Yes, I am talking about the September 11 attacks - one of the worst known terrorist attacks in the world.
Frankly, I didn't give it much thought when I heard about the terrorist attack that night. Other than being slightly shocked and relieved that my auntie was safe, the whole idea of terrorist attacks was relatively unknown to me. I slept soundly that night. However, the next day, the newspaper fronts were splashed with the photos of the burning buildings, photos of New Yorkers in anguish. Not just one article, but countless articles giving a step-by-step account of the incident, discussions on who was the mastermind behind the attack, interviews on the victims, etc. I heard it on the radio..the sounds of the plane crashing into the steel building, hearing the screams of horror. I remember rushing home from school and plonking myself in front of the tele..I saw footage of people jumping out of the windows of the 110 floors skyscraper, the planes crashing into the North and South tower, heard the final recorded phone calls of the passengers on the plane. I learnt about the effect on the US economy and finally understood the meaning of terrorist attacks. It truly haunted me. The world declared a fight against the terrorists behind 911.
I wouldn't have known the magnitude of this event if not for the mass media, even though I had heard it first hand from my aunt. Even the aliens on Mars would have known about this world-changing event. Thus is the effect of mass media on us today, or what we would call the Agenda Setting Function.
The media raises the importance of certain issues/topics to the public by repeatedly reporting or emphasizing on on them, to fulfill their media agendas. In this case, creating the awareness against the true dangers of terrorism and rallying the world against Afganistan/Iraq. How we evaluate certain issues are also to a certain extent based on the views presented by the mass media. Do you ever recall questioning how accurate was the media's reflection of the whole September 11 attacks, or simply accepting that what the headlines on the newspapers had reported was entirely true? We have often been "primed" by the media into thinking in a certain way, especially if that is part of the media agenda (e.g. the mass media being controlled by a government).
Everyday, we are exposed to so much information from the media, each from their own sources. And it seems for majority of us, we let ourselves get steered by the media and their views. Are we victims of mass media?
Victims of media we are..to a certain extent! Although media does heavily influence how we perceive a topic or an issue, we must take note that mass media is so extensive and varied that we don't just get one side of the coin. For example in the September 11 attacks, there were also articles on how the US was the real mastermind behind it all..and was used as a ploy to declare war. I also remember there was a movie made by Michael Moore called Fahrenheit 9/11,that attempted to portray the other side of the story to 911.
ReplyDeleteSo in this way, I feel that the public still gets a fair share of info from all perspectives (unless the media/government censors the info of course).
So cool! Your aunt worked at the WTC!? That was really first-hand information! I really think the mass media does has the ability to change our views..especially in countries like China, or even Singapore! =s Media such as newspapers and the prime time news usually carry news that are more propaganda-ish in nature and are slanted to point out the good of their own country and place certain countries they disapprove of in a bad light. Don't you think? I find our mass media here in Singapore quite slanted at times.
ReplyDeleteElaine: Yeah. Victims we may be..but we can't deny that the media is also a great tool to equip us with information. Without such media organisations doing the job of compiling all these information and packaging it for the public, we most probably would be ignorant about many things that are happening around us! (:
ReplyDeleteAnon: YESHH. My aunt..and not cool..so dangerous can! I totally agree how i find Singapore's media getting very "propaganda-ish" too. Maybe it's because the media here is being controlled by one organisation under the government. So in this case, the media agenda would be to boost the image of Singapore to Singaporeans. And also i realised many shows being aired on prime time (not just news) are also utilised to promote certain Singapore campaigns..such as "Serves You Right" on Channel 5 that encourages workers to go for service skills upgrading and like the recent Channel 8 drama "The Dream-Catchers" (mainly sponsored by Singapore Economic Development Board" which also encourages Singaporeans to join the engineering line. Which reminds me this also shows "Media Hegemony" - just look at the sponsors for these shows!
ReplyDeleteEpic entry. Wait a go sis.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say we are victims of mass media. Ultimately, it is up to us to choose what to watch, and how much we allow reports [regardless of how accurate they are] to affect us. In the case of 9/11, we can take it in a positive manner i.e. learning the importance of staying resilient, or taking it negatively, making us live in fear.
This does not water down the powerful effects of mass media. Having studied animation, a form of media, I understand it's life-changing abilities, as well as it's power to influence an entire generation. You can see it from how people, today, can grind on video games to their death, to immature audiences pulling off some stunt they've seen in a movie/programme and end up harming themselves, or worse, others around them.
Sad to say, many youths today fail to discern what is good and bad for them from the media, which is why people in the media industry have a huge responsibility. Them spreading lies and promoting questionable material is paramount to social genocide.
Then again, like what Andrew Ryan from Bioshock said...
"A man chooses, a slave obeys."
yup the all powerful effects of the media! think it kinda boils down to how the receiver discerns the information being thrown at them. And i think the people behind the media are more selfish than to think of the responsibility they have over the public/audience..such as how to get more viewership (thus the generation of more exaggerated, twisted news) and how to satisfy their own agendas such as gaining the public's support over a certain issue.
ReplyDeleteI would say that mass media is actually a double edged sword. How so? On one hand, the media can provide us with first hand information on current affairs. Such as the case during the collapse of nicoll highway, Channel News Asia (CNA) has it report within an hour with actual life footage of what is happening. On the flip side, as mention by everyone else, the media can create a facade to make the public believe what they want them to. Touch your hearts as a singaporean and tell yourselves that the media (mediacorp) was fair to the opposition party during the general elections in 2006. All these are examples that are very close to our hearts.
ReplyDeleteHence, it is not entirely true that the the media isn't brainwashing us. However, I feel that the responsibility to get accurate news lies with both the media as well as individuals (or at least those who are interested). Its a fact that the media wants its readers base to be huge, and what better way to do so is to write what the readers want to read. Humans are "busybodies" by nature. We want to know JUICY details of happenings around us. How do you expect the tabloid newspapers to thrive if humans lacked the innate behavior of watching people's misfortune? In any case, I strongly feel that the media should have the social responsibility to report the facts. There is no need for them to add "toppings" for us. Even though its true that reporters are humans who will take sides (often the underdogs), true journalism spirit is reporting strictly facts as much as possible.
However, the readers must also hold responsibility for what they read. You wouldn't want to count on 8 days to give you the latest report or analysis of the current financial crisis would you? Even though that is an extreme example, readers must surely choose which source they feel is reliable to get the necessary information. They should also exercise a little maturity in reading, by cross referencing with a few sources reporting on the same issue. You can't simply put the blame on the media by saying that the news they report is bias and hence we the readers are victims of mass media terror. Our education program has already equipped our students with this cross-referencing skill (required in arts related subject in our secondary school curriculum).
As the saying goes, it takes 2 hands to clap. The problem of mass media terrorism will not go away unless both parties actively do their part. The media should exercise more professionalism when reporting news and the readers should also take in these information with a pinch of salt. As Gold 90 fm aptly puts it, "Hear only the good things", are we people really only hearing the things we want to?
hey esther! hmmm i personally feel that as much as mass media has the ability to feed/bombard/overwhelm the public with all the information, nothing can beat the story of a person who tells of it from a personal point of view. because as you know, when you hear of news from the papers or from the tv, there's a certain kind of detachment. but when, say, your auntie shared with you guys about her experience, somehow i feel that the impact is greater. it's as if this issue is so much more real than it looks, and closer to the heart.
ReplyDeletejust my two cents worth. (:
Heng!: wow i'm impressed! you've got a GP essay there!! hahaha. you mentioned that true journalism is reporting strictly the facts..this is something which i don't think is reflected much in our society now. or maybe i'm not sure what i read is ever the truth.
ReplyDeleteand you're right, just like how i told my bro earlier, we should learn to decipher if the sources we get from are reliable and if it agrees with information from other sources as well. but like in the example of Singapore party elections, the control of the mass media by the government makes it almost impossible to put the opposition party in any advantage! so here, the limits of mass media due to censorship also comes into play.
mass media can be rather subjective as well..(this will have to go back to the topic of individual perceptions alr!) so you can't say there's a wrong or right answer to what you receive from the media either.
in any case..yes both parties (source and the audience) should try to do their parts, as you've concluded.
Dot!: yep agreed! having to hear it directly from someone i know def made a deeper impression on me. i would not have been so interested in what the news had to say about 911 if not for the initial call from my aunt too! and yeah having someone so close to Ground Zero made this issue all the more real and important to me.
Anw, thanks for taking time to comment you two! ((:
Oh boy... just reading about the 911 attacks is making my goosebumps come out of their hiding place. Even after all this while, all that new coverage and commentaries have still left its mark in my mind. Alot of them focused on the loss and used alot of ethos such as despair and fear especially in the forms of pictures that yields easily. Indeed there have been criticisms that by doing so, the media has indirectly overstated the power of the terrorist groups and helping them to gain 'recognition'. Yes, it is a grave situation and the terrorists should be condemned, but as mass communicators, the media should know where to draw the line.
ReplyDeletei see this is everyone's fav entry! this probably truly reflects how big an impression and impact 911 has on us, despite being so far away from the US and the hooha of it all.
ReplyDeleteJo: i think u raised a point that made sense. the mass media had probably helped the terrorists fufill their agenda by helping them to gain recognition in the world and inflict fear in people (which is the intent of TERRORism). i rmb the media also airing videos of the Al Queda and Osama which were sent by the terrorists..and the media were so smart to help them publicise to the world! even the terrorists know how to make use of the powerful effects of the media to their advantage!!