Getting one’s face on the cover of a magazine is typically considered an accomplishment. It says, “Look at me, I’m known, I’m famous, I’m somebody!” Especially on fashion and entertainment magazines. So why on earth would a magazine like Rolling Stone put a picture of the man responsible for destroying hundreds of lives at the Boston Marathon on its cover? It’s beyond comprehension to me.
They say that it’s an in depth look at a troubled man. It’s a hard hitting story that they include as well as their entertainment stories. Fine, have the article but instead of putting his face on the cover, why not put the faces of the brave victims who are struggling to get their lives back together? Have his story in the back after the survivors.
Seems to me that our newspeople, magazines and books tend to sensationalize people who have done especially horrendous deeds. As we all know, with the number of reality shows out there, there are a lot of people willing to go to any lengths just to get their faces known. I find it very hard to believe that the couples featured on the “Bridezillas” show are really that rude and obnoxious and still get married after all that drama. “Wife Swap” is another one, why would any self respecting person allow themselves to be put through that type of humiliation that I see so much on there. This leads me to believe that there are a tremendous amount of individuals who are desperate for recognition and fame, however short it may be.
With that being said, how many sick individuals do you guess there are out there who will look at the fact that a bomber who killed and maimed hundreds of people, actually got his face on a cover of a magazine, a huge magazine at that too, and think that might be a way to get famous?
I’ve often wondered if the media did more stoic, straight up reporting on these killers instead of glorifying and sensationalizing details of these people, if the violence rate would go down? Maybe I’m being too idealistic, but anytime there’s a huge story out there about murder, violence or any other sort of awful thing it seems that they just want to play and replay the horrific details over and over again. They take the person who was responsible for the act and just spend so much time talking about them, their lives. Speculating on why, how and what their thought processes may have been before, during and after… blah, blah, blah. I say just report the story as we all have the right to know what is going on around us, but stop there. The media stories will do SO much talking and dissecting of the person committing these acts that I can’t help but wonder if these individuals enjoy it in their own sick way.
It’s like raising kids, when a child misbehaves you don’t give them attention. You impose consequences for the bad behavior by putting them in a corner, taking something away from them, restricting activities, but you don’t go on and on to glorify what they’ve done. It only teaches them that it’s a way to get attention. To ensure that everyone is talking about them. Regardless of whether it’s negative talking or not. They’re just enjoying the attention. Why can’t the media industry realize that they could be doing the same thing for those aggressors that do awful things. They do not deserve attention. They do not deserve to bask in the limelight, however negative it may be. The story should be reported and then tucked away into the background for the courts to deal with.
Keep the public informed, but stop making them the center of attention. And for goodness sakes, why put their faces on a cover of a magazine?
firelightdreams 