How Powerful Is Mass Media?
Introduction
Communication has been important for society to share knowledge and news between individuals or countries. The media plays a major role in any country in reporting local, global, and government news. Whether through traditional or digital mediums, the media can dictate and sway our opinions and understanding of general or political topics. As technology has progressed and transformed the way we communicate, we can access information and create news from our smartphones. The power of the media can reach every part of our lives.
News Channels
Traditionally, news media can be viewed via newspaper, radio, or television. These news media agencies have been established for a long time and have gained a reputation among the public and within the news media sphere. Often news agencies will announce any breaking news first before any other medium, especially with government news such as the pandemic or resource shortage. In 2020 when the pandemic happened, everyone was glued to their television screens to get an update about the development of the pandemic, vaccine development, and governmental rule changes. During one of the darkest years in this generation, the media have the power to demotivate or motivate a nation via information about deaths or uplifting stories of communities pulling together to help the vulnerable. Many people started to notice the type of wording used for certain announcements and lately with the HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) drivers and petrol situation in the UK. Announcements of food and petrol supplies caused worry across the country and potentially mass panic buying. Traditional media outlets have a reputation of providing reliable news to society and often are trusted by the public.
Social Media
Over the last decade, social media channels have often broken news before traditional news outlets with the ability of the public to post stories and updates in real-time. Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have allowed news updates to be sent to more people via individuals sharing or through their algorithm to target individuals that might be interested. Social Media platforms have enabled news to hit individuals’ Facebook feeds in real-time. However, Social Media platforms record your viewing habits, the types of articles you are visiting, and things you are interested in. All this user data can be used to target specific stories or campaigns that may sway your political opinion. A lot of political parties are using social media platforms to connect to the younger demographic. During the 2016 presidential election, there was an attempt to influence the electoral outcome by an Internet Research Agency. The agency would create a large number of social media accounts to like, post and repost positive information on Trump and negative information on Clinton. It shows how much influence a social media platform could have on a political platform.
Fake News
As social media platforms enable every user to post anything they want, social media platforms have now been a hotbed of fake news spreading out on social media. During the pandemic, false information on COVID-19, numbers of infections, and vaccine information has promoted negative news or caused panic among certain areas of the population. Fake news has always been an issue on social media platforms with social media agencies clamping down on fake news especially during the pandemic to ensure only accurate information is being shared. One way social media platforms has countered this is to inform users of the validity of the source by providing the source name and date. Social Media platforms are actively removing fake news posts to reduce the number of inaccurate posts circulating on platforms.
Censorship
Media has provided a huge influence among the public that in certain countries such as North Korea and China they have censored information flowing in and out of their respective countries. Media outlets are often owned by their respective government, the government owned news agency enables them to control the flow of information. However, they can control public opinions and control the type of news that deem important for public consumption. This will enable their governments to twist stories to give them a better sway with the public and the outside world.
Summary
Media has more sway on our thoughts and opinions especially with the rise of social media in the last decade that has enabled news to appear in real-time on our smartphones. Political parties are now taking advantage of these new avenues to gain a better sway on the newer generation. Social Media platforms have enables fake news to circulate more easily providing false information and potentially causing a public scare. Users will need to be more strict and thorough on where the information is coming from and to make their own informative opinion based on both sides.