Introduction
Media plays a significant role towards informing people about what is happening in the world specifically in the regions where a person do not possess direct experience or knowledge. The role of media is to gather information regarding different phenomenon and events and disseminate to the audiences. Over the previous years, people have relied on the mainstream media to provide news and certain information from various parts of the world (Lauckner & Whitten, 2016). However, with the emergence of new technology, there has been the emergence of the alternative media that provide news to the audiences. Currently, people receive news from different avenues that include mainstream media channels and alternative media avenues. As a result, it is becoming difficult to differentiate the reliability of the report received from the various media channels. This is because each media channel has a different opinion regarding a particular phenomenon. All the several media channels and outlets often report stories using different approaches even in the case that the reported story is from one source. The research paper focuses on the role of main stream media over the years and how it has tried to manipulate people. It focuses on the media manipulation, the media agendas, and the emergence and role of the alternative media (Thompson & Cook, 2014).
Main Stream Media Manipulation
Media manipulation can be defined as the use of certain techniques to create an argument or image that favours the interest of a particular group or individuals. People have been subjected to manipulation by the mainstream media for many years. Notably, the media industry has been occupied with a lot of propaganda, false stories, outright deception and suppression of information (Gentile, 2014). The current society is overwhelmed and inundated with a variety of information originating from various sources that primarily serves the interest of the powerful individuals and their owners.
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Media manipulation in the mainstream media has been achieved through different strategies. One standard approach that majority of media companies might have been using to manipulate individuals is through the influence of the powerful people and the media owners (Hobbs & Tuzel, 2015). In many cases, influential people and the media owners were the ones who had control of what is being reported in various media channels and how it is reported. Based on this, there are certain news and information that goes unnoticed by the public since they are not reported. Today, there is an urgent need for people to have independent and honest sources and voices of information to reduce the chance of manipulating the ordinary citizens.
The manipulation of the mainstream media has also been achieved through changing the original content of the news or information. Many media companies are fond of changing the original content as obtained from the sources of information. Various reasons can explain the primary intention of the media players to modify the contents of their stories so as to attract the attention of the audiences (Dill-Shackleford, 2015). For instance, the news and information targeted to Americans are completely different from the news targeted to the Africans and thus the mainstream media. Giving the two divergent views or expression regarding a story or information obtained from the same source can be considered as manipulation.
The main media has been in many cases found guilty of reporting the falsify news. The research shows that major media companies often give false news with an intention of influencing the perception of the audience regarding an area of interest. Some reporters can deceive people of certain factors that are happening in various areas where they are reporting while it might be possible that such reporters do not know anything from the ground.
The presence of various media outlets also escalates the urge for media to manipulate their stories. As many media companies enter the market, competition becomes high, and thus the media outlets start to practice some of the dirty tricks so as to convince the audiences that they are the best in the industry (Watson & Hill, 2015). Such skills can include changing the content of the news to fit their interest. Evidently, it is possible to find out that the various media outlets report news that is different from each other, and this is a suggestion that each of the storied House works to fulfil their interest.
Researches studies on the content of the media stories and news show that majority of the news converge are politics (Johnston, 2016). Media houses and other outlets often prefer to cover stories that are political in nature at the expenses of other stories that are important towards improving the welfare of individuals. This trend can create a perception that politics is more important that other issues such as health and education which are merely considered by the majority of mainstream media. Interestingly, it has been found that media companies like to report stories that are negative so as attract the attention of the audience.
The Increase in Popularity of Alternative Media
Ever since people have relied on the mainstream media to provide news and other stories that happen around the world. As the media industries grow, many media companies have been established to take advantage of the opportunity available in the new markets. Alternative media has emerged as the provider of news to several people.
The audience for the alternative media is growing as many people start to lose faith in the company. The mainstream media industry is full of propaganda and false or fabricated stories, and thus it becomes difficult to determine what is true or wrong (Gagnon, 2015). The main positive attribute to alternative media is that they are not under the influence of the powerful individuals and the government officials and thus it is difficult for them to manipulate the news. The new alternative media outlets rely on the information gathered from the primary sources.
The Impacts of Fake News and Rise of Trump in the Media Industry
Evidently, the increase of Trump and the growth in the fake news can have a direct impact on the press industry. Ideally, Trump as the president of the United States has criticized a section of the media for spreading propaganda, rumours, and lies to the public. Trump indicated that media found guilty of supporting and using the term Fake news should be heavily charged and fined. The warning sends a worrying signal to the media fraternity and creates fear among the relevant stakeholders in the industry. On the other hand, Trump can use the opportunity provided by the President of the United States America to control the freedom of media industry, and this can result to free of smooth.
Conclusion
Many individuals have also noted that main media channel spread propaganda so as to attract people and increase their sales and profitability. Technology is seen as the reason why the alternative media has become so huge in the market as opposed to the mainstream media. The alternative media do not need to gather new and information physical from the field. The companies on the alternative media industries frequently use the technological capability to collect various news and information from different quarters. The use of information technology can facilitate the delivery of a quick and reliable source of information.
References
Dill-Shackleford, K. E. (2015). How Fantasy Becomes Reality: Information and Entertainment Media in Everyday Life, Revised and Expanded . Oxford University Press.
Gagnon, M. (2015). Media and hyperreality in the film adaptations of the Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. The fantastic made visible: Essays on the adaptation of science fiction and fantasy from page to screen , 133-144.
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Hobbs, R., & Tuzel, S. (2015). Teacher motivations for digital and media literacy: An examination of Turkish educators. British Journal of Educational Technology .
Johnston, C. B. (2016). Screened out: How the media control us and what we can do about it . Routledge.
Lauckner, C., & Whitten, P. (2016). The differential effects of social media sites for promoting cancer risk reduction. Journal of Cancer Education , 31 (3), 449-452.
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Watson, J., & Hill, A. (2015). Dictionary of media and communication studies . Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
