- 19 Mar, 2021
- 0 Comments
- 4 Mins Read
WLKY or FOX news
I typically get my news from word of mouth or the news app on my iphone. These forms of news receiving merely deliver news and do not shape any new perception and acceptance to news. I am not usually a huge “go getter” when it comes to searching news as most of what I see advertised on WLKY or FOX news is messed up and sad. This past week; however, I researched news every day. I decided to use Time Magazine to access my daily news. Starting on April 15 – April 21, I got on my phone and went on the magazines website at about 3pm-6pm everyday.
On April 15, I read about a man “wanting to kill someone,” so he decided to throw an innocent child off of the balcony at the Mall of America. The man was angry about being rejected by a woman, thus he decided to kill someone. The man known as Emmanuel Aranda was originally planning on killing an adult earlier that day but it “didnt work out.” Fortunately, the child that was thrown off the balcony is showing “real signs of recovery” and has received more than $600,000 dollars in donations. It is stories like this that make me scared to raise children and start a family in this world, as it shows the worst of humanity. I would qualify this story under “Observational Learning” as this is a story in which terrible behavior and most likely mental health is involved and should be observed in order to hopefully prevent something as tragic as this from happening in the future.
On April 16, I read about the tragedy of Notre Dame being caught on fire, and days later on April 18 I read that donations reached to nearly 1 billion to help rebuild the iconic Cathedral. This story is an example of dissonance theory. People become mentally discomforted when dealing with new or challenging information such as the burning in the Notre Dame Cathedral. In order to reduce such stress and discomfort, work and distractions come in handy, or in this case, solutions. Donating nearly 1 billion dollars to rebuild and save the cathedral is an attempt to find a solution to bring the iconic cathedral to justice and bring peace to those who have been affected by this disaster.
On April 20, I read about the killings of four friends in North Dakota. Friendship was important at RJR Maintenance and Management and four of the many employees enjoyed getting to work early to enjoy one anothers company. However, an armed man entered the building shortly after the four arrived with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other and within thirteen minutes, the four were dead. Since then, security has been strengthened and employees have been bonded closer than ever before. This tragedy is an example of imitation. No motive has been found towards anyone, even to the main suspect. Most likely, the person in charge of this terrible crime attempted to imitate someone whether that is a school shooter or some other character of crime. It is sad but is unfortunately found a lot in modern news.
On April 21, I read about the bombings that happened in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Hundreds of people died and more than five-hundred have been wounded. These bombings have been classified under terrorist attacks, and there has been no claim of responsibility at the moment. The explosions took place at churches and hotels in Colombo. Obviously, this is a huge tragedy and is something that needs to be taken seriously. These explosions qualify under plenty of examples and theories but I decided to choose the perception known as selective perception. this case, the magazine tells us about the tragedy and it is up to the readers and viewers of the magazine to select how they perceive the information through ones attitudes and beliefs. I selected how I perceived this tragedy with my preexisting beliefs and positive attitude although it is hard and conflicting, it is something that I find comforting in times of tragedy and when things do not make sense.
As seen above in these four examples, tragedy is something that the world has known all too well. These types of theories and perceptions helped made me see things differently and helped me see the importance of researching. It also helped me see be able to see truth about the goodness in humanity, even through such tragedy.
Although what one may find may be tragic and sad, “happiness can be found even in the darkest times, if one only remembers to turn on the light” (Albus Dumbledore/ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). I know it is a geeky quote but it does apply to these examples. In every example, light can be found even at the expense of tragedy. People banded together to donate money to the kid that was thrown down the balcony at the Mall of America and money was also donated to the cathedral. Coworkers banded together after the tragedy that took place in their work building and although things may never be the same due to the loss of the four lively employees, the remaining employees are now closer together than ever before. Lastly, the bombings left a devastating amount of loss. However, even through the darkness and the amount of grieve and death these terrorists have caused is immeasurable, especially to those who were effected, light is found in the situation. There was an overwhelming response of people who came to put down name, contact, and blood group to donate to those who have lost blood and need donation. Researching can be scary, especially when researching tragic and sad topics. However, even through such darkness and such terror, light can be found if one only remembers to “turn on the light.” God is ever so present, even through the mess and tragedy of this world.