Media Influence on the Population
Mass media set the agenda in public domains. Through media engagement, the public opinions are shaped which in turn affect attitudes and behavior of the audiences. The importance of the way information is distributed is considered greater than the information itself in the book, by Marshall Quentin (1964). The authors point out that, medium is the message. The mass media have ways in which they persuade audiences to accepting everything that is presented to them. This is mainly found in television broadcasting. In this medium, the content and the period in which it is viewed is largely controlled.
Media also restrict capabilities of the audience to perform independently. This is because of the way in which the media generate information. Messages transmitted to the audiences are gathered from a network of interrelations of people. Therefore, the effects of the mass media relate not only to the way newsworthy happenings are translated, but also to a range of cultural factors operating through the media. Advertisements are good examples of media influence on the physical appearance of audiences. A steady diet on adverts with slim models can lead one into believing that they are not pretty unless they resemble the viewed images. This may eventually lead to starving.
Harris (2004) propounds that, the media influences the way people acquire knowledge about the world. The knowledge later affects their attitudes towards things like sex, violence or music and their ultimate behavior. For instance, crime shows and cop shows in most cities make people scared of helping strangers or moving around at night. Similarly, a frequent exposure to violence may lead to violence. Media violence may produce both short and long term effects. Short term effects arise from priming the aggressive shows, then evoking an automatic tendency to try the viewed behaviors. On the other hand, long term effects are produced through a range of learning processes. These processes then result into a permanent aggressive character and social belief towards aggressive behaviors. Children can form undue opinions of those people that they meet, only on books and televisions. Consequently, this leads to stereotypes which can affect the way in which they socialize with people later in life.
Journalists ought to present news from an impersonal or non-partisan point of view. Objectivity is a trait that most journalists fall short of, but what they always work hard to achieve. It is not just a preserve for reporters, but also for opinion journalists. According to Brooks (2006), objectivity can be achieved in stages. The first stage is the ability to abandon judgement when dealing with facts. Also, journalists should see the truth as it is by leaving their ego aside.The third stage involves picking all the facts and putting them together to form a generalization. Subsequently, one should be in a position not to involve friends in reporting, while ignoring stereotypes. Although objective is hard to achieve, most journalists are in agreement that truth do exist and should be respected at all cost.
In conclusion, the media affect the views of public on issues like gender, violence, entertainment and race. Media may inform, scare , mislead or entertain but we need them despite of their disadvantages. People ought to live their lives and be happy for whom they are. Though censorship is useful in curbing media violence influence on children, it is not the ultimate solution. Parental guidance, supervision and interpretation can be used to fill the gap. To strive towards objectivity, journalists should provide fair and balanced accounts by incorporating different voices. Bearing in mind that the role of the media is to inform, avoiding personal likes and dislikes is imperative in journalism.
Categories:
0 comments:
Post a Comment