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Jan 31, 2017 Written by Brice Bradshaw
The world is filling up with people who are quick to jump at conclusions and ascertain their own opinions with little backing. This has led to a rather volatile and uninformed movement by the younger generation. Being a millennial myself, I want to examine why this shift is taking place and how we can turn this ship around.
In this article we will examine three major drivers of this irrational movement. Some of these factors are more about the individuals themselves, on an internal level rather than an external one. However they all drive the seemingly everlasting push for radical behavior, anger, and violence between social groups.
Mainstream Media
First up on the blame board is the media. As most well educated people know, there really isn’t such a thing as unbiased media anymore. Media outlets make their income based off what is drawing the most attention or viewership.
The viewership ratings are the key driver of illegitimate provision of information in the news world. The corruption of mass media was actually captured perfectly in a comedy film called “The Anchorman”. In this film, the focus is about the rivalry between news stations. The key line from the movie was when Ron Burgundy, the lead anchorman, said “Why do we have to tell them what they need to hear? Why don’t we tell them what they want to hear?”
This line exemplifies the struggle that viewers have now. The news isn’t reporting what is actually happening, they are reporting what the audience groups will gravitate to. This has enticed most, if not all, stations to begin falsifying reports and stories to build a bigger audience base.
Misled Followers
As mass media has corrupted what viewers are interpreting as credible and real, the decision making abilities of the average person is being wildly disheveled, especially in younger demographics. Millennials, in particular, are taking over as the primary influencing generation in the United States as of right now.
This group of the population is comprised of citizens whom have an improper view of reality. They are misled in their opinions and views, for which have no factual backing, but will defend them to the death. This is because these fake news stories are highly believable and fueling their anger based on the interests of the groups.
For example, why is it that I can sit down with a few different friends and look our Facebook feeds and see exactly opposite articles based on whether each of us is a Republican or a Democrat? This is because the mass media is only showing you what you want to see, not what you need to see.
So what does this really mean? It means that you have a lot of young, misinformed, and highly influential citizens putting their imprint on history books of America. The discernment and clarity to see what is actually being done to this country, for good or for worse, is in a permanent state of fog right now.
Easy Targets (The Uninformed)
Finally, you have those who really aren’t interested in doing any sort of high level reading and research. They are happily obliged to accept the limited and slanted information from mass media. However, this group doesn’t take their opinion lightly, in fact they are more active and volatile than the misinformed group in many cases.
They are more so angry with many factors of life and choose to let the biased media fuel their negative emotions towards political groups and individuals of power, very similar to a scapegoat effect. The uninterested group chooses not to involve themselves in reading and researching the truth, but instead they elect to use the crooked mass media news reports to justify radical movements and actions.
The radical movements I am referring to include the riots, not protests, and public displays of disrespect for the president and those who align with him on every airway. More importantly, the anger and hostility of those who do very little to research both sides of every story and understand the truth are threatening the opinions and safety of all others with differing opinions.
Where Do We Go From Here
There is a long and hard road ahead of us, as Millennials, to educate ourselves and our future generations of the truth. As a first step, we must approach all mass media with an untrusting and analytical perspective. Encouraging ourselves to research all sides of a story or an article is paramount to having a properly educated opinion. Second, once we have a properly educated stance on politics and news in general we will finally be equipped with the knowledge to make smart decisions. Lastly, once we have an idea of what is truly happening in our country, on any level (political, social, environmental, etc.), we can share our insights and begin building a credible, transparent, and clear path for improvement for our children and the future generations of this great country, free from misguided movements and hostility.
At Marketing Eye, we reinforce a culture which fosters continuous research and learning, regardless of the topic or challenge at hand. We strive as a team and as individuals to improve ourselves as people, both professionally and personally. A culture that focuses on finding the truth, regardless of the source, protects itself from being misled by the fallacies of mass media and those who follow them.
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