The media is our societies major line of communication when it comes to learning about current information and events. The media that millions of people view everyday contains death in one way or another and the way that this material is portrayed shapes the ways in which those people view death. We are going to look deeper into death in our media and how society views death, and the way the media depicts death in terms such as gender, race, social class, and religion. Then we will address the ways in which the media portrays the grieving process and how this can send a message of what is and isn’t appropriate in our society. The media that we consume daily depicts quite a bit of death, as much as we hate to admit it. First, there are the
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I asked friends and family how they feel about death in our media and many said that they try and stay away from news channels due to the overwhelmingly sad information they tend to focus on. A few people said it made them feel very negative throughout their day if they chose to watch it in the morning, which I can understand. I was not surprised to find an article which stated that “much has been written about the effects of the media’s constant presence in virtually all homes in America” (Anastasio, Rose, & Chapman, 1999, p. 152). When something is reported in the media it spreads like a wildfire. When people are unaware of what is going on in the world, sometimes it is shocking to others who consistently stay up to date with the media. Next, I wanted to address ways in which we are a death accepting as well as a death denying society. We are a death accepting society in the sense that we mostly seem to understand that we are born and then we as we know it seize to exist. We even plan ahead for our deaths most of the time. Many people obtain life insurance to make sure that their family is taken care of when they die. This is clearly a way in which we are accepting of death in our society. …show more content…
When looking at gender, it seems as though our society may be more sympathetic to women. Some look at a woman who has died or who has lost her husband or a loved as more of a misfortune than if a man had died. Our society looks at women as if they are a weaker sex and so when it comes to loss of life, it is women who are less powerful and capable. Researching this lead me to an article stating “the media may very subtly but forcefully convey the message that men and whites are more intelligent and powerful than women and black, respectively” (Anastasio, Rose. & Chapman, 1999, p. 153). While this document confirmed the gender, issue surrounding the portrayal of death, it also leads me to consider more of the racial aspect. The sympathy towards the loss of life of a Caucasian compared to, for example an African American is very different. It has been stated that many media critics and Black leaders have suggested that the media has a bias towards portraying Black men as being violent which might confirm perceptions that people have that violence is a stable trait among Black men (Johnson, Adams, Hall, & Ashburn, 1997, p. 82). It is unfortunate that we have come to a time and a place where when death occurs in our media, it is not just about a person dying but it is more than that. It is about the color of the persons skin, their religion, their social status, and more. It is the ways in which
I asked friends and family how they feel about death in our media and many said that they try and stay away from news channels due to the overwhelmingly sad information they tend to focus on. A few people said it made them feel very negative throughout their day if they chose to watch it in the morning, which I can understand. I was not surprised to find an article which stated that “much has been written about the effects of the media’s constant presence in virtually all homes in America” (Anastasio, Rose, & Chapman, 1999, p. 152). When something is reported in the media it spreads like a wildfire. When people are unaware of what is going on in the world, sometimes it is shocking to others who consistently stay up to date with the media. Next, I wanted to address ways in which we are a death accepting as well as a death denying society. We are a death accepting society in the sense that we mostly seem to understand that we are born and then we as we know it seize to exist. We even plan ahead for our deaths most of the time. Many people obtain life insurance to make sure that their family is taken care of when they die. This is clearly a way in which we are accepting of death in our society. …show more content…
When looking at gender, it seems as though our society may be more sympathetic to women. Some look at a woman who has died or who has lost her husband or a loved as more of a misfortune than if a man had died. Our society looks at women as if they are a weaker sex and so when it comes to loss of life, it is women who are less powerful and capable. Researching this lead me to an article stating “the media may very subtly but forcefully convey the message that men and whites are more intelligent and powerful than women and black, respectively” (Anastasio, Rose. & Chapman, 1999, p. 153). While this document confirmed the gender, issue surrounding the portrayal of death, it also leads me to consider more of the racial aspect. The sympathy towards the loss of life of a Caucasian compared to, for example an African American is very different. It has been stated that many media critics and Black leaders have suggested that the media has a bias towards portraying Black men as being violent which might confirm perceptions that people have that violence is a stable trait among Black men (Johnson, Adams, Hall, & Ashburn, 1997, p. 82). It is unfortunate that we have come to a time and a place where when death occurs in our media, it is not just about a person dying but it is more than that. It is about the color of the persons skin, their religion, their social status, and more. It is the ways in which