The Power of the Media to Influence Public Opinion Essay

Police officers are an integral part of our society, they exist to establish and maintain stability and safety for the citizens which are in their jurisdiction. However, that great responsibility does not come without a downside, when people are given power there will always be someone who will abuse it. Our law enforcement staff is no exception to this rule; in 2010 there were 4,861 reports of police misconduct in the United States (NPMSRP). Police misconduct can mean anything from fraud or theft, to sexual assault or the use of excessive force. These are all fairly serious allegations and for many officers these are career ruining. Notwithstanding, there are also many police officers, like the police officers responsible for the famous†¦show more content†¦They came by the thousands. citizens of a nation on the rise, defying the lessons, drilled into them by state propaganda and the caution taught them by a century of bitter experience. On a cold January morning. in sleek sedans and battered taxi-cabs. on bicycle and on foot, they made their way past security checkpoints, refusing to turn back even when police snapped photos and recorded their names for the states secret files. Slowly they converged on a vast cemetery on the western outskirts of Beijing. There, in a small memorial hall, on a dais surrounded by evergreen leaves, lay the man whose death they had come to mourn, a man the party had told them to forget.(Pan 1) However, this did not bode well for the current government and thus the army was dispatched to deal with the peaceful protestors after declaring martial law on the country. This resulted in the eventual slaughter of 180-500 people and thousands more injured. (United States). This caused a political uproar among the world media. Per contra, there was no media coverage within China itself; the Chinese government endeavored to keep the events of Tiananmen Square as quiet as possible, so as not to fan the flames of revolution any further. The United States and many other western countries did not approve of this and in a United Nations meeting, publicly denounced the Chinese government’s actions as a â€Å"violation of human rights† (Luye). Political distrust ofShow MoreRelatedThe Media s Impact On Public Opinion936 Words   |  4 PagesThe media has always had a powerful impact on public opinion in Britain. With several different types and means of communication, such as TV, newspapers, social networking and radio, it is difficult for the public to not be even slightly impacted by the opinion of thousands that surrounds them every day. 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