Good media vs Bad media
Example of bad media:
Snapchat has evolved into a major form of social media these days. In this generation, kids would rather snapchat to communicate than text message or call. As the frenzy for keeping snapchat “streaks” becomes more and more intense, this app has come up with ways to expand its social influence. With recently updated features, Snapchat has started to include subscriptions to magazines and other forms of nation-wide news. However, as a personally affiliated user of this app, I noticed that some of these “news articles” regarding mainly celebrities is a prime example of bad media. For instance, one of the subscriptions on this app includes Cosmopolitan, a well-known and well respected magazine. I found that the snapchat version of this magazine was completely different than the actual paperback book. On snapchat, the creators conveniently mentioned only the celebrity gossip and negative aspects of Hollywood actors/actresses/models. This can only reveal bad intentions from this media because it may not display every side to a story, thus creating a bias towards viewers that does not portray the truth of what the actual news is. It could be misleading to audiences as well, especially the younger audiences, because they could be more easily swayed to believing the negative sides to a story that is fed to them over this addicting social media app.
Example of good media:
We as people who belong to a society want to be aware of our surroundings and the world we live in. This does not apply to all of us, but it does apply to the millions of people who go to CNN.com for their go-to source on all the daily updated news of the happenings around the world. Myself being a person who enjoys having awareness, I stumbled upon a powerful article in the “Opinion” section of CNN. Although the word “opinion” often entails a bias, I found this article to be a good example of media because it answers all 5 Ws with a meaningful reasoning and it relays a crucial message regarding the flaws of our society. With the intention of creating awareness to sexual assaults and acts of groping that millions of women have to face, the author does her job of spreading this message in a sophisticated and mature manner. Social media and news channels usually tend to attack certain groups of people or ideas, but in this article by Danielle Campoamor (https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/03/opinions/ariana-grande-aretha-franklin-funeral-campoamor/index.html), her writing touches the hearts of people who empathize with this concerning issue of sexual assault without having to be viscious with her attempts at making a change. As she discusses situations where this occurs to women, she clarifies all aspects of the situation, confirming that this is a reliable source. Campoamor uses well-known people to draw attention to her message, which does not have to be a bad thing as long as her intent is pure. Her purpose to writing this article is to benefit the society by making it a better place for women to live in, which is a prime example of what good media should be doing.
