BY HANNAH RAMESAR
On January 7, 2012, Beyonce Knowles-Carter and husband, Jay-Z, welcomed their firstborn into the world. The birth of a child is usually a momentous occasion for any couple or family. However, for Beyonce and Jay Z it was so much more. The birth of Blue Ivy Carter infatuated the public; the media went ballistic and world waited anxiously for her arrival. A similar frenzy was stirred up when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West teased the public by waiting months before exposing their newborn. While many people are preoccupied with cyber stalking their favorite celebrities, society reveals a major flaw in itself. More stations broadcast entertainment news, covering the latest celebrity buzz, instead of shedding some light on current events outside of Hollywood.
After the VMA’s, the media had a field day dramatizing and covering the public’s reaction to jaw dropping performances, instead of focusing on something a bit more alarming: the United States’ decision to conduct airstrikes on Syria. The United Nations (U.N.) was investigating the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government on its people while U.S. officials worked tediously to make their case for action. While the country was about to make a decision that could have led to war, many were engrossed in the complexities of twerking.
When a celebrity passes away, there is an extensive amount of media and public attention thrown their way. Yet global issues don’t seem to merit that same level of concern. The Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, or FAO, reports that every six seconds a child dies from hunger or malnutrition and every four seconds a child dies from hunger, poverty, or a preventable disease. Perhaps the media and the public should be more focused on these issues.
On a smaller scale, students at Cooper City High tend to know more about who’s doing what among their peers than taking the time to find out that PSAT sign ups are in the cafeteria and not in guidance, or that there have been university visits to our school recently. Though tragic, this is a direct reflection of society having their priorities all mixed up.
In a world dominated by social media, relief organizations have also reached out to networking resources, but have not achieved the same success as their celebrity competition. For instance, the United Nations Children’s Fund, or (UNICEF), has approximately 600,000 followers on Twitter, while the World Health Organization has a little over 250,000. On the other hand, celebrity gossipers such as Perez Hilton have over three million followers.
The obvious discrepancy between the media’s preoccupation with celebrities and daunting global problems is apparent.
