Spurious media will eventually fade away
“The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” said Malcolm X, the African-American Muslim human rights activist back in the sixties.
Freewheeling social media is just that and it has been concurred by several studies, the latest being Majid bin Jaafar Al Ghamdi’s book released at the Riyadh Book Fair in March this year.
Consumption of information by social media users has reached a record at 96 per cent Al Ghamdi says. This can be an exaggeration, but it could also easily be the reality in the Arab world. Certain Western studies have pointed out that 70 per cent of social media content is cut and pasted, plagiarised from ‘traditional’ media, as some call it.
No one can deny the fact that media plays a major role in shaping public opinion, even though it is often prone to criticism. But, it is the freedom that media enjoys that allows it to modify its content and move on the right track. A ‘civil media society’ should subtly lay down the rules. Societies have become careful while dealing with social media, especially after it was revealed that the information on such channels are unverified and could be untrue or inaccurate. A discerning society, thus, pushes away unethical media from its midst.
When that happens, some suspect media houses escape to the West to open up TV channels or launch a newspaper or weekly magazines for the ‘Arab market’. Such unprofessional media organisations accept funds to promote an agenda that is often politically
Some observant newspapers have dealt with these ‘seditious’ media outlets and have brought to light the false information and thoughts propagated by them
motivated and endeavours to weaken societies. They have a political agenda which serves the interests of some countries that tend to incite secession and hatred.
These organisations have taken advantage of social media platforms to get through to people and gain credibility. They play with people’s emotions and trust and call themselves nationalist, left wing or liberal media, but carry a hidden Muslim Brotherhood agenda to create trouble in society. The wheels of such media revolve on false information, and take advantage of political and economic chaos to achieve their goals.
Regretfully, some readers follow such reports because of the shock value. Some observant newspapers have dealt with these ‘seditious’ media outlets and have brought to light false information and thoughts propagated by them.
Thankfully, the real intention behind these media outlets in the West have been revealed. They only serve the dangerous agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood which calls for societal and political upheaval.
To make matters worse, these fake institutions hack sites of professional newspapers and create fake websites. In some cases, they even use the same name and design.
I am sorry to say that some journalists have joined these seditious institutions. Certainly, they will vanish once their real intentions are uncovered. But society needs to be careful, and people should be aware of what is being disseminated through social media platforms.
Our national media outlets have checks and balances in place. They know the difference between fact and fiction and remain the real media. It is a ‘tradition of trust’ that sets them apart and makes them appealing in the social media age.