Public opinion manipulation in mass media

The current understanding of Media Literacy requires, among other skills, the media professionals and consumers to see the factual basis of any coverage and single out real facts in the constant flow of information. Massive amounts of information in mass media and social networks are tweaked and adjusted to influence public opinion and lead consumers to pre-programmed conclusions or make them act according to the manipulator’s plan. But media literacy allows seeing through the manipulative techniques, noting distortion of facts and information misrepresentation. This article focuses on the “instant” manipulative methods most often used in mass communication today.