Influences and Lying

Many believe the media influences the way we react and think towards each other.

Think about this:

If the media were to announce Brittany Spears was getting married to Justin Timberlake, no one would even consider if it was really true. They'd just go, "oh wow, she's married again."

But what happens when the things you are being told are lies?

In World War One, some of the many Australian citizens were conned into going to war. How? The government told them they were going on a "holiday" to Egypt.
However, when the men (I believe it was around 50 000) reached Egypt, they were made to train and fight for the war.
From there, they joined with the mainstream Australian soldiers to fight.

How can we tell when the media is lying?

and does the media affect how YOU view the world?

Think carefully, because I know it has affected my views.

 

The media doesn't always 'lie' but we have to always understand that they are askewed to certain points of view. If the journalist is a conservative, liberal, religious, atheist, etc, we are going to get their view points in their reports which can make things seem very one-sided, and well...they are. This is why it is always good to not take things at face value as they are presented and to explore.

If I hear something on CNN, I'll check on BBC and other news places to make sure it's not just a biased one-sided point of view and I feel a bit safer that way. Also if news happens in another country or region, I can generally search for news from the country or area and often people are cool enough to translate it to english if that is not the native language even. I have learned a lot more by doing this and it is one reason why I love the internet so much. You can get views from the actual people in areas and not get what people just want you to hear. This is the same with hanging out in IRC channels and other places where I know people from around the world and they can actually say what is going on and you can ask whatever. Communication will always be a difficult thing and often muddled, but if you can make friends in other areas and find good sources, you can figure out more of the true picture than just using our limited news media.

I had heard of what happened with Australia before and was not sure that was a hoax or not. Knowing it is true, that is something that is just astounding that the Aussies weren't more ticked off. Outright lying is wrong, especially to soldiers who have a right to know what is going on with their lives.

There are people that would give a great deal about whether Britney and Justin married but yes, they more assuredly believe that without bothering to investigate too closely. It's like the deal with Brad and Angelina, how they always say they are breaking up, and then someone else writes an article saying it is false. When it comes to celebs or other famous people, we often get misinformation because whether it's true or not, it sells. Those are usually less accurate than what we get about other information that is important. I don't really care so much what celebs do but it's a big money maker and we all know paparazzi need it. *cough*

I suppose in the end the best thing to remember is that take nothing at all at face value and open the pages of the book and investigate. We have the resources; we just need to use them.

 

Really personaly I don't give a crap about stuff like that cuz it really has nothing to do with me, and sure there are those who do care but really I don't see it as something of any intrest to be looked into.

Really all you have to do is poke around a bit more, use your common sence (although not many do these days...) and if something seems odd then just find another sourse or two.

Since I poke around if I hear something interesting in the news I get some different opinions on the matter so I can make my own choices. So really it dosen't change my opinions at all to the way the media want me to think because I don't take the one sided story as the entire truth

That is horrible, and apauling to hear of but I think that maybe some people should have thought that a free 'vacation' to Egypt from the govenment was a little odd....

Oh, and sorry for any horrible spelling errors or bad grammar.

 

People would say that about brittany spears because they really dont care about what she does. when it comes to celebs, every gossip magazine has thier own story about them. can we tell if the story is true or not? most likely we cant, since they will either say 'yes this story is true' or 'the story you read in the other magazine is false'. either way, i really dont care much about celebs.

what the government did to australia is beyond horrible. some people arent willing to risk thier lives for war, but they have to if they are tricked into the army. but when the government is going to give you a 'free vacation' to egypt, there has to be some suspicion there. if people used common sense, they would see through that lie.

if we used common sense and use more than one source for information, we can tell whats a lie and whats not.

i think the media is kind of corrupting the world. most people dont use common sense and they believe everything they hear. the media can plant things in your mind, and tries to make you see things the way they want you to see them.

 

Hmmmm... Yes if the media said that. But the media is a broad area let's face it the accuracy of content in the world affairs news on Sky News/CNN is a lot different to what you would find in the gossip column of Teen Vogue or whatever.

I don't think the media explicitly lies about most things. Instead they twist things, or are selective or picky about certain things. In other words things may get ignored on purpose or over exageratted on purpose. The main reasons are for sales, polictal correctness and control.

Yes the WW thing may have happened but that was over half a century ago things have changed dramatically in our world they probably wouldn't be able to pull that big a stunt nowadays what with so much connectivity and communications globally such as the Internet and 24 hour news reporters etc.

But I wouldn't trust that the media doesn't have something up it's sleeve for the future.

The media is a bit like history. The only thing that gets into the media is what people want to hear, or in favor of those with power or influence. It was a bit like this with what was written in some primary source history books, only what suited those with power.

Does the media change how I look at the rest of the world. Undoubtely and unavoidably the answer is yes to a certain extent. But that doesn't mean it actually shapes my view of the world in the first place.

EDIT: Ooo BTW this is a interesting thread ^^

 

You have to remember this didn't happen in our day-of-age, it was somewhat many years ago.

And secondly, I was using Brittany Spears as an example of how the media blabber on about stuff we don't want to know

 

That's one of the worst things I've heard in a while.

I usually don't let it affect me. I mean I've done a report on media bias so I already know they're rather biased. At least in the US. But yeah I mostly ignore the "facts" they give us. I hate how they turn obviously non political things political. They always think that disasters are because of politicaians screwing up. Sometimes it is but not every single time. So I just don't really like CNN cause I live in MN and they made a kinda dumb comment about the bridge collapse here. I prefer FOX. Anyway my mini rant about why I hate the mainstream media is done. Anyway I just don't like em cause I can't stand liars.

 

*spits on the ground*
See? What did I tell you? Politics in general is corruption. The media is what I call ''A governments right hand''. It's how they keep the situation under control in order to get what they want. Media definetly played a part in how I see the world. There's positive media, then the bull**** media. Sometimes, the line is so faded that we can't seperate the two.

 

I don't listen to the media.

It's full of bull**** and scams. It causes people to segregate MORE, no thanks to political point of views.

 

Depends on the topic that the media puts out.

Celebs and stuff can be skimmed over, because I REALLY don't care for who's dating who and whatever the hell they're WEARING. (I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW IT CONSTITUTES AS NEWS!)

Now for things like the Stock Market and such....well they can't really lie about economic numbers given that IF they did so on purpose (the media) it would have such a heavy backlash, it would do much more worse than good (I'm thinking Enron on this......)

In terms of local news and "WHO'S THE NEXT POLITICIAN", if they lie about it, they just lose more credit. (Politics in GENERAL, I try to avoid because really, all it does is aggravate me.)

Now as for World News, it's best to AT LEAST three source it, but that isn't enough. :\

As for Media and the information it spouts off in general.....well, I guess it's what Critical Thinking was invented for. :\

 

Pfft, the media blows.

There is only one newpaper I trust to read, and it just got bought by a corrupt rich guy.

FOr somthing to be true, I have to see it myself

 

Influences and lying is what keeps this planet going.

It may be bad but if we didn't have it then everyone would go insane. Take religion, if it was all the sudden shown to be fake by the government, everyone would go insane.

Riots, protests, etc...would demand a truth. But they'd already have it.

This is why you can think bad of the media, but you can never take away the lies. It'll crumble society. Though if everyone knew the truth it'd be so much easier on myself and probably others as well.