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Taylor Trumbette

Aughenbaugh

English 12

06 Feb. 2017

Media Manipulation

Politics and the media are more closely related than they seem, but does one control the

other? It seems that politics and terrorism are the two most important topics in today's media, one

could say the media has more of an impact on politics than politics have on the media. In politics

the media can easily build or destroy a political figure by changing the public's view. Television

is the single most powerful medium of global communication. The mass media is in our

everyday life, so how can we be sure that what we are hearing is true? (web)

The Freudian theory, Manipulated the media very well , the belief was that the fear of

communism was a tool for controlling the public, Sigmund Freud used communism as a weapon

He believed the population needed to be controlled. Anna Freud looked into the thought that if

people conformed to society rules and followed what was socially acceptable the irrational

behavior could be suppressed. Anna Freud experimented with four children, making them

conform to society and controlling everything they did. Later in her experiments one child had

many panic attacks and ended up ending her own life, Anna later changed her ideas of social

normality.(book)
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There are many forms of manipulation, most forms we don't realize are happening,

Majority of citizens get their news from television, getting news from the same major news

sources limits the breadth and depth of the content available (CNN, Fox News etc). Although the

internet has surpassed television with actual news, diversity is still small among news sources

while all the content comes from the same traditional sources. American media focuses on Iraq

specifically, they never cover world news beyond Iraq. Journalists are often paid to promote

specific issues without the journalist acknowledging this or without the media mentioning the

source.(web)

Brainwashing is one of many media manipulations, brainwashing is subtle,

imperceptible, repetitious and reinforceable ideas . For example when a big news story hits, the

public is glued to nonstop coverage of the issue whether you want to see it or not it`s the public

main issue. Another strategy that is often used is using fake and pre packaged news and feeding

it to the media, while distributing this news they make America look better. David Barstow an

award winning journalist from the New York Times agreed to the news being sent to the U.S and

news sent to foreign countries are noticeably different. United States law contains provisions

intended to prevent the domestic dissemination of government propaganda the 1948 Smith

Mundt Act, allows voice of America to broadcast pro government news to foreign audiences at

their home. (database)

Time Magazine is considered to be one of the most resourceful items regarding worldly

news, but their magazine covers that are being sent into the U.S are dumb downed for

americans, making our country look perfect and hide the real problems in our country while the

magazine sends information regarding our countries flaws to other areas of the world, why is our
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news filtered ? it seems as though we the people, are not as entitled to our free speech if we are

not able to read the truth from our own american source. (Database)

In everyday life we are faced with constant ads from our smartphones, our

televisions, billboards and our computers. Manipulation isn't always used in the way of

controlling our actions but our thoughts, ads are placed around us as a whole population, making

it seem like we need specific items to be more superior, more agile and more improved than the

person beside us , manipulation is used in many forms and in many situations. Movie stars,

athletes and power public figures are also used to manipulate certain objects or items. While

having Donald Trump star in a commercial that is advertising something for you to buy will

attract far more attention than if a random street actor was playing the role , more people will pay

attention to what the commercial is trying to sell while Donald reads some scripted lines for you

to try and buy their product , while having Donlad be the main subject it is already biased against

the people and the media ,while the people's reaction would be a lot different and a lot less

compelling if the person in the commercial was not famous or have any importance in everyday

life, this is an example of simple brainwashing that occurs often.

As far as reality tv shows go Americans are sure to know how staged the reality of the

show can be, but do they really realize how fake the shows are that are being watching ? popular

tv shows that have appeared on tv in the past several years like The Biggest loser, Lost , Dating

Naked and Naked and Afraid are some of the most acted out reality tv shows on television .

Old and new winners of the Biggest loser later confessed that the show isn't what it seems , the

weigh-ins and exercise routines are made to look like in a span of one week that the contestants

exercised, planned their meals and of course the sweat, tears and fights that had happened within
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that week , in fact, occurred over several weeks with more time to get more weight loss results,

instead of one week weigh in it actually occurred 3 weeks later , making the contestant look

better and the show more entertaining. While these tv shows are unimportant in our lives and

some might weigh it out as a little white lie , why should we condone it ? why should we let

these films and organizations take over our media. Today world news focuses more on if you're

really keeping up with the Kardashians than if Flint ,ichigan still has their water , Americans are

selling themselves and their country short by making the wrong news go viral , with one swipe

on a smartphone can determine whether or not something is read , we are brainwashed from a

very young age to pick the picture that is more appealing , the words that are easier to read , to

choose the easiest way to the solution, Americans find more comfort in watching and hearing

about someone else's life only if they are important to the public eye .

In conclusion , Manipulation and brainwashing will only occur if you let it, if you choose

to seek out the truth behind the story you are one step ahead of everyone who only reads because

they find it on the front page of the newspaper they only bought to pass the time. In Ray

Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 he explains I've heard rumours; the world is starving, but we're

well-fed. Is it true, the world works hard and we play? Is that why we're hated so much? I've

heard the rumours about hate, too, once in a long while, over the years. Do you know why? I

don't, that's sure! Maybe the books can get us half out of the cave. They just might stop us from

making the same damn insane mistakes!" He explains here that if everyone paid a little bit more

close attention, we wouldn't be making the same mistakes, or hardly any mistakes at all. (web)
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