Canadian VS American coverage of crime

It is easy to see that there is a huge difference in how criminal cases are shown in the media between Canada and the USA. In Canada we have law in place to the prohibit certain things from being publish in the media and there is no electronic recording( video cameras) devises to be used in the court room. This is not the same in the US as there is no laws about what can or cannot be shown to the public regarding coverage of criminal cases and have video cameras that broadcast what is happening in there courtrooms nation wide. I believe that we should not allow cameras or recording devices with in our court rooms because what happen in them do not need to be shown or replayed for everyone to watch. It is not our job or responsibility to judge a persons guilt or innocence in criminal cases. When footage form courtrooms is shown to the public it has the potential to drastically affect peoples lives in a negative way. There often is many people involved other than just the person being accused for example the victims, the families of the accused and the victims, and the witnesses  that have been called. The people affected by the crime should be allowed to go through the healing process in the way that they choose to. 

In my opinion that reports of crime cases should attempt to remains as "neutral" as possible with what they present. This allows the viewer to digest the information and formulate there on thoughts of what has taken place rather that just being told how they should think. In class we watch examples of how the Russell Williams was covered by in both the USA and Canada. The Canadian coverage tried to remain as unbiased as they could presenting the information was know in way that did not draw your conclusion in any certain direction and showed respect in the way it was presented. Where as with the coverage in the USA the conclusion was already drawn up for you and they present the information with explicate detail in a manner to believe they way they felt you should. In many ways the American coverage was slanderous of Russell Williams and what he was convicted for. It was also clear that their coverage was made with more of the intent to entertain people rather than inform, it was made out to be a real life horror story for everyone to watch. 
We have the right to know what is generally going on around us but we do not need to know ever detail of the crimes that take place. What is put in the media should be respectful of both the people involved in the crime but also the viewers of the media. Graphic images should such as, Russell Williams wearing woman undergarments,  not be displayed and explicit details should be used with discretion. 

How media effects us

In our everyday lives we are constantly consuming media in many different form form TV shows, to new article, bulid bords, art, and social media sites are just the beginning of examples. Media is created with the intent to make us feel, think, and behave a certain way. With this being said it is explect that over the long term it must affect is in at least a few ways, and in fact there are are many possible negative affects.

Media can cause a peron to generalize what us happening in the world and creat a fear of missing out. Media can cause fear of the world and becomeing a victim of crime. Many people believe that it crime rates are increasing in Canada and that the chance of becomeing a victim of a violent crime is high when in fact it is the exact opposite because of how things are presented in the media. As our accesses to media increases our ability to become addicted to it increases. We learn a lot of what we consider normal from what is prosented in the media, this means that all the media you cosume is violent and has negative veiws towards certain groups of people you accpent it to be the same way in society even if it is not.
You can minimize the negative affects that media has on you by becomeing a critical consumer of media. This means actively asking the who made this, why would they have made this, and why it is being shown to me in this manner. It is important to think about a realize the how the media is makeing us feel think and behave in a certain way.

Colton Harris-Moore the Barefoot Bandit

The legend and myth of the Barefoot Bandit was created by the media's framing of the Colton Harris-Moore's story of his life of crime. The media focuses on the story making it seem that Colton is a boy trying to reclaim his lost child hood in a life of crime even if it was not competently true. It is impossible to tell biased the movie and the 48 hour episode we watched in class as they never included any interview or quotes from Colton himself. The story presented to people solely assumption other people are making about Colton Harris-Moore and his intentions.
The victims of the crimes committed gained a lot of attention and publicity form the hype that they surrounds the legend of the Barefoot Bandit. By claiming to be the most recent victim of the infamous you would most likely make it on the news or in an article. This could make a store or business that no one has heard of into what everyone is talking about. It is possible to assume that people used the blown up persona of the Barefoot Bandit for profit.
The myth of the Barefoot Bandit comes of as a real life comic book of an outlaw. The thought that an eighteen year old boy could evade and make a mocker of the police for such a long period while stealing such noticeable thing such as planes, it is hard to wonder why people including me get sucked into the story with out asking many question of how or why this is being presented. It is to no surprise that there was an out pour of support of as they saw Colton as almost a modern day robin hood. A boy stripped of his childhood attempting to reclaim what he has lost by stealing form the more affluent part of society.