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Role of Media in the Society

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Media plays a very significant role in the society. In fact, the media is involved in every activity that takes place in the society (Raiz, 2010). Media is a very important aspect of the current society because it is very helpful in strengthening our society. In every activity taking place in the society, media acts as a mirror in that it seeks to reflect on all activities taking place in the society. Mirror can thus be seen as a very important tool that shapes the lives of the members of the society. Generally, the media seeks to inform the members of the public on the currently faced affairs, the new affairs in the society, and even on subjects such as fashion and gossip, as they are important in the entertainment world. Media thus seeks to distribute information to individuals that are located in different places, geographically.

Media is, thus, responsible for several roles, which include promotion of marketing and trading of prejudices and products, since advertisements for most of the products in the market is done through the different media channels. The core governing values of the media are supposed to be equity an rigorousness but this is not reflected in the ways through which media operate since, the current state of the media is characterized by self-aggrandizement and greed, the two values that have played a greater part in the poisoning of equity and righteousness, which were the initial virtues of the media. In the society, the media is responsible for several important activities. These activities include dissipation of the information, provision of entertainment to the public, promotion of correlation of the several parts that constitute our society, education of the public domain, and promotions and advertisements.

Media thus, plays a great part in influencing of the society in multiple ways. For instance, media for masses enables the members of the society to create their opinions on certain matters of public concern ad also in making judgments regarding such matters (Khondker, 2011). Furthermore, it is through the media that members of the society gain information concerning things that are taking place, both at their location and other geographical locations that are beyond the reach of the people in a given geographical area. Media thus, plays a significant role in ensuring that people get the information on matters happening in their surroundings and also the matters being experienced around the world. Despite the good attributes of media in the society, the media has been pointed out to cause some negative impacts on the youth members of the society. This is based on the proven fact that the content of the media has brought disorientation on the personalities and dreams of many youths. Following what the media displays in movies and other media channels, children and teenagers seek to take them as their role models in their daily lives. This thus makes the youths to engage in certain activities with the quest of getting the reco0gnition in the society. Thus, this involves not only focusing on the good aspects of the media, but also the negative attributes of the media, which thus, ends up channeling the youths to negative lives such as drugs and many other criminal activities. This paper is therefore going to focus on the roles that media plays in the society. Media plays important roles that are vital to the society.

Literature review

Media refers to all forms that are used in passing of information, ranging from student newspapers to national newspapers, websites, community radio stations to global broadcasting corporations, virtual communities, government mouthpieces to citizen journalists, and social networks to blogs. Media is, thus, refers to the various forms through which communication is passed in order to educate and endure awareness in a given society. The commonly used communication forms the media employ include televisions, radios, magazines, cinema, internet-based websites, and newspapers. In the present day society, the media is very vital in several aspects. In terms of the democracy of the people, media plays a very important part because it enables the citizens to be well informed on the political matters taking place in their societies. According to Riaz, the media is very necessary in any democratic society because it acts as a way in which the citizens can gain knowledge about political issues (Raiz, 2010). Riaz also points out that the classical model that deals in liberal democracy asserts that mass media takes the biggest responsibility on matters concerning discussion and information. Furthermore, in any given democratic society, information is key to most of the critical decision making processes such as elections of government leads. Media thus, acts as a channel through which information and knowledge is passed in the society, in particular, news media happens to serve this purpose. In the contemporary society, newspaper reading is an act that is almost a ritual in very society. Furthermore, in such processes involving elections of government officials, the media plays a very critical role because it acts as a watchdog that exposes the values and the behaviors of the individuals aspiring to the various government positions, thus, giving the members of the public the opportunity to make their decisions in more informed means and ways.

Globalization is a complex economic, social, and technological process, which has taken place due to the advancement in communication technology. Communication technology has enhanced the way through which people in different places around the world communicate with one another despite the variation in the geographical locations. According to Khondker the recent transformations that have been experienced in some countries in North Africa and Middle East took place because of the contributions of the media (Khondker, 2011). The media played a very vital role in the uprisings in North Africa and Middle East that led to the introduction of openness and freedom on matters concerning the public. This information, thus shows the ways through which media can act as a way through which the rights of the members of the society can be fought for. According to Khodker, the Arab Uprising in the two Arab regions is the impact that was felt due to the media revolution in the region where there has been lack of an open media, which could be very helpful in the civilization of the society. From the perspective of the recently experienced Arab Uprising, it can thus, be seen that the globalization of media enhances connectivity in terms of social mobilization and also enhances the intersection of both the new media as well as conventional media, which include radio, TV, and mobile phones. Media thus, plays a very vital role in some societies where freedom and openness has not been embraced, such as most of the Arab countries where dictatorship and media freedom is still facing opposition from the rulers.

Method of Research

Based on the nature of the study and the cost involved in the study, there were only two methods of research employed. In the search for the information on the subject, the method of research employed was mainly the use of an online database. In this undertaking, the material that was searched was any journal or article that was related to the subject, which is, the media and the society. In the database, there are many articles on the matter, but the orientation of the data differs, therefore, the most relevant articles were selected for the use in the study. The total number of articles about the subject in the database were 21,424 (n=21, 424), but through the exclusion criteria, the most appropriate articles for the topic were 5. The inclusion process was majorly about the identification of the articles that has a direct connection with the subject under study in that, the society in this context was used to refer to the general public, which involves the ordinary citizens of the various social contexts. The choice of the use of the database was also strategic in the study because it could be very helpful in accessing a wide range of information concerning the subject thus, allowing a comprehensive research on the subject of the research. The second method that was employed was an interview with 10 senior reporters for the New York Times magazine. The information gathered from the two methods were recorded on a rough copy after which it was then reviewed and put in a manner that could be easily interpreted during the analysis of the data. The use of the interview in the research was preferred because it could be effective in the acquisition of first and information from the primary source on the subject.

Results and Findings

The study pointed out several roles of media in the society. The first role associated with media, in the society is the distribution of information and also new technology. In the development of any given community, flow of information is very important. Both the digital and the traditional media are a part of the society that the society cannot live without in the contemporary world. This means that the society. Since the media is about letting the people to be aware about several aspects taking place in the society, the media is, thus, very active in the enhancement of the flow of information. Without mechanism that aid in the collection of the views and opinions of the people in the society, the conclusions and impressions of the members of the society could have been left, stunted, thus, preventing even the most important voices about the society, from being heard and responded to. Media thus, plays a very important role in our society because it seeks to inform the society on matters surrounding them. Media thus, have a considerably significant influence on the members of the society (MUNTEANU, 2013).

The second finding is that, media play the role of a watchdog in the society. A watchdog in this case refers to the possession of the ability to oversee what steps are undertaken during certain times in the society. It involves whistle blowing on certain issues that governments or government agencies might want to prevent the general public from knowing, and which seeks to undermine the responsibilities of such governments to the general society. The media has always been considered to be insatiable and overaggressive in the search for news concerning the latest developments and issues in the society. However, the media’s action in the form of watchdogs is very essential in every society because it is the most effective way through which democracy is enhanced in the society because the media serves to enable the members of the public about the activities that governments are planning and implementing. Media’s watchdog nature enables the media to hold the governments answerable and accountable thus, exerting forces on governments to provide explanations of their decisions and activities, since the actions any activity of governments are of great importance as they affect the members of the society that are represented by such governments.

In any given democratic society in the current world, it's vital that the members of the society become well acquitted with all the necessary and important information concerning the ways and options on how they want to be governed (Svensson, 2012). This information is thus, disseminated by the media. Some societies assume that the press acts as the voice of the people. This is because the Freedom of Press and Freedom of Speech is in place in most democratic nations. The Freedom of Press thus, ensures that democracy is allowed to function, which implies that the Freedom of Press not only enables gives the press their freedom, but also allows for the fight for a democratic society, which translates to the Freedom of Speech for the members of the society. Through the freedom of the press, the differing views of the society are known, and this acts as a floor opening factor that allows for the creation of discussions and debates, which are both healthy functions of any given society. Without the above healthy functions that enhance democracy, governments are bound to fail as in the case of East German and The Soviet Union.

The third finding was largely based on the interview with ten senior reporters of the New York Times in which it informed on the role of the media as interpreters or as the sole body through which the surveillance is carried out. The media is the main body that aids in the interpretation of information for the general public. Just as one would go to the library to search for information concerning a given topic, media are also involved in the same undertaking. The journalists involved in the media also involve themselves in such activities. This is because before the media releases any statistics or facts, it has to ensure that the information is reliable and justifiable so that is does not spread false information to the public (Szėcsi, 2013). The media ensure that it gives information in ways that are understandable to all the members of the society, through weeding out the most important points and issues, thus developing it in a context that can be understood by an average listener or reader, thus enabling him/her to create one’s opinion on the matter at hand. Journalist are thus very crucial and helpful in the provision of the 6 basic aspects of information, which include why, what, how, where, who and when, which are the aspects of most information that the society wants to know. As an interpreter of the information, the media, thus, keeps the society focused on the matters of importance, through the employment of surveillance methods. The most common aspects involved in media surveillance include scores about sports, entertainment, reports on the stock market, and such reports like the ones on elections.

The other role that the media plays in the society is the commercial role. Media is highly employed by companies and corporations in the communication of products and services to a wider market base. This is because the media is very effective in ensuring that a wider market is achieved. Media thus, helps in advertisements, thus offering a chance for the sharing of concepts. It also allows opportunities through which innovative ideas are distributed among the members of the society. The commonly used media in advertisements include TVs, radios, magazines, journals, and other form of print media. The diversity of the channels through which advertisements are distributed through the media is thus very important for organizations since they help in the introduction of new goods and services to the market, in the reminder of the already introduced better to the market, and in the prior information of the consumers on the good that are to be introduced to the market, in the near future. However, the effectiveness of advertising is a very sensitive matter. The advertisement message should always be conveyed using the right media in order for the advertisement to be effective. According to the trends in advertising, is an organization advertises the right information with the help of the wrong medium, the advertisement will not be effective and the company risks incurring losses.

Furthermore, an advertisement made at the wrong time is also a threat to the company since it may not enhance the expected intentions thus bringing losses to the company. An example is an advertisement involving cigarettes. Cigarette advertisements majorly target members of the society, mostly men, who fall in the age bracket of between twenty five years and sixty years old. The most appropriate means of advertisement would be the media that are mostly exposed to male members of the society. If the advertisement is dissipated using media that is dominated by female ambers of the society, then the advertisement will not be effective and thus will bring loses to the advertising company. Media selection is, thus, a very important aspect when it comes to determining the importance of media in advertising. An advertisement message that is well designed and the choice of the media channel is largely dependent on the where and when aspects of the advertisement. Media plays the important commercial role of advertising in the society; however, the success of the advertisement is enhanced by the right choice of media and the right time of passing the advertisement to the members of the society. The other significant factors in advertisement include places where the advertisement is released, the continuity of the advertisement, and the frequency with which the advertisement is made.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is very evident that that media play very important roles in the society, which thus, supporting my hypothesis. According to the findings of the study, media play several important roles in the society. These include distribution of information to the members of the society, plays the role of as a watchdog on the activities of governments, interpretation of information for the members of the society, and commercial role. The results of the interview with the ten senior reporters of the New York Times were in agreement with the roles of the media in the society as mentioned above. In terms of the role of media as a watchdog on the activities of the government, it is clear that the media shapes the ways in which govern conduct their activities, to ways that brings positive effects to the members of the society. The media should, thus, be accorded the right to freedom of press in every society in order for the governments to participate in ensuring that the public interest is maintained in each of the decisions that are undertaken by the government.

In a society, where the rights of the media are not observed, the governments involved are likely to go against the expected responsibilities and engage in activities that rob the society of the democracy that it deserves. This might end up leading to the up cropping of an unstable society because the members of the society might end up protesting against the actions of the government. A good example of this is the recently experienced Arab Uprising where some countries in North Africa and Middle East protested to enhance the sensitivity of their governments on matters concerning democracy and freedom, and in all the protests and uprisings, the media played a great part in ensuring that the moves were made.

Secondly, media plays a very important role in the society because it ensures that members of the society are enlightened on matters taking place in the society. This finding is also in accordance with the thesis of the research paper. In essence, if the media were not present in the society, the society would have been shuttered from the external world since the society could not have been exposed to the current trends taking place both on domestic and also on the international levels. Media is thus of great importance as an agent that informs the society on the current affairs such as inventions, spread of new diseases, global economic trends, and current matters on sports and politics. In this regard, therefore, media freedom should be embraced in any given society since it enhances civilization and also promotes a society that is not left in the dark on the current matters taking place all over the world. Furthermore, the media acts as a means through which the voice of the society is heard.

The media acts as a means through which the governments in place in the society get the opinions of the members of the public on the various issues that governments should be responsible for their citizens. This thus aids the governments in processes such as policy formulation and implementation since; policies implemented based on the opinions of the members of the society are likely to bring more utility to the members of the society, who propose such policies basing on the problems that are at hand concerning the given policies. Media freedom should, thus, be encouraged to perform its very important role in the enlightenment of the members of the society by avoiding legislation and laws that seek to undermine media freedom.

Thirdly, as a means through which the public receives information in an interpreted manner, which is easily understood, the media should ensnare that the information interpreted for the public is always the correct information that does not contain any biases and that all the information passed to the public is the truth so as to ensure that the public does not lose trust in the media. In this regard, therefore, the media should always ensure that it desist from promoting information that cannot be substantiated as such information could highly mislead the members of the public. Systems and mechanism should thus be put in place, which ensures that all the information passed both in the print and reported media observe the virtues of truthfulness and transparency. This is because such systems and mechanisms will act as ways of preventing the media from placing much of the interest in ensuring that their job is done, without considering the aspect of the recipients of the information they are passing to the members of the society.

This finding is also in line with the hypothesis of the study because since the media serves the members of the society the struggle to try to understand some of the data that could be hard to retrieve and understand, media thus plays a very important role for the society.

Fourthly, the findings of the study indicated that media play a very important role in the commercial aspects of the society. In particular, media plays a very important role in the advertisement of the commercial products in the society. This aspect of the media also supports the hypothesis because it brings benefits to both the companies that engage in the distribution of services and goods and also the customers of the advertised goods and services. In terms of the marketers that advertise their products, media helps them in reaching a wider customer base. Thus, this aids in ensuring that companies gain the intended profits. In terms of the customers, media enables the customers to be aware of the products in the market that could serve their needs. It also reminds the customers of the products that are already in the market. To sum it up, successful business can only be achieved through the help of the media in the advertisement of the products in the market. From the findings, an important aspect of the advertisement is the effectiveness of the advertisement. The effectiveness of the advertisement is also dependent on the choice of the media employed in the advertisement and also the timing that a company can place their advertisements. Companies should thus use the appropriate media in advertising products that are intended for specific market for different customers mostly use certain specific media. The most appropriate timing should also be made. It is, thus, the duty of both the media and the involved advertisers to ensure that the society receives the right information in the advertisements. Issues such as misleading advertisements should be avoided so that the members of the society are not misled.

This research is thus very important in reinforcing the already established literature that the media is plays a several important roles in the society, which includes passing information to the members of the society, participating as a watchdog over governments, commercial purposes, and in the interpretation of the information so that the members of the society can easily understand.

Further Research

The research has only employed only two methods in the study, which includes a personal interview and the use of articles from an online database. These two methods could be considered to be less since there are more methods through which research could be carried out, such as surveys, observations, and even increasing the numbers used in the personal interviews. If I could undertake this research in the past, I could increase the number of methods employed in the study, as this could expand the knowledge and findings of the study. Furthermore, this research does not seem to contain enough data that could be used in the explanation of the findings. The future studies should, thus, focus on methods that involve collecting more data which can be further analyzed to determine all the possible roles that media plays in the society. In the interview undertaken, only 10 subjects were used in the study. In a research, this could be seen as a small number, thus, in the future a larger number, probable almost five times the number used, should be employed. This will lead to the collection of data that could be reliable since the number of the subjects would be reasonably higher than the one used in this research.

Furthermore, this research used interviewees from one Media Company. This could thus, be rectified in the future through the diversification of the media companies from which the interviewees should be involved. Involved, the study considers including more interviewees from TV stations and radio stations. In my opinion, therefore if all the proposed recommendations are imposed on this study in the future, much more comprehensive outcome is going to be gained from the study.

Reference

Khondker, H. (2011). Role of the New Media in the Arab Spring. Globalizations, 8(5), 675-679. doi:10.1080/14747731.2011.621287

MUNTEANU, N. (2013). THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA COMMUNICATION ON THE MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. Buletin Stiintific, 18(2), 124-130.

Raiz, S. (2010). Role of News Media in A Democratic Society. FWU Journal Of Social Sciences, 4(2), 89-98

Svensson, M. (2012). Media and Civil Society in China. China Perspectives, 2012(3), 19-28.

Szėcsi, G. (2013). LANGUAGE, MEDIA AND COMMUNITY IN THE INFORMATION AGE. Coactivity / Santalka, 21(2), 119-127. doi:10.3846/cpc.2013.12