The media does not dictate public opinion in high profile criminal cases. The noun dictate is defined as to give an authoritative order or demand. The media does not order or command the public or public opinion. The media merely informs and educates the public on high profile criminal cases because inquiring minds simply want to know.
Media moguls scour case records, witnesses, and informed parties for details then report them to us, the public. As an interested party included in the mass population referred to as ‘the public’, who needs soap operas or fictional crime dramas when the world is as entertaining, gruesome, and hedonistic as any type of fictional script?
The public opinion could certainly become relatively skewed by the public themselves. Any said individual is at fault if an opinion is formed based on their interpretation of what they see and hear. Opinions are formed by the person and their perception of the information that is provided. Everyone knows to what we all compare opinions; not a flattering humanization or comparison. For instance, in the Jodi Arias trial, the media has unleashed the Nancy Graces in all their glory to camp out in Arizona to bring us all of the court room happenings. The public can actually witness court as it unfolds. Surely, media then gives their opinion, but we certainly do not have to agree.
To insist that the media dictates public opinion is to insist that the media controls the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the public. Perhaps the portion of the public who are controlled by the media is the same portion who blames McDonalds for being overweight or candy for having diabetes. The same easily influenced public most assuredly would jump off a bridge if their friend took the leap.
Rule number one, according to most life experiences: Form your own opinions based on the information you learn. Quickly in life those of us who learn to take responsibility for our own actions, do the right thing even when no one is watching, and to think for ourselves, will surely have a leg up on those who do not.
Should one ask the media to keep their opinions to themselves? Would this solve the debate and save public counterparts from themselves and their influential minds? If the powers that be submit to this notion you may be asked to keep your opinions to yourself. You would then live in your own little bubble; no information sharing, no debates, no fire/desire to interact as humans do. What a scary notion.