Today is a world where we are entirely surrounded by media. We have technology all around us and in that; there are several ads, news, articles, listicles, and what not.
With the flood of information at our disposal, it becomes very easy to be fooled and misinformed. Here are some reasons as to why you should not believe the media without checking.
1. Paid: –
Corruption has spread like a virus in the society. Even the righteous ones are now falling victim to greed and corruption.
To run their business and fill their stomach, media companies often tend to spread biased, sided, and wrongly put up information on the platform. Money has indeed boosted the trade sector but has killed the Wings of ethics for humans.
2. Human Bias: –
There is an element of bias in every human being. Being partial is a natural phenomenon and one cannot avoid it entirely.
Although the media companies are trained to minimize it, nature cannot be killed. The influence, family, background, etc. play a vital role in forming their opinions. They have to carefully and consciously write and be alert every time.
3. Mistakes: –
Sometimes, they also make mistakes, and it goes unnoticed. The viewers see it, and they do not realize. Therefore, it is very vital to check and see if the media is correct and rely on various sources rather than a single one. Small mistakes can make a huge difference in the article. As they rightly say, ‘To err is to human, and to forgive is to divine.’
4. Pressure: –
Heavyweights of industry might put pressure on the companies to give a particular information in a particular way. The media companies succumb to the pressure and do spread the bad news under the pressure.
The pressure can be from various sources like rivals of the company in the news, political parties, police, agencies, etc. For example, if company x has found a new way to cure cancer, then company y may pressurize the media not to publish it.
5. Commercial Aspect: –
One has to remember that the media companies are here to earn profits and they have a family to feed. They would prioritize their selfish motives and then look into ethics. As the Snickers ad rightly says, “hunger acche accho ko badal deta hai.” They might shift or completely edit their article to gain monetary benefits.
Thus, media is like a weighing balance. If the money is heavier and more, the news reports would not be looked, and if the story is super powerful, they might neglect the money as well! It is imperative to check and always have a trusted source to rely on the press information than to be misinformed.
Half knowledge is very dangerous. Even when all these adverse factors are present, it is not always that it misinforms or puts you on a wrong path. Only some may be bad. Therefore, always be informed correct. It is better to be a fool then to have false knowledge!
Originally posted 2016-01-31 17:45:48.
