The Media's Power

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Hannah

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I will be writing a 1,200-word research paper on the media’s coverage, and flow of information. Basically, the power that the media has on highlighting certain topics, and not covering what “they” deem is not important, or won’t sell ad space.

I’m looking for recommendations on books about the subject, magazine/newspaper articles, web sites, or incident’s that you can think of. Hurricane Katrina comes to mind, but do you know of any other information out there?

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vipersmile

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Yes I do. ( Before I begin, I would like to add I love what your doing)


I think it's rather bizzare that the world as a whole focuses on current events pertained to some rather not so important subject matter. My examples are,

The girl that went missing from Aruba.

The men that went missing from Area 51.

As you know, murders and deadly happenings transpire all the time and everywhere. A similar situation as in the girl who was missing in Aruba has happened before. ( I feel a great loss for this woman! I really do!) My point is, why was she made into such a media aphrodite when others weren't. And what about the men who were involved with the Area 51 scandal? Why is it several years later we are not still talking about it? I find it very alarming that two factual and documented incidents ( if you believe or not in UFOS) went astray and unoticed. Two men came out to the public with mute testimony as what transpired, and they dissapeared forever. We, the public never asked why?

I find that disturbing.

Sorry I'm crazy, but things like this that slip by others day to day I tend to hold onto and never relinquish.

Eric Enck-

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Tish Davidson

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The national public radio program "On the Media" covers topics like this. Do a google search on NPR On the Media and check out the story about the media coverage of Rosa Parks.

There was also some discussion recently (maybe in the New York Times) about how Cindy Sheehan (Iraque anti-war activist) got so much coverage last August when she camped out in Crawford. TX because August is such a slow news month. And then there was the "Runaway Bride." If you google some of these along with something like "media coverage" you'll probably come up with commentary appropriate to your topic.
 
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Mike Coombes

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Compare and contrast News coverage of Katrina with the Earthquake in Pakistan.

You did hear about it in the US I presume? Far more people died, and they're still dying, but it's not so easy for news crews to get to.
 

Tish Davidson

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Mike Coombes said:
Compare and contrast News coverage of Katrina with the Earthquake in Pakistan.

You did hear about it in the US I presume? Far more people died, and they're still dying, but it's not so easy for news crews to get to.

National Public Radio is continuing to do stories about how people in Pakistan are dying because the tents aid organizations have issued survivors aren't suitable for winter and will collapse under the weight of the snow. They had an hour-long interview with some of the aid people and some architects offering ideas for alternative shelter just this week. We aren't total Philistines, you know.
 
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Tish Davidson

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Along similar lines, there is an interesting Web site at
http://www.watchingamerica.com/index.shtml
that posts articles (translated into English when necessary) from print and broadcast outlets across the world that concern what other countries are saying about or how they view the US. It is an interesting balance to US media outlets.
 

Mike Coombes

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Tish Davidson said:
We aren't total Philistines, you know.

You miss my point - I wasn't suggesting that anyone is a philistine. The point is that new is only news all the time it's available within a budget and it's photogenic. There are plenty of disasters along these lines that get very sketchy reporting because they're hard to get to - and if you don't geta constant stream of pictures, it becomes non news, and not just in the USA.
 

Stephen DeBock

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Media's power

Please visit my Blog, <labelingislibeling.blogspot.com> and scroll down to the essay entitled, "Free Press for Sale: Another Look at the Rodney King Fiasco." There you will find info, with references, implicating the commercial media in the Los Angeles riots. One of my college students showed it to his uncles, who are lawyers for CNN. They vilified me to him, alleging that no one agency could cause such antisocial behavior. He was at a loss as to how to reply. I suggested, "The next time you see your uncles, ask them if they've ever heard of Adolf Hitler." A book that might interest you is Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry . It shows how the media themselves are manipulated by those who, like them, have nothing to tell and everything to sell.
 

revezbelle

World War II and the Holocaust.
I went to Emerson College which if focused around communications and media and I actualy took a whole semester (somewhat boring) class about media and the holocaust. All of the papers I wrote had to do with comparing newspaper articles from that time to what was later learned to be happening and believe it or not, what i found was that most of the innocent citizens who werent involved were clueless. Also the US did not know so much about the genocide while it was happening b/c it was right after the depression and whichever president it was (how awful is that? i better study up) didnt want to alarm people nor did he wish to dwindle funds further. SO they kept it a secret. I don't know what sources would be appropriate for this but if you would like to read my little essay/research paper i wrote on the topic (3 of them, from before, after and during the war) i would be more than happy to email them to you if i can find them. they contain some good info. also Eli Weisel wrote an amazing book on his time in the Holocaust and i cant remember the name but its one word (im striking out this morning and lazy too!). okay well good luck

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revezbelle

Ooh, while im at it i just remembered, i've also done a few research papers on the mass genocide, torture and neglect of children (selling them to prostitution, torturing them, etc) in Brazil and many other Countries in that region, stuff that is also not reported. The police do hardly anything in some of those places accept participate. That should be available online. A really good source for all of this you are researching is http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml

it is dedicated to reporting just the facts, objective news, and you should be able to find archives of past events. if you want to go local you can type in for instance boston.indymedia.org as well and get info on what's going on closer to you.
 
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