My current even article can be found on: http://www.nativetimes.com/life/commentary/6204-abc-news-reflecting-on-the-obvious-ignoring-the-not-so-obvious
The name of the article is ABC News: Reflecting on the Obvious; Ignoring the Not-So Obvious, it was written by Tim Giago who has his weekly column in the Lakota News. He discusses how disappointed he was with the ABC news on the representation of the Native Americans on the Reservation. The reporters seem to still dwell upon the alcoholism and poverty; instead of the success like alcohol and suicide prevention programs available.
In his column Tim compares the problems on the Reservation to problems in DC: “There are many things wrong on Pine Ridge just as there are many things wrong in Washington, D.C., but for ever wrong, there are many people trying to make it right.”
How accurate do you think this comparison is? And what should media do differently to portray Native American Culture properly?
I don't think that this comparison is very accurate because the problems that they have in D.C. are so much different than the ones they have on reservations. Although the federal government is going through hard times, and what they do will impact most of the United States, including the Native Americans. I get that they both have problems, but I would never compare the two because their problems are so different. To portray Native American culture properly the media needs to stop focusing on all the negative of the reservations. Although there is a lot of negatives, like Allie said in class, there are some with colleges and really good private schools. Also in particular, like the one we watched in class, there needs to be a less paternalistic tone. Show them for who they are and not who we want to necessarily see them as.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kayla that the comparison between the problems in DC and the problems on Native American reservations is not very accurate. Even though they are both going through problems, they are different from each other. For example, DC is struggling with terrorists and war, yet the reserveations are struggling with poverty and alcoholism. There are a few problems that are similar though, such as unemployment and the economy. Howver, I do not think the comparisons are accurate considering the different life styles. To portray Native American culture properly, media needs to look at more of the positive aspects of the culture. In the video clips we watched in class, most of the things talked about were negative. These clips did not show the good things about the culture. Obviously there are not just negative aspects of their culture; otherwise, nobody would be part of the culture. Therefore, media portrayls should show more positive aspects to help us learn more about their culture.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with both Kayla and Laura. The comparison between the problems in DC and on the Native American reservations are inaccurate. I believe that both DC and Native American have problems, but I also believe that the Native American reservation problems are more severe, and different. They are still suffering from poverty and alcoholism, as well as other problems within the tribal community. DC is without a doubt having problems within the federal government, and these issues do need to be resolved because they impact a lot of people, but the two communities are different and shouldn't be compared. As for what media should do to correctly portray Native Americans, they should instead of focusing on either the negatives or the positives of the culture, focus on an equal balance of both. In the ABC broadcast on Native Americans, Diane Sawyer only asked the kids about things that were difficult on the reservation, but spent very little time talking about what they liked about it and what they were proud of. If they media asked questions about both topics, they would have a more accurate portrayal of the Native Americans.
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ReplyDeleteMy opinion is that everywhere in the world there are going to be some problems with wherever place it is. Just as Washington DC may have their problems, Pine Ridge reservation has their's. I agree with everyone above in that the comparison is not accurate because problems on the reservation are not like, or as severe, as those in Washington DC. Problems such as alcoholism and poverty do overtake the reservation and I personally have not heard of an extreme amount of either going on in DC. I agree with Tim Giago's statement: “There are many things wrong on Pine Ridge just as there are many things wrong in Washington, D.C., but for ever wrong, there are many people trying to make it right.” Media needs to focus more on more of the positive aspects about reservations. The Diane Sawyer clips we watched in class portray Tim's thought well because the majority of the clips focused on negative things like alcoholism, suicide, and poverty. Native Americans are more than that and need to be represented in a more positive light.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above that the comparison between the reservations and Washington D.C. are inaccurate. The problems they have are totally different. Washington has problems such as war, international relations, national security, and others. They do have some problems in similar like the economy and unemployment, but that is pretty much it. The biggest problems on reservations are unemployment, poverty, and alcoholism. They don't have problems with war and security. Washington and the reservations have their own problems. As with how the media should portray Native American culture, I also agree with the above people that they should highlight the positives and not just the negatives. I think they should talk about the negatives to show people what it's like, but it shouldn't be all they talk about. The reservations also have good things too, but the media doesn't show those things. The media makes the reservations seem really bad because people don't get to see the positives of them. They really need to change their ways.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the rest of those who have already contributed. the problems in D.C. are a completely different thing. for the Native Americans, the biggest problems portrayed by the media seem to be poverty and alcoholism. i feel that ABC's portrayal is accurate on the negatives, however i also feel their coverage of Natives is bias towards themselves, meaning they want to look better by causing the Lakotas to look worse. if ABC News were to present to their audience more of the positives of the tribe, they would be making a more accurate portrayal.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there are problems everywhere and its not nessesarily acurate to compare to place problem when they are as different as DC and the reservation. Boston has problems and so does Hong Kong but that doesn't mean they are the same. So when a reservation with alcoholism and poverty is compared to DC with the problems of the entire country on their shoulders i don't think its nesessarily accurate. I also think the media should portray reservations for their pros and not just the cons. Instead of showing alcoholism and poverty they should also show programs trying to fix it like Allie said. If the positives were shown people wouldn't see Native Americans as lesser people, just struggling people and it will give native Americans a chance to be equal which really hasn't happened yet. Once Native Americans are viewed as equal progress will come easier and their culture will begin to grow again instead of declining.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone that the comparison between the reservations and Washington D.C. are inaccurate. In these shows they should have shown the more positive side of the reservations. its understandable to show some of the bad things on the reservation, but in return even it out with good things. I believe that ABC News made the tribe look terrible. As if they all were alcoholics and un-happy. Which is not true.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else that has contributed to this, the issues that are going on in Washington D.C. and the issues on the reservations. The federal government is going through a hard time causing everyone to have issues. The problems on the reservations are nowhere near the issues in the government. The Native Americans need to be not always seen as the poor helpless drunks, the positives need to be shown because they are there and change is being made. The media is portraying the Native Americans falsely and it is not fair to them.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everyone else. I think the comparison about D.C and the reservations are totally inaccurate. The poverty and alcoholism is ten times worse on a reservation. The media portrays Native Americans as not being willing to change. There are some Native Americans that actually want to change and make their lives better for not only themselves but for their families. I think that the media needs to show both negative and positive sides because it is not fair to the ones that are actually trying to change their lives.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the comparisons are accurate but i do think they are similar in the fact that there are problems that need to be addressed. The problems are obviously different in their severity. But each set of Native American lands are facing problems and that doesn't make them necessarily different in that sense. I like how Bobby said that Hong Kong may have problems that Boston may have some too but that it doesn't make them the same; it doesn't make them the same but both Boston and Hong Kong would be going through a struggle and that is what would be the similarity. I also liked how Andrea said that there are problems, and that's where I am trying to get. Everywhere in America has an issue or multiple issues. This brings me to the media. The way the media portrays the Native Americans makes them look helpless. The media portrayals make us feel bad and make it seem like the Native Americans need our help and assistance but on the ABC clips we watched, they stated they liked the way they lived because they believe the hard road is the better one to take. The whole worlds has their pros and cons and we recognize that and feel that no place is more helpless than another but that isn't the case with Native Americans. The media needs to start showing the capability of what Native Americans can do despite the situations they are in. They should start glorifying the one thing that many Americans lack; a sense of worship and honor to their culture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Laura and Sydney as well as mostly everyone else. The comparison of Native American reservations to Washington D.C.'s problems is a horrible comparison because they both have such different problems. The reservations are probably not dealing with terrorist attacks, and Washington is probably not dealing with suicides to the extent that it is very common in the society. This comparison is not realistic, but Washington and the reservations are both dealing with poverty, economic status, and the rising unemployment rate. To portray Native American culture more accurately, reporters shouldn't sugar coat Indian's lives. They shouldn't focus on everything the people on the reservation don't have, because it is almost like the reporters interviewing the Natives are only "rubbing it in their face" that they don't have a lot of materialistic goods instead of focusing on positive aspects of the Native American's lives.
ReplyDeleteI think the news portays them fairly accuratly.the sad reality is that poeple dont suupport other people unless they either have to or are guilted in to feeling they have some obligation. If you sdont see someone on the news suffering then you arent going to send money to assist. if you see someone who is doing fine for themselves and slowly building themselves back up you arent going to send money. who wants to help someone who is helping themselves. most american's dont. We help people who are doing worse than us. Showing the alcholic rate of the people on the news makes us feel we need to help. showing the rate of people graduating makes us want to help. showingt he minority that is perserviring we probably wont help, because theyre helping themselves. the news may not show everyone's reality. but it shows the reality that people chose to pay attention to.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sydney and think that this comparison is not reasonable. Maybe they are similar because they both have many problems, but the Native Americans have problems because of the US Government. Media should portray Native American culture by showing their culture and how unique it is, and then showing some things that the lack and need, instead of only focusing on the negative aspects. If Media could get viewers to become interested in Native American culture instead of people looking down on Native Americans, they could get people to help them.
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