Mass media is the medium of communication intended for a large audience (Smith); it is a form of communication which involves broadcasting messages through use of the modern technology such as television, cable television, radio and print media among many other forms (Sauza).
Additionally, today, the internet also falls under this category of the mass media due to its wide use in the current era of globalization which is a factor that has greatly contributed to major developments in the mass media through advocating for freedom of the media in very diverse ways (Sauza). This research paper will focus on the concept of mass media in general as well as the the impact of the mass media in today’s society.
Roles and importance of the mass media
In most cases the mass media targets a very large market, in fact a whole population of a given country and sometimes the entire world’s population. However this depends with the type of media and the mission it has been established to achieve; the local media is designed in a way that it only covers a small population in a given demographic region such as a province or a country (smith).
As such it is entirely responsible for covering local out breaking news and sensitive issue such as the national political activities of the given region. On the other hand, the international or larger media is responsible for delivering reliable and investigative news update, global political activities and even sporting activities that are happening across the globe (Smith). This category of media includes the well-known BBC, CNN and Reuters among others.
Due to the fact that media is a public phenomenon, it is therefore the responsibility of the mass media to offer quality services to the general public by covering various and diverse topics which are happening. One of the main responsibilities of the mass media is to keep people informed of what is a happening around truthfully.
This is because the public in general needs to know of what is happening within it environs (Smith); so in general the mass media will investigate the happenings on the ground and present the facts to the people in order to inform on what is happening. This explains why television, radio and the print media is mostly filled up with news ranging from political activities, past events, documentaries, sporting activities and other informative news.
Apart from informing the public and updating about the recent and breaking news, the mass media is also responsible for entertaining the general public in many areas. The mass media has a variety of entertainment programs for all groups ranging from cartons for the young children and movie or films for the older generation. Through such entertainment programs which are offered in wide range the mass media is able to create a balance of events and make the public to have a break from the stress of life.
Additionally, the mass media is also responsible for educating the public and therefore keeping them enlightened through various programs that are offered by the mass media such as the scholarly opinions about various topics including HIV Aids. Other educative programs include educational programs which are usually scheduled on the national television and radio to teach the public on diverse topics (Sauza).
Negative influence of the Mass Media
As much as the media is generally responsible for enlighten the society, on the other hand there are numerous ways through which the mass media is negative to the society in general. To an extent the same mass media has negative influence in the society; in this section we shall review the negative impacts that mass media has in the society.
There is no doubt that internet is obviously one of the most negative form of mass media ever invented as well as one of the mediums with the greatest potential which is the reason that has made it one of the most widely used media in the society today (Dunning). The internet has especially adverse effect towards the younger generation in the community.
As a matter of fact, the parents of today are engrossed and extremely busy with their careers and businesses to spare time and bring up their children, this is one of the reasons that make the children end up being exposed to bad media. As a result of children being left home alone, some of them get access to internet and watch violence films pornography and negative music videos.
This causes the child to develop physical, emotional and psychological stresses that influence their personalities in very negative ways (Smith). Some of the teenagers spend a lot of time watching such movies, films and even reading magazines which contain such bad characteristics (Dunning).
The impact is that they becomes victims themselves and end up using drugs such as marijuana or even engaging in sexual activities which usually exposes them to more and worse dangers such as exposure to premarital pregnancies, the risk of being infected with deadly sexual disease or even becoming drugs addicts (Dunning).
For such reasons mentioned above and many others, the mass media has been criticized by the public and human activists who are now calling for amendments of the laws that regulates mass media to be made more stricter so as to protect vulnerable persons in the society. One such ways in which the mass media has been criticized is the manner in which it presents information to the public; the media for instance has been described as “too topical” (smith).
This is because the mass media has a way of presenting information especially news when informing the public by covering only news within that given range. For instance, if they present local news, it will not focus on other interesting story but will strictly focus on covering such local news (Progressiveliving.org).
Recommendations
Due to the existing criticism on media, the mass media should work towards improving it services delivery since the people are its main market; there are numerous ways which the mass media can work towards this.
This crisis can be resolved through listening to the views of their customer, engage and actively interacting with the customers so as to understand their desires. In addition, the media should be transparent and apply the concept of authenticity when serving the customers, and always provide the customers with immediate responses at all times (Thebarblogger.com).
Works Cited
Dunning, Lissa. “Negative influence of the mass media”, 2011. Web.
Progressiveliving. “The Mass Media & Politics: An Analysis of Influence”, 2011. Web.
Sauza, Francis. “Types of mass media”, 2008. Web.
Smith,S. “What is Mass Media?” 2011. Web.
Thebarblogger. “5 Ways Social Media Can Improve Customer Service”, 2011. Web.