Essay on The News Media

Individuals today rely too heavily on popular news outlets to form any real perception, of their own accord. Modern news is overly dramatic and plays up situations, sometimes to the point it can cause mass panic. Take the rioting and looting for example, that have occurred all over the world, with many of those incidents news agencies have reported their opinions rather than sticking to the facts. In turn this can cause panic to ensue and create a major divide among citizens. At times it seems as if the news media attempts to divide us and create social chaos to simply profit from it.

Another notable example is the most recent presidential election, the division the news created was abundant and appalling. They chose to report only what would generate views, often this meant to either stretch the truth to conform to the narrative or blow it out of proportion. This type of reporting does nothing to further humanity and if anything, I feel as though we have been set back. To me the news should be facts only, it is up to the reader or listener to decide what they believe. Once you start to interject your opinion on a mass scale for millions to hear they will come to believe it as fact.

That said as humans we are incredibly opinionated and do not necessarily need the news outlets to create a stir. The Johhny Depp vs Amber Heard trial is a good case of this, the news media has reported on this a good deal. However, despite the news injecting the opinion that Amber Heard is a victim in the trial, the public opinion is that johnny Depp is the victim. This in due in part by social media, I cannot scroll on TikTok without seeing something to do with the trial. This shows that social media is becoming a worldwide town hall where the people of the world can share their opinions against the news outlets.

For years now social media has been on the rise, over these years it has changed substantially. Once no more than a gimmick, a place to post family photos and share funny videos of yourself or others. Today it is still that place however, now people have realized they can influence far more than their immediate friends and family. With all the power that some of these “influencers” have over their followers it was only a matter of time before they started using it to alter opinions. Some of the influencers are well rounded and try hard to stick to facts, whilst others veer off the path giving false information.

While I believe having opinions is fantastic, I know that one must use facts until further information on a subject is known. When you give your opinion to the public, this in turn may create further divide and inevitably a conspiracy theory. So, in conclusion I do believe the news media has reported objectively on many topics, someday I hope we can go back to getting just the facts.