English
Introduction
Media is playing a great role in today’s life, as it is conveying news and information to the individuals. But, the truth in media is however, a tricky topic, because majority of the people are of the view that media is nowadays playing role for spreading rumors, and such messages and information that are far from the reality. They even do not have the real knowledge of the operation of media, and about the fact that how the audience, messages, senders, and the channels interact. As a matter of fact the power is abused in the media, unnecessary advantage of the power is taken, the truth is withheld, and then it is manipulated in order to sway the opinion of the public (Carney).
The media is just a window to look into the outside world, so it is their responsibility to inform people about other people, and what is going on in the country as well as outside the country and in other countries. But, the bitter reality is that this is not the case with media, the news programs and the newspapers are full of the distractions and exaggeration. The stories that hold little significance in the lives of individuals, are presenting in a way that that they are the most important issues of present day, the facts that should be revealed are not described, rather much more emphasis is paid to the irrelevant material. With the unimportant material, data, and stories the media is just distracting the population of country from the important issues and matters, that can be unfavorable to the government. So, mostly there is a very little truth in the information that the media shares.
Body
The truth in media and the manipulation for swaying the opinion of public can be described with the help of term Manufacturing Consent, which is mostly done by enforcing the views of an incident or event through the use of the information at the cost of several other views. An example of this fact is the stories associated with the war in Iraq. One of the reality of present day life of individuals is that media is an essential component that is playing a significant role. But, thus is also the fact that the media show things that are distinct and separate from the everyday lives of the individuals, with no truth. Despite of this fact, the media is exerting a great influence on our lives, and it has become an important part of the everyday life of the individuals.
Furthermore, the people associated with media hide the reality and they just portray to the world that they are showing the societal aspects, but they just portray reality and truth. Furthermore, the role journalism is also worth considering in this regard, the wording of the article and the column is chosen in a way that they do not mean to inform about the truth to people, rather they it is meant for protecting the writer from the predictions and judgments that are found confusing and faulty (Muñoz-Torres). Additionally, the news bulletins about sports, and entertainment on the television, however, tantalize the individual with the shocking headlines and sentences in order to grab their attention, and these in most of the times these sentences have nothing to do with the reality.
Another reality of the media is that instead of showing the truth, it focuses on the depiction of facts (Hoens). This can be analyzed from the fact that certain movies are made and then they are on aired on television such as the movies in which certain gangsters are represented that pave the way to the poor emotional and physical health of individuals, lower morale, ideas and standards in the society and promote sexual, so the media is scary.
Furthermore, the media is also playing its role in the spread of the rumors, and lies. Such morphed images, modified video, and scenes are spread, which are far from reality and do not have any link with the truth. This can be analyzed with the example of internet, with the emergence of internet, the social media is becoming a centre of attention of everyone, and people share their views, opinions, and life events on the social media such as twitter, and facebook etc (Cheng). People are now misusing the social media and all the fake information is shared and suspense is created in the individuals.
Further, one major reality is that everyone is now considering profit motives, and want to gain fame, so in pursue of this they spread those news and information that have nothing to do with the truth and reality, so in this era of competition, same strategy is adopted by media. If the example of Television is considered, then the competition of the news channels is increasing and in order to attract the attention of the more viewers they spread lies and over exaggerated facts and figures.
Furthermore, the saying that the truth is stranger than the fiction holds true in case of media. The media sources have successfully deceived the individuals to such an extent that now they believe that what the new media is saying and showing is true. They are of the view that the journalist and the broadcasters will not tell a lie, and this trust has in fact worked against the average population and in the favor of the journalist, broadcasters and media, and give them opportunity to thrive.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, media is spreading rumors and lies. Media has approaches everywhere, so it is becoming easy for them to manipulate and control the individuals by presenting lies to them. The need of the hour is that media should be controlled so that the strengthening of the social structures can be ensured. For the individuals, the major weapon is the truth and courage, so wise use of both of them can help in controlling such lies and spreading the truth. The knowledge and the information are the chief assets that individuals have, and they can help in achieving the truth, which is a major power in the world, so in this regard concentrated and collective effort is required for controlling the media that is spreading fake contents.
People should try to talk to their neighbors and friends in case of getting any rumor, and should not keep themselves silent, this will help to clarify the ambiguity, and also help to educate the surroundings. if media is not active in conveying the truth, them it is the responsibility of the citizens to intimate each other about the truth, which will pave the way to an educated and an informed society. In case the people become aware that what is going on then it become harder for the corrupt media to divert their minds and the truth will spread like a wildfire.
References
Carney, Damian, “Truth and the Unnamed Source”. Journal of media law, Jul2012, Vol. 4 Issue 1, p117-145. 29p.
Cheng, Chung, “New Media and Event: A Case Study on the Power of the Internet”. Knowledge, Technology & Policy. Jun2009, Vol. 22 Issue 2, p145-153. 9p
Hoens, Dominik, “What is New about New Media?. Foundations of Science. Mar2013, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p155-158. 4p.
Muñoz-Torres, Juan Ramón, “TRUTH AND OBJECTIVITY IN JOURNALISM”. Journalism Studies. Aug2012, Vol. 13 Issue 4, p566-582. 17p.
