Watch What You Hear

Brenda Keck
bk562515@ohio.edu

The news has impacted our nation now more than ever. The problem is that the people in charge of the reporters seem to pick and choose the stories they tell, in an effort to increase the ratings of their network.  It seems the media coverage of certain topics is causing more harm than good, and dividing our country. I think stories are broadcast prior to proper investigation of all of the facts. The news tells grim stories, which promotes violence for notoriety.

When a well known person becomes involved making issues racial, nothing good can come out of it. The media has indulged and glamorized biased information without having the facts, and it has lead to violent public reaction. 

The news has spoken of  shootings in Chicago, IL, however, with less momentum. Gang members shooting each other doesn't seem to weigh that heavily in the news, other than pointing out the number of deaths recently. It also doesn't point out that police officer's are in these battle zones, protecting and serving the whole community.

Police officers are on high alert after yet another violent attack at Fox Lake, IL.  Lt. Gliniewicz is the eighth officer killed in a month, after the media hype of police officers shooting allegedly unarmed suspects. 

Social media took such a stand on Cecil the Lion's killing that the dentist who hunted Cecil is now being hunted himself. Soon after, reporters and entertainers joined the bandwagon. Right or wrong? Jimmy Kimmel used his late night show to pay tribute to Cecil on live television while clearly demoralizing Walter Palmer, who received death threats and vandalism at his home. Here's his quote as reported in USA Today.

Cecil the Lion slate.com

“This the website for the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford. If you want to make this into a positive, you could — sorry,” Kimmel apologizes as he begins to tear up, “make a donation to support them. At the very least maybe we can show the world that not all Americans are like this jack-hole here.”

“I’m honestly curious to know why a human being would feel compelled to [kill a lion]. How is that fun? Is it that difficult for you to get an erection that you need to kill things that are stronger than you?” Kimmel says at the beginning of his rant. “If that’s the case they have a pill for that. It works great. Just stay home and swallow it. It will save you from a lifetime of being the most hated man in the America who never advertised Jell-O pudding on television.”

“By the way, I’m not against hunting. If you’re hunting to eat or keep the animal population healthy or it’s part of your culture that’s one thing,” he says. “If you’re some a-hole dentist that wants a lion’s head over the fireplace of his man-cave so his d*****bag buddies can gather around it and drink scotch and tell him how awesome he is, that’s just vomitous.”

The media is biased in what they report and how much coverage it gets. I think the important "good" news seems to be unimportant to the station's ratings.  The reporters are taking advantage of their high profile on television and using it to voice their personal views. The news has got to step back and realize the future of our country is at stake, with all the violence taking place. They need to find a proper way to inform Americans of news in an intelligent way. I think there are a lot of subjects that should not be in the hands of a reporter, and shouldn't be allowed to be broadcast to the public.