Different Ideas Of What Is True :: essays research papers

As a child I repeatedly stood in line with my mother at the supermarket waiting to pay for our groceries. I often grew bored and found cheap entertainment in reading the thick, dark print of the supermarket tabloids. I would gaze my eyes and drop my jaw in shock at their stories; but, the one thing I never did doubt was the drama of their plots. As I grew older, I would watch television news magazine programs and think how different the facts, and pictures, as presented on television were from those of the supermarket tabloids. Now I have learned that in order to be constantly informed I must become a media critic, and I must judge for myself the facts which stories are correct. For some time I have found myself straining away from the supermarket tabloids and towards magazines I think I can trust. Upon examination of two periodicals, Time and Globe, it is easy to see the distinction between reputable and irreputable media, with regard to the JonBenet Ramsey case. Through the use of facts, photographs, and aim towards a certain audience a discrimination between drama and information is clear. It is disturbing that the Globe magazine uses melodrama and tension to sell a story in which the drama lies not in the pages of a magazine, but in the heart of all the victims.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The facts discussed in both magazines contradict one another, and further the confusion of the reader. Time magazine challenges its readers to weigh the evidence and decide upon the guilt or innocence of John and Patsy Ramsey. Time magazine concludes that the investigation of the parents has come to a halt, due to the fact that no new evidence has been brought forward for months. This information does nothing to clear the Ramseys of murder, but does nothing to encourage their punishment. In the Globe magazine, a mention of a nylon cord is made to imply that the Ramseys will be arrested and charged with the murder of their daughter. There is no discussion of this report in Time magazine, and Globe magazine does not mention a source leading one to believe that this report is false, or concocted. By linking the Ramseys to the murder of their daughter by the use of fabricated evidence, the Globe encourages the readers to prosecute the Ramseys while destroying their na me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Photographs spread across the pages of Time magazine do nothing to add drama to the JonBenet Ramsey case, whereas Globe photographs add emotional illustrations to a excessive story.