The Power of Media: How Information is Presented - Essay Sample

Introduction

Media plays a significant part in our lives, especially in the passing of information. It usually impacts each and all over us in one way or another. Therefore, the role that media plays cannot be overestimated. However, the way information is presented by media to people differs significantly, and one incident can be presented in such a way that it delivers completely different information to the audience. This usually changes the way that the people perceive the issue that was being presented. In this paper, two articles presenting the same kind of information will be compared, and the information presented in them analyzed critically.

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Article 1

The media in this article reports that a police officer involved in the Yuendumu shooting was charged with murder. The main purpose of reporting this incident in this article was to look at what will be the next step after the police officer was charged with the murder. The NT Police arrested the police officer named Rolfe Zachary, and investigations have been ongoing to determine what transpired for the police officer to kill Mr. Walker (Roberts, 2019). Even though the NT police have charged Zachary with the murder of Mr. Walker, they expect him to plead not guilty. Yuendumu community wants the case to be independent, and they are even raising funds to pay lawyers who will ensure that justice and truth of the case come out.

Article 2

The information contained in this article is that the Yuendumu shooting took place due to an armed teen trying to attack a police officer who had gone to his home to arrest him for breaching the conditions of his suspended sentence. However, upon arriving at the compound, the 19-year old boy who was armed tried to attack the police officers, and that is when he was shot dead by the police officer. The police also did not explain why the police officers did not use a non-lethal weapon when the body was trying to attack them. There was also a question of why the medical assistance was delayed, and the reason for this was that the health clinic at Yuendumu was understaffed (Vivian and Breen, 2019). The investigation of the incident will be overseen by a senior investigator from the Major Crime Unit and will be assisted by the Professional Standards Command. Meanwhile, more police officers are being deployed at the Yuendumu area as the Deputy Commissioner at NT anticipates that there may be unrest in the Yuendumu.

Comparison of the two Articles

The two articles were reporting the same information. However, the way the article presented the information is completely different, and one would think that they were reporting a different incident. In the first article, the media reports that Officer Zachary had been charged with murder. Investigations had begun to find out what had happened and whether the police officer was guilty. In the first article, there are no details of whether a victim who was shot by a police officer was armed and was trying to attack the police officers. In the second, the article reports that the police officer shot a 19-year old who was armed and was trying to attack the police officers. This shows that the two articles were reporting the same incident but in a different way. In the first article, someone can think that the police officer had shot an innocent person because the person to be shot was not stated. The article mainly focused on charging the officer and how the investigations were being done, but in the second article, a reason was provided. The information in the two articles shows that although media is vital in disseminating information, the way they present the same incidents may pass different messages of the same incident.

References

Roberts, L. (2019). Yuendumu police shooting sees officer Zachary Rolfe charged with murder, but what happens next? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-16/yuendumu-police-shooting-charges-laid-against-zach-rolfe/11705986.

Vivian, S., and Breen, J. (2019). Yuendumu shooting: NT Police say 'armed' teen 'lunged' at an officer before being shot dead. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-10/yuendumu-shooting-nt-police-say-teen-lunged-at-officer/11690516