Does the media really hide reality from us?

I wonder about the media, and why they don't really report on things like what will happen if our national deficit defaults, paying interest on the money we print when we don't have to, why we even have a national deficit, getting rid of the federal reserve, shrinking the government, shrinking the military, etc.

We talk about things like the presidency, going green for the future, celebrities, sports, stocks, etc. The real problems are left in the dark for everyone to find on their own.

Is the media just doing it's job by not intentionally covering up the real problems but just not talking about them because the average person just has no interest?

If I knew defaulting on our national deficit would create a situation 100 times worse than the first great depression, I want to hear about it on all news platforms until we do something about it.

 

Bringing you the nightly news is all about ratings and advertising dollars. The only news they will report is insatiable reports. Things that don't pertain to survival. All networks are here to make money. Viewers to their channels bring in advertisement dollars. Telling you to go green is not what the advertisers and the powers that be want you to do. They want you to consume like crazy and they throw outlandish stories and reports to throw your attention elsewhere.

Do we really need to how big Kim Kardashians ass is? What is Trump going to say this week? That's the kind of news we hear all the time. What we don't hear about is going green, climate change, preparing for the worst possible scenario, your children's future, and so forth

They are not here to bring you the news that matters. They are here to sell advertisement times to those that can afford it, and everyone buys into it. Don't be sheep, like they want you to be.

 

It's a lot harder for the media to hide reality save for conspiracies which the average Joe couldn't investigate. But for anything else, thanks to social media the truth will be out the same day. If the media hid reality in the past then have to be careful these days to balance their lies so the half truth you hear gets you to believe the lies they tell.

That said, I've never and never will trust the media because it's the mouthpiece of the elite. It's all propaganda and fear-mongering and low brow stuff to keep you distracted so you aren't aware of how the world is changing.

 

I think that the media only puts out certain news. I agree that there are things you won't hear in the mainstream media. Still there is a lot of underground media sources that talk about all kinds of things you won't hear in the mainstream. The mainstream media usually spreads propaganda or gives you distractions like entertainment to avoid real issues. You have to do research and take it upon yourself to figure out what's really going on in the world around you.

 

I do believe the media is in a way sugarcoating the public and hide those horror details that will cause panic to the public. They only release a certain level of bad news but the most worrying parts are kept hidden for the public's behalf. I guess that's some sort of a rule for the media people and the national government might have something to do with that, who knows really, I don't work in the press or anything so I'm just saying what i think. Lol

 

Understand that media coverage companies are businesses, and as such they are striving for profit's sake. Therefore, most media will only cover stories that they do find convenient for their target audience, being selective with the news does not mean necessarily they're hiding something from you. Eventually, is
almost entirely your business to keep yourself informed as best as you can, no the media. The media is only giving out information, and you are in all your right to call it bullshit and look for another sources.

 

Media is controlled by companies. The point of a company is to bring value to it's owners. Now this mainly refers to financial profit, but other forms of value... such as affecting what people think... can be of great importance to some. When you think about it like that, I think it's safe to say that the media is always biased since, as a company, they have an obligation to bring value to the owner(s) of that company.

 

The answer to your question is no. We have access to multiple resources that give us the opportunity to find and search out what we want to know. You can pull up Google and find the answer to almost any question you ask, no matter how trivial. The key here is popularity and business. As said earlier, media companies are a business so they sensationalize what makes them money and for viewer purposes. The reality comes in to play is that most people don't want to hear or see the truth, unless it slaps them in the face. And sometimes not even then. We have to be conscious of what we do, see and hear. There are plenty of media outlets that provide relevant information on the day to day survival methods/antics, the deficit, climate, and so on, on a regular basis. It's all about what you choose to watch and/or listen to. We are responsible for what we know, and sometimes what we don't know. Never leave it totally up to someone else to provide you with information.

I say all that to say, we get hit with reality all day every day. It is up to you to decide what to do with that information.

 

I don't know. Actually, I doubt it. I think the news we get is biased, therefore not the pure truth. I never listen to only one news source. I listen to several and figure the truth is somewhere in the middle.

 

Here, the media chooses what to report and what not (probably like in most countries). They will report on the bad stuff that has happened, but leave out a big part of the other bad stuff. One of the biggest problems with the media here is that they will report on murders that happened in town, but they choose to sweep the terrible farm attacks under the rug. Most of the affected South Africans blame it on a racial thing, but I don't know...too many things in our country is blamed on racism, from both sides. Sometimes I think the media here just doesn't want to deal with the backlash of reporting on these things, so they rather choose to look the other way and report on something else that will turn the crowds' attention away from this. It's a touchy subject in SA...there were even talks of the future of "press freedom" in South Africa being under threat.

 

They not only hide it, they do what ever they want. They make the reality for us. It has been like that and it will be. Trouble is that only slim percentage of people do not care about lies the media serves. Everything, from wars and the real reasons for wars to weather. Every year, and this is a simple example, in Serbia, they lie about the weather in summer. It is over 40 and they say it is 39 because over 40 the law says that people have to have shorter working hours or even not to work.

 

I definitely think that reality is hidden from us. More than that, I believe that the media paints horrible stereotypical pictures of everyone.

The amount of negativity that is portrayed on TV is insane. t always seems that there s an agenda that follows certain tragedies.

Lately I can not bring myself to believe anything that I see. I think that the things that really need to get attention are the things that never receive it.

At the end of the day, we have the internet even if the powers that be mean to seize it and monitor it as much as possible. We can provide each other with the real news from all over the globe if we were willing to work together.

 

This is a good question.
I think some news channels are more authentic and actually try their best to mediate the reality.
However, we should always do our own research and especially question what is being reported.
The reporters are also only humans and of course they might just write reports because they
have the pressure to do so and at the same time it is all about numbers and money, unfortunately.
Too many stereotypes are being reproduced and confirmed over and over again which does not
contribute to a smart society but rather the total opposite.
Another thing is that some countries limit the access to social media or even news channels because
they want to control their peoples. Luckily, I live in a country that allows me to do my own research.
So in the end it is up to you if you want to believe the media or not.

 

In college I took a media and communications class. The professor said (and textbook agreed) that the general public only hears 40% of all news both in our country and throughout the world. Which is scary because whether we do the research or not we (as a country) might not be aware of the topics that go on without our knowledge to research in the first place

 

[ 9567, member: 1755"]Here, the media chooses what to report and what not (probably like in most countries). They will report on the bad stuff that has happened, but leave out a big part of the other bad stuff. One of the biggest problems with the media here is that they will report on murders that happened in town, but they choose to sweep the terrible farm attacks under the rug. Most of the affected South Africans blame it on a racial thing, but I don't know...too many things in our country is blamed on racism, from both sides. Sometimes I think the media here just doesn't want to deal with the backlash of reporting on these things, so they rather choose to look the other way and report on something else that will turn the crowds' attention away from this. It's a touchy subject in SA...there were even talks of the future of "press freedom" in South Africa being under threat.[/QUOTE]

Thing is the south african gov don't want the outside world to know what's going on you live in one the most dangerous places on the earth and that's bad press !

 

I think the media is manipulated now more and more only letting you know what they want you to know and all serious info the governments don't want you to know about is vetoed there's been of late big protests in London yet nothing is reported on the news about it because it puts the government in a bad light during the euro in or out vote so I expect your news is done the same way over there

 

Oh yes most definitely the media is hiding the truth from society, because they want to continue to manipulate us and rob us blind and the majority of us are too blind to see it; especially the weak minded individuals who are not leaders, but they are followers!

 

Each media network has its own agenda decreed from on high!

Anyone hear about Iceland since they told the foreign bankers to shove it?
A complete media blackout since they flipped the bird at the bankers about eight years ago!
It is like they fell off the planet! without a volcano or two erupting and this week defeating England in football no mention!

I surf the local networks a couple of euro networks and Al Jazeera and several collector blogs! for info
I steer clear of anything USA based as there is just too much bias there!

 

I personally do not pay attention to the media enough to be able to tell. I frequent youtube pages more than I ever will a well known News network. As far as I am concerned, the internet is full of information. Once you have the mind that is able to think logically then you can figure out most of what is going on by yourself. I suggest that you start reading online News from other countries the U.S.'s international affairs. Nothing is really hidden, it is just least likely to be broadcasted on some of the more major platforms.

 

That's a very good point. They actually did the responsible thing with their financial crisis and look at them now, they are doing pretty damn well. I have seen a thing or two about this in the news (during the past few years) but of course not much. Good news don't sell, bad news do.

 

My father worked as journalist for a news agency as well as newspaper. From my understanding of my father I can say media does not hide reality from us, media actually exaggerates the reality. In my observation media reporting is always exaggerated. Apart from exaggeration of events, media is also biased. A journalist with is a Repulican will always defame Hillary Clinton. A journalist who is a supporter of Democrate will always call Trump a racist.

 

These days it seems that less and less people are trusting the media, but what I want to know is why? It seems like nearly everyone you speak to is trying to push their own opinions and agendas on to you, and you only have to take a look at social media to see that there are a lot of part time politicians out there for example that regard what they say as stone cold fact, instead of what they actually are and just an opinion.

We can't trust the politicians, we can't trust the newspapers, we can't trust the television, we can't trust those in authority so it begs the question who can we trust then? I'm supposed to believe that I can't trust any of those, but I am expected to trust Dave who lives in the middle of Arizona, who wears a tin foil hat and can predict the downfall of humanity and who's got an opinion about absolutely EVERYTHING? I don't think so...

 

Most of what the media tells you is just what they want you to believe or think. There is so much very important stuff that is completely ignored by the main stream media. How many stories have you heard about Venezuela and their current crisis in the mainstream media? how many stories did you see about the EBT (food stamp cards) being late posting benefits for millions of Americans this past month? The answer is zero, but if you Google these things for yourself you can find plenty of information.

 

If you compare different news papers you always see that the story has a different angle. They often make it more then what it is. They have to, other wise they won't sell. I don't think that they hide the reality from us but they might add to it.

 

This. Here in Mexico, the media hides everything. We all know the main national news are fake and even a reporter who once said the truth was fired. She is still alove only because she was pretty famous, others just get killed for it. We pretty much find our information online instead now.

 

But people who don't trust the media are perfectly happy trusting other online sources for their information, and I don't see what the difference is. I could start up my own blog and start churning out different types of news that I have made up. Even now you have a lot of conspiracy theorists that are blogging their own views and people are starting to take them as fact when they are just opinions and pretty ludicrous ones at that.

I'm not saying that the mainstream media can be trusted, but what I am saying is that I'd rather take their word over some blog I subscribe on the net.

 

Reality is hidden from us but there is so much that you can do to find out things for yourself. I personally tune into alternative news reporters such as Alex Jones and even sites like educate-yourself.org. The most important piece of advice that I can give you as far as current events is concerned is to read about past events. You truly do not know where you are going if you do not know where you've been.

 

Again though, I'm not trying to be argumentative, but you mention Alex Jones in your post @schiavonecalvin but how do you know that the so called 'alternative' journalists haven't been offered a wad of cash to promote and to plug certain issues in a certain way? It's OK to say you can't believe the mainstream media and the big corporations such as Sky and the BBC for example, as they both push their own agenda's, but who's to say that any site or article you read isn't doing the same?

What makes one journalist reliable and trustworthy and another one not? We could end up not believing anyone and paranoia will set in and we'll think that everyone is out for themselves and the so called facts that we have believed aren't facts at all. I'm not saying that it's the same in your case, but people tend to disbelieve things that they don't agree with as well, and if a journalist says something we don't agree with, we'll automatically say they aren't telling the truth when in a lot of cases it's not actually the case and we just don't want to believe that we might be wrong and they could actually have a point.

 

Well, they're definitely trying to cause a lot of panic in today's society and they usually just promote negative things that happen all over the world, which is not accurate at all since there are a lot of good things happening right now, in this second. The media also likes to hide important things and depending on the channel you watch they manipulate the viewers and information depending on their political alliance (that's what happens here in Romania).

 

You are right? You don't know, but that is why I state that everyone should "read about past events," particularly from older books. The more original the book, the more authentic the information. You can also use a "good" standard Dictionary's appendix and check according to Lexicon for dates of when certain words started being used to further examine the authenticity of the information that you are receiving. There is no one source of information, you are setting yourself up for failure. I think that there was a post here that pretty much established people's concerns with people realizing that most of the history books have with only a version of the actual event that does enforces the views and culture of the victors. In many cases that information can come off a bit propoganda-ish. It is important not to rely on one source, you would be amazed at how many historians have proven popularized historical accounts to be false but their research is not publicized simply because it does not embellish upon certain views and ideals that the current society deems noteworthy. I am not saying that everything is a sham, but it would not hurt to look at things from multiple angles.

 

And I'm not saying that people shouldn't look at things from as many different angles as they can, and I'm certainly not saying that we should just sit in front of the TV and soak up and accept everything that the media tells us, but for a lot of people the newspapers and the TV are the most popular ways of finding out about what's happening in the world.

It's up to them to decide if they believe what they're being told or not, and I'm not aiming this at you or saying you in particular @schiavonecalvin but there are a lot of people around that do try and discredit EVERY source of media and I think that is doing more harm than good for a lot of people, as we are turning into a world that is cynical and believes nothing we are told by anybody. Looking at past event's as well, while they do give some indication as to what might happen in the future, it's no guarantee and in an ideal world we should be making sure that previous mistakes aren't repeated, although I'm the first to concede that the world we live in is far from ideal.

 

Does the media hide reality from us? Are you kidding me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is this a rhetorical question or an oxymoron. First we must realize that the media is the 4th branch of government. The late great Jim Morrison once stated that whoever controls the media controls the mind. Yes the media hide reality from us in every way everyday. I relate it to the 1999 film "The Matrix" whereas Neo finally saw the world for what it is. The media hides the truth from us and everything else is just window dressing. For example no one really knows what happened when Michael Brown was shot and killed unless you were there. Meanwhile through the power of the media we can riot and become outraged over a case in which we really don't know what happened. Yes, yes, yes the media hides reality from us.

 

Afew years ago there was a tv network promoting there news program

"ALL THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW"

I asked them who decides what I need to know?
After a very short time that particular promotion ceased and has not been seen since!

They let slip reality!

As in world news the USA prods sleeping Russia with a political tazer to make it roar
but only reports the roar! forming negative public opinion of Russia!

There is a really long wall somewhere waiting!

 

Pretty much. If you simply listen and believe. You are lost.

 

I am not sure the main stream is even in touch with reality.

 

As a rule of thumb I never trust mainstream news now as its manipulated to suit the governments mood and note or less lying to suit their needs classic example was Russia's ships going through English channel they been doing it for years now and nothing then allof a sudden they kicked off about it saying it was a show of power when it was normal trip for their navy just to add our news now seem to work by diverting the real news in preference for total rubbish with the royals or trump its what's happening at home that's more important

 

Over here the media tries to manipulate the population into fighting the government. Nevertheless, they're not reliable either way. They're either serving someone else's interest or dumbing the mind of less intelligent citizens with crappy shows and soap operas. I thank God every day for computers. It's nice to be able to choose what i want to see for a change.

 

I stopped watching mainstream TV a few years back now in my country you have to pay for a licence to watch TV and I for one will not pay to watch mind numbing rubbish and like you I use my computer then I can choose what I watch and at my own mental level of intelligence too which to me is far better

 

I wish I could say no, but unfortunately... I strongly believe that the media hides many things from their respective nations. This is extremely worrying because I am sure that many political issues are involved in this.

Unfortunately, it's like an "evil club" (only for extremely well selected members).

 

The media is controlled by powerful individuals or governments and these people hide a lot of information from us to keep us in the dark about their activities while going about engaging in insincere deals. The media is used as a tool to take away the common man's concentration on thing that really matter and focus them on irrelevant or misleading information.

 

I don't the media will intentionally hide the real situation that prevails from the public. Remember that there is this very intense competition amongst the media entities and there are always trying to outdo each other to bring the news that will catch people's attention because that's the way they are able make money. There will always be the for and the opposing media to whichever administration might be in power, therefore, they won't be very much that could be hidden.

 

Also around here, the media does its fair share of providing regular citizens with crappy content. It seems they always try to pass an image of good conduct in their shows as an example that all people should follow. Still most of the time they are really only taking the focus of the general population away from the country's real problems.

 

The media nowadays has become subject to manipulation. It could be high ranking individuals in government who may prefer the viewers to focus on distracting information as they carry out their malicious deeds in government,or even for other political reasons for example using the media to demonise other political rivals.

 

It seems a world trend aye? Everywhere there are always people playing God. Over here it's almost like the media is a politician itself. It has so much influence and power that it can actually dictate who is going to win the elections. They can make or break a politician in a very short time. The real politicians are actually much more worried about filling their pockets with money than doing anything about it. And life goes.

 

The only right way to got about this to have multiple news sources. All news networks are biased one way or another so you might as well have all your bases covered.

Also, don't believe anything in media (internet mostly) without them having a credible source. Fake information gets spread out fast in this age since we have the internet.