Chapter 550
As an authoritative person in the industry, Professor Richard-John (Richard.John) of Columbia University School of Journalism also published a special article published in The New Yorker (The.New.Yorker) for the first time.
"The New Yorker" is the most important industry magazine in Jincheng. It is a part of New York life, reflecting the most eye-catching focus of New York life, and in-depth reports on major American and international political and social events are one of its characteristics. The authority of this magazine is second to none in New York and the entire East Coast.
"Bringing witch trials into the study of journalism and communication will be a huge system, but bringing witch trials into daily life for a simplistic explanation can be understood as a minority group with power, for the sake of To defend your own interests, frame innocent people as witches, eradicate these elements, and consolidate your power.
In 1782, the last witch in Europe, Anna Goldi, was beheaded in Switzerland. After that, the laws of various countries expressly prohibit the abuse of justice to persecute witches. It also heralded the end of the witch trials that lasted three centuries. But in fact, two centuries later, witch trials still exist in every corner of life.
To give one of the simplest and most life-like examples, in high school, rumors began to spread because of disgust for a child with obesity, autism, or homosexuality. It has evolved into an iconic evil label, such as where the child appears, there will be disasters, such as being touched by this child will bring bad luck, such as banning the child from playing rugby... By these rumors The resulting campus violence, including ostracism, isolated language and emotional cold violence, as well as physical violence in campus public toilets and garbage dumps, intensified and eventually went out of control.
This is the witch trials.
Similar to cheerleading, basketball, baseball, rugby and other high school popular objects, a minority power group, in order to maintain their popular rights and interests, by excluding and controlling disadvantaged groups, using the immaturity of high school students to create a 'witch' image , and finally complete the witch trials.
At present, the repeated prohibitions on campus violence in American high schools are the most realistic portrayal of witch trials.
The most obvious manifestation of witch trials in modern society is actually the relationship between the news media and entertainers. The Michael Jackson incident is a typical witch trial case. Regardless of whether Michael Jackson is guilty or not, it will be handed over to the judiciary for investigation. Said that the role of the news media in the development of the whole event is to make Jackson a 'witch' behind the scenes. This can be understood as the news media, in order to pursue interests, report news from a more commercial perspective, or even interpret and fabricate, so as to shape public figures according to their own wishes and seek greater commercial interests.
Why are witch trials more apparent and more frequent between news outlets and entertainers? This must discuss the relationship between supply and demand.
The entertainment media is different from other media. Among them, there are more entertainment attributes. Compared with the simple pursuit of truth, the lack of entertainment is absolutely not allowed. The inevitable trend. Seeing that means that after material needs are met, spiritual needs will continue to rise, and the entertainment industry is the most direct source of spiritual needs.
The recreational pursuit of public figures by ordinary people is not only a recreational pursuit of spiritual needs, but also a demand generated by the combination of ideas such as curiosity, curiosity and voyeurism.
Gossip is obviously more eye-catching than an ordinary meal for two people; compared to charity events, drinking and fighting is more likely to cause discussion; compared to the glamorous front of the stage, behind-the-scenes things are always more attractive. Take Michael Jackson as an example, if he has vitiligo, which leads to constant skin replacement, which makes his black skin keep turning white, obviously no one will care; but if he hates his black identity and tries to bleach himself , which obviously has a breaking point worthy of digging.
Similarly, in the Rodney-King incident, black criminals resisted arrest and white police officers. The police get justice, such news can be seen almost every day, and no one pays attention; but the white police. Cha beating ordinary black people for no reason and using their power to be suspected of racial discrimination is a social explosion.
When the needs of ordinary people have changed, the supply of news media has naturally changed gradually. Not only entertainment media, but the Rodney-King incident can see that social media and political media are also changing in this direction. It's just that the entertainment media itself is in this industry, and the changes are more obvious.
Under such circumstances, in order to win more interests, the entertainment media creates 'witches' according to their own ideas, which has become a behavior that follows the trend. In today's entertainment industry, almost every artist is a potential witch. As long as the opportunity arises, the media will interpret the news entertainingly according to their own wishes, and then create a witch.
It's just that when this witch does not touch the moral and legal bottom line, he will not be tried, but sooner or later, this bottom line will be broken.
This is the inevitable development of news media, but how to balance the balance between truth and entertainment is an esoteric knowledge, just like the line between morality and law, blurred, but it must be clear.
In order to catch a criminal, a law enforcement officer forges evidence. Maybe the criminal is a real criminal, but forging evidence is indeed illegal. This will not work. Not only will the criminal not be brought to justice, but it may also be possible for the criminal to find it. to the loophole. That's the line, that's the bottom line.
In pursuit of entertainment effects, deliberately fabricating facts and forging evidence, whether it crosses moral or legal boundaries, is not allowed. If today were just fabricated scandals, then maybe the public would laugh it off; but Michael Jackson is not, it involves a person's reputation and a child's fate, so this line is absolutely not allowed to be crossed.
Whether Jackson is guilty or not is the responsibility of the judiciary, but in pursuit of more entertainment, the news media has made Jackson a witch, which is beyond the line.
In the Rodney-King affair, the media has always prided itself on being just, so there has been a lot of coverage before the truth is confirmed, and the news media has tried it even before the court's verdict. By the time the truth is revealed, the situation will be irreversible; the Michael Jackson incident is now facing such a crisis.
Before the judiciary collects evidence and before the judiciary makes a judgment, the news media is constantly fueling the flames. In order to create more explosions and more focus, they will not hesitate to accumulate all the negative news on Jackson. This is the most typical witch trial behavior. Because the media is shaping the image of the witch according to their own ideas, so as to achieve the purpose of judging the witch.
If this trend continues, even if the judiciary investigates and finds that Jackson is innocent, the people will not believe it, then the riots caused by the Rodney-King incident are likely to happen again; similarly, if it turns out that Jackson is not guilty If he is guilty, then the public's disgust for Jackson will reach the extreme, which will further compress Jackson's living space, and the court's judgment on Jackson will never meet the needs of the public.
Similarly, as a client, Chandler is also facing enormous pressure under the attention of the news media. If what Chandler has experienced is true, then the public will sympathize with the thirteen-year-old child and be molested at the same time. The pressure of the child has also become the biggest label on the child's growth journey; if what Chandler said is proved to be false, then the thirteen-year-old child will face not only a lie, but also a burden for his life.
The news media used their 'freedom of speech' rights to fabricate a witch image, turning the power of public opinion into a weapon, hurting the parties, and at the same time achieving their own commercial interests. Trial is not only an illegal act beyond the scope of one's own rights, but also an obstruction of judicial investigation that undermines the fairness and legitimacy of the case investigation and evidence collection procedures.
The First Amendment grants the news media freedom of speech and allows them to perform their duties of supervising public opinion in society, which is necessary; but the media use public opinion to conduct trials, which is a disaster for the entire society.
I hope the news media can calm down and seek the truth of the matter. Guilty or innocence can come to its own conclusion. "
Richard John's analysis is very easy to understand. He objectively analyzed the ins and outs of the entire "witch trial", and also believes that the reason why the Michael Jackson incident has evolved to this point is that the news media and the audience chasing gossip have Unshirkable responsibility, this is the root of the problem.
Why is the media willing to introspect? Not because their consciences found out, or because Hugo's words were immediate, but because of the infamous Rodney King affair.
The seismic effect caused by the Rodney King incident made the American news media a joke internationally. Even the president was deceived by the news media and strongly condemned the police officers involved in the case. The pinnacle of news. The United States, which has always prided itself on human rights and freedom of speech, ended up making such a big joke, and it also caused the racial issue to break out again. The White House does not want to see another "Rodney-King", American media. I don't want to be a laughing stock again.
The Michael Jackson incident is also an event that has attracted worldwide attention. The degree of sensation is not inferior to the incident when John Lennon was shot and killed by a fanatical fan. Originally, this case is currently lacking in evidence. The media reports basically say that wind is rain, so now Being stabbed like this by Hugo, even the "witch trial" was brought out. How could the media hit the muzzle again at this juncture? Just do it.
So, it turns out that eight of the ten newspapers with the largest circulation in the United States are thinking calmly, rather than uniting and starting to denounce Hugo. Now is clearly not the best time to use the banner of "freedom of speech." In fact, if you look closely at the media reports, most of them are analyzing Hugo's words, not solidarity or condemnation, but maintaining an objective position to analyze the accusations about the "witch trial".
This is the cunning of the news media. If Michael Jackson is proved innocent, then they can blame the "New York Post", "National Enquirer" and these media; if it proves that what Jordan Chandler said is true , then it would not be too late for them to accuse Hugo of obfuscation. In short, this wave of analysis is really an event that gives the news media more buffer to chase the truth.
But it was this little bit of breathing space that gave Michael Jackson a silver lining.