Today, news media is continuously expanding. With apps like Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook, it only takes a few seconds to upload a video or picture to the Internet. Breaking news is now covered faster and spread amongst millions in just seconds. Society has not fully adjusted to this abundance of technology (how could they when it advances every few months?) and often fails to realize the power that comes with technology.

For centuries the media has been used to sway society’s perception of people and events. One of the first newspapers ever created was developed solely to destroy the reputation of the British soldiers in America. And it succeeded! In the process of reaching its goal, many lives were lost in events like the Boston Massacre that unfolded. Although libel laws are now in place today, this just goes to show the power the media really has. Centuries ago, it only took a weekly newspaper to create distrust and fuel the hatred in society that lead to a massacre. This is one of the many times the media has taken advantage of their power.

Two more distorted newspapers were created in the late 1800’s and the aftermath was even more fatal. Half the news they released was twisted in order to appeal to buyers, but nonetheless, it worked. They both became the most circulated newspapers in America and as a result, the nation was in complete political turmoil and ended up going into the Spanish-American War. Historians have said the war was completely fueled by media and would have never happened otherwise. The Spanish prime minister was even convinced the newspapers of America had more power than the government.

If newspapers over a hundred years ago had that much power over society, think of the power today’s media has. The power of media has reached a new high. When a tragedy takes place today, society has the ability to immediately release their own news on social media, often with less enterprise which can be dangerous. Whether that is a video or just a statement, the official version of events is becoming more important as a result.

The leading news topic for media is crime and is often why people get tired of watching the news. In fact, Pew Research Center says crime is discussed twice as much as any other subject on local television. This does not even account for the amount of crime-affiliated news covered on social media now. It is easy to be consumed in negativity when the news has such a large focus on crime.

Although it seems there are more police shootings this year than ever before, there actually is not. There is just more coverage! Today, anyone with a cell phone is able to update their social media with the latest news. And that is just what they do. When witnesses are present, they often tend to record what is taking place in front of them. This has shown true with the most recent police shootings like Alton Sterling. A live stream on Facebook was even created shortly after the Philando Castile shooting. Social media is bringing rapid light to news we may have never heard.

While the media has America convinced the number of police shootings is high this year, statistics prove otherwise. According to Cop Crisis, a website for brutality statistics, the number of Americans killed by police officers in 2014 was 1,297 and 1,307 in 2015. In 2016, the number is at 609 and we are over the halfway point of the year, so the number actually seems to be decreasing. If the number of brutalities continues at the same rate it has the last six months, the final numbers for 2016 will be around 1200. With this being said, the number of lives lost has not increased within the last three years.

For every negative story out there, there are several positive stories that are just not shared. I am NOT justifying the lives we have lost to police shootings, but the media can easily create hatred and division in this country; it has before and it will again if we allow it.

Please, do not let the media fool you. America is a better place than the media leads everyone to believe.