Media Power

In the past few weeks we have heard a lot about a NBA player named Jeremy Lin. He has made it clear his passion is to play basketball. Yes, he has had a tough road to become the player he is today. But, the power of the media has put him and his family in the lime light. He has a interview after every game he has played this season. He has been compared to some great NBA players already. The power of the media once again plays such a role in how we think and perceive a person.

Jeremy has asked the media to leave his family alone because of the risk of notoriety placed on a celebrity. He stated in an interview that his grandmother is being stalked by the media in her home country.  He doesn’t want anything to happen to his family because of him. All he wants to do is play the game. Why is it so hard for the media to listen to a person request? Why must the media make the decision for someone and make it a responsibility for a celebrity or athlete talk to them at their request? I think media power has gone way overbroad with what they do.

I do not like it when the media makes the decision for. Do not get it wrong, it is good to see a person excel at what they do. Must the media place a person on a pedestal?  Celebrities and athletes are just people like you and me. The one thing that separates us is the amount of money made for doing a job. I think this is why the media thinks they are obligated to open their life to the public. We like and want our personal space and our life kept personal. It should not be any different for a celebrity or athlete. 

We hear about celebrities and athletes almost daily. This is why they are portrayed as role models. They are not role models. They are people. We rarely here about local community role models from the media. Since the media has so much power they owe us as a population to change how people are portrayed. Jeremy Lin is a human being, not a phenom.  Jeremy Lin can be portrayed as an athlete who worked hard and held on to his dream. He has dealt with ups and downs, learned from his past to work hard to be a successful basketball player who can compete in the NBA. He has made huge strides with his game playing but still has a lot to learn. As long as we allow the media to dictate of course they will continue down this path. We need to demand and become active somehow with mainstream media to give us down to earth reporting. A lot of us are true sports fans and we recognize hard work and do not but athletes on a pedestal. We enjoy watching the athletes as well as the game.

espn.com

nytimes.com

yahoo.com