THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA”Of course is true. I’m watching it on TV”. The previous Statement, a comment made by Conrad Brean during the movie “Wag the Dog”, demonstrates the role of media in human lives.
It shows the great importance of television, radio and other means of communication in the decisions that are taken by people. It is possible to notice how big the influence is, and how much does it get to affect the concept or the idea that a person has about something in particular. This situation takes place because the media has gained a great amount of credibility. In this some way, George Orwell talks about the public opinion in his novel “Animal Farm”, creating a negative response in the reader. He or she is able to notice how, in the novel (as it generally occurs in real life) what is believed by most is what others are psychologically and indirectly forced to believe.
In the movie, very few people actually investigated or even questioned the information that was said in the news about the war against Albania. An extremely low percentage of the population doubted about if the war existed or not. They had no real reason to mistrust the most precise and accurate manner of transmitting information. This also occurred several times in the novel. A clear example was Lohen Boxer didn’t believe things at first, but after been specified that Napoleon had said it, he was absolutely sure about it.
The simple source clarified his doubts. In the novel, in many cases, the animals that were not initially satisfied with what their publicity sources stated, actually got to accept the facts as their own truths. In other words, even the few ones that didn’t rely on the information, sooner or later ended accepting it, been influenced by the public opinion. Probably they were intimidated by what some animals thought, and considered that if everyone else believed it, then it must have been true. In conclusion, media is powerful and trusted enough to say many things without people even thinking if they’re right or not. They have enough credibility to fool the people easily and, anyway, those that are smart and really “chew before swallowing” are sooner or later convinced by the rest, by the majority, and end up in their same situation.
