Modern day media has changed the way information travels all
around the world and in a big way too. Before the days of Facebook, Twitter and
online news media, people found out about what is going on in the country the
old fashioned way: the newspapers. There could only be so much printed on a
newspaper so not only did it limit the details that could be provided on
certain stories, it also limited what stories could be published. Publishers
had to choose what would be most important/gain the most attention from the
masses and go with that. In today’s world, they have it much easier. There is
no space limit on the internet, and as many stories as desired can be published
and more easily accessed by a large number of people. Anyone could go to
FOXNews or CNN online, news Facebook pages or twitter to see what is going on
not only in the United States, but around the whole world. Actually, people don’t
even have to pursue news topics anymore, people can retweet and share information
on social media and stories will show up on individual’s timelines for them to
see.
Being that the news is now more accessible to people, people
know more about what is going on in the country they live in. The first thing I
noticed this morning when it was reading the news online: violence. Actually,
the first three stories I saw were all around violence, First was and NYPD
officer was fatally shot, the second was a 4 year old girl was killed in New
Mexico and then there was an update on Detroit emergency workers that were
stabbed. I could probably go on for days about all the stories in the media
about violence and it paints a scary picture of the world we live in. More
often than not, you will see unsettling, sad and disturbing stories in the news
before you see one happy one. It seems like there is some tragic happening
almost every day and makes the country we live in today seem as unsafe as ever.
We have terrorists like ISIS to worry about but sometimes it seems like the
biggest threat could be the person right next to us.
Thinking about all the media coverage of violence has me
thinking one thing: Is violence really on the rise right now, or does it just seem that
way because we now have easy access to hear about what is really going on around
the country?
Is the violence in modern day just as bad as it was say
twenty or thirty years ago? It is easy to assume that there is a spike in
violence around the country because we see it everywhere. We can’t go online
without hearing about an innocent person being killed, a school shooting, or a
cop being killed on duty. However, is it possible that all of these occurrences
happened just as much in the past, but because of the lack of social media and
internet usage, it just wasn’t as widely broadcasted?
What do you think bloggers? Is violence on the rise or does
increased media access just make it appear that way?
Read the major stories on these news sites to see more:
Heres a video on one of the stories mentioned above: http://video.foxnews.com/v/4570034279001/four-year-old-girl-killed-in-alleged-road-rage-incident-/
Great post, and great question! I have also wondered this myself. The “old” days are usually portrayed as such happy times. I have even heard older people say “Things were not like this when I was your age,” but, how do they know things were not like “this?” You made a great point about newspapers being the main source of news, and how they are limited in details and the stories they can share. So, it is possible that violence was just as prevalent in the “old days” as it is now, but it is just more publicized today. I often think that today is more violent, but perhaps it is because of what the movies, television, books, and people tell me about the times before I was born. I am not sure if violence is on the rise, or if it has stayed somewhat the same, but I do think that increased media attention can make it seem like it is on the rise when it is not. All I ever see in the news are the bad stories. Violent police officers, school shootings, robberies, and so on. It would be very interesting to research studies done surrounding this question! I enjoyed reading your post; they always get me to think so much deeper about things!
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