Taking a Close Look at the Work of Richard Grusin Essay

ï ¿ ¼Sensationalization, Media Affective Emotion ï ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼Ã¯ ¿ ¼ In this paper I take a close look at the work of Richard Grusin on premediation and remediation, alongside Brian Massiumi’s idea of the half-life of disaster, to argue how mediation affects current events - specifically through the story of the recent loss of Malaysian Airlines flight 370. Media has played a large part in shaping American history, since its early days in the colonies through today. Media has been used as a tool to influence public perception and opinion. Whether a British vs. an American perspective during the revolution, a distortion by yellow journalism of the 1800s, or in more recent times, and the polarized political ideologies between the republican and democratic†¦show more content†¦This trend of premediation or reporting on an event that has yet to actually take place is an idea that seems to be here to stay. Premediation is the fears of George Orwell’s novel 1985 in living color. It is today’s equivalent of having the police inside a person’s head; media can control the public’s thinking. (Grusin 4). In today’s fast paced... give it to me now society, few people take the time to really dig deeper into issues that are reported on in the news. Instead they take the reports at face value. Many of these stories have a much larger back story that is never told. Media outlets report stories from their perspective and focus on what is most important in their opinion, not necessarily what is the most important underling issue at hand. They use their often political biases, along with data mining, to give their viewers of what they want to see to gain the highest ratings possible (Grusin 4). Ratings can at times be the larger motivator of what gets reported rather than what the most dire of situations. Grusin goes so far as saying that politics, media networks and their sovereignty are now all so intertwined that they are almost inseparable (4). It is not just the media deciding what viewers get to see but also the government behind the scenes dictating limitations as well. Through this, he is arguing that governing people is achieved through the media because of