Media and Media Bias

  

"Do we have free will, or do the mass media and our culture control us, our desires and actions, from the moment we’re born?" - Chuck Palahniuk

We live in an information age. Those who control the media hold the power of controlling the thoughts of people all around the globe. In today’s post, we’ll go through the impacts of mass media; along with the concept, effects, and how to avoid media bias

 

How does mass media shape our current world?

Mass media controls our world through ads, social media press, etc by showing the right information to the right people. Mass media influences people to buy things, form opinions and follow certain lifestyles.

 

How does it affect my life?

Like most people my age I tend to act following a pattern. I am just like other girls. We all listen to the same artists, wear the same brands, do the same things, and even share opinions.

One recent event that showed me how “basic “ I happened yesterday. I was scrolling through Pinterest and found a collage of all my top listened artists. Most of them are not even correlated, yet, a bunch of people my age from different parts of the world listen to all of them thanks to social media.

 

What is media bias?

Media bias is when journalists,  omit or exaggerate information to attract a specific public or manipulate people’s opinions. For example, leftist newspapers tend to only present information that benefits candidates from the left.

 

How does media bias affect your opinions about issues and topics?

I think I know how to form my own opinion about stuff and am totally against fanatics and today’s polarized world; However; on my search page, Twitter, Instagram, etc, there are still biased articles that show me what the media thinks I’d like to read. In this case; I always try my best to identify those who are biased and read them carefully trying not to get manipulated.

 

What are some strategies you can use to avoid falling victim to media bias?

 

-          Look for informal language and grammar errors (those are great indicators of fake news and unprofessionalism)

-          Check the source

-          Search data from different sources and writers

        The following chart shows the most famous biased information sources nowadays and their position:

Works Cited:

Brennan, Adam, et al. “Information Sources: Bias.” The Insiders Information Literacy for Okies Everywhere, 1 Oct. 2021, open.ocolearnok.org/okinfolit/chapter/information-sources-bias/.

“Top 25 Mass Media Quotes (of 136): A-Z Quotes.” A, www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/mass-media.html. Accessed 8 Aug. 2023.