Truth in Advertising ... Not for Politicians
Politicians need to be accountable for their messaging
Historically the media has offered vital information regarding all sides of important social or political issues to educate the public. The “Media” is how most people gain their knowledge and form their own opinion about what is going on in the world around them. In today’s world people have access to and are inundated by world-wide media coverage twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and three hundred and sixty-five days a year. The media does a thorough job informing society of all its ills; seemingly affording the receiver enough information to objectively weigh and synthesize the message so they can determine the value of what is said. Or do they?
The average American has relied on and trusted newscasters to provide relevant and timely information regarding the world around them. Prior to television people would gather around the radio to listen to the news. Just how much the public believed in what was aired by the broadcaster became quite clear in the fall of 1938 when Orson Welles broadcast his version of H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.” John Jenkins, Department of Psychology - University of Maryland, conducted a study regarding the mass panic that ensued during and after the broadcast by many listeners, “Newspapers the following day carried accounts of local panics complete with choked telephone switchboards, harassed police forces, and fleeing citizens.” He went on to state, “In general the study shows that those who were frightened were those who failed to make adequate cheeks on the veracity of the performance. Education and economic standards are shown to be conditions of the failure to check, both being positively related to the "critical ability" which is found to be the most important variable related to the panic reaction.” Unlike past eras of news shows, today’s newscasts are full of sensationalism and bias, yet a significant percentage of the public still believes the information the media is telling them is factual, as well as fair and balanced.
When listening to the “news” it is important to understand propaganda. Propaganda techniques are the methods and approaches used to spread ideas that further a cause. The rhetoric in propaganda is used to appeal to the reader’s emotions (pathos), logical reasoning (logos), and/or ethics (ethos). Today’s headlines represent differing viewpoints on any given issue. It is important for the audience to decipher the rhetoric used to persuade them that the information they are receiving is fact. The audience needs to utilize critical thinking skills to investigate what information has been omitted. Understanding who the author of the story is and what they will gain or lose by an issue is the main key when listening to information presented as fact. The Supreme Court’s Decision in “Citizens United” created an even more convoluted mix regarding who is behind the messages in political advertising.
There are laws in place that prohibit advertisers from making false claims regarding their products or services. Unfortunately, the same laws do not apply to political advertisements or to the media regarding their coverage of political issues, events, etc. The Foundation for Critical Thinking takes an interesting look at the average citizen: “Most people are not interested in having their minds broadened. They want their present beliefs and values extolled and confirmed.” It only makes sense that the media would play on this trait and put a “spin” on information so that it plays to a certain audience. These “half-truths” are used frivolously during political campaigns to make opponents look bad to the viewer.
The media is failing its public by executing the rhetoric that the public refuses to recognize. The anonymity behind political campaigning only adds to the problem of being able to discern between opinion and fact. Until political messages are forced to conform to the same laws set forth in the Truth in Advertising Act, the public will continue to be denied the information that would allow them to make informed decisions during an election.
The Moral of the Story:
For the sake of our democracy, research the candidates and issues you vote for. If not, we are screwed.