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Media Brainwashing

How It Is Done

By Iria Vasquez-PaezPublished 4 years ago 3 min read
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Whenever an anti-vaxxer friend of mine posts rude things about how vaccines cause autism, I’m reminded that vaccines do not cause autism. It is impossible to correct somebody that brainwashed, if only because they truly believe what they have been told. College teaches you to think for yourself. Some of these people lack a college education since college teaches one to think for themselves. Having met people on the autism spectrum, I’m now more aware that autism has genetic causes. Autism is something you are born with, not made into. I’m just a neurotypical schizoaffective according to Community Health Awareness Council’s psychiatric evaluation. I’m just an ordinary schizophrenic, in which case, we will be moving on to what fake news is. Our current climate has people brainwashed into believing that normal media outlets that criticize are fake news. Well, there is such thing as the tabloids, which are pretty much fake news.

Fake news is defined as propaganda, worthless information, the DC Gazette being an example of a fake news website while CBS News is a legitimate news website. I took some journalism classes in college, throughout my college years, so I know what reputable media sources are. https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/dont-get-fooled-by-these-fake-news-sites/. Yes, Russian propaganda has influenced our election processes in the United States and yes that really did happen. Misinformation may make 36 percent of 6,000 American college students lack confidence in the media that is presented on social media outlets. All media is something kids today do not trust. https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2018/study-fake-news-is-making-college-students-question-all-news. Young media users are on guard about everything news-related. Students today need to cross-reference any news they read with other sources just because of how misinformation spreads easily. When my friends post anti-vaxxer news media, I wonder at their mental health because much of the anti-flu vaccine stuff is really out of line. The flu vaccine is something that is safe and effective. You do not necessarily get sick from a vaccine, you get sick from the actual flu. I’d rather not get a flu this year, so I got my flu shot. I also got my adult MMR, which is why I decided to post about it, to see who was anti-vaxx.

I found one who was babbling about how the CDC has a cure for diabetes that they do not release to the public. This is just plain old paranoia. It becomes utterly ridiculous. Most students in today’s college environment get their news from social media such as Facebook. Real news is honest news. Real news relies on research and fact-checking. Any online news source needs to be credible although an example of news that is not credible is anything written by Alex Jones. Back in college, I read way too much of his news which got me paranoid, or was that my half-treated schizoaffective talking? Now that I’m treated and functioning on the same wavelength as others, since I go to bed early these days, I’m able to process what is fake news and what is real news without the infiltration of paranoia. Students today have trouble telling what is an ad and what is an actual news story. Kids today want to hear the truth as much as the next person. A journalist’s responsibility is to tell the truth. The truth is necessary because yellow journalism is based on a lie. Journalism is about objective reporting based on factual evidence. Good interviews matter, because the writer is responsible for presenting facts. The accusations that the media brainwashes people is not something someone sound of mind would make only because media brainwashing takes hold easily if you let it through by not questioning the validity of the news source.

Works Cited https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/dont-get-fooled-by-these-fake-news-sites/ https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2018/study-fake-news-is-making-college-students-question-all-news/

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About the Creator

Iria Vasquez-Paez

I have a B.A. in creative writing from San Francisco State. Can people please donate? I'm very low-income. I need to start an escape the Ferengi plan.

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