Are we told who to dislike?
I honestly think the media is designed to manipulate us, who to admire, who to detest, who to feel sorry for, who to emulate, you don't have to look very far to see even self image, self worth is spoon fed every day, can we escape it?
Comments
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Yes we can escape it because we don't need to listen to it and we can believe what we want and ignore what we choose to ignore. The media does manipulate us into thinking a certain way, that's how the media operates. They want us to be the same, think the same ways and all they do is shower us with negative stories and negative interpretations of people. The sooner you stop listening to the media the freer you'll feel.
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Total escape is unlikely, but awareness and critical thinking help us resist manipulation and shape our own perspectives.
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I completely agree. I feel helpless every time I open a newspaper. I do not watch news. Haven't done so since before Covid. However, there is so much wrong with what is going on in the world it is, for me, overwhelming.
I remember when the photo of the young Syrian boy on the coast of Turkey - how shocked we all were -
Also for me the story of the journalist tripping up refugees -
Both of the above were in 2015 - it has taken 10 years for us to become immune to the horrors of conflict and children dying, while the increase in billionaires sit and want even more.
I try to focus on my family and loved ones and if the headline in the paper upsets me I don't read it. I agree we are being brainwashed.
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I've never been so affected by the media as I have of the last few years since covid it's getting worse for me I can't switch off let go my mental health is so bad everyday worrying something new comes out when to start admitting this is all bu design when ro accept there is no hope ps i was absolutely fine through covid didn't effect me at all
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I even think they use it to keep us fighting among ourselves as a form of distraction.
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Absolutely, it's important we take nothing at face value these days
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they love ramping up any fears they can, it keeps us under their control, very much smoke and mirrors, look at the left hand and mis their right hand emptying your pocket, I too was fine through covid.. crazy isn't it…
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I agree with mw123. Be aware of where you’re getting your information from. Our phones feed us from our algorithms so be aware and get out of our echo chambers. Learn to think critically and analyse the information. My husband’s stopped just watching and consuming so to give him time to analyse films, music, etc he now takes time to write a review to help that process.
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Great post, all very true we definitely can be miss informed and we can easily drift in to echo chambers of those who agree with us, this is why I prize freedom of speech so highly, How can we judge a source/subject, if we only hear one side?
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I definitely think a lot of attitudes and stereotypes can be exacerbated and reinforced by the media!
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I honestly believe they try to set us against each other, they know if the huge majority wake up, realise who the real problem is, they will be out on their ears.
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I do think that people are easily manipulated by the media. Look at every comments section on articles about PIP. Some people are sympathetic and they understand that disabled people need help to get by and there's people who've been sucked in, praising the DWP for the reforms.
The media are guilty of using inflammatory language as well. Words like perks and freebies. It's designed to anger ignorant people and make them think disabled people get special treatment.
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take it all with huge pinch salt
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I suggest our choices are precisely that: ours alone.
The media (including creators of BBC programmes etc) exist to make money and they do so by attracting our attention.
On that basis they'll inevitably produce TV shows and news (etc) which are emotionally affecting.
Fear and anger are the root of all emotion. Lots of people like to watch things that make them feel those ways.
If they are too much, just turn over/off. If they say anything which surprises or shocks you and you're bored, check if they're correct. If you're unsure how to, guides exist/advice is available, or ask a 12 year old. Once one knows how it rarely takes more than a minute
I don't ever worry and encourage everyone else not to, it's worse than futile because it's also bad for our health.
Good luck all
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We're told who to dislike from the minute we're born. I see so many people with exactly the same views as their parents or guardians that I genuinely find it a bit sad.
Personally I try to scrutinise everything and make my own choices, but I'm not so arrogant as to believe that I'm not being persuaded to some extent by things that I see on TV or online.
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very true, the reform guy who said mental health has become the bad back of the old days to get benefits, that sets disabled as liars and scroungers, it can be very subtle or subtle as a brick in the media..
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definitely but I fear for those who rely on the media for truth and to know what to be outraged about next…
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There was a time when I trusted the broadcast news in this country but I've taken much of the print news with a pinch of salt when as a student we had a group project over a year of pulling stories from the press and comparing them against each other and the actual facts of the case. This was in the early 1980s. What we found pretty nude echoed a national survey. The majority of the papers were off to the right of the facts of the story, there were only three papers close to the actual facts. One to just to the right, one just to the left and one almost bang on. To the left was the Morning Star. It is hardly recognised by the reast of the print media unless they want to hit on the left. Just to the right was the Guardian. The paper in the facts was the "pink un", the Financial Times. The feedback on the nationwide study noted that the Ft sticks to facts rather than opinions as their readers don't want opinions, they can make their own. They want the facts so that they can anticipate behaviours.
Broadcast media seemed less affected at that point. It seemed to come later when the first Tory Chair of the BBC was appointed. He'd been a wet who believed in an unbiassed, fair press. For me social media has beena a huge bonus in understanding or other countries but it gets tied up in arguments between people who already are staunch in their views and will argue them until the cows escape to explore the galaxy. There is not respect for each other, no ability to listen and if your argument doesn't hold up resort to the personal. Here is another bad thing which I'll say. I really noticed a difference after the Brexit vote. People who would never have made a discriminally statement now drop them with inpunity and Facebook is generally a war zone or a scam lol
I have always believed that you don't believe the first opinion, or the second etc as all of us see things and remember things differently. I don't jump into like or dislike. It really ashames me but they do seem to be copying the Torys (and LibDems) in practicing divide and conquer. Attacks on the elderly, the disabled, the asylum seekers but not the rich.
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The British press loves to build up a person before knocking them back down (into place).
Celebrities, Royal Family, politicians etc.
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great post, thanks for the information, I think we agree that personal research and hearing as many sides as possible makes freedom of speech essential.
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