Prompt: Topic: Whoever controls the media also controls opinions and attitudes of the people and there is little can be done to rectify this. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Some people argue that whoever have power over the media could manipulate people's thoughts or feelings, and efforts made to correct this would mostly be in vain. While I agree that being able to alter the media bring enormous authority, I do not agree that this problem can not be put right. Ċ On the one hand, in this era of information when most people follow the mass media to get information, one who directs it certainly have great influence. They can have ultimate control over what is published or broadcasted and what is omitted. Moreover, they can also add a certain prejudice or bias to their coverage of certain news stories depending on their own feelings about the matter. For example, often in war, the winning party seizes media, re-writes history and sugar-coats it. Similar behavior can also be observed in cases when big companies try to defeat their opponents through propagandas in mass media. Ċ However, I disagree with the idea that we can not manage this problem. In most countries, the media industry is regulated by laws. For example, the Freedom of speech, recognized in international and regional human right laws, prohibits censorship of belief, opinion, truth or fact. Additionally, people themselves can point out faulty information. An increasing rate of bias media breeds public skepticism, people know that they have to take what they read with a grain of salt and raise their voices when confronted by media dictatorship. Often on the Internet, for example, we can see blogs which counter-attack falsifies on the press or broadcasting channels. Ċ In conclusion, although one could have important privileges to influence public opinions from media control, I believe people are aware of those effects and have measures to resolve this problem.