Fear or Fiction?

Hey everyone, this week I'm going to share with you a reflection on a quote from the novel The Culture of Fear. "Watch enough brutality on TV and you come to believe you are living in a cruel and gloomy world in which you feel vulnerable and insecure. In his research over three decades Gerbner found that people who watch a lot of TV are more likely than others to believe their neighborhoods are unsafe, to assume that crime rates are rising, and to overestimate their own odds of becoming a victim. They also buy more locks, alarms, and- you guessed it- guns, in hopes of protecting themselves. 'They may accept and even welcome,' Gerbner reports, 'repressive measures such as more jails, capital punishment, harsher sentences- measures that have never reduced crime but never fail to get votes- if that promises to relieve their anxieties. That is the deeper dilemma of violence-laden television"(Glassner 44).

As a well informed person I see the news on the television and try to use it to benefit my own reflection on the world. I look through the stories only trying to spark controversy, while paying attention to larger more widespread stories. With that being said, I do agree that watching the news and investing oneself in every murder or every kidnapping will no doubt raise awareness and fear in the viewers. The excerpt I just illustrated does however seem to stretch reality a bit, as those in government and legislative power should be well informed and have open minds. Just because a trial is shown on the television does not mean that a judge does not have to still go through years of training before visiting the courtroom. A single story of a masked assailant raiding a bank makes us scared of things like guns. Those watching news on channels only drawn to dramatic, violent stories will especially feel the impact. Living a life in fear is not without drawbacks as we learn from Nadine Gordimer's "Once Upon a Time." Fear significantly lowers quality of life and can make the population act in ways they wouldn't normally have.
So to all my viewers watch the news if you wish stay informed, but please keep an eye out for articles and stories devoted only to drawing in viewers. Until next week bon voyage! Captain Jack singing off.