Media
coverage of just about every person and every topic of any
interest anywhere in the world has certainly increased over
the past few years. As the number of possible ways to broadcast
that media coverage continues to increase, it seems likely
that the phenomenon of exhaustive media coverage will only
intensify further. However, as the saying goes, anything
is possible, and that certainly pertains to whether or not
a society can regard any man or woman as a hero in today's
world. Despite the tendency of society in general and the
media in particular to build up a person to hero status
and then tear that person back down again, there are certainly
people that society can look up to as heroes even today.
A
few generations ago, media coverage was limited both in
the overall information available and the methods of distribution
of that information. Newspapers, radio and to a certain
extent, television were the only forms of mass media available.
Prior to the electronic age, only the written word, the
arts and word of mouth could be used to disseminate information.
Due to great distances and a much smaller population, it
was much harder to find information then than it is now.
People were able to keep a great many more things secret
from the rest of the world in the past. There was also a
tendency for people to be a little more discreet with what
they did know, rather than selling the story to some national
tabloid for money.
We
now live in what has been termed "the information age"
and that would seem to be entirely appropriate. Even if
one considers only the Internet as a source of information,
there is more information available now than the mind can
even comprehend. As information becomes more and more digitalized,
it becomes easier to access. People's entire written and
recorded history could theoretically be obtained through
one method or another (most of them likely illegal). No
one is perfect. Many people make one or two mistakes that
may involve the law when they are young. Someone intent
on "digging up some dirt" can usually find even
the most minor violations whether the person in question
was underage or not. Because no one is perfect, and the
intensity of media coverage tends to overemphasize even
small mistakes, it becomes easy to understand then why one
might be inclined to believe that there can be no more heroes
But
heroes are made and not born. The public, to a certain degree,
has learned to ignore that which is irrelevant while focusing
more on the heroic qualities of the man or woman who has
shown courage in a particular situation. One recent example
involves the hundreds of firefighters and policemen that
perished while trying to save others in the World Trade
Center attacks in New York. No one can question their bravery,
and certainly no one can deny that each and every one, no
matter what their background, is a hero. The passengers
on the airplane that rushed the hijackers and caused the
plane to crash short of its target, likely the White House
in Washington, D.C., are also each and every one a hero.
One could possibly look into each firefighter, policeman
or civilian's background and find problems in the past but
there is absolutely no denying them their hero status on
that day.
The
world today is eager to find heroes, which may explain the
tendency to prematurely promote a person to hero status
and then find out later that maybe they were not so heroic
after all. Intensive media coverage may make it harder to
remain a hero, but heroes are still around today as evidenced
by the courageous events of many on September 11, 2001.
(630
words) |
在过去的几年中，传媒所覆盖的区域大大拓展，几乎能涵盖世界上的任何角落、任何有意义的话题以及任何一个人。随着传媒方式的持续增加，铺天盖地的传媒攻势看起来亦会愈演愈烈。然而，正如俗话所说：万事皆有可能，这句话也适用于当今世界社会是否还能将任何男人或女人奉为英雄的情况。尽管大到整个社会，具体到媒体宣传，都有先把某人立为英雄继而再将其打倒在地的趋势，但是，即便在当今，仍然存在一些社会能将其尊为英雄人物的人存在。
几代人之前，媒体宣传涉及的领域就仅仅是获得信息和通过有限的几种方式将信息发送出去。报纸、广播、电视（在某种程度上）就是大众传媒的仅有形式。在进入电子时代之前，只有书写下来的文字和口头表达艺术可以用来发布信息。由于距离的遥远和人口的相对稀少，搜集信息远比现在要难得多。过去，人们能将更多的事情据为秘密，不让其他人知道。那时一种趋势就是人们对他们实际知道的事情持较为谨慎的态度，而不会将事情透露给本国的小报以谋取钱财。
我们现在所处的时代被称为"信息时代"，这个称呼恰如其分。即使一个人只把互联网当作他唯一的信息来源，那他所能获得的信息也大大超过了大脑所接受的限度。随着信息数字化的发展，人们获得信息越来越容易了。人们全部的被书写记录下来的个人历史从理论上来说能够被其他人通过这样或那样的方法获得（大多数方法可能并不合法）。没有人是十全十美的。很多人在年轻时都犯过一两个触犯法律的错误。一些喜欢"揭别人老底"的人总是能发现别人最轻微的过失，即使这个过失是发生在他未成年的时候。人无完人，金无赤金，媒体的强大攻势总是过分夸大即便是微小的错误，因此，我们便能理解为什么人们现在相信不再会有英雄人物了。
然而，英雄不是天生的而是后天形成的。人们如今在某种程度上已渐渐学会着眼于那些在特定场合下能显示勇气的男人或女人所具备的英雄气质，而忽略其他不相关的事情。那些"9·11"事件后在纽约世贸中心为抢救他人而丧生的上百名消防员和警察就是很好的例子。没有人会怀疑他们的勇气，没有人会否认他们中的每一位都是英雄，无论他的背景如何。那些在飞机上与劫机者搏斗而使劫机者偏离撞击目标（据信可能是华盛顿特区的白宫）的乘客每一位也都是英雄。如果审查这些消防员、警察或普通公民的背景，我们可能会发现他们过去有一些问题，但是在那一天他们都是真真正正的英雄，这是不容置疑的。
当今的世界急于发现英雄，这就是为什么现在有过早地将一个人奉为英雄的趋势，不久人们就发现这个人并没有什么英雄气概。铺天盖地的传媒可能会使保持英雄形象变得很难，但是英雄在当今依然是存在的，2001年9月11日许许多多的英雄壮举就是例证。
|
