Stop Allowing the Media to Think for You.

How manipulation, misinformation, and emotional narratives shape your thinking—and what it takes to regain control.

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If You’re Not Questioning the Media, You’re Following It

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Media is designed to drive engagement—not clarity

• Emotional content reduces critical thinking

• Disinformation often blends truth with manipulation

• Most people react to narratives instead of analyzing them

• Control comes from questioning, not consuming

You’re not just consuming the news. You’re being conditioned by it.

I’ve spent decades inside newsrooms and on national broadcasts. I’ve seen how stories are built, how angles are chosen, and how quickly “what matters” becomes “what leads.”

Here’s what most people don’t understand: The biggest decisions in media aren’t about truth. They’re about priority. What leads. What gets buried. What gets repeated until it becomes accepted fact.

And I’ve watched it happen in real time.

Take, for example, the 2020 election cycle, when misinformation about voting fraud became a major narrative for certain outlets. Some high-profile news personalities and pundits repeated baseless claims so often that viewers took it as gospel. But the damage wasn’t just done to public trust; lawsuits followed, involving millions of dollars in penalties for broadcasting false information. FOX, Newsmax and OANN led the way in perpetuating lies, then being forced to admit their crime against journalistic integrity.

If that doesn’t scream “fact-check before you repeat,” nothing will.

Another rampant level of fraud was perpetuated in the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought about a wave of “miracle cures” and conspiracy theories about the origins of the virus. Some public figures, including the then-President of the United States, jumped on the misinformation bandwagon, sharing unverified “research” with millions of followers.

The result? People worldwide believed in treatments that were not only ineffective but sometimes dangerous. Being duped into believing these “cures” likely killed more people than it saved. The Ivermectin lie still stands as a testament to junk science and people being conned into believing something with zero basis in real study.

Finally, take the QAnon conspiracy theorists, who built massive online followings by spreading bizarre theories. Followers became so invested that they alienated family members, lost friends, and even risked jobs to defend their belief in the cause. All the while, the conspiracy leaders were cashing in on their newfound fame, selling merchandise, taking donations, and in some cases, organizing costly events. It’s a painful reminder that some people genuinely profit from public gullibility.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about process. And the process is broken. Because when speed outruns verification, and engagement outruns accuracy, the audience doesn’t get informed.

It gets influenced.

Here’s the part that should concern every executive, every leader, every decision-maker:

If your understanding of the world is being shaped by incomplete, emotionally driven, or algorithmically filtered information, your decisions are being shaped by it too.

That’s not a media problem. That’s a leadership problem. Strong leaders don’t outsource thinking. They challenge inputs. They look for what’s missing. They recognize framing before they accept conclusions. Because once you start accepting information at face value—especially in a system designed to hold your attention, not earn your trust—you’re no longer leading.

You’re reacting.

And in business, in leadership, and in life, reaction is always a step behind reality.

So, allow me to share 5 simple points that will insure you never allow the media to do your thinking.

1. Use search engines for more than shopping lists: This is the simplest starting point. Go to your favorite search engine. Type in relevant words to what you’re seeking, such as “Ivermectin COVID-19 cures facts”. The key word to use is “facts”, or “truth”, Check under the main search heading and also the “News” heading. You will be flooded with verifiable facts every time.

2. Search for credible sources: If a story sounds suspiciously shocking, see if reputable news organizations are reporting it. Use major outlets like Reuters, BBC, or the Associated Press, which are known for their rigorous fact-checking. Many of those will come up in your initial search.

3. Cross-check dates and data: Often, misinformation will twist data from an old event to make it appear relevant. Make sure what you’re seeing actually corresponds to the event being discussed. Search engines will provide the dates of publish for their results.

4. Use fact-checking sites: Websites like Snopes, FactCheck.org, Media Bias Fact Check and PolitiFact are excellent for quickly debunking viral stories. If a fact-checking site has labeled something as false, it’s worth questioning before sharing. I can already hear groans from some claiming these sites are “filled with partisan lies” or some such nonsense. No, they’re not. Their information and methods have been verified time and time again.

5. Examine the source: Look at the profile of the person or page sharing the information. Are they an expert in the field? Do they have a history of posting extreme or unverifiable information? If it’s a random account with no credentials, think twice. Also check the website and/or page the information is on. It’s easy to create a URL and site that seems legit, but is often another misinformation standard.

For example abcnews.com.co uses the ABC news logo, but readers will notice stories that are less than credible, no publisher information, and links that do not work. The “.co” at the end is the first major tip-off what you’re reading is concocted misinformation.

Despite easy tools for fact-checking, disinformation persists because people enjoy hearing things that confirm their biases. Confirmation bias makes it tempting to accept information that reinforces what we already believe, no matter how outlandish it might be. This bias drives engagement and keeps disinformation circulating in a vicious cycle.

Worse still, there’s a certain laziness that comes into play. Why check when it’s so easy to share? But by not checking, people risk damaging their credibility. Once you’ve shared a piece of misinformation, you’ve labeled yourself as unreliable in the eyes of more discerning followers.

So stop asking, “What’s the story?”

Start asking, “What am I not being told?”

That’s where real awareness begins.

The problem isn’t that information is everywhere. The problem is how little of it is actually questioned.

Because when you stop analyzing what you’re being told—You don’t just lose clarity.

You lose control.

And in a media-driven world, control is everything.

Learn more about how to think clearly, communicate powerfully, and control your narrative at Ed Berliner Speaks.