"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.
Well i do not completely agree with you. I think that the media still has to part to play in this unhealthy trend. Firstly, it was the desperation of the media to get more readership that made them turn to alternatives like tabloids and similar sensational news so that more people would be willing to buy their papers. Then, people start liking such news, and then demanding for more. In response to that the media naturally try to get more news to supply the skyrocketing demands, or rather making use of it to make profits, and thus go into extreme ways to get sensational news. It is all about the media's greed in other words.
ReplyDeletehey shao dian, i feel that i would be better if you could add in your argument from another point of view, like saying that the news media should be blamed for the unhealthy paparazzi culture and going to the extremes for sensational news. Due to benefits they recieve
ReplyDeleteHi Shao Dian, I must commend that you are very brave to take such an extreme stand. It is definitely very difficult to argue and many would disagree. Nonetheless, you have raised a few good points. I agree that being competitive is a social norm and that it is the survival of the fitest. However, that does not mean that they have the right to news corporations have to right to infringe people's privacy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do not understand your arguement in your third paragraph. Why are you saying the the readers are not to be blamed. By saying that the readers should not be blamed, you are indirectly saying the news media are responsible.