In this age of intensive media coverage,
it is no longer possible for a society to regard any living man or woman as a
hero.
If Napoleon Bonaparte would have been here in
contemporary world he would have faced imposed scrutiny of media. Just as
contemporary celebrity in business, sports, politics does. It is well evident
from cases like Tiger Woods, former president and Mark Elliot Zuckerberg that
these days’ people face intensive media scrutiny. Faux pas or fashion crime on
red carpet, string operation or any other form of defame that evolves due to
media coverage leaves a long lasting impact on our minds. With the passage of
time all the quirkiness that media shows us become so called identity of the
individual.
Celebrities like Britney
Spears, Lindsay Lohan are hardly on news for what they should be. The media
coverage crosses the boundaries of their personal life and presents us the
picture, which if we would not have seen we would have had a different picture
of them in our minds. Media has a power to manipulate our perception, by
presenting both negative and positive reports about any celebrity. However
these reports often hamper the possibility of society regarding them as a hero.
Media in contemporary days has power to deteriorate or
enhance the image of any individual in public eyes. Media presents coverage in
order to create awe, hype or defame any individual. Anything that would attract
people would help media channel to increase its TRP. The news that has potential to attract
business; it would make a way to be telecasted.
It is evident that no potential hero is spared from media scrutiny.
However, certain countries, the do not have free media. The Medias in such countries
is controlled by government. Due to political reasons such nations do not get
as extensive judgmental news as other nations with no such blocking. With lack
of free media, news is often manipulated for sake of politics, wealthy or
personal belief. Blocking media channels by government is in no way stopping
public scrutiny, it is just another way of manipulating the public for certain
cause.
It is evident that media
can make or break public opinion, by the daily dose of arcane quirkiness of
public figures or by glamour coated and scripted reality. Thus, the claim that
"In
this age of intensive media coverage, it is no longer possible for a society to
regard any living man or woman as a hero." stands true for most of the
cases.
2 comments:
Hey.. Nicely put..!
Would like to add some examples and state my view on it...
"Media today is extremely powerful and influential. It has an extensive coverage on anything new that is happening around the world and knows how to capture the attention of common masses. It elevated Mark Eliot Zuckerberg’s success to such an extent that he was rewarded the TIME magazine’s Person of the Year 2011. His creation Facebook is the most popular social networking website today. Many teens and college students consider him as their hero and owe their extended friend circle to him.
But media can be a double-edged sword. It has been so powerful in affecting and in some ways altering the mindset of people who are naïve about the events taking place around them. Media has the power and wide coverage to probe into the personal lives of celebrities. The public forms a collective opinion which heavily relies on media scrutiny. Sadly people find wrong doings and faults more interesting than their accomplishments and good virtues. Many think that a Hero is always a perfect one and should be eulogized owing to the achievements in career. What they fail to understand is, despite of everything, these heroes are after all humans and bound to make some mistakes. The media makes an unnecessary hype of it which can degrade the celebrity’s reputation.
Taking example of the young actress Kristen Stewart who became renowned due to the Twilight saga four years ago, is more than just popular. The scandal revolving around her seems to be the news of the day. Apart from what she does is morally right or wrong, another basic question that crops up is, does her personal life need to be x-rayed by everyone in the public? What she does in her personal life is her own issue but due to the media speculation the most confidential news is kept at your doorstep and then the entire world starts to form an opinion of her. People refrain to think logically and don’t take an effort to go beyond what the media offers them. Whatever may be the case, the outcome is irreversible. Kristen’s career is jeopardized, her social life disrupted and now her reputation has been tarnished with her wrong deed. I wonder how many still call her a heroine?
Another example where a hero is exposed by the media for his unlawful deeds is the cycling legend Lance Armstrong. The person who won Tour De France championship seven consecutive times along with waging a battle against cancer was a hero to millions. People all over the world regarded him as a source of inspiration and drew encouragement from the success stories of his career. But, when a hero has reached the pinnacle of glory, media silently comes up and takes away the red carpet. No one would have imagined even in their wildest dreams that he would be charged for using doping agents. Not just rumors but recently evidence has been released to prove these allegations. What would the common people think of their favorite hero now? A cheat? The media has reacted so viciously and destroyed the reputation of this personality. People are thankful to the intensive coverage, how else would they known the real story?
Media has the power to expose corrupt officers, cheats and frauds. The media can surely make or break someone’s reputation but once diminished the rest look down upon these icons. Media who gets encouraged by the public response continues to degrade the celebrities and I agree it has been difficult to consider any living man or a woman as a ‘hero’ owing to the speculations and changing mindsets..."
Whatsay..??
Thanks Vidhishree, they are really good examples... Glad you took out time to share your views. :)
best wishes!
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