Assessing Media Influence - Essay Example

Topic: Assessing Media Influence Media is powerful, they say. It can change and unchanged situation; move people to action; invite society to consume advertised goods; it can expose a corrupt system and rouse people to revolution; and it can ignite conflict and escalate it to violent responses. But is media really this so powerful? Experts say, no. Media for them is just a confluence of structures that can be deconstructed and demystified. Berger (2005) theorized that by using semiotic approach, the meaning of texts in reported stories and events can be demystified and simplified to enable the understanding of symbols, pictures and figures utilized in media production. Readers, viewers and consumers of information should supply the necessary interpretation of stories and symbols to discover the relation of information and of its consumers. This is because a phenomenon unfolded in a television show could not be understood in itself but about how the meanings interacted and impacted to viewers or readers (Berger, 2005, pp. 10-28). Cultural norms, socialization process and ethical concerns have so much regulatory effect to determine the information’s acceptability or non-acceptability to the taste and standard of communication (Berger, 2005, pp. 60-120). It is therefore important for viewers and readers to be positively self-critical in absorbing the information. It should be the goal of every media consumer to combine analysis and creativity to effectively segregate the truth from myth and to free self from the victimization-effect of violent media production (Berger, 2005, pp. 2013-214). This is not just about words or video shoots at work. This is also about responsible media consumption by unmasking the paradigmatic and syntagmatic meanings evoked differently (Berger, 2005, pp. 2013-214). Most media institution is not truly an independent entity. They are incorporated as either a public, private and rarely in cooperative in nature. As companies, they are also competing in sourcing and presenting information to gather more readers and viewers. The most attractive and those who have certain leverage in the market by possessing wider area of coverage will likely gain more advertisers (Croteau & Hoynes, 2006, p. 15-19). They are also for profit. Thus, consumers of information should be critical too about the kind of commercial products they introduced. Everyone knows that advertisements are used by corporations to leverage in introducing their products to the market (Croteau & Hoynes, 2006, p. 15-19). Media played much on its influencing capacity regardless on what products are introduced. The fees of advertisers are actually their most prevent concern and not the quality of products indorsed (Croteau & Hoynes, 2006, p. 20-68). While we agree that media is an avenue of free ideas, but it remained the info-consumers responsibility to ascertain whether goods popularized by the media are truly relevant for public welfare (Croteau & Hoynes, 2006, pp. 17-48; 192.) Lest, everyone should be reminded that nothing can blind an intelligent and responsible consumer to know which products in the market can be bought for healthy consumption. Moreover, while media is required to be impartial and independent in espousing views, but researchers observed evident tendencies for media to slant the reports and information to some interests, depending on what to their purview is the story worth tackling about in a day. Slanting, for some, have serious effects to public perception and such affect the models of social equilibrium where companies are in constant discourse with consumers. They criticized that media is biased and are perceived to have favored certain groups of consumers than others. True, unbiased reports these days are hard to see, except for investigative reportage where all views and voices of stakeholders are put into serious consideration, thus, widening the relational and contextual meaning of a phenomenon discussed. The media has been also powerfully putting women under victimization or objectification. Notice that albeit the campaign for women empowerment and liberation, the media has also utilized naked women as accessories to advertised products that has an implicit appeal to men’s prurient interests. Advertisements have actually made use of women as sexual objects. Nothing in those sexy lithe bodies is significant or is in correlation to, for instance, to vehicles or to a motorcycle. On the other hand, it’s appreciable to see media tackling issues on civil liberties and equality of women. It’s noted that there is also greater participation of women in decision-making bodies and in social affairs. Some of them have also made use of literatures and poetry as ways of expressing their thoughts and dreams (Feldstein, 2005). Gill (2003, p. 1) pointed that albeit the growing awareness of women to fight against sexual violence and objectification, its still saddening to note that there are matters when women are hyper-sexualized subjects that have negative impacts to genuine concept of feminism. As women’s movement is integrated in the mainstream, the same does not seek to put men at a defensive position while in the process of changing the macho culture of patriarchal system (Gill, 2003, p. 1). Nor is the movement concern about nurturing false consciousness of women (Gill, 2003, p. 1). Hall (1997) asserted in his book on Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices that media production is interrelated to culture, if not a mirror of a society’s culture. It’s merely expressed in language to convey meanings and values (p. 1). Language has been an instrument as sign and symbol to represent realities. In media, phenomenon and events are expressed and reproduced for readers through language (Hall, 1997, p 7). It’s this meaning that is taking or producing discursive interactions between the information and its consumers, depending on how it correlates with context and situation (Hall, 1997, p 7). Hall posited that language is the “shared cultural space” where dialogue happens. Hall (1997, p. 11) urge readers to know how to think of meaning less in “accuracy and truth but more on effective exchange” (p. 11) although critique would certainly counter that effective understanding of meaning can only be completely understood if there is accuracy and truth of information. During conflict situation, or war, the media have also played the role as propaganda tools between conflicting enemies. The media was utilized to rouse the interest of the people to participate in all political affairs. The media bridged the gap between the state, the people and of the state especially during conflict or war situations. It moved peoples’ patriotic causes and enjoining them to take in shaping opinion for either thwart state policy on war or to support the military of its political causes (Herman & Chomsky, 2008, pp.3-15). Hitler in fact, saw media propaganda as tool for political marketing since this is mobilized for generating attention from the masses; for substantiating facts and the like. At the height of their war, there was only one source of brief information that is propagated for the people to listen and to believe on. Those children, women, and adults that are severely impacted by violence were totally silenced and are made to follow orders (Cull, Culbert, & Welch, 2003, p. 17-19). However, it also depicted lessons that can be drawn from their experiences from the vantage of “communicating revolution (Cull, Culbert, & Welch, 2003, p. 17-19, p. 19).” In those times, people were viewed as mere consumer of ideological fanaticism and thus, can be manipulated by improved propagandists. NATO, the British allied forces, was also in information warfare with the Serbians simultaneously at war (Cull, Culbert, & Welch, 2003, p. 17-19). The latter conducted series of bombing activities and continually propagated that the “war was just” and that they are into humanitarian intervention too through international broadcast stations. The same was conducted to polarize western position and strategically put NATO at the defensive position by spreading information that they killed civilians (Cull, Culbert, & Welch, 2003, p. 19). So you see, like Hitler, they perceived that propaganda was “magic bullet” or “hypodermic needle” that controls human behaviors and decisions (Cull, Culbert, & Welch, 2003, p. 19). On another note, strong appreciation was given to novelists and writers who stood against abolition and trade slavery. These classic stories are still scholarly utilized in academes. Of note is the unending campaign against abortion by prose writers and poets. Such ideation influenced in most legal advocacies in US and in advancing civil rights (Cull, Culbert, & Welch, 2003, p. 20-25) In this century, media becomes more modernized in their system and their role has dramatically played either in escalating or deescalating conflicts in domestic and international scale. However, unlike in those previous decades, peoples are more educated, more aware and more participative in the state-of-affairs owing to the widespread movement for democratization of society. International relations have also assist developed a more rational worldview. Moreover, the modes of communication have also improved as social network, internet, wireless telecommunication advanced communication and advocacies. Technological advancement assisted the broadening of political discourse through info-highways. This is also coupled with the ever increasing educated populace of the world, thus, communication has become more open and borderless. With these developments, many groups, whether private, public or cause-oriented organize their media group as propagandists but unlike before, they evaluate their info-consumers to strategize the kind of information that can be revealed or concealed. Politics have also influenced the flow of information and thus require magnanimous commitment from media workers to do paper trails and to conduct investigations. In countries where liberation movement is undertaken, sourcing objective information remains a challenge. For instance, the struggle of Aung Suu Kyi to democratize Burma from military regime is most globally understood when her life as a prisoner of conscience was popularized through stories and by a movie that related her whole life (Hesmondhalgh, 2004). In the case of United States, following the September 11, 2001 attack, all media has been trailing through the state’s declaration of war against terror. In some countries who were forced to obliged with the international call against terror, there were however those who are critically looking into anent issues pertaining to resistance and that immunity granted for those who enforcing anti-terror campaign at the global scale (Herman & Chomsky, 2008). The challenge nowadays is still to advocate for responsible, more objective, contextualized and a public-centered media that are more accommodating of more voices from all stakeholders that are directly and indirectly affected by issues and policies. We hail media workers who sided with truth at all times and have used information that could illuminate concerns for understanding. Of course, media has there inherent limitations too in the exercise of their profession, thus, the information consumers should maintain vigilance and full awareness of events, products and phenomena. None other but educated constituents who could attest on the validity, veracity and trustworthiness of information but them (Herman & Chomsky, 2008). Moreover, in this post-modern period, it should be understood too that propaganda is not only limited on the use of traditional media outlets. These days, we have social networks and numerous artistic ways in communicating political causes. Europe and Egypt for instance maintained their statues and arts in museum to communicate their social, political, religious and cultural identities. Music too has become a medium of expressing sentiments not only out folk songs but also of political dissents, be it in rock, avante garde, and ballad. Like civilization, media also evolved as a tool for communication. A more aware and critical audience though can criticize and choose what information to absorb, to share, to be passionate about and to advocate. No, media is not that very powerful. It can inform, yes, but the people are ultimate censor of information to uphold truth and have the power to respond appropriately on issues. To date, media has also become more involved in peace journalism to unmask the insignificance of violence and the high cost of war that could have been utilized for the improvement of society and for the delivery of social services. References Berger, A.A. (2005) Media analysis techniques, 3rd Ed. Sage, London, UK. Pp. 1-214. Croteau, D. & Hoynes, W., (2006). The business of media. Pine Forge Press, Sage, Thousand Oaks California. pp. 1-208. Feldstein, R. (2005). I don't trust you anymore: Nina Simone, Culture and Black Activism in the 1960s. The Journal of American History, Oxford, London, UK. http://jah.oxfordjournals.org/content/91/4/1349.extract Accessed: June 24, 2012. Gill, R. (2003). From Sexual Objectification to Sexual Subjectification: The Resexualisation of Women's Bodies in the Media. MR Magazine (Posted online 5.23.09) http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2009/gill230509.html Accessed: June 24, 2012 Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. Ed. Hall, S. The Open University, London, UK. Herman, E. S. & Chomsky N. (2008). The Propaganda Model After 20 Years: Answers To Ten Questions. Ed. Mullen, A. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, Special Issue, Herman, E. S. & Chomsky, N. (2002). Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, 2nd Ed. Pantheon, New York, US. Hesmondhalgh, D. (2004). Media Organisations and media texts: production, autonomy and power' in D. Hesmondhalgh (ed) Media Production, Maidenhead: OUP  Cull, N, Culbert, D. & Welch, D. (2003). Propaganda and Mass Perception: A Historical Encyclopedia 1500 to the Present, ABC CLIO, Oxford, England. pp. 1-450. Read More