Who Is Controlling Your Mind?

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Sam Auvil
Who Is Controlling Your Mind?
What is something we see everyday but hardly notice most of it? The media. We are constantly barraged with ad’s and promotions. They are all telling us to do something or buy something or act a certain way. But how much do these message actually affect us? I believe that the media has more power than we give it credit. It not only has the power to show us what they think is hip and cool but they can intentionally not show us other stuff. Leaving us completely unaware of it.
For example yesterday I was talking to my dad about this English final and about how the media influences our knowledge. And he showed me this article about a tsunami wave that hit California by Jesse Mckinely. It was the first time I had heard anything about the tragedy, because the media was too busy covering all the drama that is going on in japan. It is sickening to think that the media of our own country would not talk more about this. I think this just goes to show what the media is about. They are about the next big thing, the drama, the things that will grab peoples attention which isn’t always what they should be hearing.
I believe that a main reason that the Appalachian region is so poor still is because there has been no excitement there. The coal mines close down and leave towns in ruins but there are horrific deaths that are caused and so the media looks elsewhere for a story. Another reason is because I believe that America likes to keep this appearance of ultimate power, and with the economy failing they are turning all negative attention to the rest of the world as if to say, “Ya, our politicians are
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fighting but at least a tsunami didn’t hit us.” I don’t get why they can’t just cover what is effecting us just as much as they cover the tragedies of over countries. The people suffering from poverty and malnutrition in Appalachia deserve our aid just as much as the people recovering from the tsunami and earthquake in Japan. The difference is the media is covering Japans story. Google for example changed its main page to promote the aid of the Japanese. The media controls what we see and hear.
Everyday we see different we hear and see exactly what the media wants us to. Whether it be the messages they are spewing about there product or what they are telling us on the news. They are always looking for the next big thing, while they rarely stick around the see those topics to the end. They never focus on the problems that need to be fixed long enough for them to be fixed. I believe that the media should use their power to benefit the world rather than just show them the next big tragedy or story.