Gaddafi's brutal regime has finally come to an end, and Libya celebrates his death.
Statements like this have been circulating in the newspapers this week, and it is impossible to open a paper, without seeing Gaddafi's dead body staring you in the face. In fact, what I've just said is wrong, you don't even have to open the newspapers, as his blood-covered body is in clear view, on every front page.
I am in no way in support of Gadaffi's horrific regime, and never would be, but don't you think the way in which his death has been publicised is slightly wrong? It might just be me thinking this, but I have a feeling that it's not just me. I'm not talking about the way he was killed, and not even necessarily the way his death has been celebrated and televised, and in newspapers, but the way in which we simply have no choice of whether to consume this media coverage, or not. Children are now exposed to this kind of news reporting every day, and in every paper. It is simply inevitable, and a child is, whether their parents like it or not, going to stumble across a picture of his dead body, and I can't help but think, what has our world come to?
Certain factors have led me to think about this extreme media coverage, one of these being my course at University, where we have been looking at Adversiting, and how the public no longer has any choice if they are going to consume advertising anymore, it is simply there, there is no way of possibly avoiding it (unless you live on a desert iisnald, of course.) I have heard many people saying 'I don't led the media affect what I buy, I choose what I purchase and nobody influences that.' But how can this be true? These days, everything is labelled, and owned by huge corporations, and even if you don't buy a can of coke, you are probably still buying a product which is produced by coca-cola. Even walking down the street, you can't possibly walk for more than 30 seconds before you see some kind of advertisement. How can you say this does not affect you? Could you really say you haven't seen an advert on the television, and gone out and bought the product? The fact that we now have no choice really angers me, and I'm very sure it angers many of you, but the Gaddafi news reporting has really got my typing this blog with aggresson!
Reading news stories about Osama Bin Laden a few months ago was nothing out of the norm. Of course there was going to be celebration of his death, and of course there was going to be a lot of news coverage, as he organised the killing of thousands of people, and some could say he deserved to die. I read that he was shot, by American forces, and watched a documentary which re-created the event. But it was nothing compared to the news coverage I have recently consumed concerning the killing of Colonel Gaddafi.
I turned on my television a few nights ago, and ITV 1 instantly appeared because of the programme I had previously been watching on the channel. As the television came on, I froze, as I was confronted with a a gruesome image of Gaddafi's dead body. The argument I have been hearing is that people need conformation of his death, especially the citizens of Libya. Isn't there another way of confirming this? I haven't to this day seen a (trustworthy) picture of Bin Laden dead, but I have read that his DNA has been confirmed. Isn't this enough? I don't understand why the British Media feel the need to flaunt disgusting, disturbing images around like there is nothing wrong with doing so. I will say it again, and I will probably keep saying it from this day forward.. What is this world coming to? All you have to do is type in the words 'Gaddafi dead' in Google and thousands of disturbing close-up images pop up. How have we reached a stage where is becomes OK for our children to be seeing images of dead bodies on the front pages of the newspapers, that are delivered through our front doors. I'd love to know your opinion on this issue. I am totally understanding of the fact that people need to know that this horrible person is finally dead. But is this really the way to do it?
