Manipulation in the Media, Essay Example

The authors of the written report have described the many sources of manipulation that the media face each day.  Many companies purchase advertisements that help fund the media networks to continue to provide viewers with the information they seek to view.  Unfortunately, the need for these monetary resources is so great that media networks are forced to cater to the needs of the companies that purchase advertisements.  For instance, the issue described relating to BP suggested that this oil company has stated high demands that require media networks to provide the company with an overview of what will be discussed on the network and how it will be portrayed before they will purchase advertising space¹.  Due to these situations and others, advertising companies continue to have a large amount of influence on the information that is shared by media networks and how it is portrayed to the common consumer.  In order to ensure that the finances do not take a hit, the media networks must work to cooperate with advertising companies, especially during a poor economic status as the United States is current facing.

With this information in mind, the average consumer of the modern media must have a clear understanding of the truth of the information that is being presented to them.  First of all, consumers must consider the fact that media networks are now tailoring their information to a specific audience to help sell materials for the companies that purchase advertising space.  If companies can now regulate the type of information and the scope of the material, consumers are no longer guaranteed that there is an unbiased recollection of newsworthy information being shared across the media networks.  Furthermore, evidence shows that politicians and political organizations are now engaging in behaviors to purchase the services on news writers in order to help manipulate the content that is produced to the general public¹.  Although many of the television and print media outlets claim that the quality and integrity of their work is not impacted, there is much evidence to believe the contrary.  As this is the case, the issue continues to raise many problems for the media networks and the integrity of the work is definitely questioned, or should be questioned, by the overall public.

These problems that the media outlets are facing raise many concerns and definitely betray the trust that consumers have in the media networks.  With this concept in mind, consumers should be wary of the information and must now question the accuracy and bias that may be associated with the modern day news.  Furthermore, the actual message that politicians and political organizations are presenting is biased and has a direct impact on the quality of the media presented by news writers that are on political payrolls.  Not only should the character and integrity of the politicians or organizations be in question, but the American people must escape from a limited viewpoint and realize that the media is no longer trustworthy and honest.  Companies and politicos can now alter the messages that are being sent to the citizens of this country, and this problem has been in existence for quite some time.  In order for this trend to change, the media networks must take a proactive stance against tailoring material to the advertising companies and allowing the works of news writers that have been paid by politicos to be published as quality media.  If the media outlets can make these changes in their behaviors and add a stronger sense of ethics into their actions, the American public will be justified in trusting the media once again.  Until then, the public must fight for truth and unbiased news in order to improve the quality and integrity of the information presented by media outlets.