Public opinion as an object of manipulation through mass media

The paper provides a structural analysis of public opinion as a social phenomenon. The paper deals with the problem of manipulative possibilities of modern mass media as meaning-producing institutions that actively influence the formation of public opinion. The mass media influence all of its structural components. The cognitive method forms the information field, when the affective method affects the emotional sphere. The value-based method is carried out by influencing the attitude to certain events by forming a system of images and value orientations. The volitional one is done by maintaining and forming social stereotypes and attitudes encourages (pushes) to certain actions. It is summarized that the problem of manipulating public opinion in the context of self-determination and individual freedom in the context of hidden media influence has no unambiguous solution. On the one hand, the uncritical mass of citizens is ready to be manipulated in an effort to simplify their lives. On the other hand, the scale and improvement of technologies of manipulative influence of the media do not remove responsibility from the individual who has the free-dom of choice in decision-making, who is able to critically perceive and analyze information.