So I'm writing my dissertation on media manipulation. vaguely I wanted to discover, with reference to UK Murdoch print publications how the media manipulates its content and consequently their audiences.
I've researched news values for content construction, sociological perspectives of media construction, marxist, pluralist and functionalist perspectives and their views on audience interpretation and participation, the historical perspective of Machiavellian manipulation and also researched Chomsky's views on agenda setting. I've matched these to some quotes about how Murdoch runs his businesses and how he came to be a media mogul, and what makes him stand out from the rest, usually for negative reasons. And now, I need to write it up into a concise piece of academia.

But in this search for answers i was listening to music and heard the lyric "we're sculptured from youth, the chipping away makes us weary, as for the truth it seems we just pick a theory" and it made me wonder, are we not so much manipulated by the media in stages, but are we born into a theory that is chosen for us, and is constantly reinforced.

At sixth form, being in sociology and being a Tory was a questionable affair. The teachers claimed to be teaching us impartial information, facts of which we could make our own mind up. Yet they were very obviously of the Labour political leanings, and preached about inequality that stemmed from our current Conservative Government. There was no balance to what they taught. Has education, much like religion or media, become a biased institution, are our theories chosen for us in more than one way?

Despite preaching socialist propaganda, as i saw it at the time, the teachers were still endorsing capitalism and and still endorsing the 'work hard achieve more' lifestyle choice. so is this pre-chosen for us?
the right to education seems like a blessing but is it? education on the terms of our prevailing ideology? with tests set out by prevailing governmental system? to achieve jobs who's rights, pension, wages are set out to serve capitalist values of worth? financial worth above all?
do we seek escapism in media and do not realise we're being manipulated by that? do we think we know we're being manipulated by media chosen for us in the papers but forget the evils of tv news? do we know our 'villains' (Murdoch) but think other media is impartial? do we think education is impartial? do we really think that it enlightens us to all the facts and religion is a biased institution, one of a kind?

As i'm getting further and further into this dissertation i'm seeing that print media is a 'known evil' but there is secret manipulators that people really over look. we're even manipulated into knowing what is manipulating our opinions. i just think its important that you're all forewarned. i know its exhausting to constantly be on the 'what is this trying to make me think? and what does it want me to avoid thinking?' guard 24/7 but please don't take everything at face value.

A friend of mine, in argument recently proclaimed about terrorism what he saw as fact. it took over an hour to educate him that YES what he was regurgitating is accurate to what he has read and so it appeared as fact, but its a manipulated one sided view and when dismantled wasn't the actuality of it. a grown, intelligent man was brain washed into thinking the news was a fact. so much so he couldnt even understand the news within the news. the 'inception' of the content. that was a very scary moment. people need to become a little more active in their media consumption.

just a thought like.