An Open Letter to News Outlets
Dear general news outlets,
as a teenager who looks at the news
occasionally, I feel that should speak on the issue of the use of violent
images in the media. I personally think that violent images should be used when
the topic discussed requires it. I would say it’s required to show the true nature
of certain situations, such as war or human rights violations or disease
outbreaks. I would say that these images are very necessary, in depicting
events that should be taken seriously. I myself have seen how easy it is to
downplay these things in our own minds. Although we all understand that
violence exists, not all of us understand the real-life repercussions and horrors
of things like this. For a more modern example, COVID was a pretty serious thing,
and it was downplayed a lot in some places, and that was at least a hindrance
to stopping the pandemic. It’s just so easy to sit back and say “Wow, that
sucks…anyway-” and not truly considering what it means to see violence. “How can we
refuse to acknowledge a mere representation—a picture—of a horrific event,
while other people are forced to live through the horrific event itself?”
says Christopher Bangert*. I will not deny that I haven’t seen a lot,
being young, and that I myself prefer not to see these images, as I have a very
good memory. But that also happens to be the point of the use of such images.
They’re sticky, in that they’ll stay in your mind for a little bit. It’s in
this way, that images should be utilized to emphasize the importance of violent
situations.
Sincerely,
JW.
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