There’s been a series of national stories on recent acts of violence. Should our TV News station do a series on how to defend yourself against violent acts?
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There’s been a series of national stories on recent acts of violence. Should our TV News station do a series on how to defend yourself against violent acts?
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I don’t necessarily believe scare tactics are the way to make people feel safer. We forget that we are receiving news faster and rapidly, almost as soon as the violence is happening — there is no lag with today’s technology and it makes people feel like the violence is occurring right at their doors. While a segment on the “easy and safe†ways to guard yourself and your home couldn’t hurt, I think making a bigger deal out of daily occurrences that yes, are attracting national attention, is not going to help our local news station keep the peace or make people feel safer.
I agree we get barraged with 24/7 “news” coverage and so often get more reports related to violence. It is interesting how the media shapes our worldview based on what they deliver. I wouldn’t necessarily consider a series on self defense to be “scare tactics” though. I think such a series could be informative, interesting, and helpful – if produced well.
This is extremely context-sensitive. What kind of violence are we discussing — criminal, police on civilian, what? If this is an actual, national issue, then perhaps we should devote some attention to it.
However, let’s be completely realistic — the odds of this being an actual national issue are extremely low. It’s far more likely a case of confirmation bias meets coincidence — an in-vogue topic brought to attention by a handful of isolated incidents. I’d urge us all to look at this violence very carefully and with even-mindedness. If it’s not truly a major issue (again, the most likely case) then let’s not give the topic any extra coverage. Otherwise, we’ll be effectively capitalizing on hysteria while fueling it further. Though that might be profitable in the short-term, it erodes our credibility in the long-term.
No, I don’t think that our TV News Station should do a series on how to defend yourself against violent acts. Instead, take a simpler and better received approach of after doing a story on an act of violence, end that segment with the name and number of a help line, or the name and place of where a defense class (whether physical defense, gun defense, etc.) takes place. To dedicate time to putting together a series of segments about how to defend yourself is not a good use of our resources. To be honest, the best way that the public will learn how to defend themselves is to go see an actual class or speak to an individual that is trained in defense against violence. Us showing a series on it won’t necessarily mean that someone will be better prepared for a random act of violence.
I think it would be a good follow up to channel the hysteria being whooped up by these national calamities. The reason being is that people are responsive at this moment. To let such an opportunity go to waste to increase viewer base, even for a short time, would be irresponsible. Running programming that highlights statistics, maybe bring in an expert or two is a shameless way to inform the public. This fulfills their need to be sated from their fear and we make some extra ad revenue on the side. I am not seeing the downside to this line of action. We need to be sure that it is tasteful and tactful. We do not want to suffer backlash by exploiting an incident that is way too sensitive or approaching it in a disrespectful way. We want to look like the friendly media neighbors we are, weighing in to help our friend the viewer and not, and I mean not the money hungry company running sensational, world ending articles. I want to enhance our image by the production of this series, not tarnish it.
I completely agree. It would increase our viewers. Bringing in special guests always ups our viewers, and by doing so it would also be beneficial for our viewership.
I believe our TV News station should do a series on how to defend yourself against violence. Despite the fact that violent and property crime has declined in 2013 and 2014 according to crimeinamerica.net, it is my opinion as Executive Director that violent crime is still top of mind for our viewership due to the networks’ focus on reporting about criminal violence, and we can use that to our advantage. I believe if we bring this self-defence program to the public, it will help make the news station look like a proactive organization in the fight against crime while boosting our ratings, and more importantly our revenues.
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With all the violence in the media today, our news station will be the first in the country to offer this type of public service series. It is my intention to air the series for four weeks during prime time, with targeted promotion a week before the commencement of the program.
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I believe the huge upside of this series would be the potential to increase targeted advertising for companies such as security systems, home protection and many more.
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This television series will enable our citizens to feel more comfortable as they are bombarded nightly with the idea that there is more and more crime occurring, even though the serious crime rates are falling. It is our responsibility to our shareholders to respond to an opportunity to increase viewership, revenues and ratings.
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I don’t think we should do this series just because of the recent violence that has been in the news. I think we should do it just because it a good thing for people to know. With that being said, now is probably the perfect time to implement it since people have been inundated with the violence and may be more interested in hearing about ways to protect themselves and their families. It is already on their minds and may interest people who do not usually watch our newscast. This could increase our audience and potentially new advertisers. I think it is a win win situation for everyone. We get to help the public be more informed, they get to feel safer, and we make more money. Let’s do it!
JRN F101 — Wyman — Summer Week 6, Discussion 1 of 3
There seems to be a lot of stories covering acts of violence these days. I think the question whether or not we run a series on how to defend against violent acts could be interesting and helpful but I also question the appropriateness of doing such a series without knowing more about the situation. If car-jackings were on the rise nationwide, I think it would be great to run a story on how it happens and how to defend against it. I think management should be careful and go out of the way to exercise sound judgement and good taste in choosing what content we run, if we do, in this case. If running such a series is motivated by ratings and is taking advantage of tragic circumstance and only serves to fuel the flames then I think doing so would be inappropriate.
Week 6 Part 1 [Eddie Crosby]
“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do thatâ€. (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)
After doing some research and finding on the web a famous speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, I easily formed my opinion that if in fact a television show would like to feature a program on violence, then so be it because as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr said “Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do thatâ€, and I personally welcome the idea, the sad part is I don’t think that they would get that many viewers because most of the time that I see any television show that features anything close to this idea it is often mocked by strong criticism or pore viewer rating, and until you change the perception that people have towards hate or crimes in general, then any programing that an industry would like to produce can be a waste of time and money.
Work Cited:
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotations. (n.d.). Retrieved August 13, 2015, from https://www.drmartinlutherkingjr.com/mlkquotes.htm
It is our job to report on these stories. To make our public aware of all sorts of news happening around our country. As a part of the segment reporting on these violent acts or perhaps as a “…to be continued segment” I think it is a great idea to provide our viewers with some helpful tips on how to defend yourself or just to provide them with knowledge on places to access these teaching s, such as self defense classes. We not only can provide our viewers with the helpful information but if we decide to do demonstrations in our segment, it could grasp our viewers even more. I think it is a great idea to include the information of self defense. It may help ease our viewers to what they hopefully won’t encounter but will be prepared for if they do.
I like your point how it is our job to report the news. Even if sometimes it’s really difficult, we should be unbiased and present the truth. It may be hard to hear, but I’m sure many people in history have kicked themselves in the but for not being honest about potential dangers.
I don’t see a problem with showing our viewers a good way to protect themselves whether there is recent coverage of violence or not. Being prepared and aware of violence makes us all better equipped to deal with the unknown. Our viewers can go to bed at night with a better understanding of the “what ifs” in relation to their and their families safety. Adding a program like this during the recent increase in violence coverage will only make for more viewers and better ratings for us, which is a win win for our company.
Let’s be honest, violence is around us every day, in every city. The only reason the network is considering this piece is because of the national frenzy surrounding recent specific acts of violence. I think if were going to do this piece it shouldn’t be because we’re concerned with the national media climate, or what effects it’s having on the people’s behavior, but rather because being prepared for violent situations is good. I agree with another contributor who was worried about creating unnecessary scare. We should be concerned about safety for the sake of safety itself.
I like your point about the reason why the network is considering. I don’t think it would be a good idea to feed new reports off of others’ frenzy and fear. It would be like feeding a dangerous fire. If we gain profit through an avenue like this, it will because people are worried about not being prepared and so jump to our broadcast. I don’t think this should be our motivation, and that we should have the peoples’ feelings of safety at heart.
In my opinion, I don’t think it would hurt to have a defense against violence TV series. There is a lot of violence in the world today and even if it only benefits a few people, it can save lives and serious injuries. The series could vary based on types of violence, such as strangers, domestic abuse, self harm and many other categories. TV is such a powerful tool today and I think it is more likely to get people to hear and understand what type of defense they need for certain situations. As a TV news network, people watch the news and want to know whats going on. But do we have something they can watch to prevent them from being involved with similar stories that they see on the news everyday? I think it would be a smart thing for the network to have because i don’t know anyone else who has a show like that and it would help viewers know what to do in dangerous situations.
I think this is a really interesting idea. If there was a serious threat to violence and people were under-prepared, then I definitely think it’s necessary to give some instruction as to how to defend ourselves. However, no one is doing this yet as far as I know of. I think of airplanes. The chances of getting in a plane crash are very low, but safety regulations and emergency evacuations have to be followed. I wonder if giving a tutorial on protection against violence acts could even spur more violence. People could learn by watching these tutorials how the majority of the public defends themselves. They could then find a surefire way around it. Also, we do not want to potentially create a scare across the nation. If it’s not a threat as of now, I think being aware of the danger happening is enough.
I don’t think we should do that kind of series, we’re a news agency not a talk show or PBS or one of those shows. I think what we could do alternatively is a series of stories of people who were victims of violent acts but fought back in some kind of way to save themselves or others. This is a way of talking about ways to defend yourself without actually doing a show on self defense. It would keep our watchers engaged and get them thinking about ways they can do things to protect themselves in the future.