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Issue 60 "The media -- and society in general -- mistakenly expect an individual to speak for a particular group, whether or not that individual truly represents the views of the entire group."
通常情况下,媒体和社会都希望某个个人能代表一个特殊的群体,不管这个个人是否能真正地表达整个群体的意思。
Undoubtedly it is true that there is no possibility for any individual to represent the views of a particular group all the time, but one should not shut his/her eyes to the basic fact that for the most part the view of individual can be congruous with that of the entire group. Therefore, the media--and society in general—has their justifications for expecting an individual to speak for a particular group.
For one thing, the personal interests of any individuals are always associated with the overall conditions of certain group. The collective interests in some times can even determine the welfare of individuals. People at work understand this well because how much they can earn is highly related with the holistic conditions of the corporation for which they serve. This means that individuals and the entire group are certain to share in something which has a overall influence upon their common interests. Why most American people uphold their government to secure the stability of the Middle East and invade Iraq as Saddam menaced the stability. It is just because almost all America’s lives are greatly affected by the oil supply from the Middle East. Therefore, people should not be surprised that the media often chooses some individuals as the representatives of the whole groups: individuals indeed have this function of speaking for their groups in that common interests bond them together.
Not only common interests, but also common cultural traditions, conventions and living environments lead people to share many things. People grow up in certain social environments, and thus impossibly break away from the great influence of the milieu that they live in. The longer they live in this milieu, the greater that influence will be and no body can leave behind this kind of stereotype. This is why the American and the Chinese differ greatly in their opinions about human rights. For the American, there is no doubt that human rights refer to the rights of free association, free speech, the media freedom, the religion freedom and so on. However, when you ask a Chinese people of his views about human rights, very likely he/she would say that there is nothing more important than the right to survival. It is easily to understand the position of that Chinese person insofar as we give a glimpse to the long-history feudal traditions in China and the sustained emphasis on the growth of economy rather than abstract democratic rights. Obviously, cultural traditions and living environmental have a vital impact on the thoughts and behaviors of individuals. In the sense, individuals can represent the views of the entire group for they share greatly in what the group values and highlights.
Admittedly, with the ever-increasing complexity of modern society, especially with the rapid enlargement of social communication, people’s interests is being linked more or less with the world outside their group, and it is more accessible for them to contact with the otherwise cultures, values, traditions and civilizations. On this occasion, the possibility strikingly increases that sometimes individuals couldn’t represent the views of the entire group that they live in. This is why there are still some people in the U.S. who would like to show sympathy for Saddam and some people in P.R.C who are inclined to embrace the values of the western society. In this sense, it seems not to be a scientific means for the media or the society in general to expect an individual to speak for a particular group. More scientific means of course exists: a full investigation into all people can ensure the objectiveness and equity that someone desires for. However, the full investigation is not an efficient or economical method for it costs too much while in many times the positive benefit is very little. For the most part time, it is not necessary for a reporter to investigate every people for his/her views about all issues; the potential high cost of conducting full investigations indicates to them that the resources spent in these investigations should be better allocated elsewhere.
To sum up, though it is not necessarily a scientific and objective method by expect individuals to speak for the whole group, in most times this means is useful not only because it cost little but also it indeed can reveal the truth. (717 words) |
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