Mob Mentality! Well. No. Not Really. More Like News Mentality.

As I was reading Amusing Ourselves to Death, one of the points the Postman made really struck me. In the middle of Chapter 7, Postman states that people do not really form their opinions on any given incident they see on the news, but, instead, they form emotions. I find this completely true. I mean just think back. How many times have you or a family member yelled at the T.V. saying "THAT'S ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!" but no nothing more than what the news anchor presented? I know I have. If this has happened before, then you or your family member were able to react to the news, but only through emotions and not opinions.

A better, yet tragic example of this would be the public's reactions to the disaster of 9/11. The news presented the public with the facts that these terrorists were Arabic and part of a group called Al-Qaeda. Perhaps the reporters failed to emphasize that these terrorists were just extremists and do not reflect all Arabic people. But ultimately, the images of the 9/11 terrorists were immediately stamped onto the foreheads of millions of Arabic-American citizens living in the U.S. resulting in violent or discriminating hate-crimes.

Will we ever be able to zoom out and look at a situation as a whole and develop OPINIONS rather than just emotions? I fear not because as Postman says, T.V. only presents fragmented pieces of information. Something from which we cannot for a real opinion from because we will always see just one side to the story. I would like to hear more opinions on this matter. Do you agree or is there a way for the public to develop opinions rather than just emotions?