This is our motto; literally it means that, first, the “truth” of things is influenced by the way we see them and, second – consequently – the image is something you can “construct” by influencing the opinion and evaluation of third parties.
There is no better field to test and prove the validity of the above claim than political communication. And there is no brighter stage for the trends and challenges of international political communication than the US presidential election.
See, for example, how widely it is perceived in a global level that a possible Biden victory, or, if you rather, a possible Trump defeat, will change the course of the planet for the better. Most believe this without having the slightest idea of the Democratic candidate’s political agenda or the slightest sense of how US citizens live and what they have to face. Just the perception that has been formed worldwide around the current President is enough.
Or, an even more familiar example, how often pollsters cite as important indicator the perception of victory (ie who people think will win) as a determining factor as to who will actually win!
It is for these reasons, after all, that the respective candidates place so much weight on the choice of the consultant of their communication campaign where what is essentially at stake is the formation of the public perception that is so often confused with the truth.
Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash
