The other side of the coin

Beep-beep.

Beep-beep.

Beep-beep.

I wake up. I drag myself to the bathroom, wash my face and teeth, try to ignore the sleepy face staring at me from the mirror. Another day has started.

I grab my tablet, as I do every morning, and I start checking the news, as I do every morning. As every morning I absently slide my finger across the screen reading titles, looking for something interesting to read as every morning.

Finally something catches my attention; on the website of the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica”, a title stands out: “Terrorism, six arrests in Lombardy and Piemonte”. Islamic terrorism is quite a relevant topic in Europe these days, and since my whole family lives in Italy, I quickly read the article to make sure nothing bad happened in my hometown.

While I’m reading, I suddenly start asking myself «Am I being manipulated right now? How can I be sure that this article is written from an objective point of view?»

Yes, all that media theory I had to study has definitely made me paranoid.

Anyway, I decide to do something I don’t usually do: I look for the same piece of news in another online newspaper; since “La Repubblica” is generally considered left-wing, I choose to check “Il Giornale”, a right-wing newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family (yeah, the bunga-bunga guy…)

The article’s headline is so huge that it’s impossible not to see it. Bold letters compose the title “Rapid-fire arrests in Northern Italy: they were recruiting cutthroats for Isis”. As I proceed to read, I notice that, while the first article just briefly explained how the investigation was conducted and what the supposed terrorists were planning to do, the second one is much more detailed, full of pictures and descriptions of the terrorists’ families, and it tells the complete story of their conversion to Islam and of their subsequent decision to join Isis. The writer employs very strong adjectives, as the very first sentence of the reportage shows: “They wanted to move to the Islamic State to fight a sanguinary war.”

I really can’t believe how contrasting these two articles are. If I read the one from “Il Giornale” first, I’d probably have an at least slightly different point of view on the topic.

Is it really that easy to manipulate readers?

Is choosing the right adjectives and focusing on a certain aspect of the event rather than another enough to actually change somebody’s opinion?

Maybe not. But media sure have a great influence on our everyday life, and they also seem to have the power to manipulate reality at will, as my little comparison kinda proved.

I can’t help feeling somehow controlled. After all, how can I be sure that my opinion is truly mine? It must come from somewhere, mustn’t it? What if my perspective was really manipulated by newspapers, television and social networks? Would I even be able to realise it?

Am I going insane?

Is Big Brother watching me?

I really don’t know. But one thing is certain: I’ll never trust something I read online without checking its source first again.