Table of Contents
Sometimes the media is driven be the urge to get more readership and views. The media does not necessarily aim at telling or relaying stories to the audience because they need them. Rather, the media airs what will give me a wide viewership and readership regardless of the content. At most, times, bad stories get a bigger audience, and that is why the media constantly air events that are cruel, hurting, or utterly disgusting. When the media airs issues of mass violence, it shows people that their acts of mass violence. However, it also brings out the aspect that violence is a never-ending vice and that shapes the society in a way that presents this vice as a way of life.
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Similarities and Differences between the Two School Disasters
The school disasters involved shooting where the shooter was an adolescent in both cases. These acts involved young adults, and the attackers have a love for the weapons before the attack. However, some of the attackers have licensed guns while other does not. In some cases, the shooters kill themselves while in the other disasters they do not.
Safety of School Children
The media serves to intensify an issue. At the time, some of these acts are not as violent of aggressive as the media present them. Schools are safer because there is more personnel given the responsibility to ensure there is safety in schools. However, the media should try to cast a glance from the schools to ensure the safety is maintained. The number of victimizations will keep rising if the issue of school violence keeps making the headlines. (Office of Justice Programs, 2015)
Is the Media Overstating School Violence?
The media often describes school violence while they happen. However, the media goes a long way to explaining these acts by relating them to acts that happened a long time ago. The media may state these violent acts as they happen but still manage to overstate them by describing them with a little more exaggeration of unnecessary emphasis. This may make the people misunderstand the acts or argue that they are worse than they seem.
The Media’s Contribution to the Stereotypes of Crime
People believe that the media sets out the public agenda in effect (Benson, 2014). The media consistently determine how people see or think about a specific issue. If the media argues that the youths influence the violence, there is a high likelihood that people will try to argue in the same way. The media contributes to the stereotypes about crime because they have a long lasting effect on people and people find it easier to trust in the media and what they hear, see, or read in the media.
Social Media vs. Traditional Television and Radio Coverage
The social media transmits more news and faster than most of the other medias. However, people do not always trust what they see or read in the social media because some people use the social media to transmit false stories and rumors. Traditional radio and television were not biased and often transmitted real information. Therefore, it was trustable and did not pass along stereotypes or exaggerated messages. For instance, there were rumors going around on the social media that the famous pop star Drake was involved in certain rows with Chris Brown because of a girl. However, these were speculations, which could not be confirmed.
- Benson, C. (2014, April 15). Chicago Reporter. Retrieved from http://www.chicagoreporter.com Office of Justice Programs. (2015).