Media and Democracy Essay Example for Free

Media and Democracy Essay In 1990, the Americans faced a situation that badly calls for their attention. An all out war against Saddam Hussein and the country he governs named Iraq was the argument being raised by the Bush Administration to his people. The administration needs the support of the public and it is when they decided to make propagandas that may affect the decisions of the people. While sensationalizing news and even opinions about wars and things connected to these acts, people are drawn closer into being deceived and this news may cause them conflicts in developing their own side of the story. Furthermore, with the use of media, journalism and press releases, a major impact is formed that can affect the opinion of the public or the majority which can somehow be very threatening to the outcome, conclusion or result of the battle and the cause being fought for by both sides. During the Gulf War that lasted from 1990 to 1991, media, propagandas and press releases played a big role in forming the opinion of the people of the United States of America about the suggested war against Iraq proposed by the Bush Administration which resulted to an attack against Saddam Hussein and Iraq in a wider, different picture. Related Literature Before finally opening the discussion about the media censorship during the Gulf War, how about we first talk about the group, people and terms involved in the whole sharing of ideas and construction of a this research. War as the key topic that will connect media, public and the incident together will allow us to understand how important the participation of media during the Gulf War years was to the United States of America and at the same time, how it affected the both Iraq and Kuwait. War Defined A three-letter word that can change the whole story of our entire history, war is more like a problem, a conflict made to destroy not just places but also human lives. It is commonly described as a dangerous act and a conflict that would mostly cause problems and loss of human lives. However, the word â€Å"War† is a term that serves various meanings and uses. It could be a figure of speech which creates an allusion to serious strife, campaigns and even struggles. In so many ways, the word, vague as it is can be is used in identifying a certain issue or incident like â€Å"war on terrorism†, â€Å"class wars† and other occurrences that could definitely be understood easily with the presence of the word â€Å"war†. In Merriam-Webster Dictionary, War is defined as (1)’ a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations’, (2) ‘a period of such armed conflict’, and (3) ‘State of War which corresponds to the art or science of warfare like the weapons, equipment used in war, soldiers and equipped soldiers ready for the war’ . It is also the ‘struggle or the competition between opposing forces or for a particular end’. Although the word is used in many ways, the usual aim of war is to ‘overthrow the enemy’ which ‘does not always imply the complete conquest of the enemy’s country’. Media Defined There had been several definitions of media. People refer to means or medium of communication as media too. Talking in general, it ‘refers to various means of communication’ which stands for ‘television, newspaper and radio’. At the same time, Media is also a ‘collective noun for the press or news reporting agencies’. The same definition of media as a term is also used by Paul Hawken in his book to characterize the word. While this author mentioned the same purpose of media which is to identify the medium and tools used for communication, he also insisted that media ‘is a term that also applies to those people whose profession it is to discover, report and communicate information and news to the public’. Furthermore, we now understand that media is a term used to describe both the medium used in communication and the people who we also call press. They serve as our ears and eyes about what is happening in our surroundings. Through their news, reports and discoveries, we learn from them the truth and the reality. However, the role of media although is very essential in the lives of the people, in the existence of humanity and truth can also be misused and mislead us from the certainties. History of Gulf War It is said that the Gulf War, also referred to as the Second Gulf War is unique compared to other wars happened in the history of this century, probably in the rest of human race account and existence. In so many ways, this war has several features that make it different from other armed conflicts in the whole world. Compared to the Second World War and Vietnam War, there had been several, much more bombs thrown to the enemy country than the amount of explosives used to destroy Vietnam. Also, the treatment of media towards the incident is more intense compared to how they reported their coverage during the World War II and the War in Vietnam. On the second day of August in 1990, Iraq made a move to invade Kuwait. Kuwait, a small democratic country rich in oil and produces the needed amount of the United States of America. This incident of 1990 is not the first in the history of Kuwait. It was the third conflict between Iraq and Kuwait in just one century. The first one was in July 1897 and the second one was in June 1961. Aside from these two, there is also a semi-crisis between the two countries which happened in March 1939. These account of events show that the two countries had been rivals for a long time already and the conflict between them only grows bigger as the years pass by. The Complaints of Iraq According to Suzanne Murdico, there are three complaints that Iraq issued over its neighboring country which is Kuwait. Although some of the complaints of Iraq over Kuwait concerns the past events wherein both countries were involved. One among the several disputes was the money that Iraq borrowed from Kuwait which was used as payment for the Iran-Iraq War. Secondly dispute is concerned with the oil being produced by Kuwait. Since Kuwait, though small country can produce oil that is demanded by the oil market which even angered Saddam Hussein and accused them of producing oil more than the allowed amount as stated by Organization of Petroleum Exporting. The third dispute is about the border between the Iraq and Kuwait territories wherein there is enormous oil. The disputes between Kuwait and Iraq became the same reasons why the latter invaded Kuwait. In June 8, 1991, a victory parade was held in Washington. After almost a year of conflict, the United States of America was able to â€Å"save† Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Media Coverage of the Gulf War As Dilip Hiro said in his book â€Å"Desert Shield to Desert Storm† the Gulf War had its share of popularity. Media coverage during the Persian Gulf War or the Second Gulf War can never be compared to the exposure given to World War II and Vietnam War. Censorship Media and People Media and the Gulf War Censorship during the Gulf War Western coverage of the Gulf War Demonizing Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein had been an ally of the United States of America for almost a decade before the former invaded Kuwait, an oil producing country which supplies the U. S. within eight years, Hussein, a dictator was able to kill 150,000 Iranians and around 13,000 Iraqis. There had been complaints coming from international human rights group about these killings but being an ally of both Reagan and Bush, he was not given enough attention for punishment. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, April Glaspie, Ambassador of the United States of America asked the media to allow the appearance of Hussein in television even for a few minutes. In this case, Hussein will have the chance to explain himself and also Iraq to the public. These words of the Ambassador served as a hint for Hussein that U. S. sympathizes with him and Iraq. He thought that if he will invade Kuwait, U. S. will not see it as a crime. However, the Bush Administration thought that Hussein’s crime is serious and it is not just killing refugees but it threatens the oil supply already. In 1979, Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s new leader took his post and changed the story of their country. A man with sheer desire for wealth and power, Fiske’s Argument Conclusion Incidents happen for a reason. Nothing exists without its motives and everything; all things in life have its purpose. At first we may find it absurd, crazy and foolish but in the end, what happened will be the biggest story we would want to uncover for the truth. War is a very huge word made by people dominating the entire world. While some people and probably most of the people prefer to have peace in the world rather than endless bloodsheds everywhere, others, especially those who have personal biases and some individual agendas over certain things that concern themselves and some other people existing in their world. Although the word is used in different situations and contains diverse meaning, war is still a word that is very dangerous to the innocent ones. In 1990, media and war finally met to destroy innocent lives and at the same time to hate each other. A story of destroying a nation and manipulating the emotions, feelings and opinion of the greater majority, the gulf war of 1990 was one of the tragic stories for the exercise of freedom of speech. In times of war and conflict between two opposing parties, the opinion of the people involved is very important that it may either serve as a better result or it may complicate things more. One of the most helpful tools in telling the truth, probably the mirror of reality is the media. However, Media and War became best of friends in some cases that together, these two may promote a fight worth dying for or may destroy lives of innocent people. Their companionship most of the time does not mean that they do help each other but because with the use of media, one side of the face of the war will win. Persuasion and propagandas helped a lot in promoting the means that the opposing parties were fighting for. In so many ways, media was both a tool in persuading the people of the United States of America to go in the war with Bush towards Saddam Hussein and at the same time was a battered medium of communication, a means that was used to tell a lie and to mandate what the people should feel. Bibliography Atkinson, Rick. Crusade the Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War. Houghton Mifflin Company. 1993 Center for Media and Democracy. Toxic Sludge Is Good For You, Chapter 10: How PR Sold the War in the Persian Gulf. Retrieved January 19, 2009 from http://www. prwatch. org/books/tsigfy10. html Clausewitz, C. , Graham, J. , Natusch, F. , and Willmot, L. On War. Wordsworth Edition. 1997, page 351. Dinstein, Yoram. War, Aggression and Self-defence 4th Edition. Cambridge University Press. 2005, page 3. Hawken, Paul. Blessed Unrest. Viking. 2007, page 267. Hiro, Dilip. Deset Shield to Desert Storm. iUniverse, 2003, page 4 Media. In TechTerms. com, Retrieved January 19, 2009 from http://www. techterms. com/definition/media Murdico, Suzanne J. The Gulf War. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2004, page 11. War. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved January 15, 2009, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/war

Effects of Child Abuse on Psychological Development :: Effects of Child Abuse on Behavior

Most people do not know how to cope with abused children. I became interested in this topic because when I was a teenager I had a friend who was abused by her stepfather and I didn’t know how to help her. I would like to know how children’s psychological development is affected, and how we can help these children cope with their misfortune. The most common effect is that maltreated children are, essentially, rejected. These destructive experiences impact on the developing child, increasing the risks for emotional, behavioral, social and physical problems throughout life. The purpose of this paper is to outline how these experiences may result in such increased risks by influencing the development of the child’s psychology. Psychological Development Child abuse is not a new problem. Each year in the United States alone, there are over three million children who are abused or neglected by their parents or caregivers. Many are brutally beaten and permanently injured. Child abuse has been a problem that has existed through out history and in recent years many researchers have begun dealing with this issue. There is a variation among researches on their approach to the topic. Child abuse is not only the mental or physical injury it is also sexual. These kinds of abuses harm the child’s mental and physical health. The emotional and psychological effects of maltreatment may be far more harmful to the well being of the child than the apparent physical injury. Many studies indicate that abused children are at increase risk of becoming like their parents and repeating the abusive pattern of child rearing to which they were exposed (national committee for prevention of child abuse 1983). Background Child abuse and neglect has recently become the focus of attention of all prevention centers and organizations for children care. Mistreatment of children has existed through history. Children are unable to protect themselves of physical abuse. They have been abandoned, terrorized, beaten, killed and sexual abused. A major portion of the literature of my review focused on child abuse has dealt with the personality characteristics of the abusive parent and the abused child rather than focus on the psychological damage sustained by the abused child. When we think of a â€Å"family† in a typical setting around the fireplace we may picture a beautiful and calm environment where everything is perfect. The reality here in this domestic tranquility is when we realize that the concept of â€Å"family† is the most frequent place of all types of violence (Gelles, 1979).

Lady Macbeth Coursework Essay

When Shakespeare was writing ‘Macbeth’, most people believed that the Sun went around the Earth and that magic and witchcraft existed. This made them very superstitious indeed. Religion was also a dominant factor at the time. All children were baptized, soon after they were born. This then enabled them to be taught the essentials of the Christian religion. Education at the time was only best for the rich. Shakespeare was one of the lucky ones; because of him being brought up in a very wealthy society he got the chance to be well educated. This then got him writing plays such as Twelfth Night, Hamlet and including Macbeth. He is now widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in English literature. In ‘Macbeth’, Lady Macbeth can be seen in many ways which can be related to Macbeth’s villainy. She can be seen as the protector/protected, manipulator, victim, Jacobean wife and also how she is in charge of the relationship with Macbeth. Manipulation is the process of bending another to your will and making them believe or do something that they normally wouldn’t do. Manipulation can be seen when both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth plot to kill their own King (King Duncan). â€Å"And live a coward in thine own esteem†, in this quotation we can see that Lady Macbeth is literally saying to Macbeth that he is only being a coward to himself if he was going to back away from the deed. Lady Macbeth uses such strong words so that Macbeth has a greater chance of not backing down to the regicide. From analysing the quote ‘live a coward in thine’ we can clearly see that the word ‘coward’ is emphasised with the word ‘thine’. The word ‘coward’ means someone who is afraid and someone with no bravery at all. This is important to me because it gives a great impact to the reader that Macbeth is being called a ‘coward’ by his own wife. This to me sounds like Lady Macbeth is acting in a very sly way to get her husband to do what she wants him to do. Another example of manipulation can be seen when Lady Macbeth is talking about the plot to kill the King with Macbeth. â€Å"These deeds must not be thought after these ways†¦so, it will make us mad†. Here we can see that Lady Macbeth is trying to bend the situation a bit so that it goes to her favour. In other words, telling Macbeth to not worry about what has happened. ‘It will make us mad’. In this quote the word ‘mad’ is important because it is being emphasised so that Macbeth is more alert about the murder. Mad is an adjective which is usually associated with people that are not acting in a normal way. To me this suggests that Lady Macbeth is saying that if you don’t forget about the deed, we are going to be in a normal state. We can also see Lady Macbeth in control of the relationship with Macbeth when she helps Macbeth with the murder of King Duncan, making the guards drunk, assuring that Macbeth doesn’t get caught in the process. â€Å"Only look up clear; to alter favour ever is to fear. Leave all the rest to me†. In this text we can literally see that Lady Macbeth is giving Macbeth the opportunity for her to do most of the covering up, this clearly indicates Lady Macbeth taking the role of being the ‘protector’ towards her husband. By the use of the command ‘Leave all the rest to me’ this to me emphasises that she is the dominant character at this specific part of the scene. The word ‘leave’ is a command that you would usually use after a word, in this occasion Lady Macbeth has used this at the start of the sentence which to me sounds more appealing for the reader too. Furthermore, she implicates to ‘the rest’ as referring to the King, the daggers and the stewards. This to me shows that she is telling Macbeth that she can take control of situations like these. The relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth does not always go in Lady Macbeth’s favour. In this case she is more of a ‘victim’. This can be seen at the end of the story when she is guilty of all the murders which that she has contributed to, this then leads her going ‘mad’. â€Å"The thane of Fife he had a wife, where is she now?† by examining this text, we can see that now Lady Macbeth is in a ‘half away/half dreaming’ state to hold herself for all the deeds that Macbeth has committed, this to me explains why she is asking such questions. ‘The thane of Fife he had a wife’, here by Lady Macbeth using the past tense ‘had’ it shows to me that a level of confusion has taken place. This is then emphasised when she adds on the question at the end of the sentence. Therefore, in the reader’s point of view, it shows us that she is behaving in a ‘mad’ sort of manor, which isn’t rea lly seen before. We can say that Lady Macbeth is the catalyst of the murder. Furthermore, she can be known as the protector and the protected. Macbeth is one character who tries best to protect Lady Macbeth. When Banquo was murdered, Macbeth kept Lady Macbeth in complete darkness. â€Å"Be innocent of the deed, dear chuck†, this quote suggests that Macbeth is trying to protect her and is shown as the ‘protected’. By the use of the words ‘be innocent’ it suggests to me that Lady Macbeth is forcing Macbeth to ‘be innocent’, this is because the command is used at the start of the sentence which usually indicates that the person is in control. The whole quote â€Å"Be innocent of the deed, dear chuck† infers that she wants him to forget about the murder, showing that she’s a protector. Lady Macbeth can also be seen as a protector when she responds to Macbeth’s actions. â€Å"Leave all the rest to me†. In this quote we can clearly see Lady Macbeth as the dominant character in their relationship and also as the protector towards her own husband. By looking at the text used and concentrating on the word â€Å"me†, we can see that Lady Macbeth could be using the word as in referring herself to the ‘manipulator’,’ protector’ or even the victim. Also by use of the words â€Å"the rest†, this could give the reader a thought that it can be referred to or mean the king, or his guards, the daggers or can simply mean different abstracts such as shame, guilt, and consequence. This to me shows a perfect demonstration on how Lady Macbeth is being a protector and manipulator towards Macbeth to get her own way. Lady Macbeth is not always seen as the catalyst. In this case it is shown when she takes the role of being a ‘victim’. â€Å"Unsex me here†. In this quote it shows that Lady Macbeth is asking for her feminine side to be taken away. This to me shows that she is making a change from the typical female stereo type (e.g. kind, vulnerable) to a more masculine character (e.g. leader, ‘macho man’). This change could have made her more manipulative towards Macbeth and in a leading role, but in the state she is in now she is seen more as the victim. Lady Macbeth can also be seen as ‘victim’ in the quote â€Å"sweeten this little hand†. Here we can see that what Shakespeare is trying to say that, because of how Lady Macbeth’s contribution to the regicide, she is trying to forgive herself for what she has done wrong. By the use of the words ‘sweeten’ and ‘little’, it clearly shows that she’s vulnerable and delicate. By the use of words like these it also infers Lady Macbeth’s sorrow and the role of her being a victim. Overall we can see that Lady Macbeth is the dominant character that contributes to Macbeth’s villainy in many ways. Killing a king in the was the worst crime you could possibly do in Shakespeare’s time.

The Social Construction Of Gender - 832 Words

Sex, as we have learned, refers to the physical and anatomical differences between males and females. These differences are biological and unambiguous. Gender on the other hand, refers to the aspects that influence each sex and make them distinct from a social standpoint, and each of us does gender constantly. The social construction of gender has caused controversy throughout the years, and has ultimately conceived one of the most contended topics in our society of late: feminism. Feminism refers to the belief in equality of the sexes. Recently there has been an influx of feminism in the media and our general lives with celebrities like Emma Watson, Lena Dunham, and Beyonce speaking their minds on gender equality. However, it seems that for every song, movie, book, (etc.) there is a feminist who finds it offensive and degrading. Are these feminists overreacting or do these forms of culture (songs, movies, books) set social norms for each gender with their messages being truly heard by listeners/viewers? If so, how does this affect the social construction of gender in our society? The song â€Å"Literally I Can’t† by Play-N-Skillz feat. Redfoo, Lil Jon, and Enertia McFly was released earlier this month and has already generated controversy concerning its apparent sexist lyrics. The song is arguably solely for the purpose of turning up really loud and getting crunk to at parties and is therefore not intended to make any statements about gender equality. However, as many haveShow MoreRelatedGender And Social Construction Of Gender1230 Words   |  5 Pages‘Gender’ is a category used by all human beings to describe the state of being either male or female. Gender is often described as socially constructed which implies that it is something individuals may not be aware of. 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It is due to societies implementation of such a system that individuals in these racial categories do not always look at each other as equals, causing a race to not always identify themselves as a homogenous front. This essay will delve into the poetry of a popular Def Jam spoken word artist Black Ice, whose piece Bigger Than Mine looks into the dualism within Black society inRead MoreThe Social Construction Of Gender957 Words   |  4 Pagesregulations in which people have to obey making social life be structured. Society has expectations for people to live by. People tend to live up to the norms in order to feel part of the world. Individuals do not want to be judged and labeled, so unconsciously live by the roles that they believe their gender has to follow. Gender is socially constructed concept in which society acts upon. The family is the first to influence individuals to this idea. Gender has roles in which boys and girls are supposedRead MoreGender Is A Social Construction1213 Words   |  5 PagesS One cannot talk about social interactions in society without talking about gender. Gender is part of According to Macionis (2015), gender is â€Å"the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male†. Most societies only view gender as being either male or female. An individual must portray their gender correctly in order to be normal in society. Meaning a woman must act feminine and a man must act masculine. However, what happens when an individual chooses