Because They Can

(Week Ten "Agenda Setting")

As our lecturer quite aptly put, the media sets agendas "because they can" (Redman, 2012). Considering that the media influence not only what the audience is thinking about, on the first level of influence, but also how they should be thinking about it too, on a second level.
Concerning the media setting family, it is actually frightening the amount of control the media has over the minds of the audience. With media gate keeping, the choices of what the media chooses to expose, and with media cutting, the choices of what is not represented in the media, the media has the power to purposefully promote a message, otherwise known as media advocacy.
Which is basically another word for propaganda.
I'm noticing now that an awful lot of how the media is portrayed contributes to propaganda in some way or another. Not everything can be revealed in the media and not every thing hidden, so under what criteria is there a selection on what the audience need to know and what they don't as the power to make these decisions is the power to control the decisions consequently made by the audience.
As a journalist, or anybody responsible for media and communication, the necessity to remain neutral and not become propaganda is a responsibility that must be upheld for the liberal values in democracy to be expressed.
I still cannot see myself being able to make these decisions but for better or for worse, I will have to and hopefully I will make the right choice.
At least, most of the time.