Editing Reality (section)

=== Media ===
{{See also|#Personal and collective reality|#Belief studies}}
Media – such as [[news media]], [[social media]], websites including [[Wikipedia]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=McDowell |first1=Zachary J. |last2=Vetter |first2=Matthew A. |title=Wikipedia and the Representation of Reality |date=2022 |url=https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/50520 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |doi=10.4324/9781003094081 |hdl=20.500.12657/50520 |isbn=978-1003094081 |s2cid=238657838 |language=English |archive-date=2023-03-07 |access-date=2023-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307211432/https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/50520 |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[fiction]]<ref name="1999-02377-025">{{cite book |last1=Prentice |first1=D. |last2=Gerrig |first2=R. |chapter=Exploring the boundary between fiction and reality |date=1999 |editor1=S. Chaiken |editor2=Y. Trope |title=Dual-process theories in social psychology |pages=529–546 |publisher=The Guilford Press. |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-02377-025 |language=en |archive-date=2022-11-06 |access-date=2023-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106174032/https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-02377-025 |url-status=live }}</ref> – shape individuals' and society's perception of reality (including as part of belief and attitude formation)<ref name="1999-02377-025"/> and are partly used intentionally as means to [[Learning|learn]] about reality. Various technologies have changed society's relationship with reality such as the advent of radio and TV technologies.

Research investigates interrelations and effects, for example aspects in the social construction of reality.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gamson |first1=William A. |last2=Croteau |first2=David |last3=Hoynes |first3=William |last4=Sasson |first4=Theodore |title=Media Images and the Social Construction of Reality |journal=Annual Review of Sociology |date=1992 |volume=18 |pages=373–393 |doi=10.1146/annurev.so.18.080192.002105 |jstor=2083459 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2083459 |issn=0360-0572 |archive-date=2022-11-06 |access-date=2023-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106175534/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2083459 |url-status=live }}</ref> A major component of this shaping and representation of perceived reality is [[Agenda-setting theory|agenda, selection and prioritization]] – not only (or primarily) the quality, tone and types of content – which influences, for instance, the public agenda.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McCombs |first1=Maxwell E. |last2=Shaw |first2=Donald L. |title=The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media |journal=Public Opinion Quarterly |date=1972 |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=176 |doi=10.1086/267990}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McCombs |first1=Maxwell |last2=Reynolds |first2=Amy |title=Media Effects |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203877111-7/news-shapes-civic-agenda-maxwell-mccombs-amy-reynolds |chapter=How the news shapes our civic agenda and News Influence on Our Pictures of the World |year=2009 |pages=17–32 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780203877111-7 |isbn=978-0203877111 |archive-date=2022-11-06 |access-date=2023-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106174638/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203877111-7/news-shapes-civic-agenda-maxwell-mccombs-amy-reynolds |url-status=live }}</ref> Disproportional news attention for low-probability incidents – such as high-consequence accidents – can distort audiences' [[risk perception]]s with harmful consequences.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van der Meer |first1=Toni G. L. A. |last2=Kroon |first2=Anne C. |last3=Vliegenthart |first3=Rens |date=20 July 2022 |title=Do News Media Kill? How a Biased News Reality can Overshadow Real Societal Risks, The Case of Aviation and Road Traffic Accidents |journal=Social Forces |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=506–530 |doi=10.1093/sf/soab114 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Various biases such as [[false balance]], public attention dependence reactions like [[sensationalism]] and domination by "current events",<ref>{{cite news |title=How the news took over reality |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/may/03/how-the-news-took-over-reality |access-date=6 November 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=3 May 2019 |language=en |archive-date=6 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106174032/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/may/03/how-the-news-took-over-reality |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as various interest-driven uses of media such as marketing can also have major impacts on the perception of reality. [[Time-use research|Time-use studies]] found that e.g. in 2018 the average U.S. American "spent around eleven hours every day looking at screens".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gorvett |first1=Zaria |title=How the news changes the way we think and behave |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200512-how-the-news-changes-the-way-we-think-and-behave |access-date=6 November 2022 |work=BBC |language=en |archive-date=6 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106174032/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200512-how-the-news-changes-the-way-we-think-and-behave |url-status=live }}</ref>