The Rising Technology and Media in the World - Assignment Example

Role of Media in framing world events Introduction The rising technology in the world brings with it changesin the many aspects of life. Different sources of information available in the market cater for the provision of communication services offered to people. However, these sources differ in regard to their information presentation to the public. This paper will analyze and discuss how different media platforms present issues to the public, with a focus on ‘the Euro zone’s unemployment crisis, and compares their effectiveness in presenting information. A communication medium is any instrument that can be used to pass information to the public. These media play important roles like entertainment and dissemination of information. There are different media used to pass information. They include, print media, audio-visual media, the internet, among others. Print media includes newspapers, magazines, brochures, newsletters, and even leaflets (Yann, 2012). Visual media include photography, which communicates through visual presentations. Audio Visual media are those which present information through visual and sound, for example, televisions, computers, mobile phones, among others (Yann, 2012). They all have their advantages and disadvantages. The Crisis As per the BBC’s channel argument, The Euro zone’s unemployment is a crisis that is facing European countries; due to change in the economy resulting from a financial crisis, that has affected countries in the Euro region. It is a crisis affecting the region due to debts that have accumulated in the region. It resulted from several factors including, globalization of finance, easy credit terms which encouraged borrowing and lending; global financial crisis, and global recession. The high debts contribute to the rise in unemployment in the euro zone (BBC, 2013). The different media that exist, give their report on the progress of the issue. The following reports will focus on what various media types say on the unemployment rates in Spain, which is the fourth largest in the region’s economy. BBC News BBC media channel reports that the total number of unemployed people in Spain is past six million although they say the rate of increase slows due to the country’s struggle to emerge from an economic crisis (BBC, 2013). In addition, the author argues that there is expectance of peak unemployment rates. He again gives says that for the government to reach its goals and expectations in reducing rates of unemployment, it has to focus too, on creation of jobs in the country. In the article, the author claims that the Prime Minister, Mr. Rajoy, tells the parliament of the expected improvements; “we will not be good, but it will be less than in preceding years”. Reuters reports that numbers of the unemployed in Spain to hit 6.2 million, which translates to worse figures than expected. They report on banks pouring huge sums of money in the bond market, but they too report on how the state cuts spending and hikes tax to regain investors’ confidence, a process that has left the country still in recession. In the article, the author repots people demonstrating on the current economic rates, and show few people believing on the promise given by the government on the issue. The Punch News Paper The author in The Punch, a Nigerian newspaper that reports on Spain’s unemployment, says the number of the unemployed have passed six million. The newspaper still remarks the word of the prime minister and hopes, which the country is in restoring employment in the country (Punch, 2013). In contrary to BBC news, the author in The Punch reports the expected increase in unemployment in days to come. Country like France is said to expect an increased number of jobless workers. The social media Daily Mail Report This is social media accessed over the internet. The Daily Mail Report shows that the number of unemployed has increased in the first quarter of the year 2013. The country is battling from recession without success because the rate of unemployment is still increasing. The media gives a report by the prime minister on how the country is battling to reduce the deficits in the economy through financial and labor reforms, cutbacks in wages and spending, but the country seems not to recover. The measures aimed at lowering the deficits are only hurting the economy, and it will suffer more before it recovers. Findings According to the work above, different media present reports on issues differently. All the reports by authors above have almost given the same information about the unemployment in Spain, one of the euro zone countries. However, the authors in their reports do not actually give concrete information on the cause of the problem, what the country is doing towards solving the problem, and the related issues. The author in the BBC news has disclosed that the number of unemployed citizens is high, increasing the rate of unemployment in the country (BBC, 2013). The BBC news specially focuses on the plans that the government has put forward towards solving the problem, instead of the plans to solve the problem, they only bring strain to the economy and bring more recession to the country’s economy. Moreover, Reuters talks of the numbers of unemployed workers and the rates of unemployment. However, the hopes towards creation of jobs to citizens seem to fade, due to the reported increase in unemployment (Hafez). The newspapers as the media play a role in bringing information to the public. The Punch (Punch, 2013) gives a report on the issue, showing, like the other media, the rate, and number of unemployment in Spain. There is no clear information given by these media on the cause of unemployment issues in the region. The social media provided the same information provided by the other media, with all of them focusing on the number and rates of unemployment, but the information differs on presentation. Conclusion The articles discussed above pictures that, the media platforms we have in today’s world are helpful in giving information to the public depending on their use. They provide information on issues affecting the community. The problem of unemployment in the euro zones is as a result of financial crises affecting the region; due to a harsh economy which has led to high taxes and reduction of earnings by the government to cater for the financial crises (Dumitriu). The media have a difference in presenting these reports to the public. It is one, and the same issue, but different reports emerge. Reports compiled by BBC on unemployment issue by media, show that the coverage is very simplistic, they provide isolated data to the audience (Kavanagh, 2012). Most of the media present reports only with negative information, for example, how many people have lost jobs, the rise in unemployment rates, but do not show exactly what is causing the problems or government’s solution on the issue (Kavanagh, 2012). Others provide information that favors the government because most of them are government-owned. They cover news on what people are going through, but do not explain why people pass through such problems. Recommendations Television news shows very short pieces of what is happening, and this becomes difficult to explain what is happening, to the public. The journalists do not even know what is happening, but should seek to know because they have an obligation to make the public aware. The media should stop covering only what people are going through, but also cover the government’s effort addressing the issue. The media, especially those that support the government are quick to present the government’s point of view. They try to scare people not to demonstrate, and rather tell them to go with what the government says. People have to be left to demand their knowledge on the issues. All media platforms should scrutinize the information they bring to the public because this is their duty; to make information available for the public. Bibliography BBC Business News (2013) Spain Unemployment. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22290422 [Accessed on 26 April 2013). Dumitriu, L. Media Framing of Sports Competitions. Going Beyond the war and the shows Frames of Sports Events. Available from: http://journalofcommunication.ro/27/Dumitriu_27.pdf[Accessed 29 April 2013] Hafez, K. The role of Media in the Arabs World’s Transformation Process. Available from: http://www.uni-erfurt.de/fileadmin/user-docs/philfak/kommunikationswissenschaft/files_publikationen/hafez/inhalt899_bound_hafez.pdf [Accessed 29 April 2013] Kavanagh, Tom. (2012). Voices. How Europe’s Media report euro crisis. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20001940 [Accessed on 26 April 2013). Mail Online (2013). Spanish unemployment. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287856/Spanish-unemployment-hits-5MILLION-rise-jobless-total.html [Accessed on 26 April 2013) The Punch, (2013). Unemployment in Spain. Retrieved from [Accessed on 26 April 2013) Yann, Chyrie, (2012)"Type of Mass Media" Retrieved from . [Accessed on 26 April 2013). Read More