The wealthy give the definition of necessity. Media gives us an unrealistic idea of what is achievable; it spreads stereotypes and puts unrealistic ideas of what everyone’s American Dream is. They paint a beautiful utopian picture that everyone in America is mostly middle to upper middle class and that we are all doing fine. The biggest news and magazine covers are of Hollywood’s latest love birds. Yet the cruel reality of poverty is ignored. The homeless kids dying on the streets of Chicago are kept on the down-low. Who controls the media? Why are we so apt to believe the utopian picture we see before us when we know it is not true? Where is poverty in the media? This paper will discuss poverty, the media, and the correlation between the two.
Oscar Lewis’s definition of poverty states that people are trapped in poverty due to norms and aspirations. The poor cope with their conditions by developing survival techniques, yet these mechanisms only continue to worsen their state of poverty for the generations to come. When asked the question of what causes poverty, some reply with reasons such as structural inequality, lack of resources, political economy, powerlessness, or individual inferiority. Dr. Williams states, “The root causes of poverty are pathological norms and values.” Poverty makes us chronically anxious. The stress cuts our telemeter therefore giving us shorter times lines, early aging and premature death.
The question of every humanitarian is 'how do we solve this problem of poverty?' Some ideas are to increase low wage income, re-socialize the poor, and remove pathological incentives. It is believed that better outcomes among those living in low-poverty neighborhoods can come about because of more opportunity or more tranquility or both. As more studies were conducted, it became clear that giving money to poor families was not the solution but giving families more time together. In homes where parents were more involved with their children’s lives, their lifestyles improved. A study showed that children’s behavioral problems decreased largely as a result of the additional time parents now had to supervise their children. With the investment of encouragement and family support, children were taught to see the importance of education, what good jobs were like, and what living well actually meant. In the end, people don’t need more money… just more time: quality time with their children.
We now turn to the media representing and displaying the American dream for all to see. The only problem with that is most of all American’s wealth is held by only a tiny percentage of the population. This tiny percentage rises to power over the media and they have the power to control what we see and put into our brains. Yet most people are misrepresented. Some claim media was designed to give voice to common folk and visibility to invisible folk. Yet television only gives a distorted representation of working-class people. More often than not, the news only highlights the issues concerned to middle and upper class readers and viewers. Statistics show that nearly 90% of the nation’s stocks are owned by just the wealthiest 10% of the nation’s families. While 10% of people are represented in the media, the other 90% are lost to the streets and stereotypes that media displays. The media tries very hard to give us the idea that all of America is just like the 10% of well-to-do citizens. They turn a blind eye to the poverty in America and persuade us to do the same.
The correlation between the two lectures is that media misrepresents the poverty that is very real here in America. TV is controlled by the rich. They give us an unrealistic idea of the American Dream and encourage us to chase it while they sit back and enjoy the show. The question is: Are we going to continue to fall for their tricks or break the cycle? Poverty is not shown in the media as it should, but it is a very real problem that effects many Americans today. How can we change something if we don’t know what’s going on? The answer is that we cannot. Therefore we must go out and learn for ourselves about this war on poverty. To get others involved we must raise awareness. Perhaps we can start by putting poverty in the media.
