The Media: Does The Media Realise That Most People Don't Think For Themselves?

When it comes to the mainstream media, there are a lot of people who believe that its sole purpose is to inform people about what is taking place in the world. Through having this outlook, one will be only too happy to accept just about everything they hear.

Now, if the media did exist to inform people, it wouldn’t matter if one put their critical faculties too one side. But as this is something that is not this black and white, it is going to be important for them to have their guard up, so to speak.

Energy

In order to do this, one will need to use more energy, and this is because they will have to think about what they hear. Instead of going along with something, it will be necessary for them to take a step back and to hold the information in their mind.

When this happens, one is not swallowing it whole and neither are they rejecting it; they are taking the time to look into what into it. Still, there might be no reason for one to think about something.

Repetition

What this partly comes down to is that the media rarely talks about the same thing once, and so there will be moments when they can dismiss what they hear about. The energy that they save through doing this can be used to question other things.

And while taking this approach is going to mean that one will use more effort than if they believed everything they heard, it will make their life easier in the long run. For one thing, they will be protecting their own mind.

Clarity

Through defining what they let in, it will give them the chance to have a better understanding of what is actually taking place in the world. Now, this is not to say that they will know everything or that they will always come to the right conclusion.

What it means is that they will have developed their own views, and that they are not willing to allow other people to control their view of reality. This can then make it easier for them to make better decisions in life.

Another Source

As a result of this, they are not going to view the mainstream media in the same way that most people do. In their eyes, it will be seen as just another source of information as opposed to the only source that matters.

In fact, they could see it as a source of disinformation, and the ‘alte
ative’ media could be seen as being more reliable. Even so, this doesn’t mean that they will accept everything this source comes out with.

Irrelevant

Based on past experiences, they will realise that the mainstream media can’t be trusted, but even though this is the case, it will be something that they have come to accept. Nevertheless, as they have this outlook, it will stop them from expecting things that can’t be delivered.

Thus, if they were to believe something that the media presented and this caused them to be deceived, there will be no reason for them to feel as though they have been taken advantage of. Ultimately, they will know how corrupt the media is and this will generally stop them from being caught up by it.

The Other Side

However, although there are people who have this approach, there are plenty of other people that don’t. If they want to be informed about the world, there will only be one place to go.

This is not to say that they will go along with everything they hear, but they won’t change their behaviour either. It is then going to be similar to someone who stays in a relationship with someone who abuses them.

Manipulation

An even though one could believe that there are times when they are being deceived; this is likely to be an understatement. Another way of looking at it would be to say that they are pretty much always being deceived in one way or another.

The only difference is that there are times when they can recognise this and times when they can’t. So, if one was to take a step back and to take a closer look into what they are exposed to, they might soon see that they are being taken advantage of on a daily basis.

Effort

Still, as this is something that will require more energy that they normally use, it is unlikely to occur. Instead, one is likely to carry on down the same path, and it will be business as usual for the mainstream media.

This then sets them up to be the perfect consumers as far as the media is conce
ed, and this is because they don’t question anything. This then allows them to carry on with what they are doing and to fulfil their agenda.

Thinking

It won’t matter if what they are staying doesn’t sound very accurate or falls short when it comes to the facts, for instance, and this will make it a lot easier for them. If, on the other hand, more people questioned what they heard or read about, their job would be a lot harder.

It could be said that the reason why the mainstream media has so much influence is because people generally don’t think for themselves. At times, it will be enough for them use information to puts people into a state of fear, and after this has taken place, it won’t matter what they come out with.

Conclusion

As there are so many ways to be informed about the world, there is no reason why one should blindly follow the mainstream media. It has been sad that a lot of news publishers are losing money, and one way they have tried to counter this is to try and drew people in online through using content that is sensationalistic and/or provocative.

As a result of this, a lot of their attention is being given to things that don’t add real value to people’s lives. This kind of content is often described as ‘clickbait’, and it relates to things such as: funny videos and celebrity gossip.

The primary reason for this is that these publishers generally make money through adverts, and the more views they get, the more money they will make. It is then clear to see why they are more conce
ed with gaining people’s attention than they are with informing them about the world they live in.