Often, information is poured onto us from television screens, tablets, computers, through radio receivers, even outside our conscious desire. The dependence of a modern person equipped with the latest devices on the media is undeniable.
The value of the media to society
It would seem that if there are many information flows and they are diverse, then this should contribute to the independence of judgments that help in the development of public opinion. Which, in turn, is the engine of a high-quality, progressive movement along the path of education, economy, culture - i.e. human evolution.
However, the events of recent years challenge the ancient assertion that "who owns information, he owns the world." Because the world is often owned by false propaganda information created for a larger segment of its consumer.
Although, in fact, to own the information to the fullest, that is, to find various independent sources for your own analysis and development of a point of view is quite simple today: you just need to go on the Internet and ask a question in any search engine, and then go to several sites with a good reputation by visiting popular bloggers along the way.
But it turns out that a modern person, even experiencing an information hunger, depending on the daily need to absorb information, more and more often does not want to analyze it - to spend himself looking for alternative points of view. And he does not want to do this, not so much to save time, as out of fear of disturbing his psychological comfort.
Thus, a certain paradox was born in modern Russian society: modern media depend on a modern person who is hooked on information from the media, but does not want the information consumed to conflict with his expectations. Therefore, most of the consumers of the Russian media are satisfied with the censorship introduced by the state. Such a situation is called zugzwang: when there is something that does not exist, this situation is hopeless and inevitably leads to a regression of society.
Media as an attribute
Once the Russian media could claim the proud title of the fourth estate. But due to the aggressively introduced censorship, at present, as in Soviet times, they can only claim the role of a daily necessary attribute - like a toothbrush, a woman's handbag or a dry closet.
On the one hand, the role of the media has remained the same - they continue to influence public opinion and mass consciousness. But, on the other hand, they no longer express the real social interests of Russian society.
And, meanwhile, without this attribute, the life of a modern person is unthinkable, since even a weather forecast is information obtained from newspapers, the Internet, radio or television, and not as a result of popular beliefs, as it was before the appearance of the media. Moreover, the external modern world is so changeable and, at times, unpredictable that even for those who are only interested in the weather forecast, sports or stock quotes on their favorite information resources, independent media are needed in order, for example, to conduct an interesting and make your vacation comfortable.
