Media influence over people. How governments use media - Research Paper Example

? Media influence over people Media influence over people Media role in the Vietnam War The war in Vietnam was the first war to permit liberty to the media by allowing it to air the war events. Media revealed USA as the conqueror in the war which killed the morale of the Vietnamese soldiers. However, when North Vietnam imposed an ambush on US embassy in Saigon, people became doubtful about the possibility of the U.S winning the war. News reporting of the warfare was basically loyal until 1968 during the tet-offfencive. Initially, there was no reliance on media censorship since news reporters had found it impossible to air South Vietnam stories. Many media sources opposed the U.S war in Vietnam because they saw it as a waste of time and resources. In addition, media held a sensitive attitude towards the war. Media had the authority to leave a long-lasting legacy memorable on the whole nation. For instance, such legacies were the scenes of the South Vietnamese police officer shooting the temple that had his hands held together behind his back. The media incarcerated huge audiences in every bit it could in that televisions captured helmeted cops associating with protesters in Grant Park and spread it across televisions nationally during the democratic convention of 1968. It is significant to note that media was biased in the sense that it failed to mention the increasing conformist trend among American youngsters in 1960s. Media was inclined to show American youths as peace volunteers, civil rights activists and pacifists which was not the case. How media portrayed the collapse of the wall of Berlin The portrayal of the media on the fall of the Berlin barrier was trivializing the wall event. Media manipulated the truth of the matter during the scene. For instance, when the Soviet Union started to totter, journalists claimed it was a verification that the risk of totalitarian communism had never been in existence, however that was no so as per the media claims. The leftists’ journalisms attached the capitalists for exploiting the newly liberated workers after the Eastern Europe gained liberation. This was alleged by a Los Angeles reporter who claimed that communism was good in old days when the state could press personal freedom but ensure citizens were sheltered, employed and hunger free. Media never ceased to shower Cuba’s communist authoritarianism with superior press even after the communists failed in Europe when it was really tough for Cubans. The same happened with the northern Korea where the CNN Ted Turner lamely defended the dictator Kim jing-li’s treatment on his citizens. People were malnourished, thin and starving yet Ted Turner claimed there were no scenes of any form of brutality. Taylor, F. (2006) states that the collapse of the Berlin fence was one of the most significant even in the history of the world since it led to the end of tyranny and human brutality. However, it is important to note that media could have done better than what it events did. For instance, it failed to bring this happening into a historical context. Portrayal of media on Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square would always remain a political rally that turned into a bloody massacre as portrayed by the media. The scenes of brutal crackdowns in the Beijing square as china was the site of a pro-democracy student demonstration in1989; these events were aired and reported live in media all over the globe. The demonstration granted the media an opportunity for a telegenic foreign story that was easier for viewers to easily identify with. The government was so threatening that it stopped students from talking to the media. This was followed by an official news blackout and everything left in dilemma as reports were being threatened. Chinese citizens outside Beijing neither saw nor heard the true horror of the event, instead received official state versions that described the scenes as violent students demonstrator’s and angry dissidents attacking innocent government authorities. However, this was not the case; china’s pro-democracy student’s demonstration had crushed with the Chinese military. Chinese government has overtime put an effort to keep a tight rule over traditional and new media to prevent any challenges to its political sovereignty. According to spy groups, this has often characterized strict media monitoring and control systems blocking publication websites and jailing dissident journalists and activists. For instance, a Chinese activist was jailed in 2010 during the Nobel peace prize, it was the time when Google was in battlefield with Chinese government. Calhoun, J. (1994), China’s constitution outlines freedom of speech and press to citizens, however the law includes media regulations with vague language that power uses to claim stories puts the country at risk by disclosing secretes. The issuing of the first white paper by Chinese government in 2010 was to emphasize internet freedom demanding all foreign and local to abide by the Chinese rules and regulations. Analysis reveals that the government uses the internet to control and enhance its legitimacy, Calhoun, J. (1994). Media reports on Iran’s process to liberate people The media portrayed Iran as being more progressive than its neighbors in order to make the public imagine that the Iranian situation was not massive as other. The media on the west portrayed the debate as being the reformist movement against the conservative Islamic government instead of portraying it as Iran people mainly students against the Islamic government. A journalist once insisted that the solution to the problem of freedom limitation was collaboration. The media influenced the situation of Iran by confusing and misleading the public opinion about the situation How governments use media Media is a very effective means of linking the government and people in that it passes information from the government to the people and from the people to the government. However, most world government misuses the media in order to promote their self interests. Media is faced by challenges that draw their roots back from years of dictatorship but also the whole notion as it has been shaped by political powers since independence. For instance, the present power in Tunisia has left all other political conflicts the ousting of president Zine El Abidine Ben in 2001. Former regimes entirely relied on both public and local media to attack opponents in public. This was inaccurate as it was hard to tell whether most media were pushed to portray what they did. How media portrayed the overthrown governments of Tunisia Egypt and Libya. Balance of power in Tunisia media sector has been in favor of the former regime and the leftists. Currently it is an issue that hinders homogeneity of political and social reality and the image portrayed by media as a matter of reality making one of the factors behind conflicts over media control (Pelletreau, 2011). Egypt was inspired by Tunisia to overthrow the government. The Egyptian government tried to successfully eliminate nation’s internet access so as to block protesters ability to organize through media. In Libya, anti-government protests began in 1011. The opposition manned a larger portion of the country’s city. The government therefore released troops and militia to recapture it but they were rebelled. The protests spread and eventually capture by the media whereby Gadafi Saif Islam warned protesters of the country’s vulnerability to civil war. This in turn leads to massive loss of life. Political and professional hindrances have converged and turned media of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt into a field of major tension and threats in the process of democratic transformation. This is the case because media lacks social balance hence it is at risk of collapse as it is not protected and liberated as required Media and technology influence on society Media and technology has influenced the society both positively and negatively. Media and technology assists people to get access to a lot of information and from this, they come up with opinions regarding those issues around them. Media and technology keeps the society updated about what happens around them and globally. Although media and technology projects a lot of people’s ideas from diverse spheres of life, it however limits people to be open minded. This negatively affects the young generation that entirely relies on the exaggerated information. This has altered the expected behavior changes and outlook; this is due to the negative attributable effects of media and technology. Media has a huge effect on society in shaping the public opinion of the masses. For instance, they can modify opinion of the public in many different ways depending on what is the aim. Another influence is portrayed during political campaigns whereby candidates can for more radio and television exposure. Creation of impulsive consumption society by media Media plays a major role in creating a compulsive consumer society. It does this mainly through their advertisements that often foster consumer habits and creates new needs by the society. For instance, music is a form of expressing culture which has a vital role in the media sector. Music production, communication, distribution, speech sound and cultural identity create a compulsive behavior in the society. Media is often used as a channel to provide information assistance all times through their advertisements. This always prompts people to purchase certain items that otherwise could not be bought due to lack of information. Consumption rise so quickly after people seeing thousands of advertisements and people make buying decisions based on what they so on TVs, newspapers and what other media sources. The media is the source of information concerning the consumption in the entire society. This enable the media to win people to purchase goods and services as the media provide the exchange rates with time. In sum, media promotes society impulse consumption through displays, visual merchandising References Calhoun, J. (1994). Students and the Struggle for Democracy in China. California: University of California Press. Li, P, M & Marjorie H. (1991). Culture and Politics in China: The Anatomy of Tiananmen Square. New York: Norton publishers. Pelletreau, H. (2011). Transformation in the Middle East: Comparing the Uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain. Arizona: Arizona state university. Phares, W. (2010). Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East. New York: Simon & Schust. Angrist, M. (2005). Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Regimes and Resistance. London: university of London. Taylor, F. (2006). The Berlin Wall: 13 August 1961 – 9 November. Harvard: Harvard University press. Read More