As I woke up this morning and went online to read the news, I came across this funny and perplexing way the media acts. Every newspaper or source of news information was focused on Obama’s decision to Airstrike. To further add to this funny reaction I came across a news editor from the Huffingtonpost named Katherine Fung. She put together an article in where she put all the newspaper articles into one. They all addressed Obama’s decision to Airstrike Iraq. Some of the head lines either said ” Obama Oks limited stroke” or “Obama Authorizes airstrike in Iraq”.
I was subtly smiling and laughing at how the newspapers as a medium reflect a synonymous course of action. Most of the times it is the media who analyzes current situations, peoples behavior, reactions of the populace etc., but here we have one medium analyzing the media. So that we can see the bigger picture: the growing thorn of America, Iraq.
However, what perplexed me the most was the fact that media has a way of focusing attention into one issue like in the case of the the airstrike in Iraq to drag us, the people, into the issue. Mostly because media “are the vehicles of cultural expression” (Boyer pg 52) Words started being thrown around in these news articles. For example some of the ads said “America is coming to help” or the “US seeks to save Kurdish city”, and better yet ” US drops food,water to imperiled religious minorities”. I sat in awe. First, because I realized that Boyer is right, people do use linguistic glosses. Secondly, because I began to wonder who is America? Who decided to go along with the Airstrike? I mean, I didnt make the decision, nor was I a part of it, nor were many the other millions of Americans. Did president decide to strike? Was congress with him?
All these questions started to ponder on my head. I soon came to realize that America itself represented “freedom”. As long as America gets involved “freedom” will come. However, freedom itself is another linguistic gloss. Freedom for who? Us? The people of Iraq? The “religious minorities”? How does freedom look like? Things seemed to feel really complicated. However media made things bit easier to understand, mostly in truth to its function “media are technologies of information and communication” (Boyer pg 52). These forms Media help bring an issues like that of the Airstrike on Iraq to the attention of the people.
Then, I realized I love my country. Although some of these words are thrown around, we do the best we can to help. And it is the president, congress and the cabinet who try day by day to make the best decision for us, the people.
Santos Tamayo
Boyer, Dominic. Understanding Media, A Popular Philosophy. Prickly Paradigm Press, LLC. Copyright. 2007.