by Rachel Johnson

Created on: November 18, 2010

 The question at hand is, how do we take a massive problem, 25,000 hunger related deaths everyday*, and get the media to report on it? This statement alone is preposterous. Under any other circumstance this death toll would make the headlines of every major news media. But the current state of poverty around the world, and in our own backyards has passed from a state of emergency to a normal everyday occurrence. The worst part is that as poverty worsens the hope for a solution lessens.

 The priority of the news media is clear. I open a news website and find headlines on celebrity gossip and new fad diets. We live in a society that places its concern on the lives of the wealthy and trying to deal with the results of eating too much. But we completely ignore the millions of people around the world that will go without food today. The truth is, for poverty to become a priority in the media it has to become a priority in individual’s lives.

The news doesn’t report on poverty because as a business it places priority on what sells. And if the news finds that people buy and listen more when they report on celebrities and scandal they will inevitably report on those topics. The news media cannot be successful without viewers and thus, in its competitive industry, it will do whatever it takes to insure you choose them over the competition. We live in a money oriented society and what doesn’t bring in the bucks gets cut. And broadcasting poor and starving people around the world certainly does not draw a crowd.

 Poverty itself is a depressing issue. It only seems to get worse and there often is no easy solution. With corrupt governments and organizations relief isn’t always easily sent. Without simple solutions the news must also consider what it would hope to accomplish if it reported on poverty. Not only is it depressing and not easy to solve, but also there is nothing new about it. While the world is flooded with constant change, poverty remains horrible. And as poverty worsens people get discouraged and avoid the subject. This puts the news in trouble as people shut off the TV and put away the paper. The truth of the matter is that people already know poverty exists. So why would the media give attention to something they figure will only lower their rating, and from their view, solve noting? It’s easy, they wouldn’t and they won’t.

 Of course this isn’t the whole truth. If the news did decide to

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>