Public informing / journalism
Public informing / journalism has the role of the eyes: It should help us see what may need to be seen.
REFLECTION 1 (Bias) It has been said "In a dictatorship, censorship is used; in a democracy, manipulation." What prevents renegade power to take control over the media, hence democracy? See and reflect on the documentaries Outfoxed and Manufacturing Consent.
REFLECTION 2 (Gestalt) And now the most central—albeit subtle—issue: What we are calling gestalt (the way we interpret a situation and choose how to act) is mostly implicit in the choice of the themes, tone of the voice, manner of presentation. We would recognize the scene of an accident even from a distance by observing the movement of the crowd. Is the gestalt that is implicit in today's media informing the one that empowers us to take care of contemporary global and systemic issues?
REFLECTION 3 (Economy of attention) Contemplate the following:
In olden days when people lived slow-paced, contemplative lives in small communities, every once in a while a hostile tribe would appear in the vicinity, or a fire in somebody's barn. Such events would demand instant attention of the villagers, and remain the subject of conversation for weeks or months. But today, in 'the global village,' there is always 'a hostile tribe' or 'a fire in somebody's barn' happening somewhere, which the media are quick to bring to our attention. The question is whether this is still a good way to use our attention?