Media Shock

Group Name: 
PTPH
Alysha McCaffrey
Pattern Gone Anti-Pattern
Problem: 

The graphic images and reports in media of the Vietnam War has been said to shock the nation into massive protests and resistance to war. Once people realized how bad the situation was overseas, they collectively organized. Now, we can see this type of shock doing more damage by terrorizing the community, causing high stress and anxiety for those who have loved ones involved in conflict overseas. It is no longer inspiring people as a whole to resist war.

Context: 

What can be done to ensure our media is not hurting our communities? We must be aware of what is going on overseas, but constant reminders of how dangerous and deadly the situation is is starting to take a toll on the mental health of military families. News stations report deaths, giving little information about who was killed. Families with loved ones learn of the deaths and have to wait to hear either that it was their soldier or not. This waiting game is excruciatingly painful because communication systems are usually disabled until the next of kin are notified of the casualty or injury.

Discussion: 

The public has the right to know what is happening overseas. However, we must be willing to make a change to help families and friends cope with these deployments. This will be a very hard transition to make because it would require participation among all media sources. This can lead to problems of withholding the truth from the public. There needs to be better solutions made to address this problem.

Solution: 

News stations should perhaps report deaths and injuries after the next of kin are notified and the Department of Defense releases the information to the public. This may impact the stress levels of family and friends of deployed soldiers.

Reference: 
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/wp02/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/shock_sign.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/tag/shock-log/&usg=__VV6lyEqPmPDO4QzzUnKr0jt3q_M=&h=513&w=600&sz=30&hl=en&start=14&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=HUdwfkI0cQJfDM:&tbnh=115&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmedia%2Bshock%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1
Verbiage for pattern card: 

The graphic images and reports in media of the Vietnam War has been said to shock the nation into massive protests and resistance to war. Once people realized how bad the situation was overseas, they collectively organized. Now, we can see this type of shock doing more damage by terrorizing the community, causing high stress and anxiety for those who have loved ones involved in conflict overseas. It is no longer inspiring people as a whole to resist war.

Pattern status: 
Idea Only
Preface: 
More input is needed to complete this idea.
Information about introductory graphic: 
Found on Masters of Media program website for the University of Amsterdam