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Source: nexstardigitalmedia
Nowadays our media is saturated with everything that is going wrong in our world. It is not uncommon to watch cities being bombed on the evening news or to hear about a kidnapping on the radio or even to read about modern day slavery going on in different parts of the world. One would seldom be informed about positive events. And in the rare cases where we are, such positive information would always be followed by a caveat to prevent us from exercising too much cheer. Because of this, we find ourselves with an ample well from which to draw our daily complaints as though there is nothing to be thankful for. Yet, there is so much good in our world. And I dare say, the good surpasses the bad.
Unfortunately, many of us have allowed the media to prey on our fear and use it as the fuel which drives the type of content they generate. Like the popular adage “bad news travels fast”, the current modus operandi for media companies seems to be, “bad news sells better than good news”. Armed with this, they make money off our fear and cynicism by feeding us with all things negative.
Most of us rely on the misconception that, if we are informed about the misfortunes of others, we can be better prepared to face similar calamities that come our way and we can be better placed to lend a helping hand to those in need. While I partially agree with the latter, I disagree with the former. For example: while hearing about a natural disaster can move us to donate time and money to ease the plight of those affected by the crisis, this information doesn’t in any way help us prepare better for a natural disaster that may be coming our way; also, as we go about our daily lives, we are presented with several opportunities to help those in need – from the homeless man on the street corner to our elderly neighbour who is confined to a wheelchair; why do we rely on negative media stories to move us to acts of charity?
We shouldn’t solely blame the media for causing us to develop a cynical view of the world; in fact, bad things do happen, and it is the media’s responsibility to record and report such events. However, I believe each of us is responsible for what we feed our minds with and this consumption in turn drives media content. If media companies observe that fewer people are responding to their negative stories, they will do everything in their power to recapture the dwindling attention of the masses. This may lead to more balanced media content with a reduction of gloom and doom stories or an equivalent emphasis on positive content.
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