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Is that right?

Media has always played a significant role in society. It is the main source of information. We rely on the media so much that we cannot differentiate between the truth and what is being sensationalized. Current affairs, news and lifestyle are what we see in the media. All of what is being presented to us is conveyed to be true. If that is the case then one has to wonder how much of the truth is being sensationalized and to what degree can we believe the sensationalized story. It is all in one’s perception.

Documentaries are viewed to be not only informational but also tend to be controversial. In the documentary Sicko, they investigate health care in the United State mainly focusing on health insurance and the pharmaceutical industry. According to the Sicko, 50 million Americans are not ensured while the rest, who are covered often fall prey to insurance company fraud. It also mentions that out of 191 health care systems, World Health Organization ranked the United States 37. Furthermore, in the interviews conducted, it has been disclosed that volunteers who worked at the 9/11 rescue were denied government funds to care for their physical and psychological injuries which have manifested over time. This includes diseases like respiratory problems. Because they were neither able to receive nor afford medical care in the U.S, the rescue workers travelled from Miami to Cuba for them to obtain free medical care made available for the enemy combatants.

The media has a bad effect on people in general because it is highly influential. Decisions that you make are based on what you have seen. People have become like sheep in a sense that they go to the direction that they are lead.

What Sicko is basically saying is that with all the insurance companies that are there, most of them are selling you as a customer a dream. There are people included in the documentary that have testimonies on their experience with claiming from their insurance companies. They hide their terms and conditions so well that they do not even mention them. The truth and facts were presented in the documentary which is what the media is about, presenting facts.

Amongst everything else, media acts as a ‘watch dog’ to abuse of power. If they can report on current affairs why can they not report on what is really happening around you and what you don’t have full knowledge of? Expose people to a certain point. It is about informing, entertaining, educating and advertising. In this case advertising was the main source of people being victims of insurance fraud. Advertising is a way to get people to know what you are selling and what it is about.

Information on what is really happening with the health care system is revealed in this documentary. You should not believe everything in the media. In this case Sicko was is reporting on what is happening under everyone’s noses.