Perception Management and exercise of power

[Akhil_The_Great]

"Those who manage perception affect the exercise of power in society."

I think that media sources can influence a persons perception of a topic, (for example you could be pro-war or anti-war based on your upbringing and your media) Media can also better inform you or mis-inform you.


What you guys think about this? Can Rupert Murdoch effect your political decisions?

[Pious Agnost]

Those who control the media have, in my opinion, far, far too much power

[Nouvelle Vague]

Those who control the media have, in my opinion, far, far too much power

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[guerra]

Even intelligent, free thinking people get their information from the media. Newspapers, Internet, television. Most of them don't have the time to find all the unbiased news sources, so they end up watching some propaganda piece. Journalism is extinct. There is only Public Relations.

So if the incoming information is flawed, than the assumptions and logic that follows will also be flawed. So yes, the public's perception is dramatically impacted by the Media.

For example, in Canada we have a program called The Nature of Things. It's a biologist who goes around, mostly in Canada, takes footage of wildlife and narrates it. It often shows some pretty spectacular things in nature, like Planet Earth, except it's much older. Now the CBC, one of Canada's biggest channels (and the biggest publicly funded channel in the world) played a lot of this stuff, and it really shaped the psyche of Canadians. It developed this intrinsic respect for the environment, and that's why many Canadians sympathize with environmental issues, including myself.

[Bovril]

Learning alittle about how to use sources in the study of history is usefull for dealing with the media. There is no such thing as an unbiassed source, and all sources tell us all sorts of things they aren't trying to. Try to take into account the nature of the organisations and individuals that are providing you with your news. The mainstream news agenda and narrative is shaped by well off professionals (editors) working for multi-national coporations who are in the business of selling audiences to advertisers. And it shows.

[Akhil_The_Great]

each person's reality is based on their own perception, media filters the perception, (influence from advertisers, threat of lawsuits, ownership, etc)

should we expect "the truth" from media?

[Bovril]

should we expect "the truth" from media?

It's an interesting philosophical point, but I think there is a strong argument to say that there is no such thing, which would of course make demanding it absurd. I think often the demand for media objectivity is a demand that the media agree with whoever is demanding the objectivity. It's a product of the naive assumption that one's own view necessarily reflects 'reality'. Of course, reality is inaccessible directly, so one must simply try to work out how people are arriving at their views and relate one's own views to them in a way that one hopes can move things forward to whatever goals it is that one wants to achieve. Of course, part of the role of a useful media would be discussing what those goals are. I think the question "what ends should our communally shared truths serve?" is a perfectly legimate and even a necessary one. It's the sophisticated version of the shrill cry so often heard that "people need to know about this!"

[Ummon]

"Those who manage perception affect the exercise of power in society."

I think that media sources can influence a persons perception of a topic, (for example you could be pro-war or anti-war based on your upbringing and your media) Media can also better inform you or mis-inform you.


What you guys think about this? Can Rupert Murdoch effect your political decisions?

Yes by increasing the perceived significance of events media alter your day-to-day decision making sensibly.

[guerra]

But you see, an intelligent person looking at say, 4 or 5 news sources and averaging out, or using critical thinking to decide which is right, which is wrong is good and all. But this person is completely oblivious to other topics. It's not so important what side the media is on, it's about what the media chooses to show. If they don't show it, there is no way you'll find out. It's just that simple.

Terrorist attack in Sri Lanka? Oh sorry, wasn't on the news. Terrorist attack in Israel? Oh yeah, I saw it. *Insert position here*

The thing is, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict gets immense media attention. But there are lots of conflicts that get very little to no attention.

So if the media fails to report the news, we're out of luck.