Ayanna Morales: Media shouldn’t shelter Americans from horrors of genocide, violence
As a junior at the University of California, Merced majoring in sociology, I am taking a course on terrorism and genocide. It wasn’t until taking this course that I realized the horrible tragedies the world experiences. Why is this?
Americans do not see the terrifying horrors outside of the country they live in. If the story doesn’t have a compelling storyline, which appeals to the public as well as politicians, it has almost no significance to Americans.
The media controls what people see, hear and read from hour to hour, and this is one of the most important reasons people have no idea what is going on in South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Yemen. The stories of millions killed and thousands displaced doesn’t contain a good guy / bad guy storyline. Even though it has little to no effect on America, this does not mean we simply turn the other way and pretend genocide, war, and inhumane practices are not occurring. As we sit and enjoy our next cup of coffee, remember what ignorance and propaganda did to 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. As famous Jorge Santayana said, “those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Ayanna Morales, Merced
This story was originally published December 7, 2016 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Ayanna Morales: Media shouldn’t shelter Americans from horrors of genocide, violence."