Image Perception in the Realm of Media Manipulation. The Misleading Use of Newspaper Images

The purpose of the present paper is to accomplish a study on the role of the written press in manipulating the readers’ perception by using specific means: press images. On the one hand, in order to support my hypothesis, I shall take into consideration different approaches regarding the role played by vision in constructing one’s perception. To construct the framework of my interpretation I shall look into the dynamic net of relationships unfolding among three concepts intensively debated within recent studies: public opinion, mass media and manipulation. The analysis will also make use of considerations regarding images in general and press-images as well as their impact on the reader’s perception in particular. On the other hand, I shall illustrate the aspects in the theoretical background by using research data making part of an analysis I assessed on the occasion of the media campaign on the opening of the Security files that took place between 2006 and 2007.