Many people believe that there are many images, stories, videos – basically all forms of media and news are considered – that should not be shown to the general public or even made available for there use because of their violent or disturbing content. Examples which come to mind immediately are images of people jumping out of the twin towers on September 11,2001 when they were bombed; the people decided that suicide from the fall was better than death from the fires. Other examples include photos of students from the Virginia Tech shooting being carried injured out of buildings. These images are just examples of the content available to those who read the news and surf the Internet. There are a good deal of people find them to be considered as over the top and too graphic for public viewing due to those peoples assumptions and opinions that such images are not beneficial to the public in the retelling of such already unfortunate and distressing stories. There are others who hold the opinion which I hold; the public has a right to know the truth, and be informed in a way that paints no false images or expectations.
In many situations the truth, when revealed through photography and video and other media, can be alarmingly terrifying. People have tend to live in their own little world and live a self sheltered light in my experience and as a result of this, they feel betrayed by humankind when they are presented with a story that shows just how depraved the human soul can become. And while it is not necessarily always the case that people are self sheltered – some people are sheltered due to outside influence – the sheltering itself is something that I see as hugely problematic. In a world where a man can gain entry to a plane with a bomb in his underpants, can we afford to think that real people are not forced to decide weather to jump out of a burning building to their death or stay and lose their life in the fires blazing around them? Surely, no one will disagree that both the bombing of the World Trade Center and the attempted underwear bombing are not both acts of depraved humankind. Religion aside, to commit such acts shows a complete lack of respect for human life. The depraved acts of the world’s most misguided, lost, and insane must be made known to the public so that the public can act and live appropriately in light of the world they live.
So, what does it look like for people to view and treat these images correctly? Firstly, people must be aware of their maturity and if they are not mature enough to understand the purpose of such images and stories, it may be best that they be made aware by others who are able to explain them in ways which make it easier to take but not less powerful in meaning. The consumption of news requires reader maturity.
No comments:
Post a Comment