Most news reports tend to be sensational, shocking and unpleasant. However, I believe we have a right to know what is happening in the world and I do not believe that the media should restrict what they tell us.
People who argue that the media should not report so much bad news have one main reason for this opinion. They suggest that bad news discourages people from doing things which are normally safe, for instance crime rates may be a major factor in discouraging people from visiting a city. Another example is when a plane crashes and many people stop flying for a while, even thought it was one of the safest ways to travel. As a result of these reactions, businesses suffer because people become frightened of doing things they previously thought were harmless.
On the other hand, there are strong reasons for arguing that the media should not limit their reporting. Firstly, people have to be informed so that they can then take responsible decisions. Also, people have to be able to decide for themselves what risks are involved in doing a particular activity. For example, when there has been an accident on the motorway, I do not stop driving, although I usually drive more carefully for a few days, especially if the case of the accident was the weather.
In short, I think the media have a duty to report all important events. If we do not receive information of this type, we cannot make responsible decisions about what we do, and this reduces our freedom to act in a way which is best for us.
Most news reports tend to be sensational, shocking and unpleasant.
However
, I believe we have a right to know what is happening in the world and I do not believe that the
media
should restrict what they
tell
us.
People
who argue that the
media
should not report
so
much
bad
news have one main reason for this opinion. They suggest that
bad
news discourages
people
from doing things which are
normally
safe,
for instance
crime rates may be a major factor in discouraging
people
from visiting a city. Another example is when a
plane
crashes and
many
people
stop
flying for a while, even
thought
it was one of the safest ways to travel.
As a result
of these reactions, businesses suffer
because
people
become frightened of doing things they previously
thought
were harmless.
On the other hand
, there are strong reasons for arguing that the
media
should not limit their reporting.
Firstly
,
people
have to
be informed
so
that they can then take responsible decisions.
Also
,
people
have to
be able to decide for themselves what
risks
are involved
in doing a particular activity.
For example
, when there has been an accident on the motorway, I do not
stop
driving, although I
usually
drive more
carefully
for a few days,
especially
if the case of the accident was the weather.
In short, I
think
the
media
have a duty to report all
important
events
. If we do not receive information of this type, we cannot
make
responsible decisions about what we do, and this
reduces
our freedom to act in a way which is best for us.