I made a similar thread in COR but I also wanted to discuss this issue in PDD.

So, boys died imitating Saddam's hanging shown on TV and internet. (Source) With the Media always on the look out for dramatic news, they are pushing the limits when it comes to showing graphic content. They tend to forget that such news articles may not be fit for children to view. Are there any Government regulations on the media industry (in the US) on what to broadcast and what not to ? Even if there are, I am pretty sure the regulations are overlooked in most cases. A mere advisory posted before showing the video clip is not enough. The consequences can be disastrous as can be seen by this news article. Who's to blame ? We, for wanting to see dramatic news ? Or the media, for showing such news in the first place ?

And on a related note:

Media has a huge influence on the audience. A well controlled media can influence the thoughts of the audience in whatever way it wants to. Almost every newspaper or News channel has political connections and most of the news gets filtered through the appropriate political lens before being passed down to the audience. Is unbiased news reporting ever going to be a reality ?

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Originally posted by twilightki : It feels like something you'd listen to at 4 in the morning, or listen to in your car while you're going in a tunnel.

I blame the kids for hanging themselves.

I'd blame the parents first, the kid second. In that order, certainly not anything else. But yeah, I'm sick of this pussy liberal bullshit about too much violence etc. and placing limits/controls on other things that really aren't their buisness. Stop blamming everything under the sun but yourself. Take some fucking responsibility for your children, or don't have any. Simple choice really. People need to learn how to effectively discipline their children, not bitch about everything else.

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Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Martin Niemöller

Thats what they get for mocking The Great Saddam.

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Different thread, similar point, same post The bit concering your questions is in the end

quote:

Originally posted by Frenchie Stupid people deserve stupid things like this.

Please, don't ever blame this on stupidity.

First of all, this is a known phenomenom in sociology, and similar to one of the main reasons why suicides are hardly ever reported (i.e. the Werther effect). Sure, this case is somewhat different, but the fact that Saddam accepted his death might be one reason why it could be seen as suicide-like by these boys.

Second, this has not anything to do with "cognition" and, therefore, any kind of stupidity. Otherwise, it would be hard to believe that one of the greatest geniuses of last century decided to end his life the way he did. Actually, most of these kids weren't even teens (and the only teen was just 13), a period through which we all experience for the first time emotional turmoils and social problems. As they're entering social life more consciously, so to speak, they don't necessarily have the social biases against suicide as part of their worldview.

Now that all doubts regarding stupidity and suicide might've been cleared, probably the most informative bit of the whole article was the following:

quote:

"After watching Saddam's execution he was constantly asking 'How was Saddam killed?' and 'Did he suffer?'" Akti was quoted as saying.

Maybe the kid was planning on killing himself, and he just found out a way of doing it. As you can read in the essay written by Schopenhauer, films, and from life in general, there are many reasons why these kids might've chosen to end their lives in such manner. Specially because the images don't really show any kind of despair or gore (which would probably scare these kids), so it might seem "clean" and "trivial".

quote:

Originally posted by dj_bas edit // Oh, the report talks about multiple cases. Way to go youth of the world!

This is not something that affects kids exclusively, you know?

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_M Are the parents the only ones to be blamed ? Or is the media to be blamed for showing such graphic violence ?

Under ordinary circunstances, the media is advised not to report such events because of their social impact, so that's one to blame.

The parents could also fail to realised the child is depressed, although blaming the parents is not an easy thing to do in that case, given the fact that depression (and suicide) are frowned upon, and therefore the parents might find themselves in a state of denial until the child eventually decideds to take a more drastic measure.

As most things in life, there's no scapegoat, suicide is a long context-based process.

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what about the unbiased news thingy ?

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Originally posted by twilightki : It feels like something you'd listen to at 4 in the morning, or listen to in your car while you're going in a tunnel.

All these kids where aged 10-13 years old. I think 6 and 7 year olds understand the concept of death. I blame natural selection on their deaths.

God damn you natural selection, god damn you!

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_M what about the unbiased news thingy ?

Oh, indeed, I missed that part in this thread

Anyway, quoting Nietzsche, "There are no facts, only interpretations" and, although this too is an interpretation, I'm sceptic about hearing any piece of unbiased info from a 3rd party. Not because of any conspiracy, but because the fact that to be interpreted before coming to me, and this interpretation is done against the interpreter's background.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lira Oh, indeed, I missed that part in this thread Anyway, quoting Nietzsche, "There are no facts, only interpretations" and, although this too is an interpretation, I'm sceptic about hearing any piece of unbiased info from a 3rd party. Not because of any conspiracy, but because the fact that to be interpreted before coming to me, and this interpretation is done against the interpreter's background.

I think a news article should simply be a report of an incident that has occurred in some part of the world. Agreed it is an interpretation of the reporter, but the interpretations that I speak of, are the ones which are conveniently made to suit the political agenda of the reporting agency. Distortion of facts is common in the media of all countries. Attempts to needlessly dramatize some news, deliberately misquote someone, report only those news which suit the agency are very common. Such tactics takes away the credibility of the reporting agencies and the people are largely deprived of the true picture.

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Originally posted by twilightki : It feels like something you'd listen to at 4 in the morning, or listen to in your car while you're going in a tunnel.

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_M I think a news article should simply be a report of an incident that has occurred in some part of the world.

I reckon the selection of relevant facts is a form of bias, even if you try to report it objectively.

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_M Distortion of facts is common in the media of all countries. Attempts to needlessly dramatize some news, deliberately misquote someone, report only those news which suit the agency are very common. Such tactics takes away the credibility of the reporting agencies and the people are largely deprived of the true picture.

I've got to agree with you here. Just because I don't believe one can be completely objective, this extreme is just plain annoying.

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quote:

Originally posted by Lira I reckon the selection of relevant facts is a form of bias, even if you try to report it objectively.

I did already acknowledge that point.

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_M I think a news article should simply be a report of an incident that has occurred in some part of the world. Agreed it is an interpretation of the reporter...

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Originally posted by twilightki : It feels like something you'd listen to at 4 in the morning, or listen to in your car while you're going in a tunnel.

quote:

Originally posted by Omega_M I did already acknowledge that point.

Oh, my bad then

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