The media has a tendency to blow things way out of proportion. They crave the biggest new, the best stories, and are willing to do almost anything to get them. An example of this occurred at the high school that I attend, which is the inspiration for this node.
About two weeks ago, our school hosted a step show in which schools from across the area showed off their talent in a night of dancing. From what I heard, the step show went very well. It was after the step show when the controversy started. Apparently, the school was packed, and after the step show there was a huge scramble for everyone to leave. People were getting pushy.
Outside, a rather large fight broke out. The police were called in to stop the fight and disperse the crowd and it ended up a little mace was used. Almost as fast as the police were there, so was the media. All of the major TV and newspapers practically flooded the scene. They said there was some sort of huge fight in which shots were fired, and mace had to be used.
What really happened was that a car
crashed just north of our school, which was mistaken for
gunfire. Even though the media cast a
horrible light on our school, no one from our school actually
participated in the fight. Mace was used, but it wasn't really necessary. However, because the media
vigilantly blew it completely out of
proportion and not so much as a follow-up story stating the actual facts was issued.
Adminstrators, teachers, students, parents, and
relatives alike were all thrown into a state of
shock and terror because the media did an
incompetent job covering what actually happened. The damage to our schools
reputation was done. It makes me quite annoyed at the media for being so selfish and
inconsiderate, and leads me to wonder if changes need to be made to the way it works. The media should
verify their facts before running like wolves to a feast from every insignificant
rumor they hear.