Media Power and the Dangers of Mass Information

In this era, media no longer becomes a strange thing. It overwhelmingly influences not only us, as human being, but also the world's development in all aspects. Let me focus on one example which is television. Television is an utterly influential media that alters and distorts our perceptions of reality, and due to that, it results in enormous consequences.

When distant events that happen in another country, such as human disasters and Football World Cup, are showed on the television, it can influence our feelings. The delivery of real-time experiences in a sensational manner makes us share the daily both triumphs and tragedies of human race. Consequently, it results in a new kind of knowledge. Therefore, television alters our perspectives about world.

Second, television influences the process of thinking and deciding. The  progression which happens when we are reading and watching is obviously different. When we are reading, it is begun from words to reason, to conviction, and to action. On the other hand, it is begun from image to impression, to emotional reactions, and to action, when we are watching.

Television sometimes needs to distort knowledge since it always focuses on visual things, becomes the third point. Oftentimes, the things are photographed and then provoke people's emotions, and are dramatized at last. Salient things are frequently neglected though, as it doesn't come with pictures.

The fourth, television expands our knowledge. News shows, headlines, and dialogs or talks are programs that overwhelm our brain's capacity. Nevertheless, they create problems since everything is chopped into tiny pieces of informations until it is difficult to digest, analyze, and judge.

Those points cause enormous consequences for publicity. As we all know, television--as mass media--produces instant mass emotions, instant mass opinions, and mass pressures. Those 3 things force policymakers to act without prior thought and against their best judgements. Mass media have the power of not only magnifying as well as reporting conflicts of power, supporting, and harassing, but also explaining. These powers make it become both the collaborators and adversaries of government.

As we know, mass media greatly mold public opinion in orded to serve their needs. False issues and facts are often created due to that. They don't base on reality and displace truth, only to get the greatest media impact and public favor.

What we can do about this is by coming up a new kind of journalism that is "Preventive Journalism". It should try to identify the underlying causes of crisis before happening, rather than after happening. It is not enough to provide the videos-for examples-of war only, the underlying causes of it have to be provided either. This would require a different mindset and new techniques. It would mean looking deeply into societal trends on a sustained, long-term basis, so that public can know the process that might lead into a crisis.

Summarized by ETS from Michael J. O'Neill's essay