Saturday, February 1, 2014
Recently, we have been learning more about slavery by reading Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. This is a story of incredible bravery, sacrifice, and hope. We are surrounded of stories of people showing the world that good still exists, yet the news media portrays the stories of crime and destruction. Personally, I enjoy hearing that people still have a sense of decent humanity in them. I am one of those rare people that hope for world peace. I am wondering why society likes to promote the bad and ignore the good. I understand that it is important to be well rounded in all happenings though. I want to know what your thoughts are on this topic. What stories do you like to hear? Do all the bad stories promote people to act in the same poor manner again? Why are there not more stories like Harriet Ann Jacobs?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Let's just ignore whatever is happening to the text colors....
ReplyDeleteThe news does usually cover the bad stories and ignore the good. I believe that this is because no matter how much good one can do, we are often defined by our mistakes and bad things that we have done. Just one mistake can turn one good person into a bad person in the public eye. This is very unfortunate. I also believe that there is so many good things that are going on that the news could not possibly cover all of the good; therefore, it tends to focus on the bad because it seems that there is less of it. I believe that society defines people by what bad things that they have done. You can build up a reputation for years and can have it destroyed in seconds. There are some good news stories. These are usually stories that go above and beyond what is considered normal in our society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Colton on that we can work up a good reputation our whole lives and one false step in the wrong direction can crush the whole thing. Bad actions have turned some of the most well known people and loved ones into the person everyone despises. For example on this look at Justin Bieber almost everyone liked him except for many men and maybe a few girls but he made one mistake of drinking and driving and look where he is now. Not so high on the important lists of everyone but people will still like him, they just won't look up to him the same.
DeleteThe media is constantly looking to exploit celebrities the most. Anything they do is watched, and gauged on whether it's good or bad, and if it's good, it's usually ignored. Bad, it is uaully put out for all the world to see and remember. Like Jeff's example, Justin Bieber was arrested on DUI, and now no one will ever forget it. He is even being considered for deportation back to Canada. The media exploited his case while forgetting about one thing. Ukraine. Media turned a blind eye to Ukraine due to this celebrity's choices.
DeleteI feel that media may cover the bad more than the good for the fact it is more interesting and the bad news is what the people want to hear about. I was watching the news the other day and it talked about how a homeless man was helped out which covers the good and is interesting but is it really what people want to hear about some do but I think we cover the bad because it could have a bigger impact on our lives. For example say on the news there is a subject that comes up talking about a guy that just murder an innocent person, this will in return keep us interested because we want to know more such as was the man caught, is he still armed and dangerous, etc. We stay interested in the fact that we want to know what precautions we can take to protect our lives and others if this man is still on the run. I think bad news is covered to show that history can be repeated and we as people feel if we show this enough that maybe it will stop others from doing wrong. Plus there is a whole lot less bad then there is good in the world.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we often find the bad interesting. We do not usually see much bad in our everyday lives, at least not compared to what's on TV. This makes the bad much more interesting. Most of our movies show us many acts of violence. It gives the viewers a certain interest in the show. It makes me sad that we feel this way. It could just be due to the lack of seeing these violent things. Many of us feel that seeing these things on TV will prevent us from doing them. Most of us learn from the mistakes that other people have made.
DeleteI agree that the bad news is interesting, but why does it captive our attention so much easier? Is it because we get to see that someone has worse luck than us, or because we fear for our security in life? Sure we all want to know if the murder was caught, but are we truly caring about the people suffering or are we more concerned with how it will affect us?I think that we enjoy the bad news because it is not happening to us. It can tug at our heartstrings, but if does not affect us, and therefore we can watch it purely for enjoyment.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think that humans are wired to see the bad before the good. When we have it good, all we can see is the bad, and when we have it bad we seem to bemoan our misfortune. There are some amazing people who look for the absolute good in life, and they will be found in the most unlikely places. For some reason the bad news is just much more prominent in our society. No wonder some people are so grumpy! All we ever hear is bad, bad, bad. There is hardly ever good or touching stories. If all people hear is bad, they are inclined to think bad as well. This is also why most people are defined by the bad things they do, even if they have worked their whole lives to try and redeem themselves. I do think that if all the examples we hear or see are bad, then we are most likely to act similarly. Without a positive example to compare against, we cannot act as "good".
ReplyDeleteErin I agree with you that humans see the bad before the good, but that there are people who see the good first also. It is so awesome to meet a person who is positive about everything and it seems like they are always so cheerful and happy. These are the people that I love to be around and I assume it is the same for everyone. It is so depressing to be surrounded by doom and gloom. I think that today there is less and less of heroic actions and acts of love. It is harder to find news on these stories and usually the people who are the heroes are humble enough that they don't look to get their glory. These are wonderful people in the world and I hope to surround myself with these types of people. They make me want to live a better life and be a better person.
DeleteI think that the media shows the bad stories, especially about people, more often because doing good is expected in today's society. So when someone does something bad or something bad happens, the media focuses upon that person or place, because it's "abnormal". However, the things they focus on are not always the things they should focus on. While Ukraine is in turmoil right now, the media is more focused on Justin Bieber's DUI and arrest. But another reason could be that the media is under the impression that if something bad happens, everyone has to hear about it, and good events are not worth noting. They focus on the bad because they want to create the impression that there are no good deeds, and that when they do happen they idolize them as though they would never happen. We just have to keep a lookout for things that aren't produced by the media as they are usually good events that happen, often among bad times. I think that bad stories promote good ones. When a bad event happens, media usually allows for people that may never know about it to hear of it and choose to help. Stories about good happening among the bad is a great story to hear and always restores some faith in humanity.
ReplyDeleteI too love top hear about the good in the world. It is very depressing to me to hear about the bad things. I hate hearing about school shootings and natural disaster. I would much rather hear a story about an act of service or a heroic story where someone acted with bravery and courage. When I hear of these things it makes me feel good about myself as a person and give me confidence in the world. As we progress in humanity I feel that our world becomes more wicked. Rarely do we hear of a hero and more often do we hear of murderers and evil things. This is a shame because we have the ability as humans to make this world a wonderful place. I personally would like to see the media promote stories that are happy and cheerful. Recently I watched the movie Frozen and I was so pleased with the ending. I'm sure many of you have seen it, but the moral of the story was about love and how true love can change someone's heart. The movie ends with a sister loving her sister. I loved this movie and it immediately went to the top of my favorite movie list because of the ending. I wish more media and movies were like the movie Frozen.
ReplyDeleteJedd, I agree. Our world does seem to become more and more wicked. There have been many terrible and unearthly happenings in the history of the world. Or course, terrible things still continue to happen and probably always will. That is how humanity is; greed, revenge, and thirst for power are too often what drive people and this causes terrible things to happen. When we hear about acts of goodness, it is reassuring. It inspires us and gives us a sense of relief that our world is not entirely dominated by negativity.
DeleteI definitely think that all of the negativity that the media forces upon society have a huge impact on the way that people think. There is probably a reason why all Disney movies end with happy endings. We don't want our children to watch sad, inhumane, or unsettling stories. If kids watched that enough don't you think they would get used to it and begin to think with a sort of negative or unhealthy manner? The media, unfortunately, focuses heavily on the bad things that happen in our world. It is important that people know the bad news as well as the good news, though. If both sides were equally represented in the media, people may have brighter outlooks. If we only ever heard good news though, we would never know fully what goes on around us.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you talked about the balance stories must have between the good and the negative parts. You stated it perfectly without really coming out and saying it. It is definitely accurate that if people only hear the good side to life, they become naive. This makes it hard for them to handle change, hardship, or stress because they always expect the good. What you talk about, even goes down to the personal level. Each party wants to have an equal say. Just as much as siblings deserve to share their whole story to their parent, positive and negative information deserves to be represented.
DeleteThe media relishes in drama. They know that drama and craziness is what sells. It has gotten to the point that they try to make their stories so interesting that they become somewhat falsified. And people are so caught up in needing to know the latest gossip that they are sucked into the lies. People have an obsession with other people and this makes them interested in seeing what another's life is like. A personal journey of strength is rarely shown in the media, especially when it comes to celebrities. Most stories about celebs are negative. The media wants to portray them in illusive ways because the public will not know the difference. They know that they need to show them badly so that their audience will become hooked and keep coming back for more information about that latest celeb gone crazy. The success stories of regular people are overshadowed in the media. They are forgotten and set aside, because the negative must be reported. The most interesting will always be what gets printed.
ReplyDelete