Should one believe the messages they receive via the media?
Media as such has under gone considerable changes over the past twenty years both in form and participating numbers. Its life blood which is advertising has also reflected these changes and both have contributed to the growth in Public Relations/Spin Doctoring.
The distortion of messages via the media has reached an art form in many instances and you the consumer have to decide what is the real message from that which has been spins doctored. I know many people who are just sick to death of the insincerity of politicians posing in hard hats and protective clothing and yet would never have worked on a construction sight in their whole life. Or when they visit hospitals etc they are gowned as though they are going to perform the next operation and most of us would not trust them to removes a splinter. This is visual spin doctoring without changing the basic message which comes later when they open their mouths A spin doctor has told them what to wear and how to look while another speech writer has told them what to say and how to say it (No wonder that they called USA President Ronald Regan the great communicator because he had spent his life in the movie industry) You must ask yourself how believable or sincere are these pre programmed messages?
While I have identified politicians because they are the most blatant users of spin doctoring these very same tactics are employed by many companies and organisations to ensure you get the message they want you to hear not what may be the real situation. This is where true investigative journalists are worth their weight in gold and justify the regulations that enshrine the freedom of the press
However read most daily newspapers on a regular basis and you will soon identify the journalists who are pro or against a particular political party or have an agenda of their own which they wish to promote. It would appear that many journalists have given up their objectivity in exchange for a philosophy. However amongst all this miss information you will discover some journalists who still endeavour to produce news in a balanced format that usually allows you the reader to reach your own conclusions rather than those of somebody else. These journalists are well worth identifying if you want to be truly informed otherwise read the diatribe of two diametrically opposed journalists and the parts upon which they agree on are most probably true.
The vast majority of media is reliant on advertising income to survive and therefore this dictates what strategies they must follow to
gain our attention and this in itself can lead to some very unprofessional activities. However to answer the initial question there are some excellent journalists supported by dedicated and responsible editors so our challenge as consumers is to identify where these people are providing their services whether it be in Television, Radio. Internet or print and support them and as well as products and services associated with them. Why not e-mail us and share with us the name of your top journalist and in which country. We need to acknowledge them
KME
