Malala Essay
1677 Words
7 Pages
The media plays a major role in our society today. It makes us look at the world in another perspective based on how they want us to see it. The media has a way of choosing what stories to report and what stories to leave out. After 9/11 the myth of invincibility is destroyed and causes America to become weak and insecure. To rebuild this image, the media starts to portray America as the strong nation it once was and that nothing like that will ever happen to them ever again. Raymond Bonner, comments how “after the attacks, journalists were swept up in the national feelings of fear and outrage—and failed to do their job.” Post 9/11 journalists all over were consumed with fear and were not reporting accurately to the American people. Things
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The article Malala Yousafzai and the White Saviour Complex by Assed Baig, shows how western media used her story as a way to benefit themselves. “This is a story of a native girl being saved by the white man. Flown to the UK, the Western world can feel good about itself as they save the native woman from the savage men of her home nation.” America goes as far as to refer to Middle Eastern men as savages that native woman need saving from. They play the hero role as a white man comes in and saves the day. Malala’s story was something that the world needed to hear just not how the media decided to frame it. Malala was not to be used as a tool from the west to get their way, making journalist feel good about reporting information in favor of America as opposed to the truth. One of the most important messages Baig emphasizes is how hypocritical the Western media …show more content…
These men in these stories are described as someone the women need to be saved from. Captivity narratives are created after 9/11 to show how strong America is and how they are working to restore their security. The idea is to be able to conceal America’s vulnerability. Going back to olden day tradition of restoring their faith through heroic stories regardless of whether or not it is the truth, “we restored our faith in our own invincibility through fables of female peril and the rescue of ‘just one girl.’” One particular story Faludi talks about is Jessica Lynch. When the story first came out the media painted her as a war hero. The media became uncomfortable with a woman being seen as a hero which caused them to change their story. She was now seen how they believed a woman should be and in a sense blame her. They do not give her the chance to explain her story and what really happened. Instead they create false stories about supposed abuse that took place, supporting the idea the men in the middle east are not are less civilized than those in America. She later comes to say that the real hero was her friend Lori, however the whole idea was ignored. The media would not allow for the American people to know about the hero of the story according the Lynch especially because she was a Native American woman and did not fit into the role of a hero in their eyes. She is a prime
The article Malala Yousafzai and the White Saviour Complex by Assed Baig, shows how western media used her story as a way to benefit themselves. “This is a story of a native girl being saved by the white man. Flown to the UK, the Western world can feel good about itself as they save the native woman from the savage men of her home nation.” America goes as far as to refer to Middle Eastern men as savages that native woman need saving from. They play the hero role as a white man comes in and saves the day. Malala’s story was something that the world needed to hear just not how the media decided to frame it. Malala was not to be used as a tool from the west to get their way, making journalist feel good about reporting information in favor of America as opposed to the truth. One of the most important messages Baig emphasizes is how hypocritical the Western media …show more content…
These men in these stories are described as someone the women need to be saved from. Captivity narratives are created after 9/11 to show how strong America is and how they are working to restore their security. The idea is to be able to conceal America’s vulnerability. Going back to olden day tradition of restoring their faith through heroic stories regardless of whether or not it is the truth, “we restored our faith in our own invincibility through fables of female peril and the rescue of ‘just one girl.’” One particular story Faludi talks about is Jessica Lynch. When the story first came out the media painted her as a war hero. The media became uncomfortable with a woman being seen as a hero which caused them to change their story. She was now seen how they believed a woman should be and in a sense blame her. They do not give her the chance to explain her story and what really happened. Instead they create false stories about supposed abuse that took place, supporting the idea the men in the middle east are not are less civilized than those in America. She later comes to say that the real hero was her friend Lori, however the whole idea was ignored. The media would not allow for the American people to know about the hero of the story according the Lynch especially because she was a Native American woman and did not fit into the role of a hero in their eyes. She is a prime