Misinformation in a Democracy

Misinformation is best understood as being false information.  Such information is due to inaccuracies that a person gets in consuming what he is fed by the media.  It is different from disinformation, which is purposely done to mislead.  This piece is intended to show that because of shrinking diversification of media’s structures and the way stories are reported, an individual may become a victim of misinformation.

Media’s Corporate Structures

For one thing, mass media is diversified with thousands of magazines, newspapers, radio and TV stations, and  Internet outlets.  These entities in themselves are broken down into multiple divisions.  There are reporters, correspondents, producers, editors, managing editors, and executive editors – just to mention a few of the professionals that work on news, entertainment, and infotainment.  Because of their work, a plethora of news stories and programs are produced daily.  So much so, that when thousands of hours of programming comes our way we have to make selections.  Unless we are a pretty sophisticated media consumer, we may end up gravitating to those media that has mass appeal which caters to the lowest common denominator, the shock and awe type.  As a result we may lose what is vitally important stories and programs that could be found in the elite press like the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Christan Science Monitor, etc.

Some argue that the corporate structures themselves because of their ownership and since they depend on advertisements limit the range of news, opinions, and entertainment.  This has some validity, but there is a catch twenty one concerning this.  How else can it be hoped, that the public will have independent editors if the media is not privately operated?  Even under conditions like these, established media have been known to give into government demands not print information if national security is involved, e.g., troop movements in Iraq and Afghanistan.  By omission what we get then is misinformation.  But we have to ask ourselves, “Is this necessary?”  How does this jive with “the people’s right to know?”

The Role of Mass Media

The mass media in a democracy is meant to empower its citizenry so that they may be savvy voters.  Through the ballot they will have the power to select those individuals from the president down that they consider up to providing the best representation in Congress.  There are however those critics that are concerned about a shrinking market place since the debut of the U.S. Telecommunications Act of 1996 that opened media coverage and led to more conglomerates.  Because of such action it was believed there would be a decline of a more informed citizenry.

Most mass media experts in the United States will readily admit that the main goal of the media is to make a profit.  They have to please their stockbrokers.  Some argue that there are other objectives like those promulgated in the tenets of journalism at most newspapers and broadcast stations.  One of such major focal point is to be objective.  But of recent, TV outfits like CNN, FOX news, and MSNBC have been staking out partisan positions on the political spectrum.  No wonder there is misinformation, with a concentration, of what we hear, on the media in a shrinking market place.

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The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights exalted freedom of information, free expression, the right to hold opinions, and to impart them.  In the United States despite an abundance of media there seems to be concern about misinformation and how well its citizenry can make use of information from media to sustain its democracy.  Since the 1996 Telecommunications Act, more conglomerates have further complicated this situation by shrinking choices to Americans.

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