The case of the Capitol attack is examined through the lens of the social sciences, which allows considering the event as people’s actions in a social environment. The analysis allows the evaluation of social relations, societies, and the reciprocal relationships between their members. The direct influence of television as technology on what happened is not absolute, as many factors took place. However, one cannot deny television’s informational, suggestive, and sometimes even psychological programming role in modernity, especially among the elder part of the community.
Many supporters of the 45th president, who was in control at the time of the first conspiracy theories about election fraud, witnessed those statements. Given the tendency of the public to emphasize its idols’ or leaders’ statements, any presidential statement is perceived as authentic by most of his admirers (Anderson, 2022). The first information that led to the event began appearing on television channels linked to Donald Trump back in November 2020 (Bond & Neville-Shepard, 2021). Incidentally, these statements themselves were accompanied by criticism of the other presidential candidates and almost directly accused the president’s opponents of future fraud (Bond & Neville-Shepard, 2021). Nevertheless, in the end, after many independent checks, such statements were proved to be incorrect.
The influence of the agenda shaped by television is significant on the behavior of society – many friends, acquaintances, and even relatives have clashed over disagreements caused by a political issue. It raises a very important problem – the bias of such technology as television (Warf, 2018). Many members of society are accustomed to believing the information they hear by default, and if this information is not objective, it can lead to negative consequences (Edwards, 2022). The event of January 6 is an example of such a situation, when people, contrary to the voice of reason, have been pushed to violate the law by exposure to unverified information.
Nowadays, the public takes a significant interest in sources of information that provide the most severe and shocking news without consistently verifying the source. In the wake of a general decline in favor among the population, this forces television to sometimes use incorrect and violent information to regain ratings or to be sponsored by politicians. Furthermore, it is why digital literacy and verification of any information that affects society is so critical.
References
Anderson, K. B. (2022). The January 6 Insurrection: Historical and global contexts.Critical Sociology, 48(6), 901-907. Web.
Bond, B. E., & Neville-Shepard, R. (2021). The rise of presidential eschatology: Conspiracy theories, religion, and the January 6th insurrection.American Behavioral Scientist, 00027642211046557. Web.
Edwards, E. B., & Esposito, J. (2022). Popular culture as an educative site regarding the January 6, 2021 insurrection: Grappling with complexity through intersectional.Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies, 15327086221094285. Web.
Warf, B. (Ed.) (2018). The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Internet. (Vols. 1-3). SAGE Publications, Inc. Web.