Altering America

To start off, modern technology has made it easier for the media to publicize global tragedies. I have often turned the T.V. to see breaking headlines and graphic images. While the point of this is to inform the public of disasters and perhaps warn others, it is hardly ever the message received by the viewer. Darrin Drda, in his “Fear and Hate 9/11” comic, humorizes the fact that big news companies often present information unfairly and unbalanced. The media constantly portrays natural disasters in a way that reduces the sympathetic feeling and focuses on them as a form of entertainment. This defeats the purpose of sharing the stories of the victims. In an online article titled, “Hurricane Katrina-Rejuvenating the Mainstream Media?” Anup

The more people hear of these disasters, the easier it is to accept them. Shocking ‘breaking news’ headlines have now become common and ordinary. In fact, different news broadcasters seem to compete between each other trying to announce the most surprising stories every day. The viewer’s slowly become apathetic to stories of other people’s sufferings and calamities. Many may say that there are good sides to the media’s involvement. Author Ruxandra Floroiu, in her book, Altering America: Effective Risk Communication, discusses communications regarding risk associated with hazards and disasters, she boasts,” [it’s] making it possible to track potential disaster agents, alert authorities, and educate.” Although the media and technology help these issues, the media often exceeds these boundaries and interferes with the lives of innocent victims. Writer Anant Bhan, further explains my stance in a letter he wrote to the editor of a previous article. He reminds “media plays an important role in providing information at the time of crises,” however one should not forget the people who “might be vulnerable as they have gone through a traumatic experience, might be in acute pain and distress and also in grief because of loss” (Bhan, par.2). Here he portrays that there are other ways of alerting the public without having to utilize suffering victims. Those people often times are not given a choice and are presumptuously interrogated. In his letter he includes how the media handled the Asian tsunami in 2004. He highlights that the care and aid for the injured are the most important things in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Those victims and family members that are willing to communicate with the media and have full consent should be the only ones being interviewed. Presumptuous interviewers have in several occasions surpassed the