by Jac Alyn

Created on: April 21, 2010   Last Updated: April 22, 2010

Do not buy into media propaganda, they strive to make slaves out of us through our fear. 

People have a misconception that the times are worse now that they ever used to be.  That there is more crime in the street, more crime in homes, more children stolen and more women raped.  The truth, however, is hidden behind headlines and tabloids using every marketing effort to pedal fear to cause panic and doubt. 

With the growth of technology, crimes have been happening less and less while coverage has been increasing.  When a child went missing in the 50's the neighbourhood, relatives and friends of the family knew about it.  Today, a child goes missing and through the media the entire country finds out. 

The irony is that even though our children are safer today than they've ever been, our paranoia is being fed more and more every time a tragic event does happen.  The media has focused its objective to give us the news we deem important.  A missing child is important. 

We learn in school that the main objective of any business is to make money.  A profit.  The media is no longer a service provided to us from the good will of others trying to share information about our collective lives today.  The media is a cut and dry business, one that is out to take millions and billions of dollars in profit from us and our insecurities. 

Why are we as a society so focused on the negative; the bad things that happen to us?  Is it to ease our doubts and fears in our own lives by bearing witness to the tragedy of others?  Does it make us feel better about our own losses to measure ourselves against the loss of others? 

Are we so consumed with what has gone wrong that we are missing the things that go right?  There are so many events that are worthy of  showcase and celebration that are missed by us simply because the headline is not catchy enough to sell a magazine. 

This is a direct cause of millions of our hard earned dollars being poured into the paparazzi and fake celebrities rather than charities and not for profit businesses.  We give our money to flashy, trashy news bits rather than people who do good and make positive changes for our world. 

This is because our obsession with grief, loss and tragedy clouds our priorities.  The media in its entirety seizes this opportunity and spits out garbage just as soon as it appears. 

To gain control of the media, we need to re-prioritize the news we want to see.  While tragic events are important, we need to recognize that a balance needs to be created to allow all types of stories to be fed through to us. 

The media has picked up on the scent of our fear, the scent that has a specific dollar value attached to it.  We need to screen our purchases to show the media that headlines don't always need to be full of blood and gore to get our attention. 

Lets refocus our lives and our minds to show ourselves that our world is not the terrible place we are being told to believe.  Vote through your dollars.  Donate to a local charity.  Help a homeless person.  Even better, help a neighbour.  The media is simply a reflection of how we see the world.  Lets change the view on our TV's.

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