Introduction
The media also known as the fourth state plays an instrumental role in keeping the public informed of what is happening locally, regionally and even beyond the borders as well as keeping the other three estates of the government namely the judiciary, the executive and the legislature in check.
Indeed, there is not another sector that can fill the gap that is played by the media. However, as is the case with very other aspect life, there are always two sides of the coin. While the media may be very crucial in the role that it plays, there is another side of it which is sometimes that leaves a lot to be desired. The focus of this discussion is a broad and in-depth look at some of the cons of the media. The discussion will also look at some of the impacts that the media has had on people.
A society without the mass media perhaps would be deprived of development because information is power and it this power that brings about empowerment and therefore development. However, is the media perhaps aware of the great power it holds over the society and that sometimes overstep its mandate causing negative impacts on the society?
Television
This is one of the most popular forms of mass media which commands a large following especially in the first world and now more recently in the developing countries.
Televisions have been accused of airing content that more often than not tends to corrupt the minds of people and especially the young people. Looking at the kind of content that is aired on televisions, there is need to worry because there are many programmes that depict violence and sexual scenes. Most of the young people consider what is aired on television as trendy and fashionable (Katz 245).
Therefore, if there is a lot of violence and sex that characterizes most of these programmes then, it is becoming rather obvious that the morals of the society are becoming corrupted (Oppenheim and Helen 76). Many governments have tried to intervene by asking television stations to rate programmes but this has not helped much especially with the advent of cable television where the content is unrated and more often explicit. This has seen more youth getting hooked to pornography and drug abuse as this is what they see on television.
Newspapers
Newspapers have been seen as one of the most analytical and informative form of mass media (Lake 29). While newspapers have continued to play a key role in dissemination of information to the public, it has also been criticised for focussing more on the commercial aspect over the aspect of keeping the public informed.
Many times stories that are of public interest are usually cut short or spiked (thrown out) to give space for advertisers. The ultimate goals of every mass media is to keep the public informed, educated and entertained. However, with the advent of time, entrepreneurial and commercial interests have taken preference at the advent of the public being informed.
In addition, newspapers contain opinions and analysis which are a reflection of views of some people which may not be necessarily shared by the majority of the people. These divergent opinions may interfere with the correct position of a given story.
Newspapers have also said to be biased as it is only people who are literate can get to read and understand the information contained therein. The audience for newspapers is thus limited and so is the access of any crucial information that may be contained therein.
There is also an element of impersonality when reading the newspaper since the writers are not usually available to make clarifications on any issue they have written and if a reader has a question a spontaneous or fast hand answer may not be available. Although newspapers are more analytical, comprehensive, detailed and more elaborate, there is also the element of accessibility, as many do not get the newspapers especially in the remote areas due to poor distribution methods and poor infrastructure.
Radios
Radios have always commanded quite a large following for many decades. This perhaps because it was the first mass medium that was readily available for many people especially in the third world countries. Many people are able to access this medium and thus information gets to a greater number of people.
There is however a downside to this mass medium. To begin, it is very impersonal in that the audiences are considered passive and their work is to listen without question or getting an opportunity to contribute and air their views. In addition, radios also seem to be departing from their main goal of educating and informing and concentrating more on entertainment.
Most radios use pretty much of their airtime playing popular music at the expense of informing and imparting knowledge on the public. Ownership interests also seem to interfere much when there is pretty much of commercialisation in radios and only programmes that bring money are given airplay regardless of whether or not they are beneficial to the public.
There is yet another angle to radios. Unlike other form of media, radios have now expanded and have gone to the grassroots so that there are many community radios that broadcast in various languages as a way of taking information especially matters development closer to the people (Surmanek 92).
However, this has not quite achieved the purpose for which the idea was conceived. Instead, the community radios have been used as tools of spreading hate speech against other tribes and this has seen the sovereignty of great countries undermined and compromised.
A good case in point is that of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 where Radio Miles owned by Felician Kabuga is said to have been used to spread inciting message that caused the Hutus and Tutsis to fight leading to death of millions of people and loss of homes for thousands others, a scar that is fresh in the minds of many, decades after it happened.
The same case happened in Kenya in the year 2007 during the general elections where community radios were said to have been instrumental in inciting people to cause violence against other tribes. This led to chaos that almost brought the country that has enjoyed peace for a long time almost on its knees and it has taken time for the country to regain its strength both economically and in terms of unity.
Magazines
These are periodic publications which focus on soft news like entertainment, opinions, analysis, interviews among other matters that appeal to human interests. Usually magazines may not have a great ripple effect since they do not command a large readership due to the nature of content.
Nevertheless, the current trend of magazines is quite worrying especially because of the content contained therein. Most of the magazines have photos of nude women on their cover perhaps to catch attention. The content inside is more sexual than educative and informative and it is even more worrying to find that such magazines are readily available in the streets for sale to anybody interested regardless of their age.
For this reason, such magazines have contributed to moral decency in the society and most government act as though their toothless since no action seems to be taken against vendors of such magazines or better still the publishers. Perhaps what can be done is to repeal the laws governing publishing of content because there seems to be too much freedom of press which is being misused. Publishers of magazines must limit themselves to only that which is considered decent by the society.
Internet
This is the most recent development which has come about as a result of technology. It has become very popular especially because it has enhanced communication and helped reduce the world into a global village (Straubhaar et al. 78). There is instant communication and people can now virtually do everything online without having to leave where they are.
However, it is not smooth all the way. Firstly since people now have platforms of expressing themselves through social network platforms and blogs there is a lot of overload of information and one may not be quite sure on the authenticity of some o the information contained therein. Another challenge posed by the internet is the fact that unlike other forms of media, it is not easy to gate keep.
This means it is virtually impossible to control the amount of information flowing around the world and thus content that is considered explicit may always fall into the wrong hands and especially the young people. Pornography has become very common especially among the young people due to the exposure they are getting.
What is even more worrying is the fact that the various aspects of internet are proving to addictive so that people spend the greater part of their otherwise active hours surfing the internet reducing their productivity of work (Bittner 87). Internet has however opened channels of communication which cannot be compared with other forms. The uprisings that have been experienced in the Middle East have been well organised through communication through the social networks.
Video Games
They are an entertaining way of spending the leisure time that one has but they can be very addictive. Studies have been conducted regarding the impacts that video games have children especially those who are in school and it has been established that those who spend the greater part of their time playing these games decline in performance. In addition, these games sort make one to be lazy when it comes to thinking and being creative as one is directed on the manner to play the game.
Conclusion
The media is a very powerful tool and being aware of their power sometimes makes media owners overstep their mandate. Media is also used by influential and sometimes gets manipulated to serve the interests of some people over others. While media is an integral part of a society, its mandate should be controlled to ensure that it serves only the purpose for which it is intended.
Works Cited
Bittner, John. Mass Communication, an Introduction. Indiana: Prentice Hall, 1989. Print
Katz, Helen. The Media Handbook: A Complete Guide to Advertising Media Selection. London: Routledge, 2003. Print
Lake, Laura. Consumer Behaviour for Dummies. New York: University press of America, 2009. Print
Oppenheim, Frank and Helen, Swift. Behind the Bits: The Media Maze. New York: University Press of America, 1998. Print
Straubhaar, Joseph, Larose, Robert and Davenport, Lucinda. Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture and Technology. London: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print
Surmanek, Jim. Media Planning: A Practical Guide. London: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print