Cultural Studies

Max Browning
April 10, 2015
Observation 6

Last fall during the Ebola scare that swept across the nation, I kept up decently well with the media outlets and how they were in regards to everything.  Media outlets were keeping everyone informed about where the virus had been confirmed along with any potential cases that were popping up.  Additionally, they were working to ensure that all citizens knew the proper protection from the Ebola virus along with how it could spread and what it would do.  On the contrary, my Facebook feed was full of non-creditable sources that seemed to be only spreading fear to everyone.  My friends enjoyed sharing the articles about how catastrophic Ebola is in Africa and how long it would take to spread to Muncie, Indiana.

According to the Cultural Studies theory, media outlets serve as a filter through which media is disseminated.  This helps to protect the status quo.  For example, because so many news sources shared information regarding how it can spread between people, Americans were fearful of the Ebola virus and its potential to become an epidemic across the nation.  Journalists would talk about the expert opinions on the subject and all of the harm the virus could do to our country, yet they never reached out to any experts with opinions that differed from the norm.  Every expert seemed to agree that the Ebola virus was going to spread across the country and kill us all; therefore, that is what everyone seemed to believe.  It seems to me that someone, somewhere wanted the American people to think that this Ebola virus was going to be detrimental to the nation.  With how relatively little damage the virus actually did, I find it extremely difficult to believe that every single expert predicted the catastrophic nature of the virus wrong, but not only wrong, but completely opposite.