Casey French
Media is rather selective. Large corporations control the majority of the news coverage we consume through television, newspapers, radios, and other means of communication. Those that control the media have the power to manipulate our attitudes of society towards race and class. Driven by a profit-oriented mentality, these corporations are so influential that they can shape the identities of society. Gregory Mantsios discusses how poverty is rarely discussed in news broadcasts because they are portrayed as inferiors. The notion that the poor are undeserving of attention enhances the resentment and prejudice against them. It almost feels like the media combines the upper class and the middle class as one unified class, scolding those who are anything below that line. Poverty in media is replaced by the criminal activity of a few. The author makes an interesting connection between the crimes of the wealthy and those of the poor. They are identical, but the media emphasizes the poor more maliciously, claiming that only a small portion of the upper class is flawed. The poor is in their situation because it's their fault in the eyes of these corporations. They only deserve recognition if they do something out of the ordinary or around Christmas time, when volunteers go out of their way to help in soup kitchens. It's a shame that our media is so backward.
I'm sure we've all encountered this video before. Ted Williams has a gift and the media consumed this story immediately. Media coverage on poverty and the poor is often neglected and quite shallow. As Gregory Mantsios suggests from our readings, the news thrives off "feel good" stories of poor people rising to the top and follow their success. It's interesting how his article forces you to rethink the media. For instance, I've never seen the "face of poverty", because according to their mentality, poverty is an "eyesore". All newscasts are statistics and are often associated with specific people such as African Americans or Latinos.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201700214101202
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201700214101202
This is a video from an independent media source that addresses the flaws that persist in our media.
Very well put. Thanks for your comment, Ryan!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that the upper class owners do control what is put out on the media. Those owners have a lot of power of the much larger middle class in that they can control what the middle class receives as news. One thing I don't agree with is the the media shows a unified middle and upper class. When I used to watch the news, I had the feeling that there were more feel good stories about people in the middle class than anything else. I feel as if the media who is controlled by upper class owners attempts to view the news through the middle class.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post of yours because I have always been very interested in the media and how they portray people and things. It is crazy to follow what the media says is right and correct and see how it changes. One thing that has always stayed the same, though, is how women and men are portrayed. Men will always have the upper hand and have a nice job and women will be in the kitchen or taking care of the kids. Society has turned our beautiful world into something socially disgusting.
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