"The news media should be blamed for the unhealthy paparazzi culture and going to the extremes for sensational news. How far do you agree?"
I disagree completely.
What are the possible factors of the ubiquity of the unhealthy paparazzi culture and the going to the extremes for sensation news? The news media, of course, is one of them. The readers is also a factor. And then there is the law.
It might be argued that the news media is being overly competitive and is trying to attract the attention of readers through sensational news. However, I would like to point out that nothing is not competitive in the current society, and as long as it is allowed, there is nothing wrong. Humans compete with each other for money; companies compete with each other for customers; countries compete with each other for dominance; and even animals compete with each other for food. It is almost impossible to find something in this world that is not competitive. The word "compete" is a social norm, which anyone at anywhere from anytime must follow in order to survive. Can you blame the news media companies for attempting to compete and therefore survive? Can you blame it for trying to protect the jobs of its workers?
The readers is another factor, though yet again I believe that the fault lies not in them. Humans have the intrinsic inquisitiveness - wanting to know things that they don't. Especially when they get a chance to know more about the private lives of famous people then - celebrities, people in power, etc. - I am pretty sure that they would grab the chance without hesitation. Again, I don't think they should be the ones to be blamed, for they are just being curious and, what's wrong with that? Curiousity might have killed the cat, but think of what good curiousity had done for mankind. Behind every discovery there is a scientist with a mind full of curiousity. Questions can only be answered when people never stop questioning.
The last factor here is the law. I think, that the law is the one to blame. A law should be set to prohibit the reportage of such news. Without such a law, news media is free to go around spreading news and literally spamming the newspapers with overly exaggerated reports on scandals and perhaps even the reportage of scandals that never actually existed. With such a law, famous people would not have to live under constant fear of being reported and have their freedom restricted as well. Uninterested readers would not be seeing over flooding of completely unimportant news that occupies the space for more important news. Gossipers might be disappointed, but I feel that they would not be overly so. After all, this type of news only serves to spice up their life and they could still live normally without these, unlike smoke addicts who might turn to drugs instead.
As a conclusion, though there are a variety of factors causing the unhealthy paparazzi culture, I do believe that the culture of the government is the one to blame.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Norway Shootings
I watch the video uploaded by Anders Breivik and could not resist but feel sad for him and also the people of Norway.
As the world goes towards internationalization, inevitably there would be a few people or groups of people that are radically conservative or perhaps even reactionary. This people will oppose any notions on internationalization and attempt to stop it through radical means such as bombing, massacres and so on. However, I believe that internationalization is one of the most important in today's society. With problems faced by mankind being more and more globalised (such as global warming, etc.), there is a need for people of different races, religions, and even languages to unite and solve these global problems together. It is necessary that we, as human beings, stop thinking about our differences and start thinking about something we share - we share the same problems. And we need to solve them together.
I think one of the important factors causing the shootings, other than the concept of internationalization, would be the similarly radical Islam groups. Anders Breivik probably witnessed how violent the Islamic terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda were and feared an attack launched on Norway.
Another one would probably be being stereotypical of Muslims. He saw how the terrorist groups in the Middle East constantly threatened Israel and linked it back to his own country, Norway. He found out that there has been a sharp rising trend in the number of Muslims in Norway and, based on the stereotype that all Muslims are jihadists and radical, concluded that the Muslims were plotting to overtake Norway and destroy Christianity in Europe, just like what they had attempted to do in Israel.
Last but not least, I feel that he is paranoid. He suspected that the European Union was another move by the Muslims to invade Europe.
As the world goes towards internationalization, inevitably there would be a few people or groups of people that are radically conservative or perhaps even reactionary. This people will oppose any notions on internationalization and attempt to stop it through radical means such as bombing, massacres and so on. However, I believe that internationalization is one of the most important in today's society. With problems faced by mankind being more and more globalised (such as global warming, etc.), there is a need for people of different races, religions, and even languages to unite and solve these global problems together. It is necessary that we, as human beings, stop thinking about our differences and start thinking about something we share - we share the same problems. And we need to solve them together.
I think one of the important factors causing the shootings, other than the concept of internationalization, would be the similarly radical Islam groups. Anders Breivik probably witnessed how violent the Islamic terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda were and feared an attack launched on Norway.
Another one would probably be being stereotypical of Muslims. He saw how the terrorist groups in the Middle East constantly threatened Israel and linked it back to his own country, Norway. He found out that there has been a sharp rising trend in the number of Muslims in Norway and, based on the stereotype that all Muslims are jihadists and radical, concluded that the Muslims were plotting to overtake Norway and destroy Christianity in Europe, just like what they had attempted to do in Israel.
Last but not least, I feel that he is paranoid. He suspected that the European Union was another move by the Muslims to invade Europe.
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