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Manipulation in the Media
By Chloe Donovan
Don't Believe Everything you Read
For my Social Justice topic, I chose to research manipulation in today's media. This consists of biases, fake news, unreliable sources and so much more. In my research I discovered the different types of media manipulation society faces today that often go unnoticed or overlooked. My main goal through my research has been to raise awareness to this injustice and figure out how to protect my small community at Fontbonne Academy from it.
Manipulation in the Media
In today's society, people posses the technological opportunity to read or hear news anywhere, any time. One big fact that goes overlooked, however, is the reliability of the sources and the ability to distinguish a reliable source, compared to another. Another part of Manipulation in the Media deals with motives behind false news and the disrespect shown to the public by said sources.
Manipulation in the Media
Why Manipulation in the Media?
Background
The inspiration for this Social Injustice struck me when I became a senior and was facing multiple research papers in the beginning of the year. It was challenging to find reliable sources and I was confused as to why this was such a difficulty. It arose to me that in my years of high school, I was never taught media literacy nor was the issue brought to my attention. I became aware that this was because the issue goes overlooked by society because we have become accustom to fake news. I decided to research this injustice for my Social Justice topic to educate the people of my community on an injustice continually overlooked.
WHAT?
The Social Issue
- This topic dives into how important news stories become overlooked by the public because of gossip and scandals.
- How news stories can be manipulated by news media outlets as what can be considered ‘camouflaged’ propaganda:
‘information or ideas that are spread by an organized group or government to influence people’s opinions, esp. by not giving all the facts or by secretly emphasizing only one way of looking at the facts.’
- This topic is to open up a conversation about how today people are manipulated by the media to overlook serious issues and how the media influences people into certain beliefs or opinions, without giving off all the facts.
WHO?
Who?
- The people involved in this issue are the people working in the media and the public. - The power holders and the people behind this injustice are the people of the media itself.
- The people who depend on the media to learn about the world around them are those left vulnerable.
The Story of Shirley Sherrod
- Shirley Sherrod was the Georgia State Director of Rural Development for the United States Department of Agriculture under the Obama administration.
- In 2010, a blogger released an edited clip of Sherrod where she stated she did not want to help white farmers save their land.
- Sherrod was forced to resign from the US Department of Agriculture.
- Later the unedited clip was released after she had been forced to resign.
-This is just one example of how the media manipulates its viewers and can ruin a persons life and reputation.
Who Have Been Harmed?
WHERE?
- I focused on media manipulation within the US nationwide and smaller cooperation's.
- I focused on nationwide news and how it is manipulative towards viewers. Also, how this injustice has become such a grave issue that is overlooked by the internet age.
- Media manipulation also mainly takes place over social media, fake news is spread through unreliable sources here and circulates to a large audience.
Where?
WHY?
Why?
- The media manipulates for many reasons.
- The economics behind their business, improper training of media workers, dishonest sources, pressuring deadlines, inaccurate information, public demand, etc
- The main reason is to gain power and to gain popularity/ a following
- Both leading to success and wealth
Catholic Social Teachings related to Manipulation in the Media
Life and Dignity of the Human Person
- The idea that humans are sacred beings and human dignity is the roots to a moral society.
- All humans are made in the likeness of God and all people have the right to life.
- All must be treated with respect and treated with their rightful dignity
- All people are equal
How does Manipulation of the Media violate the Life and Dignity of the Human Person?
- The media can use its power and takes advantage of the fact that people rely on it for information to only tell part of the story, which can lead to harm.
- Manipulation in the Media treats the public like objects, not people as equals who deserve the truth and have a right to it.
-The media prioritizes power and publicity over the public, violating this social teaching.
How does Manipulation of the Media violate the Life and Dignity of the Human Person?
Call to Family, Community, and Participation
- The organization of society, within politics, economics, the media and how it affects human dignity and the growth of individuals within a community
- How people have the right to participate in society in order to seek the common good for all people
How does Manipulation of the Media violate the Call to Family, Community, and Participation?
How does Manipulation of the Media violate the Call to Family, Community, and Participation?
- Places a divide between people
- Dishonest and deceitful media sources are not working with the rest of the public in order to create a better society.
- Causes unnecessary conflict and distrust between one another.
- Change happens when we work together, Manipulation of the Media leaves us divided.
- It makes it hard for people to properly participate justly in society when they do not know the truth about issues.
Rights and Responsibilities
- Human dignity and a healthy community can be reached if human rights are protected and responsibilities are upheld.
- Humans have the right to human decency and life.
- Duties and responsibilities to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.
Rights and Responsibilities
How does Manipulation of the Media violate the Rights and Responsibilities?
- The Media does not uphold people's rights to educate themselves and remain aware of news in their life.
- The press and media present their opinions more than facts during reports, failing the public by not delivering what they truly need.
-Different media sources release similar trending topics, knowing what will draw attention.
-The public is limited to hearing the same news repetitively by different outlets, rather than different subjects worth learning about.
Ideologies within Manipulation of the Media
What is an Ideology?
"A theory or set of beliefs, especially one on which a political system, party, or organization is based." (Cambridge Dictionary)
Ideologies within Manipulation of the Media
Bias Reports Based on Personal Beliefs
- There are multiple types of biases the media portrays that the public is unaware of.
-Each type of bias will deliver a personal ideology of the media source to the public.
- The media as a whole does not have one set ideology, ideologies maintained by the reporters or news media outlets into their reports.
- Ideologies/ the personal biases of media sources are displayed a lot in politics (personal political beliefs to influence the public rather than cold hard facts)
- Nationwide media sources are the biggest culprits of not holding back personal ideologies during news reports.
Types of Biases
- Types of media biases; bias by omission, bias by source selection, bias by story selection, bias by placement, bias by labeling and bias by spin.
Types of Biases
Bias by Omission
- Bias by omission is to leave out one side out of a report and ignoring claims that contradict another side to said story.
Bias by Omission
Bias by Source Selection
- Bias by source selection is to use specific sources that support one sides opinion when reporting.
- Journalists will seek out quotes that will support their personal arguments within a story.
- This bias results in misleading the public on one side of an event based on the sources that were not included, similar to the bias by omission, which will ignore one side of a story.
Bias by Story Selection
- Bias by story selection is used most typically when reporting politics
- The reporters and journalists will seek out stories that support their political beliefs and their party’s ideologies.
- For example, releasing stories based on their political party’s beliefs, but ignoring the same story released by the opposite party.
Bias by Story Selection
Bias by Placement
- Bias by placement occurs when the media source prints their piece based on how important they finds the story.
- This means, an editor will place a story supporting their ideologies first and as headlines.
- In a news report bias by placement, the opinion of one side of a political party would be written longer and appear before that of the other party’s.
- Studies have proven that the average media consumer will read the headline and that is all.
- With bias by placement, they would be reading a headline based off of one sides opinion without including the other sides.
Bias by Labeling
- Bias by labeling is one bias that occurs the most unnoticed.
- In this type of bias, a media outlet may use outrageous or exaggerated labels to identify a source who has differentiating opinions than the reporters personal beliefs, meanwhile if the source supports the reports point, they'll go unlabeled
- Also when news outlets do not identify their sources or quotes based on their political party, but rather as an “expert” on the topic.
- Consumers must be aware when reading articles and see the outlet has identified one source as a conservative or liberal, but has not identified the second source.
Bias by Spin
- When an article or news report only includes one side of an event.
- When an article includes tone and personal comments by the journalist.
- Many sources do not use bias by spin, as their own personal beliefs are reflected more obviously
- If reading a report and the author uses subjective comments or only includes one side of the story, it is a report with bias by spin.
How the Media Shows Bias in Politics
Ideologies Amongst the Public With the Media
- The ideology by the public where people blindly trust in the media and believe that all news is reliable.
- People have relied on journalists and newspapers to deliver them the truth for decades. As media sources became more corrupt and unreliable, the public did not notice.
-The trust also comes from what the public finds to be entertaining and easily accessible, by liking a story easy to find, a person is likely to trust the source without concern on whether or not it is reliable.
Some Statistics
Chart Explanation
-The previous chart displays how many Americans were pulled into fake news stories during 2016.
-If people find the news interesting or agree with it, they are more likely to trust it.
- There are fake stories that people thought were true.
Action Plan
The Problem to Solve
- Nationwide media manipulation cannot be solved overnight
- The prominent issue I hope to open a discussion to is media literacy among high school age students
- A Stanford research found that standard expectations for identifying reliable media sources were not met by highschoolers.
The Problem to Solve
What Can I do?
- I cannot change the injustice of media manipulation on my own in one doing, it takes a village to combat injustice.
- I focused rather on what I can do for the young women of my community at Fontbonne.
-I want students to be able to identify quality sources for their academic work and to identify fake stories in the news
Action Plan at Fontbonne
- My goal is to create a lesson on how to navigate the internet and how to identify a reliable source from an unreliable one in the freshman class Intro to Technology.
- This begins with constructing a letter to the teacher of said class and outline a program which would benefit the students and give them tools for the rest of their lives on how to avoid manipulation in the media.
What I Hope Students Gain
- The lesson will teach students to remain aware of how prominent media manipulation is in today's society.
- I would have outlined that students should spend about a week or 5 classes on learning what media literacy is, activities on how to identify a reliable source and apply what they have learned throughout their lives.
- Once this lesson has been completed, students will give feedback on this lesson and what they learned.
What I Hope Students Gain
What Can You Do?
- People can get involved by asking their schools to have curriculum on media literacy
- More conversations about what we take in from the media and bringing awareness to the topic is essential
What Can You Do?
Something to Leave you With
Below is a few tips and tricks on identifying reliable sources:
Something to Leave you With
Citations
- Former Social Justice Essays
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