towards criticizing the affairs of our contemporary world I was trying to find a logical explanation, something that would explain what is happening to the sanity of the world. Suddenly this note found its way to me:
UK launches massive, one-year program to archive every email
Ok, I calm down, breathe deeply and think "well, I am sure their intentions are well meaning and are doing so in case a problem arises". "As the article says they have been able to find criminals as a result of this measure." Still... my other side won this argument: "Really? Is this a good thing?" I doubt it.
Isn't this a bit too much? Is this the beginning of a world where every movement is monitored by the government? Isn't the government also made of people? Who decides this sort of thing? Are people, the citizens even consulted about these measures?
I am baffled and I don't even live there myself... It reminds me of those great science fiction books like 1984 and A Brave New World.
Glad to read that Sweden, for example, "is reportedly ignoring the rule completely". Maybe in the future this will be some sort haven for those lost souls wanting freedom...
Big, long sigh.
Showing posts with label news media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news media. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2009
Is the world going crazier...
or is it just me?
I was browsing through the newspaper this morning. A quick recap:
- Allergies on the rise (to food, environment...)
- Complaints about government systems that promise to be great but are a hassle in practice
- North Korea launching a missile, but most importantly the controversy that this has generated
- Somali pirates and their successful activities
- Women in Vietnam sold to men in other Asian countries to be married (against their will)
and it goes on and on...
So sure, I am posting only those that aren't too positive, from my point of view. However, I ask myself: do people in the past lived to this level of craziness? or is that we just become informed more easily?
Photo from Wikimedia
My sense is that both. Telecommunications have made it easier to know what's happening on the other side of the world, but also, my perception is that people are loosing it more (perhaps for the same reason).
I really think that the level of craziness is going to go up and up in the coming years (for good and not so good). We shall see...
What do you think?
I was browsing through the newspaper this morning. A quick recap:
- Allergies on the rise (to food, environment...)
- Complaints about government systems that promise to be great but are a hassle in practice
- North Korea launching a missile, but most importantly the controversy that this has generated
- Somali pirates and their successful activities
- Women in Vietnam sold to men in other Asian countries to be married (against their will)
and it goes on and on...
So sure, I am posting only those that aren't too positive, from my point of view. However, I ask myself: do people in the past lived to this level of craziness? or is that we just become informed more easily?
Photo from Wikimedia
My sense is that both. Telecommunications have made it easier to know what's happening on the other side of the world, but also, my perception is that people are loosing it more (perhaps for the same reason).
I really think that the level of craziness is going to go up and up in the coming years (for good and not so good). We shall see...
What do you think?
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The role of the media: facts or fiction? Five facts.
I've been following the war on drugs happening in Mexico very closely through the media. Through TV and newspapers there is a sense of Mexico becoming like a war zone... people dying everyday, innocent people killed for no reason, the picture of another Afghanistan... and I found this:
Mexico: The elusive truth about safety
What a breath of fresh air!
While pondering on this, I realized the media instead of informing and presenting facts, just follows hidden (and not so hidden) agendas that have to do little with reality. I was asking myself (and others) when did this happen? When did the media became some 'institution' that serves purposes other than what it was intended to do? Aren't newspapers, reporters, news shows, supposed to relate the facts?
Just look at the economic crisis in the US. Some TV shows reported that it was going to be the worst depression ever and that people should be ready for all sort of catastrophes. A favorite on the topic is this:
Glenn's Beck War Room
A few things come to mind.
1. Facts can be put in a certain order to manipulate the message.
2. Some media 'outlets' do serve certain agendas. If you dig a bit further and not believe everything you hear or read, it is easy to spot them. Just get a few different newspapers (if possible from around the world) and watch different news shows commenting on the same topic and you'll get a more realistic picture.
3. However don't stay with that... sometimes (if possible) talk to people (like in the case of Mexico's violence situation) and get their sense of what is really happening on the ground.
The internet has great resources that present testimonies from actual pictures.
4. Ask yourself questions about what you read (including this blog).
5. If all else fails, turn everything off and down, breath deeply or go and have a bath... :) After all the world will keep going with its craziness and stressing yourself about it won't make it any better.
photo courtesy of wikimedia.org
A note: when I talk about media here I refer to news media, as it is quite obvious that the media in general does have an agenda.
Mexico: The elusive truth about safety
What a breath of fresh air!
While pondering on this, I realized the media instead of informing and presenting facts, just follows hidden (and not so hidden) agendas that have to do little with reality. I was asking myself (and others) when did this happen? When did the media became some 'institution' that serves purposes other than what it was intended to do? Aren't newspapers, reporters, news shows, supposed to relate the facts?
Just look at the economic crisis in the US. Some TV shows reported that it was going to be the worst depression ever and that people should be ready for all sort of catastrophes. A favorite on the topic is this:
Glenn's Beck War Room
A few things come to mind.
1. Facts can be put in a certain order to manipulate the message.
2. Some media 'outlets' do serve certain agendas. If you dig a bit further and not believe everything you hear or read, it is easy to spot them. Just get a few different newspapers (if possible from around the world) and watch different news shows commenting on the same topic and you'll get a more realistic picture.
3. However don't stay with that... sometimes (if possible) talk to people (like in the case of Mexico's violence situation) and get their sense of what is really happening on the ground.
The internet has great resources that present testimonies from actual pictures.
4. Ask yourself questions about what you read (including this blog).
5. If all else fails, turn everything off and down, breath deeply or go and have a bath... :) After all the world will keep going with its craziness and stressing yourself about it won't make it any better.
photo courtesy of wikimedia.org
A note: when I talk about media here I refer to news media, as it is quite obvious that the media in general does have an agenda.
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