Plane Incidents: Media Loves To Over Respond

This blog serves as a continuation to a Critical Essay I wrote for my class. The essay detailed the issue's with media over responding, and I specifically looked at cases evolving around Plane Incidents. In the first half of the blog I identify a key word that is a vital part to my research and then I include one of the cases I looked at in my critical essay. In the second half of the blog, I looked at a completely new case that I had not included in my paper. That case referred to Media reporting false information to the public. Finally, I conclude the blog with bringing it all back together.

[itssyedamir]

What is Sensationalism?

Sensationalism is the use of exciting or shocking stories at the expense of accuracy, in order to provoke interest or excitement in the topic.

[itssyedamir]

Media's Use of Sensationalism

To analyze the topic of sensationalism, it is good to present stories that will attract the interest of viewers. We live in a world where the only way to attract people is by producing breaking news that is shocking to hear. However, the problem is when mass media lacks in the accuracy of the story. For example, it is not just for mass media to report a new robbery case and, with no actual evidence, say that they believe it was a black male. We can agree that stereotypes are bad for the general public, but mass media is often the source that tends to keep reinforcing those stereotypes.

[itssyedamir]

Jon Stewart and Mitchell Stephens

Stewart:The bias of the mainstream media is toward sensationalism, conflict and laziness.

Stephens: I have never found a time when there wasn't a form for the exchange of news that included sensationalism - and this goes back to anthropological accounts of preliterate societies, when news raced up and down the beach that a man had fallen into a rain barrel while trying to visit his lover

Stewart: the news media is rife with sensationalism and that coverage of the Anthony Weiner scandal was an example of this.

Stephens: sensationalism has been around ever since early humans began telling stories, ones that invariably focused on sex and conflict.

Stewart: It’s put on display what “journalism” has turned into – a battle to see who can get the highest ratings, to demand the most money from advertisers, no matter how terrible and sensationalized the “news coverage” has to be.

[itssyedamir]

Boy Who Cried Wolf

“The media makes a big deal out of every thing. It’s kind of your job. Some people care, some don’t. But if you continue to make every thing ‘the next coming of the apocalypse,’ it turns very much into the boy who cried wolf a few to many times,” posted Richard Favinger Jr. of Pottstown. “Sadly, I think we’re already past that point.”

(Boy who cried wolf refers to "giving a false alarm.")

[itssyedamir]

Mass Media makes people go crazy..

[itssyedamir]

"It’s put on display what “journalism” has turned into – a battle to see who can get the highest ratings, to demand the most money from advertisers, no matter how terrible and sensationalized the “news coverage” has to be." - Jon Stewart

[itssyedamir]

Flight MH370

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing that lost contact with air traffic control on March 8th 2014, less than an hour after takeoff. At 07:24 MYT, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) reported the flight missing. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-200ER, was carrying 12 Malaysian crew members and 227 passengers from 14 nations. There has been no confirmation of any flight debris and no crash site has been found.

[itssyedamir]

The topic of "Media and Sensationalism" with Daily Show host Jon Stewart.

[itssyedamir]

"We have not been able to locate anything, see anything," "There’s nothing new to report." Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of civil aviation in Malaysia

[vvlin91]

TRIBUTE: Who exactly is Malaysia Airlines Captain Zaharie Shah of MH370?

Sharing this link because I’m totally impressed by how much this man loves flying.

This is a flight simulator he built himself.

"When not flying his Boeing 777, he still flies a Boeing 777 at home"

His Youtube Channel and empty Twitter.

Whatever happened to the plane or whether the pilots were responsible, I think this man deserves some respect.

[itssyedamir]

Wasn't the pilot blamed as well? The man who made his occupation into a hobby...

[itssyedamir]

MH370: Plane audio recording played in public for first time to Chinese families

Malaysian officials play the last known words from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in public for the first time.

The recording that Malaysian officials played for the first time in public in a Beijing conference room on Tuesday is purportedly the last known words of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 before it disappeared on March 8.

(Video is on the website).

[itssyedamir]

 Asian Film Awards Winners tribute to their colleagues on MH370

[vogue-le-mode]

(CNN) — Uncertainly over the fate of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was further compounded Saturday by reports that two men whose names matched those on the passenger manifest had reported their passports stolen.

After the airline released a manifest of the 239 people on the plane, Austria denied that one of its citizens was on the flight as the list had stated. The Austrian citizen was safe and sound, and his passport had been stolen two years ago, Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Weiss said.

Similarly, Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed that no Italians were on the flight, even though an Italian was listed on the manifest. Malaysian officials said they were aware of reports that the Italian’s passport was also stolen but had not confirmed it.

On Saturday, Italian police visited the home of the parents of Luigi Maraldi, the man whose name appeared on the manifest. The police official said that Maraldi had reported his passport stolen in Malaysia last August and had obtained a new one.

Update: Two people who boarded Flight 370 using stolen passports appear to have bought their tickets together, records show. 

[itssyedamir]

Terrorism Huh? Media is way too quick to judge...

[itssyedamir]

Can we stop already? Media has been dragging this story for a very long time, so much so that people are still getting notifications on their phones on a daily basis.

[itssyedamir]

Media is playing with the minds of our people (even though the 'alien' comments were probably said as a joke). The missing flight was first reported as an act of terrorism.

[itssyedamir]

Recent Issue with Media

A tug boat ferrying a large object at sea sparked an alert off the Spanish Island of Gran Canaria after being mistaken for a crashed plane. Media is great for keeping people around the world informed. However, at least have the correct information!

[andmiserablemeeces]

Yesterday, Andrea Bernstein of WNYC spoke with my Investigative Journalism class. Recently, she has extensively covered Chris Christie’s traffic troubles and the port authority’s budget ambiguities. Bernstein covered misuse of transportation funds and the politics behind public transit on her radio show Transportation Nation long before it was “time for traffic problems in Fort Lee.” However, it took a sensational event to occur before national attention was drawn to the issues she has reported on for years.

It shouldn’t take sensationalism to get people to care about world events and the rest of the general public. If people had a broader scope of empathy and interest, the BBC (a news source I generally respect) wouldn’t be pressured into reporting this “breaking” news before they investigate further.

Breaking news: Boats are meant for floating in water. And, the media is a sinking ship.

[itssyedamir]

Sensationalism at its best. Media's way too quick to judge once again..