Well, the only places I've encountered people trying to tell me
"The right way to think" has been:
a) In elementary school/middle school (ages 9-13) by groups of
girls that are referred to as "mean girls". They dictate right
and wrong in that microcosm of society. I avoided them as much
as possible.
b) In 1990 at Hampshire College, Amherst MA - a college that is
about as liberal as liberal gets, a nearby called named Smith
College - an all girls college - very exclusive and very very
very rich - sent us ALL handouts that included "proper ways to
refer to people who are different". In short, Political
Correctness or what we jokingly referred to as "Thought Police".
Not many took it seriously. It was laughable. I agree with the
sentiment of "Be Nice" and "Be Respectful" but the long lists of
-isms was silly and is still silly.
Yet, I use some of them myself, so perhaps they had a good
point, as it formalizes "respect for others". Still though, to
me, it was a "nice" form of "mean girls" - trying to make
society conform to a certain set of rules they made up.
c) I cannot think of other examples of people telling me the
'right way to think'. Well, I have. I see it all over the place.
But those were the only two times I briefly considered "Maybe
they're right".
As I stopped watching news many years ago, and eschewed the TV
set 2 years ago (after a steady diet of the Science channel for
several years... which I abandoned once I started to see the
creep of New Atheism finally take firm open grip upon its
programming)... I'm not in much of a position to speak of TV or
news.
Perhaps it has an effect on people. I only have my experience to
go by and speculation for the rest. I've been told I would hate
FOX News, and I've walked past my mother's TV as she sat there
mocking their ridiculousness, the loud voices talking nonsense.
So I have brief snippets of exposure but thankfully, brief.
She's more likely to watch "Desperate Housewifes" - women
arguing with each other over nothing, or murder mysteries...
sometimes I'll sit in for one of them. And of course there's
Doctor Who. That's the only thing I turn my dusty TV set on for
anymore.
