Do we put too much trust in the mainstream media? I'm an avid believer in the saying "don't believe everything you read or see on tv" especially at this day and age, but as I've become older, wiser, and more aware, it's become increasingly clearer to me.
Over the most recent weeks the biggest stories in the media have been ISIS, Israel/Gaza, Ebola, and recently the Mike Brown/Ferguson/Police Brutality news. All of this stuff has been plastered all over the news so over the past couple of weeks or so I've been studying to see just how sensationalist the media actually is.
For example:
This story of the man being tested for Ebola in NYC initiated a frenzy and instilled fear into millions in the area and across the United States... Turns out, his tests came back negative (as expected) and you didn't hear another damn thing about it.
Another:
Friends of Officer Darren Wilson have been speaking out on his behalf to tell his story of the Mike Brown shooting. NONE of them were there, but are instead telling his account from (I'm assuming) his own words or it could just be complete fabrications and lies to sway public opinion. Media outlets are reporting their words as facts; however, actual eyewitnesses (some even having video footage) are being questioned.
In the same regard, we could use the tape released of the late Mike Brown acting in a strong arm robbery moments before he is shot down and killed. This robbery had NOTHING to do with why Brown was confronted by Officer Darren Wilson ultimately leading to his demise, but it was released... Why? To persuade the masses that Mike Brown wasn't the innocent boy that we had initially perceived and that it isn't that hard to believe that he could've been the possible aggressor in the incident.
Ultimately Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and whoever the hell else sometimes don't know **** or are often reporting hearsay and some people take their words as golden. I feel like the media plays a big role in how we perceive certain situations, countries, people, races, etc. and it's all because they have certain agendas they want to push. Unfortunately, we fall for it.
Do you feel like mainstream media has too much power?
TL;DR Version: If I were to believe everything I saw on tv I'd think there were mostly jungles in Africa, that "African" was a language, and that all Africans lived in huts with wild animals in their backyard. 
