do you agree?
Many videos of all sorts are uploaded in YouTube. But how many of them contain real information and is not against anyone, any religion, any race?
There are some videos that are useful for viewers. Some are made to explain how treatments that are not easily explained by words. There are articles stating that parents looked out for videos in YouTube for tips to help children’s disorder. However, professionals said that not all the information is accurate. Furthermore all individuals are different and probably not able to be treated with the same method. They have to seek doctor’s advice before taking any risk. Thus, these videos might mislead people to the wrong treatment.
Videos displayed can be against some religions too. Recently, Thailand government banned access to You Tube video-uploading website after it broadcasted a film showing graffiti over the king’s face. This arouses viewer’s negative views on this issue. They tend to be bias against Thai without knowing what is actually happening. Fortunately, people who uploaded videos which are against people of other religion will be charged by law, but the good name of Thailand cannot be as good compared to the past.
Last year, a few secondary schools uploaded videos of their students fighting in the school compound. When the person who uploaded the video is questioned, he only said that he upload it for fun. Does violence equate to fun for teens? How many people eventually saw that video and perhaps learning from it? This is not a very good side of the school and yet the students want to be notorious, by showing how they behave, to the world. Has YouTube been a medium to support such videos to be uploaded?
Why was YouTube set up? It was mainly for entertainment (the audience) and for money (the founders). YouTube is gaining support from people as they are able to watch videos of comedy or any drama series they like. If one missed an episode of his favourite drama series, or do not have sufficient money for a movie ticket, is able to view them on YouTube for free! With the popular demand of audience, YouTube hence brought in a sum of money for the founders.
In conclusion, although YouTube was established with the core reason for entertainment and money, but they also take actions and measures to prevent people from violating the law. The impacts of the information on the videos are huge. People believe that these videos are of ‘first hand information’ thus believing the ‘facts’ shown in the videos. They should implement more measures to prevent unauthorized video from revealing to the world, preventing false information to be reached out to the world.
Many videos of all sorts are uploaded in YouTube. But how many of them contain real information and is not against anyone, any religion, any race?
There are some videos that are useful for viewers. Some are made to explain how treatments that are not easily explained by words. There are articles stating that parents looked out for videos in YouTube for tips to help children’s disorder. However, professionals said that not all the information is accurate. Furthermore all individuals are different and probably not able to be treated with the same method. They have to seek doctor’s advice before taking any risk. Thus, these videos might mislead people to the wrong treatment.
Videos displayed can be against some religions too. Recently, Thailand government banned access to You Tube video-uploading website after it broadcasted a film showing graffiti over the king’s face. This arouses viewer’s negative views on this issue. They tend to be bias against Thai without knowing what is actually happening. Fortunately, people who uploaded videos which are against people of other religion will be charged by law, but the good name of Thailand cannot be as good compared to the past.
Last year, a few secondary schools uploaded videos of their students fighting in the school compound. When the person who uploaded the video is questioned, he only said that he upload it for fun. Does violence equate to fun for teens? How many people eventually saw that video and perhaps learning from it? This is not a very good side of the school and yet the students want to be notorious, by showing how they behave, to the world. Has YouTube been a medium to support such videos to be uploaded?
Why was YouTube set up? It was mainly for entertainment (the audience) and for money (the founders). YouTube is gaining support from people as they are able to watch videos of comedy or any drama series they like. If one missed an episode of his favourite drama series, or do not have sufficient money for a movie ticket, is able to view them on YouTube for free! With the popular demand of audience, YouTube hence brought in a sum of money for the founders.
In conclusion, although YouTube was established with the core reason for entertainment and money, but they also take actions and measures to prevent people from violating the law. The impacts of the information on the videos are huge. People believe that these videos are of ‘first hand information’ thus believing the ‘facts’ shown in the videos. They should implement more measures to prevent unauthorized video from revealing to the world, preventing false information to be reached out to the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)