Are the media a source of information or do they manipulate people?
"A minor change to the words of Ms Blum was explained through a description of the reporter as a person who is always focused on and used to ' helping simple people formulate their statements'". (H. Böll, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum)
Nina Karlström - 27.09.2019 @ 16:10
Hello, this an English translation of an article written by Katarzyna Bebak in German
Julia Pawlak - 17.11.2019 @ 17:48
Necessary, but distorted
by Katarzyna Bebak, VIII LO Kraków/ Polen
The Internet, television, press and literature are the constant companions of a modern man. That is why one can not imagine living without the TV shows, press articles or surfing the Internet. What qualities do media provide?
They are a good sources of information, without doubt. Never before was it possible to get informed so quickly about current events happening around the globe. Never before was it possible to gather that much information in such a short amount of time. An overwhelming majority of people have a quick and easy access to the media. What is also significant, is that we have so many different sources of information within arm’s reach. It allows us to verify previously found information, to get a full picture of a certain problem and to see things from a different angle. It also allows us to hide and distort certain facts.
Media does have its disadvantages as well. It is often referred to as ’’the fourth estate”. The mass media disseminate the information according to the government's policy and thereby shape the public opinion. So even in this case the news are biased. This way, a person becomes a victim of manipulation and the media becomes a great tool for political struggle between different political parties. The information disseminated by the media that is distorted with a specific goal in mind, often ruins careers, the good name or even lives of many respectable people.
As an example, I can mention a book written by Heinrich Böll called ‘’The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum”, where author portrays the way violence is created and what it can lead to. Publication of offensive articles and photographs results in a murder committed by Katharina Blum. The murder is her way of bringing to justice the reporter who wanted to earn a large sum of money by creating a sensational story. It is much more difficult to defeat a certain person or a certain group of people. Unfortunately, the media often becomes a battleground for groups competing in various areas of life.
Ever since the Internet has become easily available, its users have been taking part in this ‘’media war”. Hate posts are already becoming a part of our everyday life and quickly grow larger. On the web people get more confident in posting what they wouldn’t otherwise be able to say someone face to face, because they will never meet that person. Offending and degrading others is their way of expressing anger and resentment. That is how an aggression in the society is becoming more and more prevalent.
In conclusion, it can be said that the modern media is an essential source of information. However, portraying distorted news and tendency to manipulation and hate do require radical steps from the European Union, in order to make sure that the media will preserve its informational value and people will willingly be using it in the future.
translated by Julia Pawlak
Dear Katarzyna,
we believe that your article is really thought provoking.Today's media is allowing us to share our opinion publicly as the social mediais always available for us. Let alone the power it has. Not many people rethink what they have posted online do not realize what their actions may caused.
Moreover, this problem does not only exist on social media but also in our real lives. Impudence, disrespect and just a general lack of politeness are things that everyone has to face in their everyday life. Our modern society requires a lot more understanding for the individual's feelings and therefore much more respect for everyones needs in life.
Still though we believe that media can bring us closer togheter if we use it the right way. Our advise: USE IT WISELY!
Yours sincerley,
Zoe and Yasmin :)
Yasmin Ben Touhami - 03.12.2019 @ 16:27
Dear Katarzyna,
You brought up a lot of good perspectives in your article. It is well thought through and tackles the subject from a lot of different angles. IT brings up both the positive and the negative things with media.
It is quite interesting how some people do not understand the consequences of what they put online and how it will affect other people.
I would like to continue what Zoe and Yasmin were saying about using it wisely. I think when it comes to getting information and news, in particular, some of the responsibility lies on the person wanting the information. One has to want to get information from different sources to get an objective view of the problem, as media sites often tend to be subjective.
With best regards
Ebba Folcker, Katedralskolan
ebba folcker - 06.12.2019 @ 10:48
Hey Katarzyna (and everyone else who is reading this)!
I really like your article and what you say in it. While reading and thinking about it, a book came across my mind... Maybe someone of you guys have read the red queen series from Victoria Aveyard? Especially in the third volume, King's Cage, the impact of the media on the people is a huge theme. SPOILER ALERT! In this book Mare is caged by Maven, and very often they carve out how Maven uses the media and leads them to his advantage, for example during official appointments, without letting people know how in truth he is breaking her (or at least he tries to ;-) ). That made me think a lot, and now, with your article, my memory got extended with some new thoughts - by the way, thank you for that <3.
I think the media is great, and of course a dangerous place to be, but in the end we can’t go back to stone age, just because some people are scared of progress. And in summation i also think, that the positive effects are greater than the negative ones. Because our generation already grew up with the internet, therefore we tend to know how to handle these modern means of communication. Most important is maybe to get a second view on information… One-sided stories can be dangerously deceptive.
All in all I can only agree with you Katarzyna, and the three others who wrote a comment on this – we just need to use this advantage of the modern world wisely, to learn, and make the world a better place, instead of harming others.
With best wishes,
Marie
Marie Naschberger - 08.01.2020 @ 00:16
I agree with all, what you have written, but there is yet one aspect of media that you didn’t mention. Media share a lot of sensations for us. They contain so much, very easy to learn, informations, that our brains are flooded with unnecessary knowledge. This is big problem for us, especially in our age, because we no longer have desire to gather knowledge that we actually need.
I can tell how it works basing on my example. I spend a lot of time daily on social media and it really disturbs me in doing my chores including learning for school, because it is so much easier to just stare at the screen and see interesting but useless informations.
Overusing media leads society to being stupid as it often puts garbage in the place of actual knowledge and yet worse thing is that we are satisfied with it. Furthermore it’s way easier to rule society that acquires information mainly from media.
Regards
Maciej
Maciej Czuba - 12.01.2020 @ 18:50
Hi Julia,
The time we spend on the media nowadays is much longer in our generation than in the generation of our grandparents. The reason is that we’ve got such an easy access to the media. Basically, we carry a book, TV, the internet (together with all THE social netwerking media as well as numerous apps) in just one pocket! As a result, the media have the greater impact on us than ever before.
The Internet, the latest medium, enables us not only to search for the information, but also to deliver it in a relatively simple way. We must only sign in Facebook or Twitter and send the post. I consider that to be a valuable thing, even though it can be used to spread hate. Effects of hatred are tempered because in most social platforms the author has an option to delete the comment.
However, I can’t agree for the EU any government to correct even biased information because this is the first step to censorship. In my opinion, freedom of speech is one of the most important freedoms that we have in the western world. To my mind, the government should only intervene when someone’s personal rights are violated, or in case of any calls to violent acts.
I must also add that the newspaper described in ‘’The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum’’ was the type that has no higher standards. Tabloids look for sensation. This one particularly violated the freedom of that woman, which is unacceptable.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the media have great impact on people, especially on the young.
Szymon Pstrusiński - 12.01.2020 @ 20:27