Is It The News or Social Media's Fault?
Are you believing what you believe because of what you're seeing and/or hearing?
Welcome to 2024!
As we get ready for a long, busy year, it is necessary to remember how important media literacy is nowadays. And it is also vital to remember that we need to take responsibility for our actions and how we see the world.
Hence why I call this newsletter “The Media & Us” because we all need a reminder of how we cannot always blame the news media - or even social media - for how events are reported, what is being said by opinion writers and social media posts, and even what is not being said or shown on the news, be it digital news sites, newspapers, cable TV, podcasts, and so forth.
However, there are times if we see certain images or hear certain words enough, we are more likely to believe what we are seeing or hearing as fact, even if the reporting is twisted enough to gain more viewers, as some news outlets are wont to do.
For one thing, you might recall during the Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. You probably saw the nighttime footage of stores being looted and burned down.
Did you notice how most of those images were shown on TV news than any peaceful protests nationwide, even though there were plenty? And if you did see any daytime footage, it was chaotic with looting or fighting between police and protests. Again, very few peaceful protests.
As someone who worked in cable news many years ago, I can tell you footage like those is deliberately chosen for the sake of ratings. On quiet days, we even had to choose the most eye-catching videos that would draw the most attention. We had to imagine someone sitting at home, clicking through the channels until they came across something from our channel and stayed on it. Even if the video clip were a few seconds of a celebrity wearing a skimpy outfit or doing a racy dance, that was the goal. When the war between Israel-Hezbollah broke out in 2006, again the more fire and damage, the better.
“The audience is basically Beavis and Butthead” one producer told me. I always found that comment to be insulting to the audience.
Late last year, all news outlets reported on the 2023 crime statistics. For a few years, the news media talked about crime rates being through the roof. It is said that usually conservative news outlets focused on how high crime was nationwide, but the other news outlets didn’t do so much.
The good news is, that crime is going down in many U.S. cities, except for auto theft. Yet, it doesn’t look like many Americans are convinced. One reason why two-thirds of Americans think the crime rates are high is because, according to the Christian Science Monitor, they were higher during pre-pandemic, but lower since the pandemic began.
Another reason to believe crime rates are high is because of social media. As per this NBC News article, a criminologist pointed the finger at social media:
“I think we’ve been conditioned, and we have no way of countering the idea…crime is rising…It’s just an overwhelming number of news media stories and viral videos — I have to believe that social media is playing a role.”
On platforms like X/Twit, TikTok, Instagram, and others, there are many videos showing shoplifters running out of all kinds of stores with bags filled with merchandise. Seeing these types of videos over and over on social media can make people believe that shoplifting is a serious problem.
Now, of course, it is. But is it as bad as it looks? If you see the same videos or the same types of footage over and over, you may end up absorbing far more than you need to. Also, one thing to ask yourself: how old are these videos? Are all those videos you saw from 2023? Or 2022? Or even 2018? Are they even from the United States at all?
I saw a video on X/Twit last summer that showed a Target being looted by a large group of people. Users commented on how terrible people can be, there’s too many thugs in the country, where’s the police, and so on. But that video was originally from 2020, not the summer of 2023. If only there was a way to permanently watermark videos and photos so there is no confusion like this. We can easily make an AI video to add more confusion in the world, but not something to stop the confusion…
…Anyway…
The same goes for more lighter news. How many Karen videos have we all seen in the last few years? They’re mindboggling and hilarious at the same time but is a small part of us concerned about speaking to the manager now because we don’t want to be labeled as Karens like the crazy people in those clips we see on social media? Some friends of mine have mentioned this and I agree it is something to tip-toe gently into. By the way, during my college years, I worked in retail and saw Karens like that during the early 2000s. None of that behavior is new, I’m afraid!
So, are we forming our views of the world based on what we keep seeing on TV, online or on social media? If you see something often enough without a personal filter to keep the negative influence from penetrating you, your mind can be warped if you don’t put up the defenses necessary. Hence the need to critically analyze what you are hearing or looking at. Those protest videos that are always at night? Why is that? No one protests during the daytime at all? That news clip showing the same footage over and over to display what is happening in Ukraine, the U.S. southern border, Gaza? Isn’t there anything else to show?
And then there’s the option of turning off the TV, app, or anything that could influence you this way. Sometimes it is best to avoid such images. But that’s my take; after all, I tend to read articles more than watch news clips. But that’s me.
Is the media out to hurt us or warp our minds? That’s a board question. Maybe some are, or you can say they are simply doing what any other broadcast or website needs to do to stay afloat in the business, and not just news business; this is also Internet and broadcast business. It’s the nature of the beast, even if it means turning journalism into a beast. Bummer, but that’s how it goes.
But some are more ethical than others. But in the end, you need to put that filter up and not swallow everything you see alive. If a question mark goes off, let it and ask questions. Maybe by doing so, these news outlets will have to improve their reporting.
As for social media, if more skip or block these kinds of images or accounts, the algorithms will take note. And so will those For You pages that we’re seeing too often. Boy, talk about desperate.
ARTICLES TO CHECK OUT:
“How Twitter Broke The News” by The Verge - An excellent article that takes a look at how for 10 years, Twitter dominated news reporting, journalism itself, and the news audience. Nothing could happen without being influenced by Twitter. But now that the social media platform is dead, and many have left it for other platforms, the big question is what will become of social media, communications, news reporting. Will any new platform replace Twitter in any way? One thing I do believe is that Twitter and its media influence will be studied and analyzed for many years to come. Even media studies programs in higher education will create courses on this.
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