The use of information graphics is vital in media particularly in news and documentaries. I am always been interested by the courage of the media in giving consumers series of visual images to enhance a better understanding. I truly appreciate that they uses this images to make me understand the message being delivered. However, studying rationalism in philosophy has enhanced my skeptical believe on what I see in order to find certainties .Thus I always question that it might be made easy for consumer to understand through the use visual graphics but it is also easier for the media to manipulate visual graphics to make audiences support their agenda. The purpose of writing this journal is that I want to argue that visual graphics particularly statistics can be easily manipulated, thus deceiving our perception of the truth.
Jonathan Evans in his tilted book “ Bias in human reasoning stated that “Human beings have the fundamental tendency to seek information consistent with their current beliefs, theories or hypothesis and to avoid the collection of the potentially falsifying evidence”.( Evans, 1990 p.41).
Media biases sometimes uses information graphics to lured audiences into what they want them to believe, leaving no freedom for audiences like us to question and to interpret the meaning by ourselves. Statistics that are often presented in a form of graphs serves as a powerful weapon to persuade the public by giving empirical evidences that seems indisputable. Media is always been a powerful deceiving device to the public, they have their own agenda to be presented to audiences. They are what I call the evil/demon who has manipulated our perception just like what Descartes has mentioned in his second meditation.
Alex Fisher in his book titled critical thinking stated that “statistics are evidence expressed in numbers. Such evidence can seem quite impressive because of the numbers make evidence appear to be very scientific, often do, lie. They do not necessarily prove what they appear to prove”. (Fisher, 2001).
News or documentaries certainly uses information graphic to support their proposition. This might not seems wrong on showing evidence to justify their claims. But when evidence itself is being manipulated, the whole information given to the audiences are deceptive, the evidences are all lie. Consumers can no longer see the truth. Here is the example of a mass persuasion made by information graphics, using statistics in a form of graph.
News or documentaries certainly uses information graphic to support their proposition. This might not seems wrong on showing evidence to justify their claims. But when evidence itself is being manipulated, the whole information given to the audiences are deceptive, the evidences are all lie. Consumers can no longer see the truth. Here is the example of a mass persuasion made by information graphics, using statistics in a form of graph.
The former American vice president, Al Gore in his documentary called "an inconvenient truth " uses a graph which is already been manipulated in order to raise the public concern of environmental issues and global warming. This graph is not real it is being manipulated to support his agenda on raising concern of environmental issues. The classical American hegemony of a powerful Al Gore has lured millions of viewers into believing that the graph shows the whole truth. His biased reasoning has made the documentary an instant hit. Viewers think that he is the all American hero without any doubt that he is in fact a liar. He claims that within less than 30 years the carbon dioxide concentration will increase and the world will be in danger of global warming. Knowing that viewers will never question the credibility of his graph, he has manipulate it to raise the public concern of global warming.
In conclusion, it seems that information graphics seems to be used for media for a better understanding but there are some statistical facts being manipulated to support their agenda. Information graphics doesn't always show us the whole truth as the media plays a vital role in deceiving people's perception. Human agenda has interfere the portrayal of the truth, something that are design to make an easier understanding for communication has turned into a deceiving communication.
References:
Evans, Jonathan St-B.T.( 1990) Biased in human reasoning. Lawrence Earlbaum Association Ltd Publishing. East Eussex.
Fisher, Alec.(2001). Critical thinking. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
References:
Evans, Jonathan St-B.T.( 1990) Biased in human reasoning. Lawrence Earlbaum Association Ltd Publishing. East Eussex.
Fisher, Alec.(2001). Critical thinking. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
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