Media and Violence in America

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the issues involved in the media's use of disturbing and violent imagery. The paper discusses whether the media abuses real images to evoke stronger than necessary responses from audiences. In addition, the paper looks at the claim that any image which is genuine cannot be said to be bad or good as such, in that it is true, and the media's job is to report truth. The author of this paper, however, claims that the media often sensationalizes stories by overusing certain images, creating trauma for viewers.

From the Paper:

"One of the most devastating events in American history and American news history occurred on September 11, 2001. The tragic events on that date occurring in New York City, at the Pentagon, just outside of Washington, DC, and in an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania became imbedded in the minds of Americans and the world not just as a result of the tragedies, which were significant; but as a result, too, of the American news media's endless replay of the horrific sights and sounds of that day in the hours, days, weeks and months following the tragedies. By the time America mobilized in response, deploying military forces to Afghanistan, the American public and perhaps the world had been inundated with the images of September 11 to the point of saturation. The question that arises is whether or not the constant bombardment of September 11 images and other violent images broadcast by the American news media is traumatizing to the American viewing public."

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