In this age of intensive media coverage, it is no longer possible for a society to regard any living man or woman as a hero.

The statement asserts that with the effective coverage of media, no living hero can rise again. The unspoken assumption of the writer is that every human being has his/her own foibles, and with their weak points being revealed, individuals cannot be qualified as a hero. I generally disagree with the assertion.

To begin with, with the advent of the media, whether from the scandal mongering, sensationalism, or Iconoclastic attitude, the media tried hard to make divulge personal flaws of the popular people. While audience cannot be indifferent to shocking news, the profit-directed media concentrates on tarnishing one’s reputation to attract more and more audiences. It shows no mercy for the living heroes. Consider Bill gates. He is a business magnet and also an inventor who has made available millions of jobs for the families’ breadwinners. However, media rendered such personality less than a hero; by revealing how much he violated the copyright laws and illegally copied ideas from other competing companies, American society does not know him as a hero.

However, the heroes are symbolized for the specific contributions they made for their society and their personal life does not necessarily cloud their position. Nowadays, people accept their heroes with all their foibles and shortcomings. For instance, consider Shirin Ebadi. She is the first woman who won the Peace Nobel Prize, as she is one of the bravest advocates of the polemical cases in Iran, despite the myriads of threats on her own life. Now, media divulges that she perpetrates a huge tax evasion. Also, her marital problems are now revealed by the media. Notwithstanding all divulgences, her humanistic contribution to Iranian society stands firmly in the crucible of media scrutiny, to truly qualify her as a heroine.

Furthermore, in our era, the media even helps heroes to emerge and become famous. Again the media has a financial reason to provide grounds for someone to become known as a hero. Audience cannot be indifferent to someone who made a great contribution to the humanity. For instance, think about Malala. A girl in one Pakistani villages gains a global reputation. In spite of the threats of Taliban forbidding the education of women, Malala compromised her life to educate the local women. Beholden to the media, now she has a global reputation.

In short, as discussed, the media’s attitude toward heroes is a double edged sword. Media provides grounds for heroes to be known as such. At the same time, it tries to divulge foibles and scandals to disrepute the heroes for the sake of its revenue. After all, heroes do not need to be perfect in all dimensions of their life, and it is enough for a hero to have a significant contribution to for others. Therefore, living heroes can exist.