Media Bias

Media bias i think is very common today. Its like "New media, Old bias". What I mean to say is that, although there are newer forms of media that have come up - such as social media, youtube, facbook, BBM, etc - biases still do exist.
I think almost all news wires have some kind of bias today - and this I do not think is right on the part of a writer. I mean, if a writer wants to share his opinion - then there are specific types of articles (Opinion pieces) where he or she could do so. When a reader is reading an opinion piece, they know that the opinion shared is subjective. However, while reporting news about events or issues around the globe - a reporter should have an objective style of writing. Let the reader draw his/her own opinion after reading. But this does not happen very often.
Nowadays, its not just one or two writers in the publication who may be subjective writers, but sometimes the entire media agency has a biased style of disseminating information. The best example of this perhaps, is FOX NEWS!
I mean, it is so evident that all the content shared by Fox News is bought, and this only proves that money can buy media space. And if thats the case then it is really sad. No wonder, strong stereotypes exist - the best one is what we discussed in class last week that all blondes are stupid.
Let me give you an example of media bias from my country.
So I do not know how many of you this guy:

Well, he is Shah Rukh Khan, known as the 'King' of Bollywood. This is the poster of his latest movie named 'Ra.One' wherein he plays the role of a super hero. This movie released last week and is probably one of the worst movies ever of bollywood! Im Indian and i thoroughly enjoy b'wood movies and am a SRK fan too - but this movie was plain torture.

But GUESS WHAT? Apparently some of the TV reviewers do not think so. You know why? Cuz the 'KING' of b'wood has obviously bought some of these popular movie critics in India and ask them to say good things about his oh-so-awful movie so that innocent and naive and maybe even stupid people like myself go waste our time and money on such horrible movies!

Here is a link of one such movie reviewer talking about Ra.One 

I apologize that the video is in hindi and also without subtitles. But in a nutshell, what this reviewer says is that, this movie raises the bar of Indian Cinema to a whole new level, "you will feel like clapping throughout the movie it is so good", "the acting is so good" - basically he is bragging about the movie for no reason. I thought this was relevant to media bias and since I am very pissed that I went for this horrible movie instead of celebrating halloween, I thought I should at least warn people if they are going to see this bad movie!

Think before you Speak

So last entire week we watched the Tilman documentary and honestly, it was something really serious and an issu one can really think about...
I was honestly taken aback when the movie finally got over and I saw how the government was being so evasive about the whole issue... I mean...this maybe just one story that came out in the public...there probably are several others stories- truths of which are perfectly hidden by the government  under the light of honor and glory.
The government must feel obliged to these people who wish to voluntarily join the army. They should be a support for their families, rather than keep things hidden about their own children from them.
What they did with Tilmans family was atrocious! I mean - its their child!! They deserve to know the truth!
How selfish can the government be, that they actually 'USE' someones life to look better in front of the world...

And how stupid can the media be that they blindly broadcast anything and everything they receive! The power of media is great - we all know that. Most of us just believe what we see in news channels - we assume that what they say is probably true. What the media does not realize/ or does not want to realize is that with power comes responsibility! If they are the ones who have the power to broadcast information to the masses, they must make sure that they at least spread ACCURATE information. This reminds of me the example professor mentioned in class i think in Week 2 of the New York Times writer who was making up stories in his column! THIS IS WRONG! UNETHICAL! NOT FAIR!
Let me share one search bizzare story with you...

A story got published about a young boy in Texas who stole his father's credit card, along with his friends went on a crazy shopping spree of video games, electronic gadgets and also  two $1,000-an-hour hookers. And if this was not ridiculous enough - the twist to the story was that these boys did not higher those hookers for sexual reasons - but because they wanted a fourth player to play the games with!
The truth was an internet marketer and writer Lyndon Anticliff dreamed up the whole story as part of a ploy to get some quick hits to his site - and thanks to the careless media, he even managed to do so!

Here is a video of the story being aired on Fox News

Blue eyes + Big Boobs + Blonde Hair = DUMB!

So last class we were discussing about stereotypes! And the whole blonde discussion really got me thinking!

It is a little sad that just by someones hair color we make conclusions about how smart or dumb they are...I agree there maybe those typical girls who have blonde hair, blue eyes and big boobs! and as soon as a guy spots  those 3 features in a girl - Finitto - He probably thinks he would be nailing her soon...but that is not how one is supposed to think
I mean think of the example our professor gave us in class... I am sure she is the smartest blonde I know! That guy who she was telling us about has got to be shameless to just go and ask her - simply on the basis of how she looks

Another thing that I was thinking that time is, not all blonde girls are dumb and not all dumb girls are blonde... I know some really stupid brunettes too! :P

And some girls I have met, I feel they take advantage of this stereotype that is there on them - They intentionally act dumb in front of boys because they think that playing dumb will help guys think they are chiks who are easy to bag...

I mean, I partially blame such girls too, who let the world think that they can call them stupid based on their looks!
This video is one of my favorite blondie videos :P

And whenever I think of blonde girls, that character from Mean Girls comes in my head, Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried). I do not know how many of you have seen the movie, but OMG is she dumb in that movie or what?
She does not know how to spell Orange!!
And guess what? She is obviously a blue eyed blondie with big boobs! American media itself is projecting stereotypes so strongly, so can you blame the world watching these movies when they believe it?
Here is a scene from that movie,

India Against Corruption Movement

Homework 3

Social media and new media platforms is probably the most popular way of spreading news in today’s time. With everyone having a smart phone with apps like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on it, spreading information is really not hard at all. In fact, this has become the new way of telling the world about news. I do not read the newspaper or see news on TV anymore; however, I still receive news or information about what’s going on around me. How? I follow news wires on twitter which regularly tweet headline news. Moreover, I am active on Blackberry Messenger which allows people to spread broadcast messages with the touch of button. And if that is not enough, status updates on Facebook and sharing popular video links on statuses has also become a usual thing.

To elaborate more, I am going to take a recent example which shows the role social media played in my country, India. This year in the month of April, a lot of chaos was going on in India. The entire buzz was created because of an Anti-Corruption movement going on in the country led by Anna Hazare.

According to the Times of India website, it was found that India ranks the highest amongst countries around the world in the amount of black money it has kept hidden in Swiss Banks (approximately $1500 Billion). The fact that India ranks highest in the amount of black money is an irony. India is a country with most of its people being below the poverty line and these ministers are more concerned about laundering money to fulfill their selfish motives rather than serving the Indian citizens who elected them. When the people of India learnt of the injustice being done to them from so many years, it made them very angry and Indians expressed this anger by starting the 'India Against Corruption' movement. The 'India Against Corruption' movement is the "collective anger" of people in India against corruption. The leader of this movement was Sri Anna Hazare, or as now he is called the ‘Modern Day Gandhi’; a 72 year old man who went on a hunger strike “unto death” to fight for the 'India Against Corruption' movement.

Even before Hazare declared his fast, this issue was getting coverage by various Indian news channels. However, not many people knew about it. But as news started spreading through social media, more and more people were informed about the protest. The news was all over Facebook, Twitter, BBM and other social websites. Hazare and his supporters also created various groups on social networking websites. For example, Hazare had over 3000 followers on twitter in a day after declaring his fast. Indians from all over the world flooded social networking websites to show their support towards the cause. A group named “Join Anna Hazare in fast unto death to demand anti-corruption law” had over 7500 members in only two days. Activity on social networking websites was crazy. This shows the immense support the cause had. There were around 50 updates per minute on these social networking websites. The words ‘Anna Hazare’ and ‘LokPal Bill’ were amongst the top ten searches that week on Google. There were several stories about people who left their jobs only to support the cause and be a part of the movement against corruption.

And guess what hapepend next? The government had to finally step down and accept the demands put forward by Anna Hazare and his supporters because they were a large number and kept increasing every day. The government could not risk upsetting almost their entire public. There were support groups, rallies, candlelight marches and people all over the country with sign boards and slogans showing their support towards this anti-corruption movement. On the first d of Anna Hazare's fast, 6000 residents from Mumbai also kept a one-day fast to fight against corruption.

I think this is one of the best examples to show what a major part these new media platforms are playing and influencing the politics of a country. During the protest days, thousands of people were on the roads, nobody went to work. How did so many people receive all this information? Through these new media channels that help dissemination of information in a faster and easier way.

Video that shows exactly the horrible state of corruption in India: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MgLYuU9AQg

What is the real truth?

My most favorite part of yesterdays discussion was definitely the part where we started talking about why do girls dress up? Why are they suppose to wear makeup? or dress girly? or why girls who are more 'tom boyish' are looked down upon? The obvious answer to this is the MEDIA!
Unfortunately, whatever we see in the media really affects us. All those perfume or fashion ads, with celebrities with the perfect skin tonnes, perfect features and everything PERFECT makes us think that a person like that actually exists. Reality Check: NOT REALLY!
The pictures that appear in the media are all Photoshop-ed! No girl has a pimple/ acne free skin, and perfect eyes, skin, lips and all that! Everyone has flaws and that is how humans are...but the media depicts an entirely different picture... watch this video and you will know the magic of Photoshop

Its a pity that media has the power to influence us so much! It influences our actions. And that is why we girls take so many efforts to look our best when we walk out of home. However, we fail to realize that these images are not entirely real. It is unfortunate that this stereotypical thinking exists and our actions are led by what we see in the media. Everyone has the right to live the way they want to.
Kim Kardashian is probably what most girls want to look like. I love her curves and her gorgeous face...but look... even she needs Photoshop!