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Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal

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The availability of mass media in the United States has grown throughout the last few decades. The media serves the vital function of informing citizens about political issues, yet there are certain media effects, like slant and framing, that can help political elites manipulate people by using mass media as a tool. Despite the dangers of media effects, mass media still does a good job of informing citizens about important political issues such as the Watergate scandal, Abu Ghraib, and the legalization of same-sex marriage. The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency put in place by way of a congressional statue in which gives them the authority to regulate interstate communication. One of the many jobs placed in the hands …show more content…

Slanting was a major influencer of the way in which information about the heinous acts at Abu Ghraib prison was presented. Facts about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal were slanted in favor of the negative actions that took place within its four walls and deliberately avoided pointing out any sense of positivity about those that were not harmed during the scandal. By slanting the information based this scandal the media brings all the negativity to of the ordeal to the forefront causing us to be more aware of what is going on around us. Matthew Lynch argued that if positive issues were presented in such a contrary way people would vote against them (Lynch, 2015). The Abu Ghraib prison scandal brought to light the notion that not all those we place our trust in as Americans can be fully trusted to carry out the duties of their job with integrity and grace. The slanting of this information has well equipped the people with the knowledge to understand that they must pay closer attention to what is going on right next door. This is yet another example of how the mass media has used its effects to alter the minds of the nation for the

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Neither one of the circumstances was ethical at any point and had been publicized by the media for its explicit type of interrogation methods as well as sadistic behavior. In particular, Phil Zimbardo has argued that the study shows that strong situational forces can override individual differences in personality and moral values. In Abu Ghraib, soldiers were inserted into the role of prison guards and began to sadistically torment prisoners there and at other detention sites in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of the specific acts of humiliation were similar to those that transpired in the Stanford Prison Experiment, according to Zimbardo. This theory has been challenged by allegations by Seymour Hersh, in the New Yorker, that these soldiers were in fact acting under direct orders of their superiors as part of a top secret Pentagon intelligence gathering program authorized by Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.

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The United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 was dubbed Operation Iraqi Freedom by US Forces, but it seemed like freedom was the last thing on their minds. Abu Ghraib prison was an occupied Iraqi prison where the US Army held mass incarcerations and sponsored inmate torture. 2007 marked the year that a documentary titled “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” was produced by HBO and directed by Rory Kennedy. This documentary showed the abuses and injustices inured to the Iraqi prisoners at the hands of the United States Soldiers. Although the guards at Abu Ghraib Prison Complex had personal reservations against the treatment of the prisoners, they were manipulated into authoritarianism by their overzealous obedience.

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(Parenti) also supports (Walters, Mair & Lim) with the theory that states although media misrepresentation may occur due to innocent error or common production problems, it does not occur randomly as there has to be a distinct motive behind it which in this case refers to popularity, profit, and fame. This clearly shows that the ability of media outlets to create bias stories which can take various different forms such as sensationalism, are driven by specific motives which can lead to not only those outlets gaining more viewers and profit but also damage the reputation of the actor’s within the news. Now, moving on to my second point which is Persuasion bias affiliating political affairs [De Marzo, Vayanos, and Zwiebel] suggest that consumers of media are subject to media

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They have the ability to alter and manipulate information of prominent events. For example, the media did not conceal bombing of the Twin Towers during 9-11. Instead, they vividly broadcasted the detriments and destruction and described the tragedy in way that stirred up the emotions of the people. The media’s slight manipulation of information was able to reach numerous people. This is significant because they not only constructed American’s fear of terrorism, but also uproared Americans and led the country to immediately strengthen its national security.

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My opinion on this situation is that media is overpowered and if it was an official branch congress would have to even out the powers in order for it to work in a reasonable and controlled way. However it becoming an official branch is highly unlikely and will most likely never occur. I do feel that propaganda is taking over the aspect of being free and interrupting your political mindset on issues. Overall I think the media’s powers should be evened out and intertwine other positive aspects into their work rather than

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In a way, Source E is enlightening, portraying the power of mass media embodied by Walter Cronkite in stopping the unpopular Vietnam War. Disregarding the fact that mass media itself influenced that opinion, Source E reveals a frightening preposition: as more and more people turn to watch the television, the interests of those in control of television, oftentimes firmly in the direction of personal gain, grow increasingly influential. Source F reveals how one such incentive, profit, can lead to huge damages. Source F reveals that profit accrues to television channels that appeal to the “lowest common denominator” and purposefully warp events to appeal to such people. These television channels reduce the complexities of politics, economics, and international relations into simple, pleasant terms that do not do justice to the originals, and it is these television channels, which earn more, that survive.

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In his work Media and Power, Professor James Curran composes, "the media is no more the a watchdog of general society interest, yet its own particular diversions since it has turned into a political and a prudent force/interest center. " As such, it is clear that in a framework where each major media outlet has an essential center of fulfilling shareholders, and maybe all the more critically, a concentrate on fulfilling the plans of administrators inside the organization. Accordingly, the media has gotten to be more popularized, and therefore has withdrawn from its conventional objective of news reporting. Rather, the media has influenced for more lucrative wanders, for example, reality television and celebrity focuses. Expanding beyond the scope of the traditional form of media, the rising credibility of the social media has further levitated the importance of media as a whole in elections and some popular elections (Jenkins 2006).

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In news production, framing is more concerned with the news production process than agenda building. In other words, how forces and groups in society try to shape public discourse about an issue by establishing predominant labels is of far greater interest from a framing perspective than from a traditional agenda-setting one. In news processing, framing is more concerned with audience attention to news messages, while agenda setting is more concerned with repeated exposure to messages. And in the locus of effect, agenda-setting effects are determined by the ease with which people can retrieve from their memory issues recently covered by mass media, while framing is the extent to which media messages fit ideas or knowledge people have in their knowledge

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