It is often said that it is not easy to figure out which news is reliable and who is conveying information that is trustworthy. Some people might disagree with this statement because people usually want to share reputable news in order to listen to different opinions. However, I agree with the idea that information provided by people is not always credible because the output of information is influenced by a person's view and certain stories are told to draw public attention.
To begin with, some people provide information that is beneficial for them. As one might expect, there are various kinds of people who prefer certain interest groups such as conglomerates and governments. Therefore, these people avoid showing negative stories about them. For example, Jun Kim, one of my brothers has been a employee of KT&G corporation, one of the most popular cigarette companies in Korea, for five years. He pointed out a statistic to people around him that more than half of people are against a ban on smoking in public places. His statistic was different from the results of other surveys conducted that most people are in favor of banning smoking in public areas.
In addition, the information from news media is exaggerated to attain more viewers. It is commonly observed that the news media deliberately chooses stories that play on the audiences' fear and excitement. Thus, these stories are not about the average person but extreme cases the majority of which include violence. For instance, the Korean Daily Newspaper, one of the most influential newspapers in Korea, pointed out the seriousness of high school gangs last year. According to this source, gang members were threatening every single student and it was saying that any kinds of viewers were not exempt. As a result, most parents with high school kids read this article and quoted it to everyone they knew. In contrast, most students were safe as this was only limited to certain areas and schools.
In brief, the information is often affected by its speaker and these speakers want to deliver stories that can take advantage of people's feelings. This is why people should not believe in everything they hear and see.
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