Does the British media frame public opinion - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Journalists prefer to deliver news from a certain angle in which the public is going to accept. They target public expectation on a particular issue that is rising in that society. Journalists know that when people receive information that favors their culture and the society, they consider that information true. These societies love to hear news that revolves around them positively. Any information that describe their way of living is considered false and will never be accepted by anyone in that society even if it is a true story. However, journalists try their best to deliver reports at an angle they know will favor their audience. Journalists from the other wing tend to report the same information but in a very different angle that they know that the audience they are, targeting will accept the information. This process is called framing in media. Framing is the act of selecting features of a perceived reality and making them salient in the text of communication with the aim of promoting problem definition and evaluation1. Generally, framing involves selection and salience8. Many reporters use this idea in most of their information that they deliver to the public. Media frames much of the public opinions to ensure they give the right information that the public is expecting from the media news. What the media does here is that, it draws public attention to particular topics and later the journalists select the topics that they know what the public is thinking. Media organizes the events and issues they want to present and the audience are the one to interpret the information in those events. British media has used this criterion in much of their news. This media has been framing public opinion to ensure that they give acceptable information in the news they broadcast to their audiences. Mass media are the technologies used to reach audience through mass communication. There are very many types of mass media although it is divided into two i.e. the old media and the new media. Television, radio, and newspapers represent the old media. On the other hand, new media came to existence due to the improved technologies in the mass communication sector. They include Twitter, Blogs, Facebook, You Tube, and Google. The public uses each of these media differently. Each individual chooses the media to use depending on the information they are searching. All these categories of mass media are useful in Britain. They are used to deliver information to the public through many ways. Political advertisements in Britain have been banned in all television channels and radio stations5. This was put in place when Communication Act 2003 was written. None of the radio stations and TV channels was allowed to make any advertisement that was political. Political advertisements are those advertisements that are more for campaigning rather than other information. Their main aim is to influence people concerning a particular party matters. ASA is responsible for regulating all advertisements that are made in radio stations and TV channels. Although they can regulate these advertisements, they have a limit at which they cannot go further. ASA has written a notice to all political parties informing them that they should follow the rules that have been put in place. Political advertisers are supposed to be guided by rules that are in CAP Code. These principles states that all advertisements made must have a responsibility to both the consumers and the society. Newton and Brynnin noted that, “Television has major effects on the decision that people in the public make”. This is evidenced during election s when the candidates are having debates live in the television channels. Many people who watch those debates are swayed by what they hear from these political candidates. Many people are not desired on whom they are going to vote but when they watch the debates, most of them desired on their favorite candidate to vote for. This was evidenced when Gordon brown, David Cameron, and Nick Clegg were ...Download file to see next pagesRead More