Terrorism
The American media transports material at the speed of ‘now’. The latest scandals, rumors, divorces, political bombshells, and headlines stream their way to our phones, televisions, homepages, and Facebook pages in nearly an instant. In addition, stories can vary from white, to black, to gray areas of truth and reality, often with a goal of grabbing the highest ratings for the greatest benefit of what all media outlets are—capitalist and corporate powerhouses for the most potential profit. However, for nearly over a decade, since the tragic events of 9/11, the media has seemingly taken a rarely known threat and classified it into how we travel, interact in public places, and protect our homes under the worse case scenarios—terrorism. The media has a strange relationship with terrorism and goes on tangents of fanaticism to moments of silence, thus leaving an interesting relationship between a revolutionized threat and the mediums that millions of Americans look to for the latest headlines and breaking news. For decades, Americans have been obsessed with being in the ‘now’ and has had little if any interest in the ‘then’. The latest arrest, scandal, and death count tend to take the top headlines, leading these stories and news clippings to be the talk of the office or talk of the dinner table. Americans are obsessed with news and headlines, from the start of the day to the moment our eyes slide shut, we skim through pages of US Weekly, the Wall Street Journal, and stalk MSNBC’s homepage—waiting for the latest ‘BREAKING NEWS’ and bold text to tell us it be the arrest of foreign nationals or the killing and taking down of Geronimo, Americans follow the timeline of events that the media has deemed worthy enough for the home or front pages. Whether it is the latest Herman Cain or Kardashian scandal, whatever we see on the homepage engrains itself in our daily conversations and Facebook statuses. The media rules the way we think, talk, and interpret current events, most
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