Is the media machine an asset or an obstacle for peace activists Essay

Is the media machine an asset or an obstacle for peace activists - Essay Example The peace movement, being a social movement, is aimed at achieving or maintaining world peace by ending situations that bring conflicts in the human society. In this respect, they work towards ending wars and minimizing the use of violence to resolve disputes. This is accomplished by use of alternatives such as diplomacy, non-violent resistance, pacifism, peaceful demonstrations, supporting political candidates who denounce violence, moral purchasing, and lobbying for certain legislations to be enacted to promote peace. The media, both electronic and print, has been a great asset to peace activists who use it to pass their points across to the general public (Chatfield and Kleidman, 1992). On the other hand, it has also acted as an obstacle to peaceful missions around the world. This paper seeks to analyze how much of an asset and obstacle the media has been to peace activists. The reason WPP (Women Peacemakers Program) and other organizations are putting so much effort to get mainstream media’s attention is because the media’s attention towards peace has been wanting (Woman Peacemakers Program, 2004). In many cases, the media applies only limited effort towards training specialists to cover peace related activities. Compared to sports, humour, business news and fashion which never seem to have shortage of specialist journalists, security and peace issues have very few specialist journalists. Most media companies avoid the trouble of having their journalists specialize only in peace issues. Peace activities to them do not sell and hence are likely to be shunned in most times. The situation is made worse by the meagre financial incentives accorded to peace journalists. Specialists in this area who stick to journalism are in fact viewed as minority. During the cold war period subjects like NATO and Communism came to public focus (Chatfield, 1973). Peace activists at this time, unfortunately, were subject to stereotypical

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dikens Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dikens - Essay Example The Past Ghost talked about Scrooge’s boyhood, love life as well as important events in his life which shaped his current negativist personality. For instance, it was told the Scrooge was lonely in his childhood with a dysfunctional family. He was abandoned to study at a boarding school where he eventually developed his antisocial tendencies. Here, we are given a reason why Scrooge could not offer any empathy because in his early developmental years, he had none. He was left to himself, with no affectionate encounters with his parents or his siblings. We highlight the young Ebenezer’s experiences of past Christmases because, it turned out, most unfortunate events happened during this time explaining for Scrooge almost neurotic hatred for the holiday. The story went to describe how Scrooge became obsessed with work and money that eventually drove Belle, his fiancà ©e to leave him. Apparently, business is the only avenue where Scrooge could excel and, perhaps, in his opinion, be appreciated, that is why he became a workaholic. The visit from the three ghosts has given Scrooge a new perspective. Presently, he was his old self – greedy, selfish, bitter and miserly with a particular disgust against Christmas. The ghosts have also shown how his nephew and his poor family, who merely lives on his pittance, were currently happy despite the fact that there was a lame son. When his future was shown to him along with the suggestion that he is being given an opportunity to change, Scrooge finally came around. There was the realization that upon his death, many people will celebrate due to the consequences of his actions. The past experiences seemed to be the major reason why Scrooge could not find it on his own to see how his character has degenerated almost beyond redemption. One of the distinct characteristics that mark Scrooge is his tendency to stifle his past. There seems to be a lot of pain in it for him, not only in what he