Privately owned media

In class on Tuesday, we discussed how there are six privately owned news stations, including ABC, NBC, CBS. In addition to delivering the news to the masses, these corporations also deliver a perspective, which is severely influenced by the opinions of those higher up in the company. Therefore, we the masses, get the news and a bias. That’s a bad thing, right? We’re impressionable as a society, and there should be more public news stations where we can get the clear undoctored, unbiased, honest-to-goodness truth, not some twisted half-hearted version of what used to be the truth. It should be news of the people, presented by the people, for the people. Hmmm, that sounds a little familiar.

Let’s approach this scenario from another point of view. Imagine a world where all the news stations are “public” (that is controlled and regulated by the government). Without the corporate bigwigs filtering occurrences, shouldn’t we get more undiluted news? Well, what about the government? I’m sure that they will demand to have a large say in what is aired over their own stations, much like the corporations. However, without the diversity of the corporations (or at least the diversity in their beliefs), we will still be getting a bias, just one without opposition. The government is a business, just like everything else, and it’s one that will not air stories that make itself look bad or unprepared. Whoever has the control, whether it be the Republicans or the Democrats, would probably gloss over any mishaps in their party. Think about the Watergate Scandal. Imagine that the government owned all the news stations, and the Republicans were the party in power. Do you think they would have made such a to do out of the whole situation? My guess is a big fat no. I think they would have cut their losses and their might have been maybe a blip on the evening news about an alleged break in at the headquarters of the Democratic Party.

In my opinion, this would be too much control put into the hands of the biggest business in America, the American Government. While there might be a lot of bias in the media today, at least it’s six different points of view. And through looking at all six points of view, I’m sure that we can all figure out what the news was supposed to be in the first place.

One Man's Trash

A “crippling” social issue that has been becoming more and more prevalent, even with all the advancement in preventative technology, is the rising rate of children born to young single mothers, most of who are below the poverty line. According to Kathryn Edin and Maria Kefalas in their book Promises I can Keep, the number has risen from 1 child in 20 born out of wedlock to more than 1 in 3 children just over the past 60 years. However, upon more exploration into the issue, the two came to a surprising conclusion. In the poorer communities in America, having a baby young and single is not always an accident. It isn’t planned usually, but in the eyes of the mother, an unexpected pregnancy is more of a blessing than a curse.
As an 18 year old girl from an upper middleclass family, a baby would be the end of my life right now. My mother has brought home the proverbial bacon since she and my father got married. She had her three children after achieving financial stability and professional success at age 32, 34, and 37. Throughout my entire life, I have had the ideals of many other girls my age who have grown up being told that I can achieve whatever I want. With this idea nailed into my head, as well as many self sufficient female role models to look up to, I’ve grown up knowing that I won’t bring children into this world unless I am in a loving marriage and able to depend on myself financially should anything ever happen . For me, having a child before then would be the ultimate failure. I don’t understand how these women in the poor communities don’t feel the same.
And then I stepped back and took in the scene in one objective sweep. According to the women in question, having a baby is oftentimes the only option. They grow up in a neighborhood where there aren’t many female role models like my mother. No one ever sits them down and tells them that they can achieve great things, much less pounds the idea into their head. What do you do when you have no self worth, no job, not enough education? What’s left? And that’s where the babies come in. Every woman can have a baby. And that’s the answer. A baby is the one thing that a woman is guaranteed in life. And for someone who hasn’t been taught how to believe in herself, a baby is a way to justify her existence.
I still can’t even imagine being pleased about having a baby at my age and life status, but learning to step back and objectively view a situation is helping me to comprehend the differences an environment can make in shaping a person’s future. It’s as true as the cliché ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.’ What may ruin one person’s life may save another’s. We are a product of our environment, and we are shaped by outside influences. I think that is one of the main themes Edin and Kefalas are trying to portray in their book.