Mass media and mass hysteria on Enrique Iglesias

by iVoice Staff
30-Dec-2015

Yesterday we wrote about what some young people thought about the chaos that erupted after the Enrique Iglesias’s ‘Sex and Love’ concert in Sri Lanka.

One disturbing incident was the public shaming of a young woman who got on the stage and was hugged and kissed by the internationally renowned pop star. Her personal information was acquired and shared widely on gossip websites and Facebook as well.

Disparaging women who behave in ways that are apparently against some persons’ interpretation of “culture” is sadly quite common. And often, it is on social media that hateful, damaging comments filled with venom are made and shared.

Which raises the question: are social media platforms facilitating or encouraging intolerance and parochial views?

Where it starts

One of the young people we spoke to had an interesting view. Anjana Dharmasiri is a web developer and feels that the cries of foul being sounded on the Internet are nothing short of bigoted. However, he says, social media – as well as the mainstream media – must take part of the blame.

Anjana sees social media as the root of the problem. At the time the Bryan Adams concert was held in Colombo in 2004, social media was not in wide use. The kiss at that concert was spoken about and soon forgotten. There were no smartphones with cameras to capture it and no Facebook to share the videos and images. Internet access was also limited so obtaining details about the girl concerned would have been harder too.

“I think that social media is making people more defensive and behave in erratic ways. I posted a lot of stuff regarding this issue some time back. Best example was during the Seya murder. Social media and gossip websites had a field day on guessing who the killer was. When a new rumour pops up, people get convinced that it is the truth and they have already hanged that particular guy in the comments”, explains Anjana.

Mainstream media should follow ethical guidelines

Since social media is distributed and regulating it is very difficult, he believes the mainstream media should be more responsible. Providing a solution he says it would be ideal if the mainstream media followed the existing code of ethics when reporting (such a code has adopted by the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka and been endorsed by most newspapers). http://www.pccsl.lk/sites/default/files/Code-English.pdf

“The solution has to come from the journalism sphere itself I think. I think mainstream media and professional journalists should get together and come up with a set of ethical boundaries to filter what sort of news they will be reporting. It will be hard because the juicier and scandalous the reported news is, the more people read/watch them. But having self-imposed restrictions should be the way to go and it should come from within the community itself — not from the outside”.

(This article was originally published in www.kiyanna.lk. That site is now changed to www.ivoice.lk owned by SDJF and supported by UNFPA)

Featured image source: http://mashable.com/2015/01/13/social-media-dangerous-brands/#wkNTFwdvXmq5

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2017

1 votes
இளம் வயதுக் குழந்தைகளும் இலங்கைத் தாய்மார்களும்...
The problem
இவ்வாறு குழந்தைகளைக் கொள்ளும் மனிதர்கள் அல்லாது மனித உருவில் உள்ள மிருகங்களுக்கு அரசாங்கத்தின் தலைமையில் பொலிஸ்மூலமாக கடுமையான தண்டனைகளை வழங்குதல். மேலும் குழந்தைகளை எப்படி வளர்ப்பது அவர்களை எப்படிப் பாதுகாப்பது என்பது தொடர்பிலான செயலமர்வுகளை நடாத்துதல்.
The solution
இவ்வாறு குழந்தைகளைக் கொள்ளும் மனிதர்கள் அல்லாது மனித உருவில் உள்ள மிருகங்களுக்கு அரசாங்கத்தின் தலைமையில் பொலிஸ்மூலமாக கடுமையான தண்டனைகளை வழங்குதல். மேலும் குழந்தைகளை எப்படி வளர்ப்பது அவர்களை எப்படிப் பாதுகாப்பது என்பது தொடர்பிலான செயலமர்வுகளை நடாத்துதல்.
Budget

100000

by mohamed faslan
2 votes
கிளிநொச்சியில் விலங்கு பண்ணை ஒன்று சீரற்றமுறையில் பராமரித்து வருகின்றனர்.
The problem
விலங்கு வளர்க்கறார்கள் ஆனால் சுற்றியுள்ள கிராமமே எதிர்க்கின்றது...... இவ்வாறான முறையில் விலங்குகளை வளர்ப்பவர்களுக்கு எதிராக உரிய நடவடிக்கைகளைஎடுத்தல் அத்துடன் இவ்வாறு உரிய முறையில் விலங்கு வளர்ப்பு மேற்கொள்ளாதவர்களை ஒரு செயலமர்வின் மூலம் வழிநடாத்துதல்.
The solution
விலங்கு வளர்க்கறார்கள் ஆனால் சுற்றியுள்ள கிராமமே எதிர்க்கின்றது...... இவ்வாறான முறையில் விலங்குகளை வளர்ப்பவர்களுக்கு எதிராக உரிய நடவடிக்கைகளைஎடுத்தல் அத்துடன் இவ்வாறு உரிய முறையில் விலங்கு வளர்ப்பு மேற்கொள்ளாதவர்களை ஒரு செயலமர்வின் மூலம் வழிநடாத்துதல்.
Budget

100000

by Fn Studios
6 votes
Prevention with Reduction
The problem
My solution is bit different, we have to encourage them to save women and children by themselves. Arranging workshops to get an idea WHAT WILL THEY DO IF THEY HAVE TO SAVE A CHILD OR A WOMAN BY SINGLE HANDED?. Motivating to rebel by their mind to stand against these crimes. Making them understand the catastrophe which we are going to face if we not start to prevent this. Implementing an internet filter will be much effective to prevent addiction to porn and also can detect who being abused in social media at least.
The solution
My solution is bit different, we have to encourage them to save women and children by themselves. Arranging workshops to get an idea WHAT WILL THEY DO IF THEY HAVE TO SAVE A CHILD OR A WOMAN BY SINGLE HANDED?. Motivating to rebel by their mind to stand against these crimes. Making them understand the catastrophe which we are going to face if we not start to prevent this. Implementing an internet filter will be much effective to prevent addiction to porn and also can detect who being abused in social media at least.
Budget

75000

by farhan_fzl
52 votes
Improving Financial Literacy of Sri Lankan citizen.
The problem
Conduct educational workshops in schools about the benefits and opportunities of investing in stock market, why people should not only save in traditional saving account and move to more hybrid accounts. Get the help of financial institutes in setting up seminars in rural areas to educate the young generation who are about to get into the society and the adult population on finance. Financial literacy is crucial to help ensure people save enough to provide adequate income. Lets start teaching financial literacy cause it matters and it can have a huge impact on the economy as whole. To initiate the project, have the first seminar in one leading Colombo school to advance level students. (Colombo Royal)
The solution
Conduct educational workshops in schools about the benefits and opportunities of investing in stock market, why people should not only save in traditional saving account and move to more hybrid accounts. Get the help of financial institutes in setting up seminars in rural areas to educate the young generation who are about to get into the society and the adult population on finance. Financial literacy is crucial to help ensure people save enough to provide adequate income. Lets start teaching financial literacy cause it matters and it can have a huge impact on the economy as whole. To initiate the project, have the first seminar in one leading Colombo school to advance level students. (Colombo Royal)
Budget

100000

by NadunRodrigo