Manipulation in media

Workshop No. 3

The dilemma of the media group

One of the most important media group, TruMedia, is coming before bankrupcy because their boss, Mr. Kaiser, was involved in a financial scandal. TruMedia was known as the best investigated and most truthful news reporting. He was accused of spending money which was for a charity organisation on his own hotel, but Mr. Kaiser rejected the denouncement by publishing the proof of his innocence. The other groups were happy to have one strong copetitor less and didn’t want to print it. To regain the audience Mr. Kaiser saw his last chance in placing a very special news in the prime time of the TV channel. One of his best journalists had an idea. They got some information that some prisoners in Iraq were mistreated by American soldiers. He suggested to blow up this story. He thought of saying that the soldiers tortured the prisoners.

Mr. Kaiser has to make a decision now. Shall he publish this story or not?

TruMedia

Other companies

Accuse company forabuse of donations

People

Loss of credibility

PRO:

• Gain of instant credibility;• Possibility to „undo“ it;• Money;• Publishing the truth, or at least a true base;• Supporting human rights;• Helping the victims;• Avoidance of unemployment for the journalists;• Additional information about war;• “Infotainment” for the people;

Manipulation

Manipulation is a set of behaviours whose goal is to convince people to believe what you want them to believe as true and to present the reality the way people want others to see it rather the way it really is.

In our blown up article about some prisoners took in Iraq by the American Army and mistreated the editor wants to make us believe his story. Yes, it has a true base, but it is exaggerated. So the editor tries to make us believe that the reality in Iraq is the one presented in the article and this is how he misinforms the audience by publishing this article.

CONTRA:

• Media has to remain reliable and objective.• Real competitiveness is not competitiveness is the

sense of “one’s information” but rather “information which has to be published as fast as possible to inform the people”.

• Journalism should not follow analogies; just because other media companies falsify news or blow it up, they cannot follow this false example.

• Conflict with “journalism ethics”.• Defence of intrigue with illegal methods.• Money can never be a reason to lie to the people that

trust in media. 75% of the people believe everything. To betray them would make the medium lose all it’s credibility.

• Abusing common behaviour of people.• Responsibility;• Losing objectivity;• Possible deterioration of the situation (of both sides).• Lack of real proves;

Contra:

The „Undo“ scenario

Providing exaggerated information

Risk of losing all their credibility

Thus, eventually publication ofthe correct incident

Regain of audience for havingadmitted that they published

blown-up information