10 Ways The Media Manipulate Our Opinions Every Day

10 Ways the Media Manipulate Our Opinions Every Day
Almost 30 years ago Noam Chomsky for the first time wrote about the
manipulation strategies used by the media. A lot of time has passed since then but
almost nothing has changed. Today, we have the Internet, Twitter, Facebook and
many other media sources that influence us. Unfortunately, that influence isn’t
always positive and the information shared is often far from being true. In total
there are 10 main ways the media manipulate our opinions every day. Counting
down from number 10:
10.Creating a Diversion
Creating a diversion is a media`s favorite strategy. You can’t notice the important
stuff among an overwhelmingly vast sea of smaller, less significant stories. The
idea of this strategy is to keep your mind busy with petty things and leave no space
for contemplation of real social problems. The Internet only exacerbates this
problem: we constantly switch our attention to funny pictures and jokes.
9. Exaggerating a Problem
Sometimes an imaginary or exaggerated problem causes incredibly serious
reactions from society. And that’s exactly what the media wants: attention and
discussion.
8. Putting Out Information Gradually
In order to shape certain opinion, you can publish materials on the topic bit by bit.
The strategy is used to form an image of a person or a product, or an event. As for
example, only certain food brands are mentioned in media sources from different
countries. New socio-economic conditions, for example, can cause riots If you just
hit the public with them all at once. But when you introduce them gradually, they
seem much less disastrous.
7. Postponing Big Decisions
To convince people to make hard or unpopular decisions, the media can present
them as "painful, but absolutely necessary". But then they tell people that these
decisions need to be made tomorrow, not today. Future sacrifices are easier than
ones you need to make in the moment.
6. Being Overly Kind
Some advertisements use language, arguments, symbols, and intonations that
would be better fit for speaking with children. Such communication make people
less critical. Brands use the imperative form and they target your core feelings and
impulses. They’ll play your favorite childhood tune, make a plain joke and smile at
you like your grandma does. They keep you from considering what the product is
actually made up or potential use of it for you.
5. Playing Up More Feelings, Less Thinking
News and emotions always hand-in-hand and there`s nothing good about it.
Hyped-up emotions don’t let you perceive facts critically and objectively because
they block the rational part of your mind. This often leads to a distortion of a
reality which leads to a well-known information warfare.
4. Keeping People Uninformed
The media and the government can manipulate any society if that society doesn’t
understand the techniques being used on them, and this happens due to a lack of
education. Chomsky concluded that access to information was very different for
the elite versus the average Joe. However times have changed and the digital era
gives us a chance to find any information we need. So the level of education can be
a factor here, can`t it?
3. Promoting Mediocre Products
The media is totally content in showing people that it’s cool to be stupid, vulgar,
and rude. This is why we have so many TV shows, sitcoms, movies with sequels
and prequels, tabloids, and so on.
2. Making People Feel Guilty
The point of this strategy is to make people blame themselves for local and global
problems. People blame themselves for wars started by governments, not
themselves. The only way to fight this is to stay objective even when you’re
exposed to something that makes you feel emotional and guilty.
1. Knowing More About People Than They Do About Themselves
The media tries to know everything about everyone but they often cross the line.
For example, in 2005, the British tabloid “News of the World” was caught
wiretapping celebrities, politicians, and even members of the royal family. The
information that was received in this unethical way was used to write exclusive
articles that gained a lot of readers. It`s not only technology that helps the media
spy on and manipulate people. Sciences like biology, neurobiology and applied
psychology help media experts get an understanding of the human mind deep
enough to control them.

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