[The informed society--illusion or reality?].

Information about reality conveyed by electronic images leads to naiveté--"I saw it with my own eyes"--and thus to the special credibility of television. There is a lack of awareness of "a reduced perspective" (H. Imdahl), of the fact that the television camera selects images for inclusion. Selection is very much influenced by the journalists' attitudes. Since the views of the experts often diverge greatly from those of journalists on important contemporary questions and the media predominantly reflect the views of the journalists, this gives rise to the problem of a "well-informed society," which in many respects is an illusion.