Every time I turn on the television, or listen to the radio, I see violence. The argument is often made that media is used to spur on violence; that the increase in violence is a result of the increase of available media sources. However, I’d argue that the amount of violence is not increased because of media, but rather that media has been used to emphasize and increase our knowledge of violence to make us more aware of the violence around us.

Professor Harris uncovers some false impressions about the number of homicide rates that occur in reality compared to the amount that is portrayed on television. This reinforces the idea that media places a huge emphasis on violence, to a point where it is commonly over exaggerated.

The news alone, an example that came up again and again in class, strongly shows us violence at every given opportunity. Generally speaking, what people see, will be what is assumed about the on goings of the world we all live in. The news is something we rely on, and consequently we assume and conclude that most of our world is represented in the news. In reality, the news only portrays a small portion of what our world is like.

Violence is commonly viewed as a negative fixation, yet it is still seen that many of the plenty of positive aspects of violence are similarly portrayed through media. Examples of this encompass sports such as hockey, or even heroic acts seen as a bystander reacting with violence to ‘save’ someone.

All this violence, whether good or bad or neither (for violence is such a complex term to define) makes me wonder why we as humans are so attracted to it when it appears in media.

Some Examples