What makes an angry mob?

          Ochlocracy or “mob-rule” is often seen in the history books. As early as the Roman Empire where both the aristocracy and military were outnumbered by the populace of the citizens, they were to be fed and occupied in order to keep the rise and stability of the government. Mentions of oppressed masses were also seen in records but as the focus is often on the unequal distribution of power or abuse of it, the power of the “mob” is overlooked. Some may be unaware of how strong the masses could bend the will of the one in power. Like how The Salem Witch Trials were executed. Logic was over-ruled by the beliefs of the town’s people but what really does trigger an “angry-mob”? How does news spread like fire and reach hundreds in a short span of time? Leaving the past and moving forward to our technologically advanced century, mediation of information could happen in a blink of an eye.

          In the midst of poverty, corruption and exploitation happen in our developing country. Local media from time to time turns into a circus that entertains, amuses, awes and terrifies the rest of the world like a film. These same local media that claim unbiased news, loyal public service and credibility are the main streams of information that directly affect and manipulate the masses. As Debbie Lisle puts it in “[h]ow do we find out what’s going on?”, “[t]he information we get from it (media) is never neutral or innocent: it is always-always-biased”.  Yes, most of our countrymen believe everything they see on the local news, despite what logic suggests, the media could bend their thoughts toward a more fitting idea they desire. This is one of the consequences of our lack of education.

          As casted from Debbi Lisle’s article, “How do we find out what’s going on?”, there are two roles that the Biased Media plays: the mouthpiece that the Government wants them to be and the watch dog that the media would rather take on. The difference is illustrated in the “The Vietnam war” where it started to be the mouthpiece writing aligned the military policy but later on became a very critical watchdog of the US Government. This war was said to be the first television war. The Media had no restrictions taking footage every step of the way. This made the people turn against the war. Their negative reaction or what we could relate to the “mob-rule” affected the government in its activities. This in turn taught the US Government never again to let ends loose.

          The Media is a very powerful tool, already supported by the previous examples. Now there are two perspectives relating Media and Power as discussed in the same article by Lisle. First is the Pluralist perspective where the Media was believed to be simply the extension of public sphere in Ancient Greece. As the people receive the information, they debate about the issues of the day. The Media in this perspective serves as provider for public information and a watchdog on those in power. The Media is meant to keep the Government on their toes.  The Marxist perspective on the other hand entails that in our hierarchical society, the few people at the top are the ones who have power. They serve as a mouthpiece that the ruling class uses as a tool of persuasion; leading the public to believe that hierarchy serves everyone’s best interest.

     The power of the audience is viewed in the same manner as one in the Pluralist and the other in the Marxist. Pluralists assume that the audience takes the product driven by their values and consensus while the Marxists view the audience’s acceptance as molded by their culture, over-looking the elite power which the media replicates.

          Relating to audience reaction, Hall argues, Media messages are made up of codes that contain a number of possible interpretations depending on the receiver. The most evident position being taken by the audience is the Hegemonic position that when decoding, they accept the preferred meaning; blending well with their own political values. This tends to be idealistic especially when we have no personal experience to relate it to. Some may be based on movies that we later on discover are conflicts of the real deal. How then do we now read the media? Studying the Media proves to be important in decoding its real meaning and the information it regulates.

          As such, education is the best weapon we can use in classifying fact from fiction, reality from idealistic views and minimization from hyperbole.  There is more than what meets the eye.