The Power Possessed By the Media
What nourishes me
destroys me
I love my sport from tennis to
soccer even the NBA, it had a great deal in influencing my chosen field of
study. So I listen attentively to sport news on TV, I cannot begin to describe
the joy that field my heart when San Antonio Spurs beat the Miami heats for the
NBA Championship. I think the heats have been ruling for so long now.
As a sport fanatic and the sports calender full as it was I could not help but pay close attention to the Oscar trial. Never saw the day of the conclusion of this trial so close as
it is now, which makes me just realize how much time flies. I was so caught up
in my school work that I just didn't notice that time was passing so fast, but
I did keep a lot of my attention glued to the buzz created by the media around this trial. To notice and
observe how tremendous influence the media has on the public mostly South
African citizens.
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| source: google.com |
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| source: REUTERS |
He was
once the country's GOLDEN BOY who overcame severe physical and social obstacles to achieve sport greatness, he was our pride and we definitely celebrated him. He was a great symbol of determination and resilience. As a public relations student I could not help but be fascinated about the different angles the media chose to report the version of events. As I followed the trial closely on eNCA (www.enca.com/), I got a first class experience into how much power the media has. It had a great deal of impact in his rise to stardom but it’s also an arena where villains are made.
The media has in my opinion sensationalized it to the best extent
they could. I mean they never fall short of doing that to every story. It brought the worlds focus into as small city in South Africa not
to mention having its own channel and been broadcast-ed live, that on its own is
amazing. It created a media buzz and it’s fair to say that many have made up
their minds on whether he is guilty or not.
Now as a public relations
practitioner in training am most fascinated by the damage that has been done to
his image: I mean what will happen if he is found guilty or otherwise?. Now as
a media student I am curious as to whether he will be thrown into the trash bin
of sporting history with the like of OJ Simpson and the recently disgraced
cyclist icon Lance Armstrong? Or will he be given a second chance? Is such a
damage to a reputation realistically fixable? No matter the verdict this trial
will go down into history books as one that shook the world and I believe the world will be at stand still when Judge Masipa delivers her verdict on the 11th of September.
Your comments are welcomed
