Month: April 2018

What Are the Responsibilities of Modern Day Media Outlets?

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The article that inspired my post today is one from the most recent issue of National Geographic, the one they call their “Race Issue.” This issue of National Geographic is all about race relations in the United States. One of the articles caught my attention for its direct address of National Geographic itself and for its being written by the current editor-in-chief of the magazine, Susan Goldberg, herself. Titled “For Decades, Our Coverage Was Racist. To Rise Above Our Past, We Must Acknowledge It,” the article focuses on incidences in which National Geographic journalists have depicted people of different races negatively throughout their extensive history. Goldberg wrote the following regarding her philosophy about National Geographic‘s duty:

“How we present race matters. I hear from readers that National Geographic provided their first look at the world. Our explorers, scientists, photographers, and writers have taken people to places they’d never even imagined; it’s a tradition that still drives our coverage and of which we’re rightly proud. And it means we have a duty, in every story, to present accurate and authentic depictions—a duty heightened when we cover fraught issues such as race.”

The questions that came to mind after reading Goldberg’s article are what follows: What is the media’s responsibility and how is this similar or different from what people expect from it?

The answer to this question is likely to vary from person to person. In my view, the media should focus first and foremost on accuracy of any portrayal. Lack of credibility would render the media next to useless because the news that it reports would not be trustworthy to its readers. Second, journalists should focus on presenting all aspects of issues that are relevant to their intended audience with as little bias as possible. What constitutes “issues that are relevant to their intended audience” will vary from news outlet to news outlet. Furthermore, it is impossible to report on something without any bias; even the selection of what topics to cover conveys some degree of bias in itself. That is why the media needs to be intentional with its diction and choice of topics to cover.

However, some will argue that media outlets have the responsibility of reporting not only without bias, but also with deliberate intention to disprove stereotypes. National Geographic had a professor specializing in the histories of photography and Africa analyze its archives. The professor said that old National Geographic issues reflected prevalent views of the time period and “did little to push its readers beyond the stereotypes ingrained in white American culture.”

Depending on what one believes the media’s responsibility to be, one’s perception of how well a media outlet is doing its job will vary. The thing is, with the rise of special interest news outlets, it is easier than ever for people to find niche news sources that feed their existing viewpoints without offering different perspectives. In my perspective, special interest news outlets that promote one political view or another are not legitimate journalistic operations because of their deliberate bias.

Asian American Parenting

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There is a certain cultural barrier between my parents and me, especially in the case of my mother. My mother is quite traditional in many ways and doesn’t realize that some traditions are not simply a given in American culture. The same goes for me: there are aspects of American culture that I don’t realize are not present in Chinese culture. These cultural assumptions have led to an interesting parent-child dynamic.

What are some of these phenomenons that defined the way I was brought up? Here are a few:

  • Filial piety (China): While to some extent parent are to be respected in virtually all cultures, in Asian cultures parents are due the utmost respect.

This means that when they tell you to do something, you do it, even if it is without reason. This means that you are expected to look after them when they get old, providing for them in every way. In traditional Chinese thought, the child is permanently indebted to his or her parents for providing for them and giving them life. I used to be confused when my mother would say things like “you need to do X because I cared for you ever since you were a baby” or “you’re eating and sleeping on my provisions,” as if these things weren’t given as a part of parenting and as if I weren’t an equal member of the family in the same way kids are in the average American family. I was confused at why I wasn’t allowed to eat before she ate or why she was always harping on me for my lack of respect toward her. In fact, we have completely different images of the role of the parent in a household, and I don’t think either of us realized.

  •  Positive reinforcement (United States): Children are brought up hearing words of encouragement and are rewarded for good behavior.

It really dawned on me how different parenting in the States is from parenting in China during the senior year of high school. My mother had been working as an elementary school teacher at a charter school for some years now, and one night at dinner she remarked on something she had observed while working there: “I think part of what makes American schools different is that they praise and encourage children a lot and support their creative endeavors.”

Up to that moment, I don’t think I had truly grasped how different my mother’s cultural standards and the way I was brought up may have been so different from the American norm. To me, words of encouragement and rewards for good behavior seemed like given steps in human interaction in general. To some extent, my father’s expectations were different as well. For example, he remarked on how strange it was that American families have graduation parties for high schoolers or how American parents are happy when their kids get B’s.  Of course, that’s not to say my parents never said anything nice to me or did nice things for me, it’s just that the scale was completely different. My parents are actually very laid-back compared to most Asian American parents, and for that I am extremely grateful.