Censored Chapters 7,8,9,10

Chapter 7
The conflict surrounding the Gaza Strip is something that I hear about on the news almost weekly, however the sound bytes I hear are always quick and skim the surface. I am still waiting for someone to do an in depth series that will help Americans, like myself, get a greater grasp on the history of this conflict. However I now know that there is little use in hoping to catch a non partisan special on this conflict. I also found it extremely surprising that the issue of the healthcare crisis wasn’t covered by more American new outlets.

My question: what terrible acts will it take to get people to reexamine this conflict and the underlying issues in today’s media climate?

Chapter 8
This chapter was especially interesting to me a young woman. I remember when the commercials for Gardasil started airing and I remember sitting down with my mom telling her that she needed to get my little sister and myself vaccinated. After waiting for our insurance policy to begin coverage on this drug both of us received the three part series of vaccinations. While I don’t regret getting the vaccination I have realized that there is so much to be learned about HPV that the commercials were not only misleading, but in some aspects irresponsible. The drug company pushing this product (Merck) was more concerned about scaring the public into acting than it was about truly educating them about HPV. For a disease that affects one in four women my age, education is the first step.

My question: if the drug company’s can create their own educational campaigns to coincide with the launch of their products, what can the public do to cut through the BS and get the real truth?

Chapter 9
I was confused by the GM radio deal talked about in this chapter. I know that it was challenged by Ralph Nader, but doesn’t that type of relationship violate a number of laws? I know we talked about this type of gray area bribery/kickbacks in earlier chapters of Media and Society, and didn’t we label these types of behavior illegal? However the most stomach turning part of this chapter was the section talking about the Lowell Sun’s birthday celebration paper dedicated almost entirely to Rep. Marty Meehan. Meehan managed to turn a newspaper into a full on PR dream spread without much of a fuss from the public.

My question: with all the PR and stealth advertising is there anyway to tell what is actually “real news” anymore?

Chapter 10
I drew a lot of connections between this chapter and my project censored story. It felt almost shameful that we allow executive orders like the ones talked about in story#5 to pass with little to no media coverage while people in other countries are loosing their freedom and even their lives to publish and read articles exposing injustices like those. I also feel embarrassed that so few Americans know anything about these executive orders or about the Terrorism/Patriot Act.

My question: When did America stop leading the way in freedom of the presses?