News Media Comparison - Assignment Example

? News Media Comparison Mass Media are any medium used to convey information, especially on current affairs or news, to people within a given area or globally, and they include internet, newspapers, television, radio, magazines, movies and many more. Mainstream corporate media is a mass media system that relies on entrepreneurial corporations for funding, production, ownership and distribution. Corporate media is the most common and widely recognised form of information dissemination platform in the world. In most cases such media do not serve in the interest of the public good, but instead focus on satisfying the will and desire of corporations that own and control the media. Alternative media provides complimentary information to that provided by the mainstream media or corporate media. It does this by being different in their delivery of information through varying dimensions of content, models of production, distribution, dynamic artistry and target audience integration. Alternative media’s main objective is to mitigate the effects of existing authorities, like governments and corporations that run the mainstream media, by representing the plight of the marginalized, in society. Although both types of media are bias, alternative media claims that its bias is different from that of corporate media because of their values and overall objective of agitating for the common man’s well being. This paper aims at comparing these two types of media by analysing how they handle a specific current issue in Canada. Fracking is a term used in the mining of natural gas from the Earth crust. It involves the pumping of a mixture of chemicals, fresh water and sand deep into the earth’s crust where the pressure that accompanies this process causes the rocks to crack and release trapped gas (Bisset, n. p.). Some of the chemicals used, in this process, include formaldehyde, ammonia and acetone among others, which are all toxic to the human body. This mixture is not consumed, in the procedure, but reacts with natural elements found in the soil and the flow back is constituted of even more toxic compounds like arsenic, cyanide, lead and mercury among others that have a deleterious effect on health and the environment. In an attempt to curb the effects of these chemicals on the environment, companies involved in these mining prospects have created lakes where this water is collected and recycled (Bisset, n. p.). Recycling requires extra time and resources, which these companies try to minimize by storing the waste chemicals in lakes. Most of the flow back is pumped into exhausted wells, but it is mostly liked to leach to aquifers and surface waters. Fracking might disrupt radioactive elements and gases that might leach up to the surface and harm people and environment (Dembicki, n. p.). Corporate media like the CTV News’ report that the benefits of natural gas shale mining through the Fracking method’s advantages outweigh the disadvantages. This is in terms of job creation, consistent and steady supply of natural gas for next 100 years, and the income it will generate in terms of savings accrued from expenditure on fuel imports (Bisset, n. p.). The minister, for energy and mines, is quoted advocating for natural gas mining using the Fracking process, saying that all it requires is gradual integration of both conservative and avant-garde approaches to both environmental protection and the economic potential of natural gas shale mining (Bisset, n. p.). The framing of the news lays emphasis on the positive impact of the proposed and continued natural gas mining prospects are going to have a long lasting effect on the economies and lives of the people (Krugel, n. p.). This brings to fore the argument that is forwarded by those who are advocating for the continued exploration and mining of natural gas. Their arguments are focused on improving the livelihoods through the creation and acquisition of jobs, and how these mining ventures help in improving the ailing economies of towns and provinces where this mining will be taking place. The focus on the negative environmental impacts of Fracking, in Canada, is not highlighted as much as it should, but the only mention of the environment is what the government will do, and measures it intends put, in place (Krugel, n. p.). There is no mention of what people should do to protect themselves against the harmful effects associated with frack mining. The sources used, in their reporting on this issue, are those that are benefitting from the ongoing mining operations because all their expositions, on the matter, are focused on the positives associated with continued mining activities without focusing on the effects of mining on the environment. Sources from the ministry of environment that would have highlighted the plight of sensitive ecosystems at risk of destruction and its contribution to global warming are not included in their articles (Adrangi, n. p.). This is because they would have cast a negative light, on their corporate driven agenda, and it would make their presentations less appealing to their target audience. Unlike alternative media, corporate media tries to depict victims of accidents caused by leakages and activities directly linked to natural gas mining through Fracking as the causative agent (Adrangi, n. p.). The victim is portrayed as the intruder instead of the mining company being the invasive agent as would have been done by the alternative media. Alternative media sources like Rabble, reporting on the Fracking method of natural gas mining, are more focused on its impacts on the environment, health and its contribution to Canada’s increasing role in emission of greenhouse gases. Articles in the Rabble convey their information framed in such a way it puts forward the notion that advocates for environmental protection, conservation and agitating for approaches that put the interests of people first (Adrangi, n. p.). Rabble serves as a perfect example, of alternative media, which is characterized by reports that support the rights and privileges of the marginalized, in society, by articulating the effects of natural gas mining through Fracking. Unlike corporate media that rarely mentions individuals who are directly affected by Fracking or even if they do, the framing of the news item is done in such a way diminishes the role that the process has in the whole issue. Alternative media focuses on the procedure’s role, in causing the harmful effects, instead of what the victim should have to avoid getting in harms way could have done (Adrangi, n. p.). They provide background contexts that are aligned with the immediate needs of the people and the environment. According to recent Canadian public opinion, alternative media’s role in informing the public on the impacts of natural gas mining using the Fracking method has had a considerable mobilizing influence (Dembicki, n. p.). People are more aware of matters pertaining to natural gas mining, and they are more reluctant to endorse mining using this method in their areas. Its overall influence, in persuading people to reject it, is less as compared to the influence that corporate media has over the public (Dembicki, n. p.). This is because they are well funded, and they also address issues that people are in dire need, of which they use as an incentive, to make people accept their ideas. Corporate media still holds sway with public opinion in Canada compared to the alternative press. Works Cited Adrangi, M. (2013). “B.C. Government need to Say "no Fracking Way" this May.” Rabble, 1. 2013. Print. Bisset, K. (2013). “Tries to Balance Environment, Economic Growth of Fracking.” Canadian Press. 2. 2013. Print. Dembicki, G. Oil Sands Cleanup Opportunity #3: Harvest Heavy Metals. The Tyee. 1. 2013. Print. Krugel, Lauren. Shoal Point Farms out Potentially Huge Newfoundland Shale Oil Find. Global News. 1. 2013. Print. Read More