Manipulation of Facts by TelevisionOne of the primary activities Americans participate in during their free time is watching television. Since its invention over sixty years ago, television has been a source of entertainment and information for the American citizen (Pember, 1981). But what you see on television is not what you should always believe. Many people watch television with the attitude "the camera never lies" and are easily manipulated by this medium. People are manipulated by television because most television programming is controlled by a small number of companies, this is a major source of information and people too often trust what they witness in the media. Because television is controlled by an oligolistic market, the few companies that control television programming are able to benefit from great selectivity and will not put something in the news that would harm their business. The media is also capable of manipulating people because television is one of the main sources of information in this country; from local news to news-related magazines like 20/20 and Dateline. These programs show a very limited view of the facts due to time constraints and company-wide biases (Kaufman, 1998). And many people don't question what they witness on the news, which can be very damaging to their knowledge of the facts. These three causes promote a society in which the media many times have the upper hand in directing people's decisions, and therefore in manipulating society as a whole. In the modern age, with cable and satellite television there is a wide range of programs to choose from. A television connected to the latest technology can receive over 200 channels. Many pe......middle of paper......dia significantly influence many of the decisions we make in our lives, and the media has learned to control how American citizens think and behave. It's no wonder that what we see on television is called "programming." Works Cited Bagdikian, B. (1983) The Media Monopoly pp. xv, 4, 187 Kaufman, R. (1998) "Review of Jerry Mander's Four Arguments For The Elimination Of Vision" available online: http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/Mander, J. (1977) Four Arguments for the elimination of television Review by Kaufman, R. available online: http://www.netreach.net/~kaufman/Mann, J. (1982) "What TV is doing to America", Impact of Mass Average pp. 25-27Pember, D. (1981) Mass Media in America pp. 178, 181Stevetwt (1998) "Media Watch" available online: http://www.infoasis.com/www/people/stevetwt/Media/media_watch.html