This essay attempt to provide a critical analysis of the role of media in empowering the voices of challenger groups such as protesters, terrorists, activists etc. and the implications of unchecked interactions with these marginalised groups by media. A one piece write up is adopted to address the argument put forward in order to attain the objective of this paper in a systematic manner.
News media is a significant part of the daily activities and experience of the society. The news media disseminate of information to large and heterogeneous audiences. What the media represent as an important topic of discussion often appears relevant to the society, affecting the public’s opinions. Public opinion is vital especially in democratic states. Reporting
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Stories can be reported based on cultural and ideological bias. Journalist’s preference for certain kinds of stories and their views on them influence the public’s opinion about political actors and events. Citizens accept media messages without interpreting them because making sense of media content requires skills and clues (Street, 2010: 54). Hence, their opinions are influenced by news depending on the message or their exposure and beliefs. Media controls what goes outside and its effect on the people is unconscious. The media’s effect on the citizens is often unintentional and unnoticed. Reporting of events is not made to be equal or even objective. “News is always partial and biased as a result of the circumstances in which it is produced.” (Hodkinson, 2010: 147). Objective journalism is difficult to evaluate because of the journalists preference of certain stories. While the media may appear to react in a political conflict as objective, Wolfsfeld argues that news frames are
It is not uncommon to hear people complaining about what they hear on the news. Everyone knows it and the media themselves knows it as well. Some of the most renowned journalists have even covered the the media’s issues in detail. Biased news outlets have flooded everyday news. We find that journalism’s greatest problems lie in the media’s inability for unbiased reporting, the tendency to use the ignorance of their audience to create a story, and their struggles to maintain relevance.
398).It is also stated that news divisions reduced their costs, and raised the entertainment factor of the broadcasts put on air. (p. 400). Secondly, the media determines its sources for stories by putting the best journalists on the case and assign them to areas where news worthy stories just emanates. (p.400). Third, the media decides how to present the news by taking the most controversial or relevant events and compressing them into 30 second sound-bites. (p.402). finally, the authors also explain how the media affects the general public. The authors’ state “The effect of one news story on public opinion may be trivial but the cumulative effect of dozens of news stories may be important. This shows a direct correlation between public opinions and what the media may find “relevant”. (Edwards, Wattenberg, Lineberry, 2015, p.
Coverage of events by the mainstream media is politically biased, due to the numerous instances when news networks support one party (either Liberal Democratic or Conservative Republican) and slant the issue in that party’s favor. For example, NBC News reported that the Affordable Care Act was “cheerleading” and viewed the law in a positive manner (Lawrence). As NBC is a major supporter of the Democratic Party, its views are obviously slanted towards liberal and supportive opinions of Obama and his policies. Moreover, this positive perspective of the law only attracts Democrats, and it masks the other perspective involving the detriments of that law, showing presence of propaganda, instilling liberal viewpoints in its unsuspecting audience. In contrast t...
First, the role of the media is to represent the public and intervene between the public and the government. The media is a mirror, which re...
The news media rejects the fact that they are biased. They claim that they are the “middle of the road,” and are neutral on the stories that they cover. Publishers also claim that they are the watchdog for the political system, and they make sure that the system is free of any corruption, or wrongdoing. Th...
... prejudice, bias, and in a general manner that imposes their views onto an audience. Yet, it is an entirely different story when stories are written in a specific manner for other reasons than to impose individual politics. The reasons mentioned throughout this paper are just some of the many ways in why a journalist might account for the story’s bias, and why news organizations thrive and depend upon such methods. Also, one of the most important key concepts to keep in mind when discussing bias in the media is that much has changed with new technologies. Just for example, budgets have been more restricting, consumer expectations have changed, and the audience expects stories to be shorter and more visual. With this being said, there are not always internal pressures, but there are physical and external restrictions and limitations that encourage bias as well.
People use many different sources in order to gain knowledge about current events. In America, historically, mass media and television have been the most dominant sources for information. Over the last decade, internet-based news sites and talk-radio shows have emerged as viable alternatives to the traditional media. While, obviously, the latest forms of news media are very different from their “elder” counterparts regarding the conveyance of the information, they share some of the same issues regarding the reporting of the news. News coverage can be, and usually is, influenced by many factors including, but not limited to: personal political ideology, religion, culture, and economics. The “inner” influences of political ideology, cultural values, and religion are not limited to the writer or reporter of a story. Editors, managers, and owners are also subjected to these pressures, in addition to the need to turn a profit, and, therefore, also influence the reporting of the news. Because of these influences, the final product is rarely an objective reporting of the facts. News sources convey their subjectivity, sometimes subtly, other times blatantly, through many methods. Listeners, readers, and viewers of all media should consume all information with a grain of salt.
It is interesting to comprehend the relation between media content and political power. What biases do the media experience in producing news in relation to government interests? Media, according to Herman and Chomsky, has a tendency toward elites’ political interests; media tend to follow official’s agendas. Herman and Chomsky proved this generalization through the use of terminologies and the way they place such kind of news (a foreign country’s election or attitudes toward countries) in US’ newspapers (with regards to number of news, editorial page, and front page of newspapers). Herman and Chomsky could be true when we relate their idea with Gan’s notion that (people behind) media tend to have ethnocentrism, and even possessed with patriotic spirit when there are political conflicts between the country where media is originally produced and its foreign countries as their perceived enemies. It is quite common in outside of America that US’ media is described as having double standard in judging political issues, in which there are two perceived conflicting messages conveyed through the media. For example, US government – through the power of global media—convincingly declare the world about the necessity of human right, but certainly the government has different face when one of the state’s allies are attacked by foreign enemy. This is also the case when the state has interests in geo-politic, natural resources, or would like to barricade the influence of communism ideology during the cold war period. Media coverage in Gulf, North-South Vietnam and Indonesia-East Timor wars, and many more, as revealed by Herman and Chomsky are quite conclusive that media serves as tool of governmental official’s propaganda for many years....
The differing interpretations of what function the mass media plays in promoting democracy becomes problematic when evaluating the success said functions. Jacob Rowbottom identifies the functions as: acting as a public watchdog while providing diverse information and ideas (2010, pp. 609). While Strömbäck states there are three functions: preserving the flow of information, providing a forum for discussion of diverse and conflicting political ideas; and acting as a public watchdog against abuses of power (2005, pp. 332). Trappe & Maniglio formulate functions from democratic principles of freedom, equality and control and inclusion of Stromback’s ideas. The flow of information develops from freedom principles, public forum of diverse ideas and interest mediation; derives from notions of equality and public watchdog against the abuse of power comes from the control and transparency desired in democracy (2009, pp. 177-178). Two functions that are prominent in all the definitions presented are the role of the mass media to act as a public watchdog and providing diverse and translucent information. The public watchdog “…performs its democratic function by holding the government and other public
No one would dispute the fact that the main role of news is increasing knowledge and awareness about what occur day in, day out, but sometimes it has been seen that Medias claim about particular subjects is beyond the realities which can mislead the public opinion. The most of Medias are tools which are employed by the governments and the capital owners to convince the public to follow their policies. They try to justified their decisions and
The instruction and degree of media bias in several states are widely disputed. Practical restrictions to media neutrality include the incapability of journalists to cover all available reports and facts, and the requirement that selected facts be tied into a logical story. No matter how much we may strain to dismiss it, human communication always takes home in a context, through a spiritualist, and among individuals and groups who are situated historically, politically, economically, and communally. This state of personal business is neither bad nor good. It just is. Bias is a small word that identifies the collective controls of the entire context of a message. Journalists, too, speak from political positions, but typically not openly so. The journalistic ethics of impartiality and fairness are strong influences on the vocation. But journalistic impartiality is not the pristine impartiality of philosophy. Alternatively, a journalist attempts to be objective by two methods: 1) fairness to those related with the news and 2) a professional process of information gathering that looks for fairness, completeness, and accuracy. As we all recognize, the ethical heights journalists set for themselves are not always achieved. But, all in all, like politics, it is an admirable profession skillful, for the most
Critics of impartiality often start by saying that everyone has an opinion and objectivity does not exist in practice. Indeed, according to postmodern philosophical critique, facts and realities are socially constructed and politically negotiated, and therefore subjective rather than objective. The concept of objectivity itself is taken to be a tool of hegemonic discourse, and science is just politics by other means (J. Tim O’Meara, 2001). What is more, impartial journalism can be ruinous. For example, sometimes journalists try hard to balance their stories from different sides but while doing so they come to the lowest form of journalism, to so-called “he said she said journalism”. It is important to realize that this lazy approach of reporting may present lies equally with the truth, which is hardly different from lying. This was the case of reporting the ongoing conflict at the East of Ukraine. European journalists explained the armed conflict by both, the Russian propaganda point of view and Ukrainian actual viewpoint. The outcome of such superficially impartiality was that some people and even political leaders had not perceived Russia as an aggressor that must be banned with sanctions. To point out, the problem of balance is explained by Nick Davies, the author of the book on propaganda in journalism called "Flat Earth News”. Davies gives the eloquent allegory to what real reporting is about. Journalist can interview a man who says it will be sunny and a man who says it's going to rain. Davies describes that the real journalist does not simply write up two opposite opinions, but looks out of the window. (Davies,
The main thesis in in Bennett, Lawrence, and Livingston (2006) is the sense that journalist using framing techniques are limited in providing readers with objectivity views. In the way they are force to behave this way thru the government to not shed the facts to be guard dogs. The article states the media fails in being partiality in providing the audience with an objectivity view of news frames. That this leads to the fact that journalists are not able to be independent when writing. Thus the white house holds more of the control of what is written when sent to the masses. Journalists are being guard dogs in the sense that they are limited in the information given and have the information censored. Compared to the journalist in being objective and being watchdogs for the masses.
True liberal democracy will not be possible without the active participation of the people. Media educates, informs, and mobilizes these people in order to be anxiously involved in the business of domination. Media is not just a mere inert recorder of events but a watchdog. It is a keeper of public interest who warns people against those who are causing them harm. It is an effective and fearless watchdog at times when judiciaries, legislatures and other oversight bodies are powerless against the mighty and the corrupt. It plays a valiant role of divulging the overindulgences of legislators, magistrates, presidents, and prime ministers regardless of the risk.
India has the largest democracy in the world and media has a powerful presence in the country. In recent times, Indian media has been subject to a lot of criticism for the manner in which they have disregarded their social responsibility. Dangerous business practices in the field of media have affected the fabric of Indian democracy. Big industrial conglomerates in the business of media have threatened the existence of pluralistic viewpoints. Post liberalisation, transnational media organisations have spread their wings in the Indian market with their own global interests. This has happened at the cost of an Indian media which was initially thought to be an agent of ushering in social change through developmental programs directed at the non-privileged and marginalised sections of the society. Though media has at times successfully played the role of a watchdog of the government functionaries and has also aided in participatory