The Devil Within The Media

While listening to Monica Lewinsky’s Ted Talk, I couldn’t help but think, she chose to work for the President of the United States. She should’ve known that there’s a chance she would be on TV. She chose to be in the public eye. So, I feel like she should’ve expected the coverage she received on TV, in the newspapers, and online. I know this opinion is controversial, and I am not saying without heart. I have been harassed and bullied online for years. Of course, I was not involved with the President of the United States, but instead, was a young 13 year old girl who decided to post a selfie on instagram. I don’t really talk about being bullied in middle school, not because I’m still hurt over the matter, other than the occasional nightmares where I wake up in a pool of my own sweat, but I felt it necessary to explain that I have shared those feelings Monica Lewinsky highlighted in her Ted Talk. However, I was looking at her situation through the eyes of how I know the media and politics to be today, cruel, ruthless, and stopping at nothing to tear a person down. I still believe no one deserves that kind of treatment where relentless insults are hurled at a person, where rumors are spread to discredit their attempts at a defense, where the end goal is their silence. In Monica Lewinsky’s case, she was one of the firsts to be this media’s target and it’s impressive and commendable that she's still standing, or should I say speaking (up). 

I also wanted to point out, about the public shaming culture, recently, around this year, there has been this small social revolution of boycotting gossip magazines and websites. They are now getting way less traction than they were in the early 2000’s and are viewed in far less favorable light. So, the change that Lewinsky was asking for is already happening, or starting to.