Bias, skewed information, and more bias

I would first like to start off my blog by saying how outraged I am at the media for spreading such bias and for skewing the information and statistics just to benefit them. However, I am not surprised. There were quite a few things in the two chapters that I found to be very interesting and equally disturbing. The first thing that I found quite confusing was a quote on page 126 which stated that “experts have identified a 1990’s demographic scapegoat for America’s pandemic violent crime: our own kids. A mushrooming media scare campaign about the coming ‘storm’ of ‘teenage violence’ waged by liberal and conservative politicians and experts alike is in full roar”.
I found this very interesting. Why is it that the liberal and conservative politicians seem to only be able to come together and work towards the same goal when it is something so sinister? My second question to this quote is why is it that our society feels that it always needs a scapegoat? Why can’t we just see what the root of the problems are and work together to fix them rather than merely blaming one group for the problems? Another quote that I found on page 127 is one that I really liked and agreed with. It stated that “there is no such thing as ‘youth violence,’ any more than there is ‘black violence’ or ‘Italian violence’. The recent rise in violent crime arrests among youths is so clearly founded in social conditions, not age-group demographics, that experts and officials have had to strain mightily to ignore or downplay them.”
Although I found many more interesting points within the two chapters I am only going to mention one more thing that I found to be extremely disturbing. When I read the comparison on page 134 of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey vs. the murder of the nine year old African-American child labeled as Girl X, I immediately felt a feeling of disgust wash over my entire being. How is it that the media put one child’s demise at the center of our focus nationally for long periods of time, but they don’t even report the other child’s demise. How can the media and the news in this country continue to be so biased and just pick and choose the stories that they feel will get the highest ratings. Girl X’s life was just as valuable as JonBenet’s and both lives ended prematurely and tragically. Why is it not seen that way within the media. Where are their ethics, and how can we as the American people do something to make sure that this type of neglect of one group over another group will not be continued. I do realize that there is only so much time in the day for the news to be reported but these types of biased reports go on everyday in various different ways. People with wealth in this country are treated better than people without wealth. But I personally think that basing the news on something like someone’s socioeconomic status or racial background is a misleading and irresponsible way to report the news.