While struggling to think of a topic to discuss in this column, inspiration struck me in an odd place: class.
MCO 377 is not exactly the most heartwarming course one can take at Iona College. In fact, my fellow students and I left our first two class sessions somber and depressed with the realizations of a grim future fresh in our minds. Students can see that Professor Tom Callahan takes pride in scaring the life out of his students as he lectures on the plethora of perils that await after graduation.
So after hearing a barrage of discourse on the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, global warming, the lack of affordable health care plans, sky high oil prices and the genocide in Darfur – just to name a few – what conclusion did this class reveal? The fact that no other generation will enter the work force (the “real” world) facing as many challenges as our generation.
While many students might shrug and say “So what?” to a statement like this, it is important to understand that despite the many risks facing us, we do have the power to change the world for the better (as clichéd as that sounds). It is also important to understand that in order for that to happen, people must be informed about all of these threats and recognize that they are taking root today – perhaps without us even realizing it.
Being informed could be the best defense mechanism we have against the many challenges that will come after graduation. Not necessarily the challenges that were listed above, but even smaller ones such as getting a job, buying a home and eventually raising a family will be impossible without staying informed of what’s going on in the world.
Yet, have media members been doing a good job in recent years? Professor Callahan (among many others) would say no, and he is right. In this crazy and mixed-up world, the media chooses to devote most of their coverage to “news items” like the relationships of celebrities Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.
Why is it that most media outlets don’t choose to broadcast facts like the continued devastation occurring within parts of New Orleans lingering from Katrina? What about the fact that Osama bin Laden has still not been found and is likely hiding in Pakistan - when was the last time anyone heard his name in a news story?
The fact of the matter is that there are many competing interests at work among media groups. While some of them certainly do try and tell the news as they see it and as it really is, they might come under scrutiny from their superiors who often act in favor of their own personal interests.
In order for a democracy to work, it is essential that journalists and media practitioners be able to do their job and provide citizens with as much information as possible on a variety of subjects. Without this notion, American citizens wouldn’t be able to make informed decisions which could shape our world for years to come. Knowledge is power – and the world will depend on our knowledge to deal with the challenges that are sure to arise.
However, it is only if we come to hold our journalists and newscasters responsible to do a better job that any true flow of information can occur.
Isn’t it ironic that at the apex of the digital age many Americans wouldn’t be able to answer some simple questions about current events in the world today? More often than not, this isn’t because those individuals aren’t scholars; rather these people are informed about the wrong events.
Put simply, if Americans were better informed by the press perhaps President Bush’s approval rating wouldn’t be plummeting more each day – and perhaps more foreign countries would still be our friends and not protest our actions each day.
While attending a class that actually makes students think for themselves like they do in MCO 377 might seem boring or annoying for the short term, the long-term goal is to shape free-thinking minds that will be able to survive in their post-Iona lives.
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