Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Don't hate the journalists because of mainstream media's mistakes


Journalism didn't start because someone thought they would make a lot of money. It didn't start merely to provide facts for recreational reading, It didn't start to be objective, and it definitely didn't start as a way to promote the government's objective.

However, mainstream journalism has, for the most part done all those things. Between the constant need to drive readership to websites and get clicks, or the necessity to follow a corporate agenda, mainstream media is driven by dollar signs instead of being driven by a need to hold the nation accountable, which is what journalism was originally meant to do.

When journalism started, it was not objective; not even close. But, even as early as the mid 1820s, the country's leading newspapers were ignoring the issues of the oppressed. According to chapter one of Streitmatter's book, the Voices of Revolution, when laborers were launching a movement to gain more rights, the big newspapers ignored the movement and instead sided with "the merchant capitalists and the growth that they symbolized," (pg. 3).

Mainstream news ignored the abolitionist movement for years. Only when William Loyd Garrison had gained enough support from the people and had been writing his own newspaper, the Liberator, did mainstream news nod its head to his work and give it the credit it was due for facilitating a national revolution.

This early form of independent media parallels current independent media. Whether it be by fueling a revolution in Tunisia or  releasing documents that monumentally change a nation's view on war and national security monitoring, independent media has been responsible for giving a voice to those who struggle to be heard and enacting change... which is why I get SO frustrated whenever people trash talk journalists.

As a double major in politics and journalism, I expect people to regard me with a bit of disgust. People always say (sarcastically), "That's just what we need; more politicians and more journalists." Politicians are often, and usually understandably so, disliked and distrusted. Journalists are too. This is because of the way mainstream media and the government have twisted, lied, and hidden the facts from the people.

However, when I was reading about Garrison's impact, I can't help but be annoyed at the people who generalize journalists. If we took a step back and thought about every major change in this country, and especially the changes granting more and more people their rights, we can always find a journalist in the mix, doing something to spark, fuel, or encourage a revolution called for by the people being ignored by mainstream media and the government. The thing is, when the oppressed get tired of fighting, journalists are always there to keep up their battles.

So I ask this, next time you hear a person complaining about journalism, google a major revolution and observe the influence of the media. I can confidently say that in most cases, a journalist was a voice calling for action and enacting a change.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

The Manifestation of Something Great


     The documentary, "Alive Inside," is a heart touching and ground breaking documentary with the 
potential to revolutionize treatment for patients with Alzheimers disease and dementia. The film was made by Michael Rossato-Bennett and was shown at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Since then, the film has been released on Netflix and has gone viral, understandably so. The idea behind the documentary is captivating enough, but the clips and characters make the film a hard one to turn away from. 
       The film follows Dan Cohen, a social worker who discovered the impact music can have on people in nursing homes. The footage shows the incredible transformation of almost comatose patients becoming lively people who are able to sing and dance within moments of hearing songs of their youth. The most astonishing character was Henry, an elderly man who hardly spoke or moved until headphones were placed on his head. Once he heard the music, his eyes opened wide, he sat up, and he danced and sang to "that beautiful music" as he explained where and when he would hear songs as a child. 
      The film served as more than just a way to experience these life-changing moments; it highlighted the problems with contemporary nursing "homes." The documentary portrayed contemporary nursing homes like hospitals. The buildings seemed lifeless and so the people inside seemed almost lifeless as well as they trudged through their daily routine of watching tv and taking their pills. According to the doctors in the film, the pills didn't make much of a different in the lives and progress of the patients. This isn't to say that Dan Cohen's music theory is a cure for Alzheimers or other mental diseases, but at least when people heard the music, they seemed to be full of life, emotion and color, no matter how bad their health may have been. Some of the elderly were even able to stay with their husbands in their homes, being kept stable by the music and kept free of drugs. This concept seems like something that could so easily be accepted in nursing homes, to provide those within better living standards, but when Cohen expressed the idea to management, nursing home owners and managers were unwilling, saying the  program would be too costly or too risky. 
      It wasn't until the video of Henry popped up on reddit, an user generated news, picture, and video website, that word of Cohen's success spread to the world, and not just on independent media. That link was the key to Cohen's appearances on mainstream media, including shows like CNN. Reddit is a site trafficked by millions of people a day. When millions saw the video, Cohen was flooded with calls, comments, and even donations to get the program into nursing centers around the country, and even a little in Canada.
     I've heard of reddit and I've even used it to browse through funny .gifs of puppies, but I never thought the site would be such a huge part in changing the lives of hundreds of people. Since the video went viral, the Music and Memory program is in hundreds of centers in more than 50 states and countries, with that number growing every day.
     The music and memory theory is mind-blowing enough, but the idea that one video link on one website can literally affect hundreds of thousands of lives is incredible. This idea is one that I hope to continue to see happen in so many different fields. It's a reminder that there is good in the world, and that the internet isn't just cats, porn, shopping, and sad news.