“Whether it has come from a clearer world and is confused by the unaccustomed darkness, or whether it is dazzled by the stronger light of the clearer world to which it has escaped from its previous ignorance." Plato, 'Book 7- The Allegory of the Cave', The Republic, trans. Desmond Lee (Penguin: London, 2007), pp.241-245

Plato is saying that the cave has light and dark patches where information can be seen and cannot be seen. He is also stating that this is how the media operates and this can manipulate information we see.

“[A] Painter can paint a portrait of a shoemaker or a carpenter or any other craftsman without understanding any of their crafts; yet, if he is skilled enough, his portrait of a carpenter may, at a distance, deceive children or simple people into thinking it is a real carpenter.” (1)

This simple quote helps explain how the media in modern culture can influence the people’s minds even if the information is false or skewed.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best. They’re not sending you, they’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists… And some, I assume, are good people.” Donald Trump quotes like this were brought to light during the recent 2016 presidential election and used to help Hilary Clinton campaign her cause. However the media in the United States tended to use these to his advantage and get him more publicity as it lead to his other views which the American public felt very strong about (immigration and patriarchy).

This is similar to the UK’s Brexit campaign as being patriotic and immigration laws were pushed to the less educated people in the country and lies were fed to them to only be turned back upon “We send the EU £350m a week. Let’s fund the NHS instead.” This money was promised by what seemed to be strong ‘leaders’ of the Leave campaign. The media then plastered these lies across all publications and the public latched onto the idea of being promised a new Ferrari and now they claim they merely hinted at a used red Renault Clio.

This brings me back to the point of the cave.  A lot lies behind the front face of the media, which a lot of people don’t notice. Sometimes it’s the information it’s self, which is skewed. But it’s the medias responsibility to publish this information and the way they word it makes a lot of difference how the public views the information and how relevant it is.

1. Republic X, 598b-c (Penguin p. 340)

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jocelyn-greenky/trumping-office-politics_b_9623144.html

3. http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/06/how-brexit-campaign-lied-us-and-got-away-it