Injustice in mainstream media and social media
“[Media] is both a mirror and a lamp, reflecting public opinion, and leading it as well”
Steven D. Stark, University of Miami Law Review 42, 229–280–1987
Living in the age of information creates an illusion of knowledge about all what one aspires to know about what is happening in the world (Hockley, L. Fadina, N. 2015). It is the same illusion or “fairytale” that recent history was recorded in an objective way (Hockley, L. Fadina, N. 2015). People look at history as one rigid piece of information. School books and our history books references always keep repeating that “single story” (Adichie, C. 2009). The very recent history has been always singled into one story that is delivered throughout the media outlets. Media is used to framing conflicts and people into categories of good or bad, “terrorist” or “mentally ill.” The language used in the media to address many events in the world provoke certain frames about such events based on racial classifications which would turn into stereotypes about all those who are involved in the events. This thought piece is going to talk about how media, whether social media or mainstream media, frames all events that happen in the world, and how these frames transform into stereotypes which cause injustice.
Media frames stereotypes. These days, the majority of people count media as their only source of information about incidents which they do not have direct access to (Rodríguez-Lopez, S. 2018). Media is used to simplifying the information provided by using stereotype in order to make it compelling to the audience (Lopez, S. 2018). Oxford dictionary defines a stereotype as “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.” The information provided by the media set the basics for a public understanding of the reality in a way that do not reflect politically correct awareness (Birkett, G. 2017).
Though it might sometimes sound like an unintentional oversimplifying of the information provided for the public, Lakeoff thinks otherwise. In his article “Don’t Think of an Elephant”, Lakeoff mentions how think tanks work on providing information in the simplest manner possible through framing it into certain words to drive the public opinions in a certain direction (Lakeoff, G. 2004). One of the examples Lakeoff mentions in his article is about how different point of views framed the right to abortion in the media. Those who oppose abortion framed it as pro-life and anti-life. This framing was countered by those who support abortion through terms like pro-choice and anti-choice (Lakeoff, G. 2004).
I believe that the ways in which media works on promoting certain frames about certain issues or people contribute in pushing the public opinion towards certain agenda that serves whichever political party that the media is trying to promote. The danger of these framings is that they do not give an objective view of issues. Moreover, they work in a way that deceives the recipients of the information to think that they are objective and to be telling the whole truth.
Injustices in media. According to the book “How the Mass Media Really Work,” mainstream media contributes heavily to social order. It describes mass media as “the threads that hold the fabric of society together” (Kim, T. Erickson, D. Demers. D. 2104). Also, the book analyses how mass media plays a role in social control. The way media reports certain events can control the public opinion in a way that would shape the public’s reaction about these events (Kim, T. Erickson, D. Demers. D. 2104). The book goes on describing how media handled events such as the Titanic and how media reports where the source of information to the families of those who were on board of the Titanic and sometime to the authorities intervening in the issue (Kim, T. Erickson, D. Demers. D. 2104).
Some examples I believe totally related to the idea of how the media controls the way we think through certain frames are frames created about immigrants in the United States. The contexts in which media addressed immigration, especially from Mexico and South America, have always been associated with negative stereotypes in the United States. (Lopez. 2014) The use of frames such as “undocumented” and “illegal” for certain societies did not only impact immigrants, but impacted everyone who belongs to these societies, even if they have never been immigrants before. (Patlar, 2017) These stereotypes were the cause for many exclusionary immigration policies that turned into a structural racism against most people of color (Gee & Ford, 2011).
Migrant Media. As the only source of information, mainstream media used monopolize the use of information. It always delivered single stories. These stories became everything, the present, the past and the future. People in the affected communities created a whole new source of information that talks about migrants. It is called Migrant Media. On their webpage they identified themselves as “a collective of radical film makers working in documentary production. [They] are media producers and activists embedded with communities of social and political interest. [Their] work has a focus on race and class with a central narrative of resistance.” Migrant media was established in 1989 (Migrant Media Vimeo Page, extracted 5/5/18). Ken Fero in his article “Migrant Media and the road to Injustice” explained the story behind Migrant media. They wanted to create a media “that spoke for [their] communities.” (Fero, K. 2015) This movement aims at countering the usually negative and limited narrative about migrate communities and minorities with stories that are full of people who fight oppression (Fero, K. 2015). In other words, “Migrant Media tells narrative of resistance” (Fero, K. 2015).
I believe that migrant media is one of a lot of movements that were created in the world to tell the often untold story. Nowadays, access to information is much easier, yet it is still limited to many policies and search algorithms. However, communication is way easier. News travel the world in seconds. Moreover, it has become relatively easy to contact people from any area in the world to know that untold piece of information. Access has become much more flexible to news pieces, people, videos, articles, research, and much more.
Conclusion and reflection. One of the main reasons why I chose to write about injustice in media is recent events that has been happening in my country, Palestine, and the nearby region of the Middle East. I have been following multiple sources of information on the media about the recent events that happened in Gaza. Going through U.S news outlets, Palestinian news outlets, and international news outlets exposed me to various discrepancies in the ways these conflicts were framed. The idea of bipolarity between good and bad was framed in many ways through media outlets, and they can switch easily from one place to another. Sometimes I would feel overflowed with information. Yet, I knew the truth is somewhere in that information. Only an authentic historical context would tell which of these pieces information is the truth.
References:
Battersby, E. Robinson,W. (2012) Paradise Lost: Media In Injustice and Injustice in Media. Seton Hall J. Sports & Ent. L., Vol.22 pp.29–381
Birkett, G. (2017). Media, politics, and penal reform: Influencing women´s punishment. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bordalo, P. Coffman, K. Gennaioli, N. Shleifer, A. (2016) Stereotypes. The Quarterly Journal of Economics. Volume 131. Issue 4. Pages 1753–1794.
Fero, K. (2015) Migrant Media and the road to Injustice. Race & Class. Vol.57, pp.39–50
Gee, G. Ford, C. (2011). Structural Racism and Health Inequities, Old Issues, New Directions. Du Bois Review. Social Science Research on Race. Vol 8, Pp. 115–132.
Hockley, L.Fadina, N. (2015) The happiness illusion : how the media sold us a fairytale. Hove, East Sussex ; New York, NY.
Lakoff, G. (2004) Don’t Think of an Elephant. White River Junction. Chelsea Green Pub. Co.
Lopez, A. (2014) Examining the Role an “Illegal” Identifier has on the Identity, Social Interactions, and Academic Experiences of Undocumented Latina/o Students. Los Angeles. University of California.
Migrant Media. Vimeo Page, extracted 5/5/18
Patler, C. (2017) From Undocumented to Lawfully Present: Do Changes to Legal Status Impact Psychological Wellbeing among Latino Immigrant Young Adults? Social Science & Medicine.
Rodríguez-López. S. (2018) (De)Constructing Stereotypes: Media Representations, Social Perceptions, and Legal Responses to Human Trafficking. Journal of Human Trafficking
