What has more power: The government or Media?

[RDK]

Yes, everyone is just a sheeple except for the smart people intelligent enough to read blogs

Yeah we smart people we read blogs, drink at Starbucks and go to state uni's

Which is the whole point. The media only has power over you if you let it. It's not the media's fault for brainwashing people; it's people's fault for being stupid and allowing themselves to be brainwashed by ridiculously biased sources *COUGH* FAUX NEWS *COUGH*

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

Media controls more of what we think about during each day, as well as what we wear and what we buy, etc., whereas the Government controls what we can and cannot do. Therefore since they control different aspects of our lives, they cannot really be judged against each other as to how much they control us, or how much power they have. They have power in different ways.

 

[noodles]

id say the government has more control

 

[OffTheChain]

Control is a strong word, I'd say influence and in that case it is the Media. Feds try to control and it never works well but the Media is what we rely on to get our information on most everything, its only natural they are the dominant of the two.

 

[Surri-Sama]

id say the government has more control

Care to explane why?

 

[noodles]

because the government can force you to do things while media cant

 

[Surri-Sama]

because the government can force you to do things while media cant

The media can but on another level.

The media forces things on people without them knowing...so its less obvious.

I'll use Disney again.


Disney comes out with their new superstar "Canonta Playa Musik" right away they have say, 20-30 million people that will watch everything this new band is a part of, will buy countless things with their name/ face on it, and for what?

Disney forces you...or at least the people around you to spend money on things that if you thought about it...youd never buy.


Who needs Hannah Montana tealights? (My gf apperntly >_>)

 

[gringo66]

as far as control goes in my opinion, the government. as far as influence and persuasion, the media...

 

[gringo66]

The media can but on another level.

The media forces things on people without them knowing...so its less obvious.

I'll use Disney again.


Disney comes out with their new superstar "Canonta Playa Musik" right away they have say, 20-30 million people that will watch everything this new band is a part of, will buy countless things with their name/ face on it, and for what?

Disney forces you...or at least the people around you to spend money on things that if you thought about it...youd never buy.


Who needs Hannah Montana tealights? (My gf apperntly >_>)

disney is not forcing you to do anything. It is the people who make the choice whether or not they want to go to that particular event. persuasion and control. Disney persuades. Government controls.

 

[Eor]

Which is the whole point. The media only has power over you if you let it. It's not the media's fault for brainwashing people; it's people's fault for being stupid and allowing themselves to be brainwashed by ridiculously biased sources *COUGH* FAUX NEWS *COUGH*

To be fair, I was being sarcastic

 

[Surri-Sama]

disney is not forcing you to do anything. It is the people who make the choice whether or not they want to go to that particular event. persuasion and control. Disney persuades. Government controls.

Your right, i did missword what i said.

Regardless of control vs persuasion (which i dont think it is because to pursuade someone is to make them think something specific while people who buy disney stuff just buy without being convinced...) both show power...i just think media has mroe of that power

 

[Aesir]

To be fair, I was being sarcastic

ditto to this.

I thought I gave it away when I said Starbucks.

 

[Lord Viper]

I hope you guys remember that the government can create media and destroy it at the same time, like how they can able to do that to our money. Media only has power when people give it more power, the government has power with and/or without people giving the power.

 

[Surri-Sama]

I hope you guys remember that the government can create media and destroy it at the same time, like how they can able to do that to our money. Media only has power when people give it more power, the government has power with and/or without people giving the power.

This is true, but irreverent to the question.

Sure the government and create, destroy, AND they don't need the people to do it, but the media does need these things...and they have them...very easily in this country and the USA. ...and I do figure else where too but, I'm mostly speaking for Canada and US.

People are so blind they are WILLING to give media such power...it takes the responsibility away from them.

 

[~Peachy~]

Obviously, the media has much more influence on the people than the government does. If the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, and some other famous celebrities told the citizens of the United states to hate the President, guess what will happen? Those crazed teenagers/kids/ wacky adults will either stop worshiping the that celebrity(more unlikely) or they will start hating Mr. President too. That doesn't even require an explanation.

But the government has much more power than the media in terms of brute force. A few military tanks can bring Hollywood to the their knees in a few second.

Although..... the media is a big money maker for the US. Without it... the United States goes down money-wise. This may prove that that government relies on the media.... much like a puppet and a puppeteer. The government seems in control...but the media is the one who's really pulling the strings.

 

[ElemMasterZeph92]

I hope you guys remember that the government can create media and destroy it at the same time, like how they can able to do that to our money. Media only has power when people give it more power, the government has power with and/or without people giving the power.

Very true, because media can only get the people's opinion while the government can decide whether to go along with the people or to determine things by itself.

 

[SmashCentralOfficial]

The government has more control. No media outlet can force you to do anything, while the government can.

The media has more influence, however. It can shape your perceptions and your wants and needs in a far more effective way than the government ever could.

Unless you consider the power of persuasion a form of control.

I agree with this, but then again, you have power if you can persuade people, correct?

It's a paradox. They influence each other. The media can change people's views and thus elect people to the government through persuasion and influence, so that the media really becomes the one in control, or the government can shut up the media through the law.
It just seems to me that whoever takes advantage first is the one who ends up winning.

Exactly. Both Government and Media are both immensely powerful. Heck, politics use the media to advertise their campaigns!

A lot of Obama's campaign was media-based, unintentionally, for example YouTube videos.




I believe in the paradox. They both have power, I wouldn't say it's exactly equal though. In the end, if the government needs to they can just shut up the media through the law.

Ugh. I've basically contradicted myself multiple times already.

 

[ElemMasterZeph92]

In a way neither one is stronger because both want to help people and greatly affect our economy. So in my book both are equal but have different ways of fighting for the people.

 

[aeghrur]

Media does not help the people. It shapes the people.

 

[KING BRISKET]

The government has more control. No media outlet can force you to do anything, while the government can.

The media has more influence, however. It can shape your perceptions and your wants and needs in a far more effective way than the government ever could.

Unless you consider the power of persuasion a form of control.[/Q]

I agree. The media can only persuade you to do things through advertising/hype. The government can pretty much make you do whatever it wants, it just doesn't choose to throw its weight around all the time. Also, the media has the power to drag an individual's/group's name through the dirt and damage their reputation. However, the government has the power to completely take someone off the map.

 

[RDK]

To be fair, I was being sarcastic

ditto to this.

I thought I gave it away when I said Starbucks.

In any case, my point still stands.

 

[The 5th Horseman]

I'd have to say the government. The media can't force you to do anything but can put ideas and fears in your head if you let them. On the other hand, the government does do same thing but they CAN force you against your will.

Fear the all mighty government! (Constitution and amendments don't count)

 

[SilentFalcon]

The media is the most powerful force we have. Propaganda leads an entire country to believe anything, while a government is only as powerful as the people leading it. If something is seen enough times, it can become true in our minds.

Just look at Cuba. If you go there, it looks like a terrible tormented society, based on authoritarian Communism. But the people there say their lives are wonderful, even though they are stricken with poverty, have little to eat, no luxuries, and hookers run amok.

Government can't make you think that's good. If Fidel Castro said "we are an authoritarian dictatorship, and taking away your money. You wont be completely poor though!" People would kill him. But if media can supplant the information as a good thing, in the minds of the people, they are content with their sad lives.

 

[ElemMasterZeph92]

Media does not help the people. It shapes the people.

I meant that the media are informing the people to keep them up to date with society. Sometimes the media has their own agenda which can be good or bad, they just want to get a story out.

But I still side with the government because they are the only ones who can bring about change.

 

[l3lue2ain]

The goverment has more control over the people than realize. Think of the media as the the voice of the goverment it may seem like its freedom of speach however its simply relaying ideals that the goverment wants to be heard. For example do you think that the goverment shares projects and thing that they have been working on for years with the people. No... but every now and then they'll let something slip out which they don't even care if the people know about.

 

[manhunter098]

The goverment has more control over the people than realize. Think of the media as the the voice of the goverment it may seem like its freedom of speach however its simply relaying ideals that the goverment wants to be heard. For example do you think that the goverment shares projects and thing that they have been working on for years with the people. No... but every now and then they'll let something slip out which they don't even care if the people know about.

You mean like Fox News? Thats really the only news station I think that really relays the ideals of the government, the other stations tend to go with the views of the people.

 

[RDK]

I find it incredibly sad that my parents will c0ckride Faux News up and down the wall, but when it comes to MSNBC or CNN (which isn't really that liberal at all; I'd say it's the most balanced of the three), to anyone with eyes they're filthy socialist hate machines that do nothing more than espouse liberal philosophy and make Republicans look dumb.

 

[Aesir]

You mean like Fox News? Thats really the only news station I think that really relays the ideals of the government, the other stations tend to go with the views of the people.

During election night I watched fox news. Because on election night there's one area it's unbiased of.

Third party numbers. No other news station covers their votes but fox news, for that they kind of deserve some respect.

News stations aren't run by the government, usually though they're run by corporations that's not to say there's no true in what the media tells but there is a bias when it comes to certain issues that are talked about in the media.

 

[~ Gheb ~]

The media, no doubt. People elect what the media tell them to elect. The media has huge amounts of influence on the government, especially their election.

 

[urdailywater]

When you're branching out things, the power starts with the media, and is slowly given to the government almost completely.

The media is the source of knowledge for most people in America, be it T.V., Internet, etc. (I wouldn't count Internet a huge source, it's new to people still)

The media tells us who we should vote for and what we should vote on.. meanwhile while the government takes power they take much more control over the country since they ARE the ones officially in control.

The media is what pretty much got the government to be what it is today because of American stupidity, if that makes sense.

The media is the influence--the government is the control.

 

[SMBEffect]

I would side with the Media on this one. Although the government may be more powerful than we think, that doesn't take away from the fact that the media is awful powerful. I'm not sure you can say that the media directly tells us who we should vote for, because they always try to make themselves appear neutral, however, as fans of these stations know, over time it's easy to see just how much they can lean towards one political side.

In addition, the media is obviously having an impact on the people. I'm sure most people leaned that with the rights we have as Americans, we make a lot of decision. Now, we may or may not hold the power we think we do, but in the case of politics, we can impact the future of this country. So, it's easy to see how the media's impact on the people can ultimately lead to the government. The government gains their control when we allow them to. When we give them the power, we can make our decisions based on what we see off TV, hear on the radio, or read on the internet. If you don't make decisions for yourself, the media can easily persuade you one way or the other.

 

[SwordmasterXXXI]

The media has more influence. No one is going to listen to the goverment if they say"You should all go buy Nikes!"

 

[B0mbe1c]

Yes, I have to say the media definitely influences what people do and buy.
For example, the media will persuade you to donate to charities, while the government has no say about any of those things.
In terms of power, Government > Media because they have the ban-hammer.

 

[~Infinity~]

Try thinking of it this way: the government screws up we revolt, and uprise. The media screws up you turn the tv off, see where I am going with this?

 

[Lord Viper]

The media has more influence. No one is going to listen to the goverment if they say"You should all go buy Nikes!"

It really depends on the influence, is it a good influence or a bad one? Plus, the goverment can able to influence voters by doing what they want him/her to do like helping the peoples financial, or build new homes for those who need them, etc.

 

[Ref]

The media has more power because the government can only set laws. The media can change the way you think or feel about topics.

The government didn't change the way people feel about illegal things. Generally the illegal things are illegal because they are seen as morally wrong by the people.

The media makes you feel certain things based on stories and headlines you read. If you hear about winning the lotto, then you feel like you should try because it is possible to win. Now the media just influenced your thoughts, no matter how many times you say that only you control your own thoughts, the media will affect your thoughts.

 

[urdailywater]

Try thinking of it this way: the government screws up we revolt, and uprise. The media screws up you turn the tv off, see where I am going with this?

Wasn't this a topic about the power of the government/media..
I can kind of see where you're going with this.. but even then, the government tends not to screw up so badly where we revolt or anything. Even then, the topic is about who has more power..

It really depends on the influence, is it a good influence or a bad one? Plus, the government can able to influence voters by doing what they want him/her to do like helping the peoples financial, or build new homes for those who need them, etc.

This is definetly true, but you don't often see these kind of things, and even then we're told about these things THROUGH the media (or most of us..) who can twist things around and make it sound better or worse. But with your example it's still hard to twist something like that..


Also, my Lit. teacher brought up a good point about when she was in Europe for college. This could be false info, but this is her testimony about the rally's.

Appearently some of Europe was going insane during the time of 9/11 and the declaration of war President Bush made. She attended rallies (although probably didn't support them) and other types of peace movements where Bush would be labeled as a type of Hitler figure, thinking of him wanting to start World War 3, and this was most likely told THROUGH the media.


Whereas in America -- you have people supporting Bush with the war (although not anymore, mainly because of our troops..) -- and this is because we were JUST attacked. I'd definetly not sit there and do nothing about it.

 

[~Infinity~]

What i meant was, the government can lose support and power depending on how the public smells it. The media can quickly clean up thier mistakes, and still appeal to the general public. The government does not have as much power as it used to, simply because it have "bad air". The media have many different arms. So when one arm is injured another is in high heavens.

 

[illinialex24]

Government as far as creating enacting and forcing stuff upon us. However, the media has a much stronger effect at changing public opinion.

 

[Mith_]

Government as far as creating enacting and forcing stuff upon us. However, the media has a much stronger effect at changing public opinion.

If the media can cause healthy people to think they are fat because they see a super skinny model on television, then I'm sure it can change people's opinions on other things.

It almost changed my opinion about the runoff election he had he in GA Tuesday.