The Media and You

However, in modern times, the media dominates many peoples' opinions with views that are often, to be honest, distorted or perverted. Now obviously it is not fair to say this is always the case, or that every media branch and firm distorts, perverts, and overall makes bias its communication, but for the most part, many modern media firms do. I wrote in another one of my works about how the media can control and very well influence peoples' votes by what is currently happening as far as 2008 election updates: only covering Obama and Clinton.

Only two of the many candidates running for president are really being constantly discussed and the public is constantly being reminded from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed that Obama and Clinton are running for president. Little to nothing is ever discussed of other candidates. What am I saying other than the national media firms are seemingly making and breaking who does and does not become president you ask? I'm saying the media controls the citizens of the United States opinions on virtually everything and anything. The sheep mentality of the average citizen is dangerous and even not so average citizen that keeps an eye out and notices such things can still be easily confused into seeing everything the way the media agenda wants the people to.

There are people so fragile minded that they can't think for themselves, they turn to the media for their opinions and refuse to accept anything different or new, I have met individuals who will start angry heated arguments over the most meager of things to defend every word they heard on a news program or read in a newspaper as fact. There are too many weak minded individuals who are essentially brainwashed into accepting, believing, and following every action, thought, opinion that the media wants them to. The majority of media firms in the United States share similar opinions, and when one can't escape being surrounded by the same opinions in practically every newspaper, news show, or other source of media they can't help but think or believe said opinions as fact. I'd really like to see some new opinions and some varying opinions for once, what happened to individuality? History is being shaped by corporations that own multiple media firms that are, dare I say, controlling the minds of a very large percentage of America, both young and old.

So I ask you, is it really freedom of press when there's essentially only one point of view in the press? Now you may argue, well there are secondary newspapers and websites and TV programs, well yes, there are, but not even remotely enough to really influence a good amount of people into starting to think outside of the box. I just think its sad… if not scary that people are doing what they are told and thinking what they are told to think. When are the average Joe's personal feelings on things ever going to be really taken seriously? I mean think back to school, you wrote essays and papers that needed citations… citations are quotes from media sources … magazines, newspapers, books.

Other peoples' opinions as some sort of façade “proof” that your opinion and statements were valid. I ask why wouldn't they be valid on their own? I can remember having opinions in political discussions that weren't considered valid because I had no newspaper article to agree with my thoughts. This issue is one of the major reasons why I no longer watch television.

I haven't watched television (unless to be polite while company at another's home) in at least four years. As far as I'm concerned, my TV is for my videogame systems, my DVDs, and my VHS tapes. When this whole issue truly hit me (it was always on my mind but never really too big an issue until the following) it was during an episode of The Simpsons of all things, an episode entitled “The Bart-Mangled Banner” that essentially, was (if you ask me, despite previous very loose, and I do stress very loose and light humored, political comments and references) the first real political episode of The Simpsons.

In the episode The Simpsons get arrested due to a mix up in which Bart unintentionally moons (exposes his buttocks) to the American flag to which the character Martin snaps a photograph that makes it look like it was intentional and creates a story behind it distorting the truth. The Simpsons before getting arrested were on national TV where the media was distorting the truth to make it look like The Simpsons hated America, in a way making the viewer almost assume that the general perspective of American media (and it isn't if you ask me) is pro-America, forget that in actuality, the episode is anti-American pride.

If you ask me, the episode was just an attempt by an individual brainwashed by other media sources to ostracize and mock Fox for being one of the few, if not only, conservative media firms… the majority of media firms being liberal. That episode now brings to mind a political cartoon I viewed once that sums up my feelings on that issue. The cartoon was a donkey (representing of course democrats or liberals) in bed with multiple women of ill-repute, the women all labeled with more liberal media firms, i.e.: CNN, ABC, CBS, etc turning to call the one woman labeled fox with an elephant in an adjacent bed a slut.

What it comes down to is political mud slinging. If you ask me it's immature, insane, and disturbing. Media firms using political opinions to mold people who suffer from the sheep mentality and making them essentially soldiers in their battle to tell you the viewer what to think, what to say, how to say it, and even what you should drink and eat. These people as mentioned before are so dead set and dependant on being told how to think in live that they will fling mud so to speak at anyone different. So I say again and leave you with these two questions: is the media really practicing free speech and more importantly when is the average Joe's personal feelings on things ever going to be really taken seriously?