User:Ryan Lazar/War

The Media is the fourth estate of society, meaning they play an important part in influencing political policy decision making. Their role is to convey information to the public. They also use a filter system that controls what information is discussed and what is left out. This then results in them being able to influence the public to either support or be against conflict. Within this system, the consent of the public can be manufactured to allow for special interest groups to pursue their own goals while making the conflict appear to be beneficial to the public. This puts the media in a position to effect wars, and ultimately the way they choose to act is dependent on what incentives there are for them to support or be against a given conflict. In recent history it has been seen in polling data that people can be convinced under false narratives to gain the majority support for war.