this a positive or negative situation? (Positive or Negative)
Newspapers wields control over the public’s world view and thoughts due to how common their presence is in our daily lives as well as its utilization of languages and words to convey certain messages. This is a negative as this can undermine the independence of thoughts of the readers, who will be more reliant on such sources of news.
News is an inherently important part of society, due to its presence in daily life. From study to work. News update markets’ situations and outlooks, political shifts and changes, diplomatic news, scientific breakthroughs to audiences around the world to help readers to catch up with the outside world. Furthermore, due to the prevalence of newspaper in daily life, publishers can insert certain words or phrases to frame stories or news to deliver a certain agenda to readers in a subtle way.
This negatively influence individuals’ independent opinion, as the dominance of newspapers in life means reader are completely dependent on them to receive information of the outside world, which in turn substitute independent thinking and logic to newspapers agency, who will now have the capacity to fully influence and control the public narrative, which can polarize society and publish misinformation. One example is the outbreak of COVID-19, where news agencies claimed the disease was not transmissible through the air at the start of the pandemic and it was not a lab leak, but after the death of millions and economic growth for 3 years, it was finally revealed the virus has the ability to spread through the air, and news agencies were found to attempt to cover up the fact it was a lab leak.
In conclusion, newspapers agencies have great influence over how people think due to the prevalence and necessity of news in daily life, which lead to people forfeiting their logical function to consume the news.