One of the powerful aspects of media is the fact that it allows so many varying view points. No matter the subject, one can typically find either very hot or cold opinions and interpretations. In a sense, this can be taken negatively because we might always be receiving biased information. However, these different interpretations are somewhat necessary with all the mindsets that roam throughout our world.
When looking at nearly any news, the difference in opinion is extremely evident. Let’s take a look at a recent noteworthy event, Trevor Noah taking over The Daily Show. This past Monday, millions of viewers tuned in to watch South African comic Trevor Noah’s debut as host of The Daily Show and expectations were high as he took the place of Jon Steward.
The following morning reviews and articles filled the internet and the contrasting opinions were everywhere. The New York Times, for the most part, praised Noah for keeping The Daily Show DNA and having a rather good debut episode. Although, if you look at other news outlets like Deadline you’ll see a rather negative view point touching on everything from his stage presence to how his jokes fell flat.
Opinions can also fall somewhere in between, but when looking at this example a reader who may not have seen the debut could be influenced either way instead of having their own true opinion. This isn’t necessarily always a bad thing because certain interpretations target certain people and thus they feel as though they are being understood or their voice is being heard. However, it can be a tad overwhelming to see all the conflicting ideas and certain people may not know what to believe or think.
The example of The Daily Show debut is rather simplistic, but it demonstrates a bigger message that can be seen amongst many news stories and even outlets. Obviously, getting information from Fox News is going to be extremely different than receiving news from MSNBC and these contrasting outlets will ultimately influence a person perception on daily life events.
I challenge anyone to start taking a closer look at where they are getting their news and how they are interpreting it. Does your news outlets correlate with your everyday beliefs? Does it correlate because you target the outlets that are similar to you, or has that outlet transformed your thinking? Begin to take these two questions into consideration and see how much of an influence media’s differing news interpretations have on you.