Media Influence on Community's Perspective (Part II)

Ideally, media and the journalists must be independent, objective, fair, balance, and factual. Often times, that is not the case.

The journalists, although required to be fair, consciously or unconsciously still want to express their own opinions. They want to send their messages to the audience and want the audience to be receptive to their ideas. This is very dangerous when it comes to politics, ideology, and principles.

Of course it's unfair to accuse the journalists and hold them to be 100% responsible for this bias in relaying the news. We should also investigate the background of the media, who owns it, who takes control, what their backgrounds, belief, ideology, alliances, sponsors, etc. No matter how independent the journalists are, what is printed and broadcasted out there depends on the 'Boss'.

For example:
Surya Paloh        : Golkar Party, Metro TV, Media Indonesia
Rupert Murdoch : Republican, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, NY Post
Silvio Berlusconi : Italy Prime Minister, Media Mogul

For sure, the easiest way to keep update with current news is from the media. As we bombarded with so many information in 1 day, we still need to be critical. We should not swallow all the information plainly as a whole, but also think whether the message is credible and unbiased. DO investigate from other resources. Different media might present different perspectives and it is very useful for the audience to get a different point of view. Then, you can decide about what you think is right. Or at least, try not to be bias in making your judgment.