The Value of Public Statements of Opinion From talk radio to television shows, from popular magazines to Web blogs, ordinary citizens, political figures, and entertainers express their opinions on a wide range of topics. However, these opinions are not always worthwhile, for they do not always foster democratic values and ideals, such as the freedom of choice, variety of choice, etc. In our society, these public opinions are often biased and are used to take advantage of the ignorant. These sources should not act as a brainwashing guideline for citizens, but rather as something that indicates how citizens really feel about the government.
First of all, these opinions are biased and definitely tilted to one side. According to wisegeek. com, media bias is a perceived notion that certain press has and is pushing a viewpoint, instead of reporting news or airing programs in an objective way. Such bias often refers to media as a whole, such as a newspaper chain, or a given television or radio network, instead of individual reporters or writers of television shows. As shown, popular media sources aren’t always trustworthy; they are often sponsored, and even if they aren’t they prefer only one side of the coin.
For instance, media bias was also applied during president Obama’s 2008 presidential campaigns; president Obama didn’t allow the news outlets that endorsed John McCaine to ride on his plane. Through this incident, we can realize that candidates forced the media to endorse themselves. Unsurprisingly, the public has come to believe these repeated declarations of media bias. A Rasmussen poll (Rasmussen Reports, 7/19/08) found that 49 percent of respondents believe that reporters will try to help Obama win, while 14 percent believe most will try to help McCain.
Strikingly, “ 45 percent say that most reporters would hide information if it hurt the candidate they wanted to win,” while only 30 percent disagree. These types of biased media destroy variety in political choices among the viewers. Furthermore, the media tricks viewers into believing their saying by having popular persons speak their opinions. Just because they’re popular, doesn’t mean that they are reliable and competent, but the politically ignorant are easily fooled. The biased opinions are instantly soaked up by the public ike sponges. The media corporations simply take advantage of the fact that we are part of a huge world, and most of us could not know what the reality and the behind story is like. With their biased information, the media brainwashes the ignorant and lures them into believing what they say, and blocks them from making their own choices. Public opinions should respect every side of the society and present fair opinions from various viewpoints. By doing so, citizens will think and choose for themselves rather than be controlled.
