Essay Sample on Gun Control: Do We Need to Take Further Action?

Introduction

Thirty percent of American adults own guns, which explains why 40, 000 people died of gun violence in 2017 (Gramlich and Schaeffer). Many American lives lost in active shooter situations that could have been avoided. Some of the debating points include; the limits to the Second Amendment Law, which allows every American the right to bear firearms, the need for background checks on firearm holders and gun control on automatic weapons (Carmichael et al. 8). Although gun violence is notably high in America, the media has done little to unite Americans concerning the actions that should be taken to curb gun violence.

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Controversial Topic

The issue of media influence on gun control is worth research as it has raised controversy with different parties supporting varying ideologies. Democrats are calling for bans on certain individuals, while Republicans are calling for background checks without repealing the Second Amendment (Carmichael et al. 6). The media debates on the issue are not only divisive but inconsequential. It is thus important to bring out the negative impact media has on the subject.

Contrasting Views

There are several opinions on the matter of gun control in America. Unfortunately, the media chooses to lean, depending on the opinion they favor or on the special interests they serve (Carmichael and Rob 1088). One school of thought is that gun holders should be licensed and that they should have constant background checks. The need to ensure that the Second Amendment is protected is often a Republican view on the subject. While Democrats call for total bans on guns in some instances, Republicans call for lesser restrictions to allow more Americans to possess guns (Baker-Bell et al. 136).

"Media Markets and Violence"

Dholakia and Ian, in their article "Media markets and violence, "argue that the media in the United States markets diverse views that encourage violence. The article, published in 2018 by the University of Rhode Island, points to the need for media to focus on uniting the country. It is critical that there be efforts to ban highly controversial views from the media (Dholakia and Ian 1042). The article posits that the media in the United States is very polarized. Media personalities often take stands on certain issues and maintain partisan support in debates. There never seems to be a consensus on how to handle gun control.

"Data Activism as the New Frontier of Media Activism"

In her article "Data activism as the new frontier of media activism," Stephanie Milan discusses the matter of false information portrayed by some of the media outlets. The article published in 2016 by the University of Amsterdam argues that in this era of 'fake news,' it is necessary to ensure that all data presented by media is verified. Media has a reputation for exaggerating matters to make it seem that certain issues are excessive while they are not (Milan 153). It is also a media concern to cause anxiety on the citizenry instead of calling for calm in difficult situations. In this age of tech-savvy activities, the media is put on the spot over its use of news to create panic.

Conclusion

In the issue of gun violence in the country, the media has been split on the issue for decades. So far, the research has identified the problem. Therefore the next step is to find a solution to the problem. The first step is to research different countries and the role the media has played on the issue of gun control. The other step will be to conduct interviews to find out the opinion of various stakeholders on what needs to be done. These next steps will help propose remedies to the issue of gun control.

Works Cited

Baker-Bell et al. "The Stories They Tell: Mainstream Media, Pedagogies of Healing, and Critical Media Literacy." English Education, vol. 49, no.2, 2017, pp. 130-152, bagwell.kennesaw.edu/degrees-programs/specialist/docs/7_ENED_2_The_Stories_They_Tell.pdf. Accessed 13 Dec. 2019.

Carmichael et al. "Media Coverage of Mental Illness: A Comparison of Citizen Journalism versus Professional Journalism Portrayals." Journal of Mental Health, 2019, pp.1-7, https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2019.1608934. Accessed 13 Dec. 2019.

Carmichael, Victoria, and Rob Whitley. "Suicide Portrayal in the Canadian Media: Examining Newspaper Coverage of the Popular Netflix Series '13 Reasons Why'." BMC Public Health,vol. 18, no.1, 2018, pp. 1086-1091,https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-018-5987-3. Accessed 13 Dec. 2019.

Dholakia, Nikhilesh, and Ian Reyes. "Media, Markets, and Violence." Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 34, no.12, 2018, pp. 1032-1047, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nikhilesh_Dholakia/publication/325327995_Media_markets_and_violence/links/5be42be092851c6b27af5d54/Media-markets-and-violence.pdf. Accessed 13 Dec. 2019.

Gramlich, John, and Katherine Schaeffer. "Seven Facts about Guns in the U.S." Pew Research Center, 22 Oct. 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/22/facts-about-guns-in-united-states/. Accessed 13 Dec. 2019.

Jamieson, Patrick E., and Darien Perez Ryan. "Risk and Culture of Health Portrayal in a US Cross-Cultural TV Adaptation, a Pilot Study." Media and Communication, vol. 7, no.1, 2019, pp. 32-42, https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i1.1489. Accessed 13 Dec. 2019.

Milan, Stefania. "Data Activism as the New Frontier of Media Activism." Routledge, 2017, pp. 151-163, https://www.academia.edu/20044875/Data_activism_as_the_new_frontier_of_media_activism. Accessed 13 Dec. 2019.