THE MASTERPIECE OF MEDIA MANIPULATION
In any democracy, a free and fair media is necessary. One that is controlled and manipulated by the powers that be would not only hinder but also hide political transparency. As such, politicians and organizations can use rhetorical and media manipulation to simulate the political virtues of transparency.
Our MSM is not as free as some claim or think. The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 is the sword of Damocles that indirectly controls news and media organisations as they require the annual permits issued by the Home Ministry to continue publishing which the Home Minister may “in his absolute discretion revoke or suspend such licence for any period he considers desirable”.
MSM can be fertile ground for a self-proliferating culture of scandal. We can see how stories about political strategy, political infighting, political scandal and the private lives of politicians tend to be more popular than substantive policy questions until they eventually dominate and weed out other forms of political information and public discussion. Subsequently, the MSM then influences public discourse.
Theoretically, MSM can make the political system more ‘transparent’ by:
a) helping people understand the operations of government
b) participating in political decisions
c) holding government officials accountable.
