By: James – Pelangi Kasih
Media is now the most popular aspect in people’s lives these days. It, in its core definition, is basically a way to mass communicate with other people, making Media the most vital aspect in the advancement of civilization. As the world is getting more digitized and globalized, the influence of Media over the 7 billion people on this planet keeps on increasing. Therefore, I truly believe that if a certain group of people can control the Media, they are the ones who are actually in control of the whole world.
According to its definition, Media is the one aspect in this world that can persuade, even manipulate, the target audience without them even realizing about it. Such feat is made possible by the invention of Subliminal Message, which sends a certain message directly to the subconscious brain of the target. This practice has been around for a long time, from the political strategy that Hitler used during his propaganda campaign to brainwash the Germans into supporting him and the Nazis up to the cigarette advertisement that is always being represented by manly figures to plant an idea in the subconscious mind that smoking is cool.
In addition, there is practically unlimited access to the world for those who control Media. It can dominate the world with brand new ideas that can actually affect the rise and fall of a civilization. The one who controls the Media can influence many people, or even countries, to move toward the direction that they see fit. Media can be used to topple a government from top to bottom by spreading hoax or implement false evidence that can affect the reputation or integrity of the leader of a country. Media can steer the direction of people’s perspectives, or even implant a new worldview regarding a certain topic in the political world that the favor of the people may shift into the one who actually control the media.
One might argue that Media is not real power, as history has stated that the ones who are currently controlling the world are actually the superpower countries with a great amount of nuclear warheads or advanced weaponries. One might say that, even though Media is really valuable in terms of its function to influence people, it is like a child’s play compared to the raw power of military strength like the United States or Russia.
However, raw power will not be beneficial if it is not steered properly toward a target, and one can only do it by controlling the Media. The very essence of Media is communication, and without proper communication for the micromanagement between the departments of a government or society, there will not be any order for the advanced weaponries to have the desired effect in controlling the world. Media is not merely just the entertainment that people watch on TV or video games that teenagers play in their gadgets. Media is all about communicating messages in the most effective way, and without a high-level of intelligence as well as communication control, one will not have any hope in controlling the world.
Therefore, controlling the Media is the ultimate way to steer the world into the direction one wants. Media is the single aspect in this world that has the power to change people’s worldview and gets away with it. It is the most powerful aspect in people’s lives, and yet, it is easily accessible by almost 7 billion citizens of the world; and that is the sole reason for making media both refreshing and terrifying.
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