Fire Fighting Profession And It Is Portrayal In The Media Essay Example for Free

Fire Fighting Profession And It Is Portrayal In The Media Essay The occupation of the fire fighters is one of the dangerous profession and the toughest in the American history. It can not be disputed what these patriotic citizen have done to the country during the times of need and their efforts have to be recognized. However some of the media stations have come out to refute their roles and instead they give the negative side of their work. This paper tries to bring out the role played by the media in portraying them in the negative light and at the same time the paper will show how the media has managed to portray them as heroes during the World Trade Center episode. Most of the media stations have highly given the image of the fire fighters in the negative way other than in the positive manner (Griffith 2007). The firefighters have been depicted as greed workers who are only interested in spending tax payer’s money carelessly, which is not true. This has been pointed out by several politicians who are in Left Wing Conservatives through the media in the radio talks. Usually the aim of these politicians is to oppose the government. The media has gone as far as bringing about sexual discrimination while referring to the firefighters, actually there was no female name which appeared on the wall of honors although we know that even women firefighters also died during the World Trade Center episode moreover, they have been demonstrated as not being time conscious in that much destructions has been done in their presence at the fire sites. In reality, if the case is analyzed critically, these negative claims that have been made towards the media sounds to be full of irony. According to Baigent et al, (2003), firefighters consider their jobs as a vocational profession towards the need of the citizens. One remains to wonder why the firefighters are being referred as being greedy and that they waste most of the tax payer’s money while most of the fire fighters are not funded by the government of the United States of America. Most of them are being proud of their profession regardless of the dangers exposed to them. Very few people would decide to venture in such a wanting profession which is posed with catastrophic adventures, but for them they have decided to save the citizens at their own expense. They have come out strongly to portray themselves to the public as service men who have courage and who are ready to face challenges so as to save the nation at large. At the same time they can be regarded as patriotic citizens to the United States of America. Most of the people in the public have come out to face the realities about the firefighters regardless of the negative portrayal by the media. People agree that the firefighters need to be paid a lot of money for their services since it is one of the risk occupations they venture into. (Baigent and Hill, 2003) After the tragic 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, the firefighters were regarded as Heroes of the Nation. Although heroes are not born but made through profession, it can be said that at this time they were made through their endeavor sacrifices because they really risked their lives to save people. It is estimated that thousands of firefighters responded to this episode of the World Trade Center and at the same time many perished while trying to save the lives of their fellow brothers and sisters who needed their services at that moment. During this time many firefighters arrived at the scene but unfortunately most of them died while trying to save the lives and salvage properties worth billions of money. According to Griffiths (2007), 353 firefighters of those who responded to the attacks died and many succumbed to serious injuries but those who survived continued to with their work. At the same time these servicemen had to come from the furthest distance of the city to save the nation. For thousands of horrified workers who fled the terrorist attacks, the most remarkable sight during that time was the wave of the determined firefighters who were advancing towards the burning sky. After the terror day in New York in the United States of America, all of the fire fighters were therefore hauled and applauded as the true heroes of the nation by both the media and the public at large. They were treated with a lot of respect all over the country. In response to their heroic deeds, the media started to portray them as heroes by using different ways for example by filming them as heroes, portraying them in television talks as heroes and at the same time the media industries started to award them to motivate them to increase their input in the society. All in all, the firefighters are heroes who work because they love their risky profession without asking for any extra compensation and they need to be given respect. References: Baigent, D. , and Hill, R. 2003. Sunrise: Training Firefighters today as emergency Service workers for tomorrow. Cambridge: Anglia Polytechnic University. Griffiths, L, John, 2007. Fire Department of New York-An Operational Reference. New York.