Media portrays blame for Government Shutdown in very different lights

In recent weeks, one of the most prominent news stories has been the coverage of the “Government Shutdown.” For those who are not familiar with the story, a Government Shutdown is essentially a way for Congress to put everyone on hold for a fews days so they can do their job. Every year different parts of the Federal Government need funding in order to operate, and it is the job of Congress to disperse the proper funds. When Congress can’t agree which funds go where, it closes down. It's very similar to the NHL or NFL “Lockout” that occurred in recent years. The problem is both sides want a lot of money, and there isn’t enough to go around.

The United States is a democratic nation, and by default, people are allowed to have their own opinions, and express them if they choose to do so. In the case of the Government Shutdown, the nation is very divided on who is to blame for the problem. Democrats blame Speaker of the House John Boehner and the Republicans, where as the Republicans blame President Barack Obama and the Democrats. 

However, the media has also gotten involved and has taken its own opinion on the issue as well. Different bias media sources portray the President, in particular, in very different manors.

The image to the left is taken from an ABC News story that headlines: “Government Shutdown 2013: Republicans mostly to blame...” It doesn’t taken much inquiry to see that ABC has taken a very democratic stance on the issue, and it shows in the way they portray President Obama. 

Obama is out of focus, which not only shows that he is not the center of attention, but is also a message to highlight that President Obama is not to blame for the shutdown. Speaker of the House John Boehner is in focus with a befuddled look on his face, thus showing that he, and the Republicans, are responsible for the shutdown. Obama is also mid-sentence, looking very professional and intelligent, as opposed to Boehner who appears slouched over and distraught. This once again is trying to emphasize the strengths of President Obama, thus showing that he is not responsible for what has happened. 

Yahoo News, on the other hand, has taken a much different view on the issue. This article, takes the complete opposite direction and blames President Obama and his poor policy making for the shutdown. It tries to emphasize the struggles and problems President Obama is facing in leu of the recent issues. 

This image, focuses directly on the face of President Obama. Obama is the center of attention; the image is clear and zoomed in right up to his face, and the lights are all aimed at him. The goal is to show a weathered and tired president who appears to have just run out of answers. His expression shows that he is not only frustrated, but confused on how to go about the issue at hand. Yahoo attempts to emphasize the blame on President Barack Obama. 

Essentially, the media is in many cases just as opinionated as the American people, and it only takes a picture to show what side they choose. 

The effects of Visual Media: Television vs. Video Games

In my opinion, interactive mediums like videos games, certainly influence an individual more than a passive activity like watching television. Studying the effects of media have been going on for decades. During the 1920‘s, researchers came up with a model known as the Hypodermic-Needle Model. The Hypodermic-Needle Model states that a message conveyed in media has a profound and direct impact on an individual. With that being said, I believe that watching television has much less of an impact than playing video games. Watching television does not require the user to do anything but sit there, and enjoy the programming. Video games are the complete opposite. Video games convey a message, much more so than watching television. For example, watching a murder drama on tv is much less influential than actually committing a murder in a video game. Games such as Grand Theft Auto, and Call of Duty, convey this type of message all the time. Every action in a video game is in response to an action taken by the player; thus every outcome is a direct reaction to the player’s performance. Since the player controls the actions of the video game, he or she becomes very caught up in the emotional state of the game. When the user does something right, he is happy, but when the user does something bad, he becomes very aggravated. This idea of aggravated video game play is no myth, the American Psychological Association researched the effects of violent video games and found that violent video games begin to change a persons mental state over time, making them naturally more aggressive and agitated for no reason. Therefore, I believe the emotional influence seen from video games makes it very apparent that they are more influential than watching television. 

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2000/04/video-games.aspx