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The media can teach many life lessons. For instance, I have learned that Princess Diana was one of the most influential people of the twentieth century, and I have also learned that a priest cant be trusted alone with children. The media has also tried to convince me to believe that it is all right to kill your unborn child by aborting it, but it is a federal crime to chop down a giant redwood tree in California. Of course, Im sure that as you are reading this essay, you agree with everything Ive written so far because it is exactly what the media has reported to you, and you know that the media wouldnt distort the truth!
Okay. Truthfully, I dont agree with any of my essay so far, and I hope you have taken my essay with a grain of salt. I have learned that the news doesnt always tell the whole truth because it is not legally required to be honest. Therefore, most types of media will distort the truth in order to support the story which they want their audience to believe. Steven Brill said it best in this quote: When it comes to arrogance, power, and lack of accountability, journalists are probably the only people on the planet who make lawyers look good.
I have a recent example that will not only prove the truth in Brills quote, but it will also prove my theory that the media is corrupt and politically biased. May 1, 2004 was a day that shocked the world. It was the date the Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal made the headlines for ALL major news sources. The story covered the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American military personnel which caused many Americans to doubt the morals of our military. Many of the mainstream media sources, CNN, the New York Times, Fox news, MSNBC, etc. , showed hundreds of people rallying against our military and the soldiers arrested for the crimes.
Reporters interviewed Senators and Representatives who were utterly outraged by these soldiers behavior because it made Americans look immoral and hypocritical. Perhaps, these politicians should watch a two-party rally sometime! The Abu Ghraib story made the front page of the New York Times for over two weeks, and more than 257 different articles have been printed about the scandal. These anti-Bush articles helped the media in its plight to end the war against terrorism by making it unpopular with many Americans. On May 7, 2004, a major event occurred which, had it been publicized as widely as the prison scandal, would have caused many Americans to change their mind and support the war against terrorism. However, the media didnt want Americans to have any reason to support the war, so for almost four whole days, the media kept Nick Bergs assassination completely out of mainstream television.
Nick Berg was a 26 year old American reporter who was beheaded by five Iraqi terrorists on video. His death was not swift or just. It took the terrorists approximately one and a half minutes to decapitate him. The video made it onto many international websites in a matter of hours, but even to this day, most American websites will not show the video because of the enormous amount of pressure from big media corporations.
Nick Berg never made the front page of the New York Times, and only eight articles were ever written about him! After three days of an occasional mention of the story on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC, Nick Berg disappeared from mainstream media. Hopefully, I have proven that the media is corrupt and politically biased. They hope to report the stories or a distorted version of the stories in order to increase ratings and influence Americans minds. Until Americans learn to educate themselves about what really occurs in the world, instead of accepting the truths that the media feeds them, the media will continue to manipulate them into believing their extremist views. With any luck, you will question what the media presents to you, but then you might start second-guessing me too.
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Research essay sample on War Against Terrorism Mainstream Media
