The trouble with Media...

"Is the world really in sorry state that the media projects it to be?"

This question has been nagging me for quite a while now. Because what they say so, and what I live in, are not at all alike. Either I am in a bubble, around which crime doesn't occur, or theinformation overload around us is leaning more towards the violent side. All these news about crime, fraud, theft and what not!Anyone who reads that stuff is sure to say "Boy!, where is the world heading to!", and I've heardit more than once. But it seems so weird to me, because the numbers and the media in other many countries say the world is actually getting better, and more neutral.

So I decided to go on a click fest! Link after link, page after page, until I reached a few sites withsome credibility, after wading through a sea of garbage. Here's some stuff I searched onthe net:

Crime rate over the years.

Death due to diseases.

Number of wars and conflicts.

Dictators & Hardliners.

Discrimination.

Global Warming.

And what ever else that puts some clue on the state of Humans.

And guess what I found?

You know what I found, actually most people do. Crime rates are reducing, but the media coverage over crime is increasing.Diseases are more controlled, and the chance of an epidemic is small. The chance of an epidemic going uncontrolled is minute. At least for the known ones. Number of wars have reduced (many are local conflicts), slavery is illegal and discouraged, atleast legally, and racism is despised.There are not many dictators, and the ones those are, actually do care for their country and people (or the people get all the support from outside to overthrow him).Global warming is a phenomenon, widely established as something that is real, but the extend ofits damage or usefulness is debated and not clear. There are many many more issues that are out there, and I cannot cover all of them; but from what I see, here are two kind of groups:

In some countries, the media is all the more focused on what is going wrong. What is covered iswhat makes people go "oh!" or "Wha!" or something else ending with an exclamation mark. Something that gets their adrenalin level high, or makes them concerned (usually over something that they have no clue about, or more dangerously, a little clue). In this group, there is more correlation between movies and what people try to imitate in real world. Actors are considered role models. Scientists and social contributors are nowhere in the picture. There aremany things more important than family. Either the corporate culture is predominant, or the socialist culture is. You either got to pay for what you get, or the government says what you get and what you don't.

In the others, they focus both on the good and not so good issues. What the government is doing is important, and they are there for the people. If not, they wont be there in the next term. People are more concerned about who they elect, and their agendas. Movies are for entertainment, news is what happens around. Family is what comes first. If someone does something significant, they are recognized in the society. There is a balance of corporate and socialist systems, and both are afraid of each other, fighting and competing for survival. If one side does something stupid for short term benefit, people say it is stupid, and the other side comes with a more competitive solution, and the stupid side goes down the drain, and eventually have to come back to where they were( masked in some kind of marketing campaign).

I've obviously left out the names on both the sides, and these sides are the hypothetical extremes. There are ones which are transitioning from one form to other too. I've got no idea what the end result of both will be, which is better or which is going to be better than other. But I hope what is good for the people survives in the end.