Media Deluge: Can We Still Focus on What Matters?

Starting a new day with early news in the morning – A great way to stay in the loop! Then there are these two pieces of articles on the notifications: the one below details the deadly war in the Gaza strife; the one above, was somewhat more entertaining: a politician had made an outrageous, seemingly dim-witted, and unimaginable statement about taxes and investments. Then more and more similar content appears on one’s news feed – more nonsensical proclamations and attention-grabbing affairs. People grow detached from the cruel, war-torn reality, fueled by politicians and government behind our laughter and sarcastic criticism. Individuals are thus blissfully cocooned in the deluge of this virtual fabrication, away from the pressing matters of the world. Thus ends the day.

In this precarious, turbulent world, media deluge has grown formidable and elusive and irresistible. It is relatively an amazement that the world is gazing upon the agony in Palestine and Ethiopia, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the mass deportations in the USA. Then later, the world is indulging in immediate, more remarkable, and lowbrow content, as if the aforementioned plights never existed. The constantly shifting attention is a meticulous, sophisticated tactic by political actors to silence political awareness and minimize backlashes. The public is distracted, misinformed, and lost in the thread of events. Only then can they proceed with their constitutions and controversial policies without much contention. 

A look into Media deluge

Media deluge can be understood as a massive, overwhelming flood of news, information, and digital content that arrives all at once. Illustrative of this is none other than the streams of posts and videos constantly appearing on your social media platforms, buzzes of notifications of shocking news. 

Historically, censorship often works by restricting access through permits, print monopolies, and direct bans on unfavorable coverage. However, the monopoly is relatively shattered by the rise of social media and broadcasting where news sources and opinions diverge. A new tactic thus emerges: instead of hiding more information, bury it in more of it. 

Psychological Exploitation: Who is exposing who?

The unprecedented interconnectedness and rapid updates of social media offers an impeccable net of information bombarding. Among these tactics is none other than the leverage of confirmation bias, in which individuals tend to support information that consolidates their perception and disapprove deconstructing arguments (America Psychological Association). Regardless of the validity and authenticity of the news, what primarily matters to people is the grounds that the news provides for their perspectives. This alone is the first step to obscure objectivity in attaining current affairs. Slight subjectivity is sufficient to polarize people from the current threads of events and form biased conclusions – true to their opinion, but false in reality. 

Grasping these ideological conflicts that diverge from objectivity, politicians manipulate this veil of ignorance to publish countless tales and facts, all entangled. This smokescreen effectively diverts individuals from the present to focus more on their ‘righteousness’, covering up controversies that politicians have. False news is thus normalized and almost indistinguishable when Internet users have been sufficiently acquainted with biased, misleading content. The spread of false news is another possibility in thickening the smokescreen: individuals often seek out like-minded users to share news and information that galvanizes their own perspectives. Unknowingly, individuals are promoting misleading, false news to a wider audience that eclipse underlying controversies. More critical is the constantly working algorithms on social media that notices individuals’ news preference and behavioral patterns. The more individuals read and follow partisan news, the more similar news would dominate individuals’ personal ‘for-you-page’. The risks of ideological entrenchment and bias are heightened, which lead individuals away from the urgent issues that leaders are committing discreetly. 

With mushrooming and overwhelming streams of news, it is natural for individuals to rest. However, the brain’s memory capacity is forced to overwork the whole day to handle countless fast-paced data, sound alerts, and notifications of live news. Indeed, today’s volume of information published in a second is astronomical and exponential, but our brain’s capacity is limited and constant. Exacerbating this overload are sensational articles about political conflicts and conspiracies of unrest that trigger individuals’ sympathetic nervous system of flight or fight. Therefore, frequent exposure to content-heavy, sensationalized information, especially politics and global affairs, often leaves a person fatigued and anxious. Anxiety, once chronic, may evolve into emotional numbness to pressing matters and instill in people a sense of helplessness in handling excessive events concurrently. Facing this dilemma, individuals are more likely to be avoidant of important issues, opting for flight to alleviate their media fatigue. In a 2020 research by Pew Research Center, 66% of Americans were worn out by political stress. Meanwhile, in 2023, eight out of ten respondents avoided political conversations. Altogether, media deluge breeds individuals’ apathy and helplessness towards important global affairs that they would ignore to conserve their mentality.

Regrettably, politicians and government leaders often benefit from this dynamic. The increasing political apathy fulfills one of their goals of minimizing discussions and diverging opinions on their actions. With an increasingly disillusioned and disincentivized population, there may be less pursuit of objectivity and the current, objective threads of events. The media has bombarded these routes with excessive, multilateral affairs that dilute the impact and coverage of most issues of the day. Fearful, overwhelmed, and paralyzed, individuals may refrain from discussing and voicing against controversial matters to preserve their (1) mental stability and (2) feeling pointless and dispassionate in verifying truth amidst rapid falsities.

Such a complex psychological manipulation lends a convenient tool for politicians and leaders to perform contentious actions without drawing much objection and negative criticisms. While Internet users are preoccupied with arguing and cementing their viewpoints, unscrupulous figures are leveraging this blind spot to release controversial, unethical affairs seamlessly. With more people retreating from the political and global realm due to mental toils, increasing apathy breeds more opportunities for leaders to cover their wrongdoings and continue their actions. There is then little attention and vigorous opposition, and individuals are plunged in an intricate web of distorting, polarizing online content. Psyche overwhelmed, individuals lose focus on the wrongdoing and overreach of those in power. 

Evaluating Effectiveness: ‘A good day to bury bad news?’

The eponymous question above is derived from none other than the Jo Moore Spin Scandal in 2001, instantly after the tragic terrorist attack in the USA. On September 11, 2001, political adviser Jo Moore sent a memo saying “It’s now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury.”, sent to the transport secretary within half an hour of the strike of the second plane. While the amoral and apathetic remark incited public outrage, this leaked memo famously and thoroughly epitomizes the strategic communication of politics. It is a chilling revelation to the intricate manipulation of chaos and information overload to hide significant matters without public knowledge. 

For example, when the world was having its eyes on the 2020 U.S. election, what could be more important than the heated race between candidates and parties? Nothing could be more pressing than the fate of a prominent superpower under the control of one individual, who would then determine the global course, right? Beneath this all hid the demolition of  most of the village in the Jordan Valley, Palestine by Israel. The displacement of 73 people, including 41 children, was realized in only an evening of the U.S. Election day 2020. Virtually little attention was spared for this destructive force of Israel, for people’s psyche was too bombarded with election news and had little time for other affairs. “Everyone’s attention is elsewhere.”, quoted Amit Gilutz of B’Tselem, an Israeli human right group that opposes Israel’s policies and maltreatment towards Palestinians. Indeed, the media deluge from the heated, competitive election alone had monopolized individuals’ emotions, time, and attention. Moreover, the post criticizing Israel’s timing demolition by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh received only 49 shares until 2026. While a single post on social media may represent minimally, it is worth considering how an urgent image by an authority figure could be bypassed. This lack of response and indifference to other news works in the perpetrators’ favour. Since there is little to no dissent, leaders continue with their media tactics and face few consequences for their actions. Even when public figures voice their dissent, these voices are quickly drowned out effectively by individuals themselves and inescapable streams of news.

The Limits of the Deluge

Yet the same tactic that buried Khirbet Humsa is not invincible, and its limits are just as instructive as its power. This deceptive coverage cannot conceal the secret for long, when the suppression is so great that it backlashes. Occurring in Vietnam right now, heated on social media platform Threads, thousands of posts are resisting the news sweep to fight for justice. This virtual upheaval was a dissatisfaction with the incident where former National Assembly deputy Nguyen Sy Cuong caused a fatal traffic collision that led to a tragic death of an 18-year-old girl, who was about to take the National High School Examination in 2025. Despite the severity of the crash, no prosecution followed, and state media stayed silent.  With the last straw being removing 19 songs of a famous Vietnamese rapper in MCK to remove the last traces of the incident, social media users found out about this fatal accident. From July to August, Thread users uploaded over one million posts to demand justice. Vietnam's Culture Ministry, currently headed by Cương's own wife, has been asking Meta to remove or restrict Threads posts about the case. Yet, various forms of resistance stemmed from this outrage: people visiting the tree at the crash site to place commemorative flowers, continuously posting about the matter in codes and deciphers. 

Going against the current

From this current, widespread decry, media deluge is no longer insurmountable. This has been a paradox media deluge struggles to grasp: the same current that silences one controversy can, under enough pressure, reverse and expose another. Under extreme suppression, they may rise and bring the hidden, controversial matters to their deserving light to an extent beyond control. The deluge briefly loses its grip.

Then, can we focus on what matters? The flood will keep coming. The governments and social media platforms may never be lenient. However, we have our agenda, the autonomy to decide for ourselves: choosing what to follow, refusing to let outrage substitute for understanding, and pursuing the truth until the end. Whether media deluge sweeps away what matters is a question of what we choose to hold on to.