Bane of the Press

In an era where many headlines generously shower the limelight on allegedly scandalous motives, a vast make-up of the populace will elect their maladroit opinions, which are conceived by their subconscious confusion, as their primary stance without much hesitation. Once a news about any particular wrongdoing spreads through the media, many readers will begin to brandish the worst of profanities and judgemental remarks against the defendant(s) without giving it a fair share of cogitation. With a little spark proposed by the introduction of seemingly immoral acts of the subjects in the headlines, journalists benefit from the ignition of hate speech and censure because it means more stories to sell. What were supposed to be simple news are skilfully twisted to tug at the sentiments of the readers.

Without exercising caution when consuming these writings, readers are then easily manipulated to act as expected by the press: Expressing anger and absolute disaccord. With the accumulation of these sentiments, the press is now ready to completely blow things out of proportion. This is done by involving the readers in the stories, creating a situation in which the readers are brainwashed into believing that they are directly influenced in a negative manner by the 'wrongdoings'. It is a pity that many readers fall prey to this dirty tactic of some press. They rely fully on the information published by the press without making sure that the facts would actually add up. 

Knowing that the 'bandwagon effect' is very much alive and at work, it is extremely effortless for the press to extract concentrated anger and discontent from the readers. They just need to know which words to use to make the embers burst into wild flame. While the sentiments continue to build up, they only have to kick back and wait for the next big collision to happen for them to pen. 

I would like to clarify that I have nothing against the press. However, since they are also human, they are not impervious to errors, or even in some cases, deliberate misconducts. They pledge that they will uphold the integrity of journalism, and scream at the top of their voices to go against any attempt of censorship and scrutiny, citing freedom of speech. Their largest pool of supporters? The readers. Little do these supporters know that they are mistaking prevention of lies for liberty of expression. In the end, the fates of the defendants and readers lie in the hands of these irresponsible journalists, who are eternally prepared to articulate and distort whatever statement they could yank from their victims, to conjure disagreements out of thin air, and to govern the thoughts of the people. 

p/s: I am merely expressing my views on some press companies, not the entire journalism world.