La Comay Public Opinion
English 3152 Sec. 001
March 19, 2013
Research Evidence
“La Comay”, Mass Media, and Public Opinion
We are constantly exposed to information by different mass media, such as the press, television (TV) and most recently, the Internet. Of these, TV is the most prevalent form mass media. But, how susceptible are we as individuals and as a society to manipulation through those media? How does publicity affect public opinion by providing biased information? I believe that mass media specifically through TV manipulate and affect public opinion by transmitting misleading information. Manipulation is dangerous since the real intentions of the manipulator are hidden by presenting false arguments that appeal to the non-rational and emotional side …show more content…
of the TV viewers in order to influence public opinion. Walter Lippmann, in his assay Public Opinion, describes mass media (specifically the press), as “the chief means of contact with the unseen environment” (Chapter XXI Lippmann). He argues that the process by which public opinion arises is a complex one and people who understand it have an advantage to manipulate information and thus create or manufacture an image of public consent. In other words, public opinion can be influenced by mass media by creating and presenting an image of uniformity of ideas. Thus, the target of the mass media will have the impression that what it is presented by the media “is the truth”. When Lippmann’s assay was published (1921) the main instrument for mass media was the press. Today, TV has replaced newspapers with its live images. Nevertheless, the principles described in Lippmann’s assay still apply. One of the best-known examples of utilization of mass media through TV to influence public opinion was during the Vietnam War. At the beginning of the conflict, the US government provided information through mass media, indicating the US was winning such war, when in reality there were few advances and many US soldiers were dying (discussed by McLaughlin, E.). One of the most outspoken critics of such practice at that time was Noam Chomsky, a MIT professor, who in 1988 wrote “Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media”. In this book he proposes that mass media is used by big business and government to support their interests. Chomsky describes in his book a series of “filters” that mass media used to systematically provide bias information or propaganda. Those filters are ownership, funding, sources, flak (pressures groups) and norms. By combining these filters mass media frame their message and present propaganda that supports government activities and big business operations. A frequent remark quoted from Chomsky’s work is “Propaganda is to Democracy what violence is to Dictatorship”. Jack M.
Balkin from Yale University argues that mass media specifically uses TV to present a false image of political transparency and thus confuse the public to avoid the discussion of important issues. This is in contrast to research news that is normally presented in the written press and requires reading and analysis of ideas. TV has become the primary outlet of information in our society and politicians constantly use this media to deliver their propaganda. Balkin proposes that TV provides a false image of transparency in three different areas: informational transparency, participatory transparency, and accountability transparency. Basically, he proposes that TV presents images that substitute the discussion of important political and economical issues with issues that are more “entertainment” such as political infighting, scandals, and even the private life of …show more content…
politicians. In Puerto Rico, we recently experienced how politicians use mass media to delivered propaganda.
In the TV show “La Comay”, scandals were presented as “news” which substituted the discussion of real important issues. For example, “La Comay” started a rumor about the murder of a man called Jose Alejandro Gomez. “La Comay” announced that Alejandro Gomez was involved with male and female prostitutes and because of that he deserved his death. The public instead of focusing on the real important issue about the death of this man was instead focused on the scandal that “La Comay” had exposed about this murder. It became pure entertainment instead of news. Transparency was presented in terms of discussion of issues that caught the attention of the TV viewers but that had little meaning to the economic and political problems of the island. The majority of the people on the island saw this TV program instead of the traditional TV news. During the past political campaign, politicians made TV appearances on “La Comay” in order to be interviewed. These interviews offered an image of political transparency, which was not real since it focused on the private life of the politicians and not in the discussion of issues or problems. The images presented by La Comay influenced many people as demonstrated by different polls. On the other hand, the TV channel that transmitted “La Comay” obtained high profits though the advertising sponsors. As Lippmann states, “the machinery for assembling
information is technical and expensive” (Chapter XXI Lippmann). “La Comay” is no longer part of Puerto Rico’s mass media industry but a new generation of less controversial (but equally superficial) TV shows has flourished. How can we as a society be aware of how TV and other mass media manipulates and influences public opinion? Lippmann at the beginning of his assay presents a fragment of Plato’s allegory of the cave in which people observe shadows of objects on a wall without really knowing what the objects are. Using the same allegory, how can we discern the objects whose shadows are projected on the wall when we have TV influencing and telling us what those objects are? This is a challenge that requires further discussion.
Work Cited:
Achbar, Mark and Wintonick, Peter (1992), Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AnB8MuQ6DU
Balkin, J.M. (1998). How Mass Media Simulate Political Transparency. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/jbalkin/articles/media01.htm
Bible, Iulia (2005), Manipulation Through Mass Media: Brief Analysis of Means, http://www.slideshare.net/iulia_bilbie/manipulation-through-mass-media
García Berríos, Nelson (2013). Renunció Kobbo ¿y ahora qué?. El Nuevo Día. 9 de enero de 2013.
McLaughlin, Erin. Television Coverage of the Vietnam War and the Vietnam Veteran. http://www.warbirdforum.com/media.htm
Lippmann, Walter. Public Opinion. 1921. www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6456
March 19, 2013
Research Evidence
“La Comay”, Mass Media, and Public Opinion
We are constantly exposed to information by different mass media, such as the press, television (TV) and most recently, the Internet. Of these, TV is the most prevalent form mass media. But, how susceptible are we as individuals and as a society to manipulation through those media? How does publicity affect public opinion by providing biased information? I believe that mass media specifically through TV manipulate and affect public opinion by transmitting misleading information. Manipulation is dangerous since the real intentions of the manipulator are hidden by presenting false arguments that appeal to the non-rational and emotional side …show more content…
of the TV viewers in order to influence public opinion. Walter Lippmann, in his assay Public Opinion, describes mass media (specifically the press), as “the chief means of contact with the unseen environment” (Chapter XXI Lippmann). He argues that the process by which public opinion arises is a complex one and people who understand it have an advantage to manipulate information and thus create or manufacture an image of public consent. In other words, public opinion can be influenced by mass media by creating and presenting an image of uniformity of ideas. Thus, the target of the mass media will have the impression that what it is presented by the media “is the truth”. When Lippmann’s assay was published (1921) the main instrument for mass media was the press. Today, TV has replaced newspapers with its live images. Nevertheless, the principles described in Lippmann’s assay still apply. One of the best-known examples of utilization of mass media through TV to influence public opinion was during the Vietnam War. At the beginning of the conflict, the US government provided information through mass media, indicating the US was winning such war, when in reality there were few advances and many US soldiers were dying (discussed by McLaughlin, E.). One of the most outspoken critics of such practice at that time was Noam Chomsky, a MIT professor, who in 1988 wrote “Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media”. In this book he proposes that mass media is used by big business and government to support their interests. Chomsky describes in his book a series of “filters” that mass media used to systematically provide bias information or propaganda. Those filters are ownership, funding, sources, flak (pressures groups) and norms. By combining these filters mass media frame their message and present propaganda that supports government activities and big business operations. A frequent remark quoted from Chomsky’s work is “Propaganda is to Democracy what violence is to Dictatorship”. Jack M.
Balkin from Yale University argues that mass media specifically uses TV to present a false image of political transparency and thus confuse the public to avoid the discussion of important issues. This is in contrast to research news that is normally presented in the written press and requires reading and analysis of ideas. TV has become the primary outlet of information in our society and politicians constantly use this media to deliver their propaganda. Balkin proposes that TV provides a false image of transparency in three different areas: informational transparency, participatory transparency, and accountability transparency. Basically, he proposes that TV presents images that substitute the discussion of important political and economical issues with issues that are more “entertainment” such as political infighting, scandals, and even the private life of …show more content…
politicians. In Puerto Rico, we recently experienced how politicians use mass media to delivered propaganda.
In the TV show “La Comay”, scandals were presented as “news” which substituted the discussion of real important issues. For example, “La Comay” started a rumor about the murder of a man called Jose Alejandro Gomez. “La Comay” announced that Alejandro Gomez was involved with male and female prostitutes and because of that he deserved his death. The public instead of focusing on the real important issue about the death of this man was instead focused on the scandal that “La Comay” had exposed about this murder. It became pure entertainment instead of news. Transparency was presented in terms of discussion of issues that caught the attention of the TV viewers but that had little meaning to the economic and political problems of the island. The majority of the people on the island saw this TV program instead of the traditional TV news. During the past political campaign, politicians made TV appearances on “La Comay” in order to be interviewed. These interviews offered an image of political transparency, which was not real since it focused on the private life of the politicians and not in the discussion of issues or problems. The images presented by La Comay influenced many people as demonstrated by different polls. On the other hand, the TV channel that transmitted “La Comay” obtained high profits though the advertising sponsors. As Lippmann states, “the machinery for assembling
information is technical and expensive” (Chapter XXI Lippmann). “La Comay” is no longer part of Puerto Rico’s mass media industry but a new generation of less controversial (but equally superficial) TV shows has flourished. How can we as a society be aware of how TV and other mass media manipulates and influences public opinion? Lippmann at the beginning of his assay presents a fragment of Plato’s allegory of the cave in which people observe shadows of objects on a wall without really knowing what the objects are. Using the same allegory, how can we discern the objects whose shadows are projected on the wall when we have TV influencing and telling us what those objects are? This is a challenge that requires further discussion.
Work Cited:
Achbar, Mark and Wintonick, Peter (1992), Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AnB8MuQ6DU
Balkin, J.M. (1998). How Mass Media Simulate Political Transparency. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/jbalkin/articles/media01.htm
Bible, Iulia (2005), Manipulation Through Mass Media: Brief Analysis of Means, http://www.slideshare.net/iulia_bilbie/manipulation-through-mass-media
García Berríos, Nelson (2013). Renunció Kobbo ¿y ahora qué?. El Nuevo Día. 9 de enero de 2013.
McLaughlin, Erin. Television Coverage of the Vietnam War and the Vietnam Veteran. http://www.warbirdforum.com/media.htm
Lippmann, Walter. Public Opinion. 1921. www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6456