Manipulation Media Examples
To control what people think about, there is manipulation of the media where people usually think its to do with changing the perception of the reality being reported but I think it is worse. In that media has also caused people to be less able understand how media is manipulating them by shortening how an issue is communicated to the people. So issues only have a superficial examination of the issues so easier to manipulate.
As for me language determines way people think and what they can think about so the most effective control of language has been the concepts of reducing the amount and meaning of the language in the message. This is seen in the reduction in the length of sound bites, talking points, dumbing down of language in education, twitter type application where you can only talk in 140 characters and information overload.
A study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs shows the average sound bite length for the presidential candidates on the network nightly news has dropped to 7.3 seconds, a 26% decline since 1988 (9.8 seconds) and an 83% drop from the 1968 presidential election. So sound bites being communicated by media has been significantly reduced so the message becoming simpler.
Talking Points
Using talking points is now being more frequently in which a statement is created and then saturated in the media until it has been seen a fact by a significant amount of the population. As a significant amount of media has moved from being reporter to manipulators. So the audience are the one that start to believe the talking points especially when people they respect or have power over them start repeating the talking points.
Language in Education
From the students that graduate from schools i am sure their vocabulary and language skill are getting worse from each generation. We have now the txt generation that communicate in 140 character limits. How are these people able to fully grasp the reality of whats happening in their world in 140 character limits. Media has been one of the biggest supporters in moving to this new format.
Classic Media Manipulation
When people talk about media manipulation they think about receiving a story and then rewriting based on their bias. An example is the picture below which can be written in three different types of stories depending on the biase of the media organisation and type of manipulation they want to do
To me the most important factor in media manipulation is the employment of the main editor of the media organisation. In my experience when the most important person in the organisation is the CEO and the whole culture and attitudes of the organisation can change depending on the direction the CEO wants to go.
So the owner of media organisation can choose Editors or Television Host that meets their direction in how to report incidents.
One of the best examples of media manipulation in 2011 is when GE was reported to pay no Corporate taxes but in fact received a 3.2 billion tax benefit. This news was not reported in NBC GE main media company. Instead they showed stories about changes to the oxford diary.
There are six main media companies that are controlling the news that is being reported
General Electric
2009 revenues: $157 billion
General Electric media-related holdings include television networks NBC and Telemundo, Universal Pictures, Focus Features, 26 television stations in the United States and cable networks MSNBC, Bravo and the Sci Fi Channel. GE also owns 80 percent of NBC Universal.
The Walt Disney Company
2009 revenues: $36.1 billion
The Walt Disney Company owns the ABC Television Network, cable networks including ESPN, the Disney Channel, SOAPnet, A&E and Lifetime, 277 radio stations, music and book publishing companies, production companies Touchstone, Miramax and Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, the cellular service Disney Mobile, and theme parks around the world.
News Corporation’s
2009 revenues: $30.4 billion
News Corporation’s media holdings include: the Fox Broadcasting Company, television and cable networks such as Fox, Fox Business Channel, National Geographic and FX, and print publications including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, TVGuide, the magazines Barron’s, SmartMoney and The Weekly Standard, book publisher HarperCollins, film production companies 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Blue Sky Studios, numerous Web sites including MarketWatch.com, and non-media holdings including the National Rugby League.
Time Warner
2009 revenues: $25.8 billion
Time Warner is the largest media conglomerate in the world, with holdings including: CNN, the CW (a joint venture with CBS), HBO, Cinemax, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT, America Online, MapQuest, Moviefone, Warner Bros. Pictures, Castle Rock and New Line Cinema, and more than 150 magazines including Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune, Marie Claire and People.
Viacom holdings
2009 revenues: $13.6 billion
Viacom holdings include: MTV, Nickelodeon/Nick-at-Nite, VH1, BET, Comedy Central, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Home Entertainment, Atom Entertainment, and music game developer Harmonix. Viacom 18 is a joint venture with the Indian media company Global Broadcast news.
CBS Corporation
2009 revenues: $13 billion
CBS Corporation owns the CBS Television Network, CBS Television Distribution Group, the CW (a joint venture with Time Warner), Showtime, book publisher Simon & Schuster, 29 television stations, and CBS Radio, Inc, which has 140 stations. CBS is now the leading supplier of video to Google’s new Video Marketplace.
Update:
One interesting test to see how much your media is being manipulated is how they are reporting on #occupywallstreet or if they are reporting on it at all.
I have been following Ron Paul and below is a good example Ron Paul media manipulation.
posted by George at 6:35 pm
10 Comments:
Author really needs to grasp the English language better..Learn how to form proper sentences..Pathetic.
First thanks for the comment I hardly get any comments anymore. And to comment means you have used up precious time of your life to read my post and then enter a comment.
English is my first language and is an evolving language. There are all different versions of English and different generations use it differently.
For me the message is more important then the messenger and to illicit a response like this, I am interested if you are attacking the messenger or the message. Or that you really don't understand the message.
To answer you comment though, yes I do care about you understanding my sentences, so will be more motivated to try and create proper sentences. But what are proper sentences in the age of twitter and facebook.
Nice article George, I was not aware of the vast amount of ties between large corporations and news organizations. Quite an eye opener if all of the information is true (I guess ill take it at face value since I do not have the time to investigate for myself).
This is a Very good article! well written! thanks for the information george! :)
Dear George,
I am a student of Media and Communication management and I am writing an Article, which is going to be published in our Campus magazine, about media manipulation and I was wondering if I am allowed to use your picture of the soldiers.
Thanks in advance.
Best regards
Katharina
I am happy that you will be using the picture but its not my picture though as I found the picture on the web.
The picture came from a digg article in which I can't seem to locate now.
I was wondering if there was a reference list that you could provide for me, i need to reference the sound bite section.
I'm going to have to agree with the "learn how to form proper sentences" comment. It makes it quite annoying to read when there are multiple grammatical errors. You should really proof read or have another person proof read your work before posting. As you said, English is evolving and generations are using it differently, but in what generation is it acceptable to leave out the words "to" or "the" (to understand, the way)? That's just the beginning. Why should it be on the reader to try and figure out what you are trying to communicate.
Also, don't use the "age of Twitter and Facebook" as a reason for your mistakes. You are on Blogger, not Twitter and Facebook. That's a cop-out.
I am not saying this to be mean or rude. When you don't care enough to read your own work, why should your readers. Errors like this, though seemingly small, affect the credibility of the author.
I will say that I did press through and read the entire article. What you have to say is informative and interesting. But as I read through error after error, I am reminded of the Blog Name…Really?!
I believe that the section about Facebook and Twitter was appropriately, because it exemplifies and emphasizes the points that the Author made in regards to how social media is affecting language.
Look. Yes, English is an evolving language, but you can't just leave out words in the middle of your sentences. It is distracting and makes it difficult to understand what you are trying to say. Media manipulation is an important subject, but when you make grammar and spelling mistakes that could be solved with a simple proofread, it makes the reader think you don't really care. Also, the more educated that you sound, the more likely it is that your readers will take your message seriously. Just reread your articles before you publish them and you can completely alter how the reader views, not only you, but your message, as well. However, I still really like the subject matter and I thought that you presented it in a manner that is both fresh and interesting.
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