Theft at the Public Till
surrounding the event and to feel their way into the reality of the people who experienced it and have harvested much passion and intellect in making the material mean something. And although the myth of objectivity pervades all kinds of journalism the best of it is produced by reporters who let their feelings their interpretations and their subjective biases be present and visi- ble. In the mass media particularly on network television the public is more likely to get postmodern creativity frosted with modern objectivity. Researchers have stressed that even when producers and viewers do not intend it as a source of information, TV transmits messages about the world and society. Even when people recognize that the material they are viewing is fictional, its messages and images gradually shape expectations and beliefs about the real world. The more television individuals watch, the more they believe and accept its messages about society. Over a wide range of topics, dozens of studies have shown that the 'facts' of the world of tele- vision tend to 'creep into' the attitude and value systems of those who are heavy consumers of it, and it does this in a quiet, insidious manner. Voters are not mindless recipients of media messages. Just because the press says something or portrays an issue in a particular light, it does not mean that the voters will always see things in precisely that way. The power of words, however, should not be underestimated. - Experiments have shown that preferences can be affected simply by changing the way in which situations are framed. The need to simplify is magnified by the journalistic tendency to report the news through the actions of individual leaders. The public officials and media journalists involved are more or less aware of the falseness of what they're up to. However, disclosing that false- ness would undermine the benefits they're seeking from the news process. Officials are looking for public approval and support. Telling the audience that they're playacting for the press wouldn't exactly further that goal. Journalists present themselves to the public as objective observers and re- porters of the real world. Disclosing the fact that they're covering fabrica- tions as news events would destroy the trust they're trying to establish. Thus, both newsmaker and news worker generally withhold any information
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