Is it true that the average American will believe what they hear in the media without question or research?

Question

Sorry, this question got deleted completely by me and not paying attention to what I was doing. I am asking it again.

Answer 1

Not anymore.

Answer 2

Yes

Answer 3

Judging by many of the questions put forth in YA, I have to say yes.

Answer 4

Probable most people believe everything they here, but I think it probable has something to do with age. I don't believe everything I hear but probable more than I should.

Answer 5

Yes.

And one problem is that all media is biased because it is all written by someone who has an opinion. Most journalists have a hard time being completely objective and just telling the facts. Even if they only tell you the facts, they might only tell you the facts they want you to hear.

The majority of our main stream media sources (tv, radio, and the web) are owned by 7 huge conglomerate companies who have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

Source: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2003/04/475...

They use distractions like Britney Spears and brain-washing techniques to tell us their side of the story only.

For example:

Go to the Council on Foreign Relations website ( http://www.cfr.org ) and type in "North American Union" into the search bar. Look at some of the speeches and papers, particularly the ones by Robert A. Pastor, and you'll find that they are working toward merging the U.S. with Canada and Mexico in an EU-style North American Union (NAU).

This group is the real power behind our government. The CFR has 100's of the most important people in our country (and others), mainly politicians and wealthy corporation owners. Some people say they want one-world government, some say that's just a conspiracy.

One thing is for sure, the larger media networks all have members in this organization.

If you look at the policies they are implementing in our country and around the world, and you think about how sneakily they are pulling off this NAU thing, I don't think there can be any other conlusion other than they are trying to erode our sovereignty and get rid of the U.S. altogether.

By the way, Hillary, Obama, McCain... all CFR shills.

See, so you really don't have a choice. How can we afford more war? How can we afford national health care? We can't. They are tanking our economy on purpose, devaluing our dollar in order to introduce us to the "Amero", one currency for the entire North American continent. (That's why oil is so high... it's NOT... the dollar is so worthless.)

I'm not crazy, and I'm not making this up. Look around, you'll find the evidence. This is exactly how they did it in Europe. It took them about 50 years in Europe, starting with simple trade deals (like NAFTA). They are moving faster over here.

They've already taken away our right to privacy, our right to a fair trial, and our right to free speech. I'm hoping that people will wake up and will rise up when they try and take away the only right we have left, guaranteed by the 2nd ammendment... the right to bear arms.

When they try to take our guns, they will have to pry mine from my cold dead fingers.

Oh, and you can give me all the thumbs down you want. I know you will, because you are all voting for one of the 3 evils. But if you do some investigation, you'll find out I'm right. They are tanking our economy, and Bush has already signed many agreements with Mexico and Canada. Source: http://www.stopspp.com/stopspp/ WAKE UP PEOPLE. They don't tell you this stuff on the idiot box.

Like I mentioned earlier, our main stream media sources are all owned by the same large international corporations. They all have a vested interest in more war and globalization. That's why you don't hear about the North American Union on the news. If you know about it, you might try to stop it, and they just can't have that.

Use the 'net. Investigate things on your own. Take everything you hear/read with a grain of salt and work to form your own opinion.

Answer 6

Sadly, it's true.  First we are distracted by the latest Brittney Spears scandal.  Then news is processed into easily digested bits for the masses to shallow whole.  

We live in a great country, where we are free to pursue our rights and privileges and yet, we let others think for us.  Our forefathers are turning in their graves.

Answer 7

Yes but I would say its not only the average American but the average person

Answer 8

I would say, more or less.  Less so if it's said by a prominent Democrat or someone the public perceives as a "liberal".  Also less so if the person saying it belongs to a less trusted class, such as lawyers, or is identified as being part of a religious minority.

Answer 9

Sure, if they trust their news source.  If the same information comes from 4 or 5 mainstream media outlets, you can pretty much bet the farm on its truth.  If you read it on a blog or an E-mail and no mainstream player carried the story, you can pretty much bet on its mythical qualities.

What is sadder is all of the Americans that believe every E-mail that is forwarded to them.

Answer 10

Unfortunately that is true. They place great faith in TV news anchors without stopping to think that those anchors belong to the same trade union as David Letterman and Jay Leno. I think they need to add two artifacts to the National Press Building in Washington. The first would be a statue of the late comedian Red Skelton in the persona of Clem Kaddidlehopper. Emblazoned on the base would be Clem's favorite saying: "It just don't look right to me".

The other would be a sign which hung for over five decades above the desk of the managing editor at the Chicago News Bureau:

"The first rule of good reporting: If your mother says she loves you, check it out!".

Here are a few examples of bad reporting and bad fact-checking which have assumed "gospel truth" status within the conventional wisdom of the mainstream media:

1. George  Bush violated the law by permitting warrantless electronic surveillance.

WRONG! It was first made legal in Executive Order #12949 signed by President Clinton in February 1995 and was made a part of the statute books through Section 314 of Public Law #107-108, enacted into law in December of 2001.

2. Our military operation against Iraq was based on lies concerning the presence of WMDs in that country.

WRONG! The reasons for our military offensive were laid down in Public Law #107-243 enacted into law in October of 2002, months before we began the offensive. Scant mention of WMDs among the reasons listed in that law. The reasons were almost a repeat of those contained in the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (Public Law #105-338).

We swallow the conventional wisdom nonsense of the media because we fail to recognize that most of them are graduates of university-based schools of journalism and have come away from academia only with the talent of reading and writing press releases.