Biased and manipulated information is a violation of human rights.
When a person chooses not to know about the things that are happening around them, it is as if they do not exist. And societies sometimes act like people, which is why journalism is one of the most controversial professions in any society: because it has the vocation to uncover secrets, to disclose wrongdoings, to emphasise precisely those issues that some people prefer to shy away from. Journalism is a powerful resource for breaking down the barriers that limit human freedom, but like any instrument of power, it can also be capable of acting against that freedom.
At all times in history there have been forbidden subjects; so too, those charged with the function of reporting have been involved in the traditional game of competing interests. To understand the inevitability of the process, it is necessary to refer to the basic structure of society, which divides its members into small power groups and large subordinate groups.
A simplistic view of this situation leads us to conclude that in order to control a community, it is enough to dose information and manipulate it to the convenience of the ruling groups, since it is precisely there where the key to maximum power lies. This fact alone determines that any critical issue or issue capable of provoking social tension must be controlled as part of the social and political game, as it is an ideal vehicle for silencing the consciousness of some and numbing the rebellion of others.
The evolution of the media, however, has made it increasingly difficult both to hide information and to ignore it. At the same time, however, it has encouraged the creation of alternative focuses of interest to distract society. This has led to the accelerated development of the appropriate technological resources to concentrate power in ever smaller circles, and through this sleight of hand, society has become progressively more and more individualistic and less involved with the issues that affect it.
Thus, while the public believes it is receiving what it considers to be a universe open to all currents of thought and provided with all the means to obtain information, on the other hand it finds itself subject to the manipulation of that same thought by small groups capable of controlling the sophisticated mechanisms of opinion management.
The most terrifying aspect of this panorama is the way in which the importance of issues is conditioned according to the convenience of some sectors; issues that are of the greatest gravity for the future of a society, such as feminicide, gender discrimination or the lack of knowledge about reproductive health that affects girls, adolescents and adult women, lack serious treatment as a result of mistaken information policies. The responsibility for this silence does not point to the weakness of fearful and ignorant communities; the burden of failure really lies with their leaders.
Shocking figures printed in documents of official but restricted circulation paint a medieval picture of death and desolation. The consequences of the lack of information and the mountain of prejudice that threatens the lives of millions of human beings make this silence as criminal as that which seeks to hide the reality of thousands of girls and adolescents who, due to neglect, become the propitiatory victims of a patriarchy charged with violence, prejudice and ignorance.
It cannot be ignored that our current passive behaviour will have a direct impact on a situation that sooner or later will end up affecting us all. The solution to most of society’s great ills is linked to an educational process that favours the opening of communication channels to put an end to ignorance and stop burying our heads in the sand in order not to know. It is precisely the media universe that is responsible for breaking the barrier of intransigence and fear that has been imposed, as a general slogan, in large regions of the world; and from there, to fulfil the informative/educational role that corresponds to it by nature.
To end hunger and underdevelopment, it is necessary to end ignorance.
