The Media shaping public opinions

Mass media, whether by print, radio, television, or now online via the Internet, inevitably provides the raw information from which people form their basic insight of the world around them. Without the media, our 'reality' and knowledge of events would rarely extend beyond the countries in which we lived, or that which we experienced ourselves directly.

Think about it. For the vast majority of people, we really only 'know' what is happening around the world because one or two news organizations told us so. For the most part, we have no practical way of verifying everything which is presented to us by the media, and will often assume the information to be fact. The fact that we do not have direct access to much of the world means that it is out of reach, out of sight, and even out of mind. The thus mass media help us create a "trustworthy picture" of the world that is beyond our reach and direct experience.

However, even if the information is true, it still is only one perspective of the 'truth', which is that of the media organization presenting it. According to media hegemony, the press represents the views of the powerful elite, and is easily swayed by those who hold economic and political power. Or that the media will support those in ruling, the administrators and echo the views of these groups of people. For our local press, racial harmony and social security are their markers and rules due to our government that stresses both points. The limitation in this is that this myopic view of the world gives most people only a very limited, media-filtered picture of the 'truth', with little opportunity to consider alternative media perspectives which may also be true, and worth exploring.

Our individual judgments can be heavily influenced by the style and approach in which a story is presented. The presenters’ tone of voice, word selection, choice of questions, all can influence how their story is interpreted by the viewer, and the conclusions that the viewer may reach. Even the order in which the news stories are presented can make a large difference in how the viewer will perceive what is of great importance, and therefore what topics to which they should pay more attention to. That is why global news is often top priority, followed by local news, and then maybe about technology, sports and gossip. Consider, for example, the recent presidential campaign. Who decided which were the important topics for the voters to pay attention to in deciding who to vote for? Was it the individual voter, or the news media?

So in this light, the mass media becomes the gate-keeper, in many ways dictating what topics people learn about, think about, and talk about. It controls the flow of content that is coming into the country and exposed to its people. In this way, the media plays a major role in creating and shaping society's public opinion.

I believe when hearing a conflict between friends, one will be fair and hear both sides of the story and then cast their opinions. Thus we should also apply this same theory when consuming media. Freely hear both sides first, and then depend on the wisdom of citizens to decide for themselves what they believed, and which statements were true and which were false.
However, 'truth' is subjective to the person perceiving it. What is 'truth' to one person, is simply an 'opinion' to another. The media, it must be remembered, has a powerful influence on what an audience will perceive as the 'truth', especially when they repeat the same message enough times. When repeatedly broadcasting on a particular news, locals fully exposed to the media will have a higher chance of taking the same side of the media, as how the media portrayed the issue to be.

This can be illustrated by considering two of the largest media channels in America, CNN and FOX. CNN claims that they are "the most trusted name in news", and "your need to know network". At the same time, FOX claims that they are "fair and balanced." Both these stations and their slogans can easily be refuted by those “on the other side”. But for the public that depends on FOX for the daily dish of news, it IS the truth. Regardless of which of those two networks you might prefer, keep in mind that when they report on international news, they are both American perspectives, with an American bias. Consider for a moment how an Egyptian paper might report the same event that occurs in Iraq.

One man's truth can easily be another man's propaganda.