Let us apply this allegory to modern life, for the sake of argument, and say that the freed

prisoner leaves
the cave. Instead of a wall with shadows we have television, instead of echoes we have radio. In the light
the freed man realizes that the broadcast media does not report the news but merely cast shadows to
entertain, deceive, or manipulate the shackled prisoners still in the cave. For purposes of illustration, the
cave described herein is the world, the prisoners are those who erroneously perceive reality as being
truthfully reflected on television. And those who find the truth, those outside the cave, know that they
will be labeled fools, liars and agitators by those still casting the shadows within the darkness of the
cave. The shackled prisoners, unable to verify the rescuer’s claim, will believe the very men oppressing
them, and they will attack the man who tries to save them.

Plato’s classic Allegory of the Cave may best explain the true challenge of disabusing the masses from
the “shadows” on the cave wall which we are taught from birth to perceive as real forms. These shadows
are everything from false or hateful political/religious ideologies to scientific racism; just about anything
that is bartered as truth and fact. This applies to what the world is going through right now. Let us relate
Plato’s allegory of the cave with digital media, where the wall is replaced by televisions. Nowadays, it
would not be wrong to say that most news channels broadcast merely the shadows and not the reality.
The media channels cast shadows (fake news) to manipulate and deceive the prisoners. The prisoners
are the people who believe that everything that is shown to them on television is the whole reality. The
ones who managed to escape the cave are considered liars by those who are still in the cave. These
prisoners may show aggression towards the man who tries to enlighten them and may try to attack him.
The great activist and leaders like Martin Luhter King Jr. and the Kennedys are the prime examples of the
person who dared to go back to the cave to awaken other people, but the people that are still in the
darkness of the cave oppose them. The media channels use the shadows such as hateful religious
ideologies, or racism that people think is the most important point of concern, while they fail to
recognise that humanity lies much above the religious or political ideologies. The media channels control
the perception of most of their audience for their objectives such as political or marketing strategies.