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Monday, October 26, 2009

Pointing fingers at the media? Get over it. NOW.


By Isabelle Abraham

“Journalism is dead.”
“Sensationalists, not journalists.”
“It’s the media’s fault.”

And the list goes on. Yeah, I get it. Journalists aren’t the most popular of people. Just take a look at poor Daniel Pearl. We’re being blamed, we’re being sued, and we’re being murdered. Not the most delightful of careers. But at least we’re trying to do something. It’s true that in news today, reporters are more concerned with entertainment than fact. But who’s to blame for that? Certainly not the numerous consumers who pay to read that garbage.

Think about it. If you know (from experience) that citizens want to read about scandal and sleaze, what are you going to write about? Duh. Those readers pay for that stuff, and that money goes into the journalists’ salaries. So they’re going to write about scandal and sleaze.

The media gets blamed for ruining lives. For negatively influencing young people. For not being fair, for not being factual, etcetera, etcetera. Sure, we accept all that. Yet plenty of good has been done too. There are journalists who have made a difference. A good difference. People’s lives have taken a turn for the better. And all thanks to whom? Yeah, you know whom.

The media has been blamed enough for problems that exist in society.

It’s time that PEOPLE take responsibility for what they’ve done to themselves. Some people just lap up what the media feeds them. If they want to take things at face value, it’s their problem, not the media’s.

Still sceptical? Take a look at these articles:


· Don’t Blame the Journalism
· A new threat to media freedom
· Semenya: The media’s to blame? Huh, am I missing something?
· Dear Winnie: You don’t own media freedom

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