The role of the media in shaping public opinion

Abstract. The article is devoted to the study of the influence of mass media on the formation of public opinion. The problem of the ability of mass media to influence public opinion and change it in accordance with the set goals is considered. This article can be useful to anyone who is interested in the mass media and in general the processes taking place in society in the modern world.

Keywords: mass media, modern society, public opinion, problems of modern society.

In the modern world, the mass media occupy a significant part of our lives. Whether we want to or not, one way or another, we still face the media environment. As you know, any information received from the outside can influence a person to one degree or another. And since the media present the same information to a huge number of people, and everyone is affected by this information, then, consequently, the media are able to influence public opinion. This determines the relevance of our article.

To begin with, it is necessary to understand what the mass media is. These are institutions created for the open, public transmission of various information to the audience using special technical means.

Public opinion is formed by the formation of public consciousness. Social consciousness is a reflection of the attitude of people to each other and to the surrounding world in the process of people's attitude to reality. Thus, public opinion is a state of public consciousness that includes the hidden or open attitude of various social strata to the problems and events of reality.

The media, through its influence on society as a whole, affects each person in particular, thus forming a certain set of identical emotions and states in society. In the modern world, the use of methods of subconscious influence is often found in the practice of the media. In this case, the attitude of society to certain phenomena of the surrounding world is formed by means of stereotypical ideas that are embedded in the news stream, automatically causing in the mass consciousness either a negative or positive reaction to a particular event.

Initially, one of the main tasks of the media is to promote various types of information that should have a positive impact on society. However, in the modern world, more and more often this propaganda is aimed not only at forming the culture of society, but also at instilling any ideas in society. Being under the influence of suggestion, a person does not control the influence directed at him. Propaganda for many years has worked out a large number of techniques for manipulating public consciousness, which are really effective and allow you to influence the mass in a certain way.

In the activity of modern mass communications, the former methods of psychological influence on mass consciousness are preserved, acquiring other forms under the influence of new social realities and placing emphasis on other aspects of public life; the use of new methods is spreading, taking into account the progressive changes in the states of mass consciousness caused by changes in social processes and phenomena.

Psychological methods of mass-communicative influence on the audience are quite diverse, but the main ones are the following.

1. Infection. It occurs as a result of uncritical assimilation of samples of other people's behaviour or opinions and is enhanced by emotional interaction of a mass nature.

2. Suggestion as a method of purposeful stimulation of the subconscious sphere of an individual, leading to a change in his behaviour according to a predetermined program.

3. Imitation as the reproduction by an individual of the characteristics of the behaviour of other individuals.

There are two main approaches that characterize the degree of influence of the media on public opinion. Proponents of the first approach argue that the media have a serious impact on society. Through the media, people have the opportunity to create and impose their own ideas, ideals, assessments, and classifications. In this sense, those who are the actual masters of the communication channels have a specific symbolic power.

Proponents of the second approach, on the contrary, minimize the degree of direct influence of the media on the audience due to a number of indirect factors. They claim that the media only gives a person some information about the world around them, without affecting their individual political preferences. And they have already been shaped by factors such as income, social status, or occupation.

Thus, it should be noted that both supporters and opponents of the significant influence of the mass media on public opinion argue exclusively about the degree of influence on the audience, while not disputing the very fact of the existence of this influence.