Reed's G Band Media Log

The Media: Selectively Informative

Few things on this earth possess as much power as the media in the lives of everyday people. We are consumed by the media everywhere we exist, from billboards on every corner that we walk to the numerous televisions that seem to turn up in just about every establishment that one can find. With this never-ending occupation of our minds, the media has the distinct privelage of being albe to shape how we view things in our lives, whether it be politics, popular culture or otherwise. In an age where people crave information, the media has become as necessary as our shoes, and it seems like we wear its effects everywhere that we go. The unfortunate thing is that the media tends to gloss over many an important issue and in the end deprives the common person of vital information.

The advertising selection at the Super Bowl earlier this year perfectly portrays this new phenomenon. An anti-Bush organization, "moveon.org," held a contest to come up with a convincing advertisment that accurately displayed a fault in the Bush administration's handling of the nation. The winning advertisment displayed several children working in everyday jobs ranging from garbagemen to clerks at a supermarket. At the advertisment's conclusion, the following text appears: "Who is going to pay for Bush's $3 trillion deficit?" Naturally, CBS chose not to carry the advertisment, even if "moveon.org" had raised adequate funds (well into the multi-millions) to pay for the 30 second timeslot. CNN instead chose to air the advertisment twice during the Super Bowl, but couldn't have roused nearly as much exposure to the organization's message as a national network could have.

Why was this advertisment not shown? It seems like the media is afraid to display any sort of opposition or second opinions anymore. In an age where we preach "unity" and "togetherness," it seems like any form of angst shown towards our national government is somehow taboo. The government and the media both want us to keep our mouths shut and live our lives in quiet ignorance. This new reality is really unfortunate and pathetic, as we are living in a time where the free-flow of ideas is paramount in our ever-changing world. What's wrong with a little oppostion, a little questioning? Does it really hurt that much? Obviously CBS and the entire media think so. They selectively inform us of the issues that really matter. Through this course of action, the media is therefore communicating to me that recognition of our enormous national debt is far less important than the hours and hours of male enhancement advertisments (which dominated the airwaves at the Super Bowl). As much as we hear of the economy rebounding and increases in jobs, the media seems to conviently forget about the national budget deficit and the amount of budget cuts that all states are facing. Again, how convient....

To conclude, it seems like as curious as we are about the world and events that impact us everyday, we are still able to selectively tune out certain truths and realities. The media is a perfect example of this: it projects the good, fluffy and ultimately harmless stuff to us all, and then simaltaneously deprives us of critical, abrasive and "dangerous" material in the spirit of "keeping everybody happy." The spreading of information has always been upheld as an objective institution, and yet the largest information hub in the world is perhaps the most subjective that exists. It seems like the media is scared of disagreeing with the majority or the ruling power of the nation. Risk is almost like a terrorist threat to the media: they have to defeat it at all costs. I live in hope that mass-media as a whole can finally defeat its own quiet ignorance and really show us every aspect of the truth, rather than one incredibly one-sided, glossed over and ultimately pointless piece of trash. People are smarter than the status-quo, and the media must realize this.