Choose a media problem and solve it - Essay Example

Media Problem In recent times, the media has acquired a certain cult status in providing people with the information they require. There have been accusations that the media has an overwhelming influence on popular culture and lifestyle. The media is seen as influencing the outcomes of issues that range from brand competition to the presidential election. In some respects, the media has the power to galvanize popular opinion to achieve one form of results or the other in a debacle.Since there are few mechanisms to control the content provided by the media, so it is generally up to the media to regulate its ethical considerations.

In the presented scenario, there is a consideration to provide focus to a celebrity’s death against the need to concentrate on the closure of parks for three days a week. As mentioned before, the media is considered as a reliable form of cultural information provider. This indicates that there are chances that the focus provided to either story would become a contemporary cultural consideration.Another social consideration is the fact that the media is seen as a social watchdog and is assumed to be responsible by most people.

Consequently, most people in a social setting are ready to take the media’s cue in order to look into contemporary challenges facing a society or community. The nature of media establishments ensures that they have information sufficiently ahead of time so that it can be distributed to the audience for their reaction. Typically it is the audience’s reaction through media manipulation that makes all the difference to political processes.These needs also need to be balanced against the consideration of earning a profit since it is the prime motive of opening up most media establishments.

In this respect, media ratings tend to matter and figure a lot especially in terms of television ratings being compared between rivals. The current scenario demands a local television to decide what news to make the lead story. The park closure is a social issue that tends to affect the lives of nearly everyone in the community and the local television station has all the responsibility to make people aware of their closure. In contrast, the celebrity death news story has the potential to raise the ratings for the television station and hence to increase the advertisement revenue for the television station.

Placed as the news director at the local television station, I would choose to provide focus to the celebrity death news story. Doing so will ensure that the subsequent television ratings for the local television channel are higher and so more revenue will be generated. It may be argued that the parks issue is more important for the community and hence deserves more attention. However, the parks issue has little hope of achieving the kinds of television ratings that the celebrity death news story could provide.

Another major consideration in deciding over this issue is the duration of the actual issue. The celebrity death news story would tend to evaporate in nothing more than a few days and so can only be aired in such a relevant time period. However, the parks issue will tend to linger around in the community as immediate reversals on the issue cannot be expected. It would be advisable to provide focus to the parks new story once the celebrity news story becomes irrelevant since the parks issue would be in greater momentum by that time.