THE MEDIA AND CRITICAL THINKING A n o p i n i o n p i e c e b y S a r a h D e l o i s o n
For the last edition of the newsletter , I have decided to share my opinion on a topic I believe to be of critical importance : the news media ’ s influence on our perception of reality . We use the media as a primary source to obtain information about the world . News outlets keep us informed of what is happening thousands of kilometers away and act as intermediaries between governments and people . In general , the knowledge we gather on current events is dependent upon what we have read , watched or listened to in the media . News outlets therefore have a critical role in regards to shaping our perceptions of the world surrounding us . But such perceptions , internalized by the audience as depicting reality , can actually be misleading . The media , in democratic countries , embodies the principles of freedom of expression and information and have been referred to as pillars of representative democracies . But news media also bureaucratizes our understanding of reality through getting us used to certain formats , voices and interviews . Such formats can be problematic . Indeed , most news outlets today seem to be concerned with an imperative for immediacy , constant diffusion of information , live reports and are thus often framing , categorizing and over simplifying complex issues for the sake of volume , quantity and a race against the clock ( and their competitors !). Accuracy , reflection , and hindsight seem to be of secondary interest . Though there are many serious journalists exercising their profession ethically and professionally , the general trend of where the news media is going is , in my opinion , rather worrying for the following reasons .
First , we should remind ourselves that news media operate like any other businesses racing for profit . Media outlets compete to enlarge their audience and ensure they will make enough money to sustain their activity . They therefore strongly care about immediacy , dramatic headlines , human fears , and the use of click baits to attract a large audience . An article ’ s quality therefore loses in the face of competition for most likes and views . Second , we should understand that news media often use sensationalistic techniques to attract a large number of clients . If the general public is indeed sensitive and responsive to sensationalist news , it is because of the embedded culture of fear driving people ’ s way of conceiving reality . It is this perception of reality through sensationalist news that provides a platform for mass media to place fear as the dominant discourse in news reports . News outlets will therefore have an economic interest in feeding the public a feast of events that seem out of the ordinary . This means that such coverage does not realistically depict reality . It only partially does so by selecting what will be of interest to an audience fascinated with what is spectacular and shocking . Furthermore , the news media have a real impact on agenda-setting , priming and decision making at the highest level of the state . Are you aware that people ’ s reactions to military interventions can vary according to the media framing of the issue at hand ? For example , in John Side ’ s article " Mentioning Hitler makes Americans more willing to intervene in Ukraine ," in the Washington Post it was demonstrated that Americans were more willing to support a military intervention in Ukraine when Hitler was mentioned in the questions of the survey .
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