May 05 2009
Swine Flu and Media Paranoia
One thing that in Communication is spoken is the theory of the Hypodermic Needle or as is known the magic bullet theory where the message given is not going to be interpreted by the people completly, but rather they will act according to the background of the message. CNN or FOX News, two channels that have a 24 hours news loop, where after certain time at the day they will start repeating the same news, thus by consequence the same gorey images or images showing no hope with certain matters; or the horror the victims had to live (9-11) will create an effect of paranoia in the viewers as there are no complete regulations on what is shown on tv beyond the yellow journalism to boost rating in one way or another because t the end the only thing that matter is rating. I say that channels like CNN or FOX News they must regulate the “strong” notes with more simple notes or happy notes as I like to call them, because 60% of the public will be affected psychological by the “strong” notes; think about the swine flu, yes is a big problem but media is exposing the problem into something greater, I don’t think by the connotation of their reports they are trying to show the tragedy but rather a way to boost ratings.What do you think?
