How the Media Controls the Public's Perception of Safety

I'm sure most people are fairly aware the media does a lot to sway the perception of various topics and events. But even the choice of picture accompanying an article can have a drastic effect on opinion. According to a study in October carried out by the Atlantic, the picture accompanying an article might have more of an impact than the article itself.

In the study, they showed participants various covid articles accompanied by pictures of various locations. Then asked participants to rate how risky they felt going to those locations were. They found that whether or not the article was actually even about the location shown in the picture or whether it even mentioned anything at all about risky activities, participants rated whatever location as being riskier that was in the picture they got with their article. The results were the same across race, gender political affiliation, media consumption habits, all that good stuff.

The media can alter the public's perception of risk just by including a picture of whatever they want the public to feel is a risk in whatever article they're writing about covid. It doesn't even have to be related.

www.theatlantic.com...

non-paywalled link

In late October, we conducted a randomized controlled trial on a sample of 3,021 American adults to assess how photos affected their interpretation of news articles. We chose real news stories about the pandemic from The New York Times, The Guardian, and the San Francisco Chronicle and randomly paired them with photographs of beaches and bars. (These pairings weren’t a stretch; some of the articles were originally published alongside beach photos.) After reading the article alongside the associated image, participants were prompted to report their overall fear of COVID-19 infection and to rank the following venues based on their perception of risk: beach, restaurant, public park, hair salon, and gym.

We found that when people saw coverage of COVID-19 accompanied by a picture of a beach, they placed beaches higher on their list of risky venues. Never mind that the text of the articles either didn’t mention indoor-versus-outdoor risk or explicitly noted that outdoor environments (such as beaches) have lower risk than indoor ones (such as restaurants). Furthermore, the proportion of readers who incorrectly believed that beaches are riskier than restaurants was about six percentage points higher when an article about the pandemic was accompanied by a beach picture.

In short, when accompanied by beach pictures, even factually correct articles made readers’ beliefs about pandemic risk significantly less accurate. These results held across age, race, gender, political affiliation, and media-consumption habits.

im not scared the second rule....im not scared. have we all lost our ,minds ?

a reply to: dug88

But even the choice of picture accompanying an article can have a drastic effect on opinion. According to a study in October carried out by the Atlantic, the picture accompanying an article might have more of an impact than the article itself.

My immediate thought upon reading this↑, was about any shark attack. Regardless of what type of shark, or of the size, or how minor the injury may actually be, they almost always show a picture of a large great white with it's mouth wide open out of the water. Sometimes it could even be a small bite on the leg by a 3 foot nurse shark, but that doesn't matter, you're gonna see a big ol' scary great white.








eta: to be clear: I know small bites CAN be very painful, possibly deadly, and very traumatic experiences.... but they still don't need to show a picture of a big great white every time.

Media manipulation and lies are a constant.
Misleading pictures, "click-bait" titles, misinformation, or just straight up terrible journalism are just a few of the many things that the MSM has in their toolbox to manipulate their audiences. They have been driving the masses to feel unsafe ever since they knew it could dispense "opiates for the masses" in the form of dopamine hits and brainwashing techniques.

I think everyone should know this by now, but I am always surprised.

Want proof? Ask someone about the McDonalds and hot coffee lawsuit. See how far removed from the truth people actually are.

Big media corporations, social media corporations, heck just about every single multi-business corporation has their tactics out their to manipulate their audience or tell them how or what they have to do "to feel safe".

I say it's about time we shut it all off.
(as I ironically post from a social site)

a reply to: dug88

Remember last year when the media used pictures and video from the same hospital, claiming it to be in various locations worldwide? Great example how the msm puppets operate.

What actually is sort of scary is how many people believe their lies and then act on them. I hope everyone with kids teaches them to see through the deceptions before they are hopelessly indoctrinated.

a reply to: dug88

Thank you for alerting me to the fact that public opinion can be swayed by the control of the context of what they read.

Now I know how to think for my self.

originally posted by: Illumimasontruth
a reply to: dug88

Remember last year when the media used pictures and video from the same hospital, claiming it to be in various locations worldwide? Great example how the msm puppets operate.

True, true! Remember about three years ago when Lester Holt and NBC Nightly News were caught using a Photoshopped image to make the measles outbreak look worse than it was? They know these manipulative tactics well. It ought to be against the law to "bear false witness."

The media sways those who are too lazy to do a little more research before they believe something. With the entire world at your fingertips, why rely on, say Fox, CNN, or MSNBC to mold your opinions. Why not have opinions of YOUR OWN. I don't need Hannity or Maddow to tell me what to think.

So don't blame the media, they can be turned off, blame yourselves.

For Humanity to continue we must disenfranchise and remediate all MSM.....private ownership and the ability to lie to the People without direct ownership consequences must end now..

This just goes to show how people in general are stupid.

I'm amazed there are still people who watch main stream news and even more amazed some actually believe it!

originally posted by: Kromlech

6 corporations controlling 90% of the media? Hell, it would be less of an illusion of choice if we had 6 political parties controlling 90% of government. At least we can choose to turn off the media.

TL;DR: READ the articles.