Manipulations of mass media
They lied, and I will never trust them again.
Before I drag you into the rabbit hole of corporate media, let me give you a quick story.
Growing up, I had a deep interest in the media. I enjoyed keeping up with global events. I was curious, a wanderer inclined to know everything happening across continents. Because my country was struggling with many challenges, including conflicts and chaos, I was desperately looking for answers. I was frenziedly looking for similar experiences.
Every evening, I would sit beside my father as he watched the news, bombarding him with questions about world politics. I greatly admired the men and women in suits and dresses reporting news and geopolitics. To me, everything they were reporting was just mere facts. A gospel truth. I never imagined that these people might have hidden agendas and preconceived narratives to push. In hindsight, I realize how naively wrong I was.
As I grew older, I found it difficult to connect with mainstream media. The traditional legacy media no longer resonated with me. I lost interest in their outdated, same-old format. I transitioned to a new world — social media. I began relying heavily on social media platforms. However, at this point, I hadn’t yet discovered the misconstrued facts. The narratives and ideologies behind mainstream information. I still believed what corporate media portrayed as “facts”.
When I turned 18 and began my university life, my interest in news and media waned. Not because I had chosen it, but because I was tired of the same old information masquerading as “news.” Everything sounded and seemed familiar. I thought something was amiss. How could media sources maintain the same talking points? I didn’t fully comprehend the ideological angle of their narrative.
I became cynical. I developed a sense of skepticism. I had a gut feeling that they were not telling the whole truth, perhaps omitting certain facts. Perhaps I shouldn’t take their words as “facts.” I started questioning. Doubts grew, and I became increasingly skeptical about the narrative and their stories. I began looking for alternative sources of information. To my disappointment, I discovered the same old vibes and the same old tactics. But at this point, it wasn’t the legacy media, but people masquerading as “alternative media.”
What agitated me about the media was not their agendas and their manipulation of public discourse, but their dishonesty in claiming neutrality and objectivity. That they’re free from bias and prejudice. When in fact they were doing the opposite. I stopped trusting them. I felt I was deceived and lied to. I began reading their work with skepticism and became cynical about what they say. I felt they took advantage of my desperate search for answers, betraying my trust and leaving me with many doubts.
I came to the conclusion that whatever name they, the media, have and whatever ideologies they espouse, there’s an agenda they’re pushing. They’re not simply telling the truth or facts. They want to manipulate our thinking. Our ability to make decisions. They want us to believe certain narratives. Dispute certain viewpoints. Refute certain ideologies. And hate certain people. It’s not about finding and reporting facts but manipulation at its worst form.
When a journalist tells you someone is bad or that certain opinions and beliefs are dangerous, they are certainly undermining your rational ability to make informed decisions.
Every corporate media entity has one goal. A very shortsighted one: to create a divided society that is aggressively misinformed and unable to think beyond sensationalised headlines. Right or left, no matter who they’re or to which political clan they belong,
The left-leaning media want to tell you that the right and conservatives are bad, or worse, fascists and racists who want to destroy democracy. The right wants you to believe that leftists and progressives are a bunch of liberal demagogues. Perverted people who want to destroy and uproot human civilization and family values. Nothing is more dangerous than the modern media standards.
The media isn’t what we think. They’re not here to inform us. They’re here to deprive us of the ability to think independently. I know this is counterintuitive, pessimistic, and cynical, but it’s the very damning truth we all have to hear.
Each corporate medium, left, right, and even alternative media, has its own interests. An interest whose goal is to ignore the facts. Manipulate public discourse. and divide society along ideological, tribal lines.
What allows this unprecedented exploitation of social cohesion is the overreach of the media and the manipulation of their power. They have taken advantage of the trust we place in their work. Opting for a balanced narrative but instead choosing half-baked facts intended to mislead us from the actual truth. This has enabled the flourishing of misinformation and disinformation.
In Africa, particularly in Somalia, our media isn’t much different from typical mainstream media. They rarely discuss the suffering of ordinary citizens. focusing solely on political oligarchs, the rich, and the privileged. This shows that regardless of where you are, the patterns aren’t much different.
When news and information cannot be trusted, despite their immense reach, we’re in trouble. In this dangerous territory, people can be easily exploited. Misinformation can flourish, and facts can be misconstrued. There has to be change, a change that comes not from corporate media but at the individual level.
We cannot trust the same people who put us here in the first place. We have to increase our individual awareness so that we can conduct our own research and fact-finding. The possibilities of doing so are quite difficult. Not everyone has the time to research every piece of news and information they hear, but that’s the only way forward.
I could go further. I’m inclined to write a few words about what constitutes misinformation, who defines it, and who is the arbiter of truth. But because I’m not a journalist. and lack the wisdom and knowledge on such topics, I will refrain from indulging in speculative, extremely subjective views. But I’ll leave you with one last note:
Note: If you were to assume that I have a vested interest in the culture and ideological wars in the developed world. And that I’m conspiring against certain groups. let me clarify that I’m not from that world and have no interest in the tit-for-tat wars in that part of the world. I’m simply sharing my experience with the media and my honest observation of their dishonesty.
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