Journalism and Mass Media - Research Paper Example

c Journalism, mass media and communication Influence of the media on politics in the society Journalism and mass media are considered to be elements or components of communication in the sense that they involve collection and transfer of information to people through the use of right channels. Communication is considered as the fundamental tool in any country, and this is with consideration of the fact that it greatly aids in improvement of the performance of an organization. Effective and efficient communication aids immensely in determination of the goals and objectives of leaders and institution/organizations, and it is the obligation of the managers and decision makers to ensure that communication is made appropriate for competence and proficient to be achieved in any organization. Journalism entails collection of information from the scenes, recording of the information and transfer of the information to the targeted group. Mass media is understood to be an organization of the journalists and communication tools which are used together to convey information in the most effective, efficient and convenient manner. There are various interpretations that are offered to communication and so does the crisis in communication. Crisis communication is understood to be a sub-specialty that is incorporated in the public relations field, and is purposely designed to help in protecting and shielding organizations and individuals who are faced by public challenge to their standing (Ulmer, npag). According to the understanding drawn from some professionals, communication crisis is the assumption or viewpoint of changeable situations that are observed to have a negative threat to the expectations of individuals. This is especially directed to business organizations where the stakeholders are faced by unpredictable situations in the sense that they cannot determine the future of an organization in terms of the financial status or stand. Problem Statement There are various issues that have been confirmed to be influenced by mass media, and these are with inclusion of the public sectors, private sectors and the political systems among others. The cultural and societal expectations from people are also affected by the mass media due to the communication approaches that are used. This results to communication crisis, which negatively alters the performance of people or organizations in a given community. Considering the elements that need to be considered in ensuring that the communication crisis plan is effective, it is essential to consider the content, the mood, the language and the design of the communication approaches that are used in an organization. The content incorporates the matters that are considered to be essential in a firm, and which need to be communicated effectively and efficiently to the targeted populations. The mood looks upon the expectations of the targeted people or groups to which the operations and activities of an organization reach. This implies that mood considers issues such the mode or means to which issues are communicated or addressed to the respective persons to whom they are addressed. The languages used by communication organizations to express their expectations to consumers or clients also determine the performance of the organization. It is the language and design to which information is represented that affects the perception to which the targeted groups receive and interpret the content of the messages (Frame, npag). This implies that in situations where the design or approach used to represent information is not appropriate, then the targeted groups will have negative interpretations and perspectives towards the content. Thus, there is great need to investigate the influence of mass media, which incorporates the role of journalism to communication to be able to understand the impacts they have to the political systems of a society, community or a country. Objectives The major focus of the study is to investigate journalism, mass media and communication influence of the media on politics in the society. This will be achieved through a comprehensive analysis of the theories of communication, and establishing an understanding of the impacts of the media on politics in the society. Research Questions To be able to attain the objective and aim of the study, the following are some of the questions that will act as a guide to help in attainment of the influence of the mass media to the politics of a given society: The following are my research questions will be used : a) Do media influence the public’s political opinions? b) Do media direct the public on what to do politically? c) Does information provided by the media influence the opinions of the public? d) How does he media influence the voting exercise? Research Approach and Methodology To be able to find out the above information and make final conclusions, my research will use two different research methods. The research will use questionnaires that will contain research questions. In order to gain valid information, it will include multiple answer questions and open-ended question so as not to limit the interviewee. The final research method will be observation. The researcher will observe the public reaction on prevailing political topics and the exam the influence of the media on decisions and stands made by the public. The research will also use the available literature in books and journals to study the influence of the media on political behavior of the public. Secondary data collection techniques will be used in the study, where various researched materials will be incorporated in the collecting, analyzing and interpretation of data. Considering the evaluation of communication data, it is relatively hard for employees and stakeholders in an organization to determine whether the plan is effective or not. It is through the targeted groups or clients that communication strategies used by an organization are measured. However, it has been confirmed that the effectiveness and efficiency of data connected to communication approaches used in a study can be measured through scrutinizing at the ability of answering the research questions and meeting the objectives of the study. Thus, to test the appropriateness of using the secondary data, more emphasis will be laid on whether the research questions have been met or not, and whether the objective of the study has been achieved. Accurate data collection, data analysis and evaluation lead to conclusions that are evidence-based. The accuracy of information highly depend on the reliability of the data and the trustworthy of the people who were involved in data collection, data entry and data storage processes. It has been observed that there are several issues that hinder appropriate data collection, data analysis and consequently the interpretation of the data becomes inaccurate since the reliability of the data is in question. Literature Review According to Popkin, the media have a great influence on how voters make their choices during elections. He argues that the larger percentage of the society makes decisions on whom to vote for based on the media TV stations or radio stations that they listen to (Popkin, npag). The uses the example the 1988 trade fair election which proved to be a battle between media stations rather that a voting exercise. Popkin thinks that society is normally in an informational deficit state, and they blindly follow the opinions of different media groups (Popkin, npag). His research identified that politicians most politicians use the media to get their opinions across since it has been identified that the media is an easy way to the decision of the voters. He concludes that elections are driven by the media and the public is just a tool for media houses to actualize their political opinions (Popkin, npag). Rozell identifies that the media uses framing a major tool to influence the political environment in the society. He argues that the media does not directly tell the public what to do or what to think, but it gives clues (Rozell, npag). The clues are very influential towards directing the public on what to do or what political stands and opinions to have. Through this misconception, the society has greatly being influenced by the media especially in political topics and voting exercises (Rozell, npag). From his research, he notes that the media is selective in the kind of information that it gives to the public. Filtering of information and covering of information steers the societies’ opinions to certain issues. The media may choose to air the positive sides of politicians and keep away their negative sides in order to buy the confidence of the public. On the other hand, the media house does not like a certain political opinion, they might choose to air it disadvantages and remain silent on its advantages (Rozell, npag). Nesbitt-Larking says that racial and ethnic enmity are created and catalyzed by the media (Nesbitt-Larking, npag). The media speaks to people of all races and diversified ethnic backgrounds. The media can therefore either influence unity between them or enmity between them through its opinions. The writer notes that the political racial divide in the USA has been induced by the media airing information that favors or criticizes certain races (Nesbitt-Larking, npag). He concludes that political racial divide and ethnic political opinions are heightened and minimized by the media (Nesbitt-Larking, npag). He appreciates the media role in reducing racial divide but blames it on the situation in the past. Comstock and Scharre say that the media influence the public on what to do by controlling their psychology Comstock & Scharrer, 2007). They argue that the media influences the political decision of the public by manipulating their psychology. According to them, the public’s ideas on politics are bases on what the media thinks is right and what it considers wrong. The mass media intelligence can be protected by ensuring confidentiality in the data that is collected and privacy of the results if there is prediction that there was denial or deception of the information forwarded during research. The researchers should consider the aspect of trust from the people they collect data from, and weigh the responses they get by comparing it with that of other groups being investigated over the same issue. According to Comstock and Scharrer (2007), various definitions have been fostered to express different understandings of people towards the concepts of strategy processes and their implications to business and non-business organizations. The strategic processes are considered to be top level processes that organizations or institutions are exposed to in their line of operations. They may include tasks that require high level of intellectual capacity and that which have relatively wide effects in the structure and the functioning of the companies, organizations or firms. The nature, the structure and the functioning of these strategic processes can be compared to those that the human brain performs as they mostly involve the intellectual capacities and abilities of these processes. There are various characteristics of the strategic processes which are observed within and outside the organization. Communication processes are understood to be the basic tools that support the activities and operations that are undertaken in any business organization. They determine the nature of goods and services that an organization should integrate in its operations, and greatly predict the future of the business in terms of feedback and returns. Managers and other decision-makers rely immensely on the strategic processes to make wise and desirable decisions that otherwise contribute to attainment of the business goals and objectives. Communication development depends on a number of things, with integration of the target, mission and values of the organization. The development process can be better understood with consideration of the features of the strategic processes (Comstock & Scharrer, npag). These features apply to one or multiple of strategic processes considering the argument that the processes aim at improving the performance of an organization. Some of them include: 1. Multiple Source of Data- A strategic process is significantly concerned with making decisions that are evidence-based. This implies that developers need to have sufficient information, having carried an intense research on the issues that need to be addressed by the process. Decisions are made depending on the quantity and quality of data that has been collected, analysed and evaluated before the final conclusion is made. This data must be collected from within the organization or from the environment outside the organization. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that the data that is to be used in development of the strategy is relevant and credible. Therefore, strategic processes face an information or data overload and also the possibility that some of the data might be incorrect or unreliable. The decision-making processes of designing a strategic process is made challenging by the uncertainties that are present due to unreliability of some of the data used. 2. Converting Data to Information- Many organizations usually have large volumes of data that has all the meanings relevant for development of an effective and relevant strategic process, but they lack the expertise to make or convert the data into meaningful information. Strategic processes developers thus need to consider the aspect of expertise, knowledge and skill applications in order to make significant strategies. This implies that relevant skills to the system in the form of human or artificial intelligence is needed to help in converting the data into meaningful and actionable information. Therefore, the idea of business intelligence systems in significant in development of the strategic process that would consequently help in improving the performance of the organizations to which they are developed with respect to. 3. Taking Decisions- This is in relation to acceptable of the changes that are forwarded or fostered by the strategic processes once they are implemented or took into action. It has been observed that even if actionable information is available to the management of an organization in the form of alternatives, the truth is, the payoffs are unknown and unpredictable. With this understanding, it becomes difficult to create a science of decision making which is the main challenge in development and implementation of the strategic processes. 4. Creation of Standard Operating Procedures in Strategic Processes- Some individuals have the perception that strategic processes cannot be dehumanized, which is not justifiable. Although the strategic processes are progressions, they depend on people and their intellectual capacities for them to be effectively implemented and their effects felt. Proponents of this theory assume that a skilful team is needed from the upper side of an organization to make the processes effective and applicable in business operations and practices. For this reason, the executive’s compensation is outrageous regardless of the efforts or intellectual contributions that these people make towards the development of the strategic process. Change is perceived to be the transformation or modification of the current issues to make them better and desirable to meet the interest of the future. This change due to the changing innovations and these innovations are brought forth by strategic processes that are created upon the research on the issues that are needed to meet the changes in organization. There is a very tight link between innovation, strategy and change in the sense that each depend on one another. If things or issues don’t change, then an organization could keep participating in the same activities irrespective of the generation. This implies that there could be no innovations and discoveries. For instance, if all the markets and businesses were stable, and if the customers were predictable, and if the competitors do not bring new goods and products to the market, then every activity or process would be just as it was yesterday. This indicates that if there were no changes, there could be no innovations since there would be no strategic plans to be made. This is also evident in the field of technology as if the technology stayed constant, the technological and the digital innovations that we have currently could not have evolved. This is true in any organization. There must be need for change for innovation to take place, and these innovations are unachievable if strategic planning and management processes are not integrated. Some organizations fail in their decision-making as they may be in need to initiate change in their organization due to the business ideas and opportunities that arise in their line of operation, but lack intellectual skills and manpower to make and implement strategic processes and manage them. Research Results The research was sought to know if politics has any influence on the political decisions of people. It was seeking to identify if the media directs the public on what to think and what to do. The research was also investigating on whether the public opinions on political aspects are based on the information supplied to them by the media. Voting is one of the biggest political actions that involve the public and in respect to that; the research will seek to know if the media decides where the public cast their vote during an election. The research will seek to know if the media participates in creating political enmity between people of different ethnicities and races. It was found out that mass media contributes significantly to the political systems of the United States. The influence that mass media has on the lives of people and how they perceive people can also be confirmed from the results to be great. Analysis and Conclusion According to the findings, one of the major threats of communication in a society is the pending lawsuits filed by some people who feel that exploited and mistreated in their request for compensation. Communication is greatly aided by the support that the designers, the managing group and other employees put on it. There are several ways in which these respective parties help in implementation of the strategic management of organizations and societies, and it is through their support that the organizations have been successful in its operations, making it the leading corporation in its line of operation. They help in defining the goals of the strategic planning and management, and significantly in involving strategic management and implementation into societal political plans for the future. In response to the research questions, the people have helped communication sectors to make various achievements not only to their organizations but also to the political sectors of the societies: 1. Examine the recent history and the changing contexts both internally and externally of the societies’ state and in determination of how to capitalize on the communication society’s strengths. This is because the people enable the communication organization to detect its weaknesses, and strengths of the organizations, enabling it to strategize on the best approaches to overcome the weaknesses using its respective strengths. The general public, with inclusion of the surrounding community enable the organization to restate its objectives and goals thereby creating not only an enabling environment but also developing operational strategies that boast the performance of the communication companies. 2. The people allow the communication organizations to answer the question of where they deserve to be. The people help the organizations in the planning process which triggers the articulation of organizations goals. This is with inclusion of the long-term and short-term goals which restates and redefines the well-being state of community, agency and the future direction of the organizations. Articulating the vision and determining the goals of the organizations enables the managers and the decision-makers to reframe and restate the operational strategies and the decision strategies thereby moving the organizations to better positions in the political world. 3. They facilitate to successful involvement of the stakeholders and articulate their support towards the communication organizations. Communication development entails consideration and articulation of the values and priorities that reflect the main agenda of any communication organizations. The managers and other executive officials are responsible for ensuring that the public in return have accessed the products offered by the organizations at affordable and accommodative rates. Communication processes can be improved by the decision-makers and other top officials upon their realization of the benefits accrued from a stable and reasonable strategic processes. This can be achieved through the following ways: a. Prioritizing goals and objectives of the organization as this is an essential step in developing a strategic plan. Communication plans are not just stated in a list but should also be reflecting the individuals participating in the planning process. b. Addressing the conflicting mandates and goals. Successful communication process is that which addresses issues related to other factors affecting the implementation process of established strategic plans. c. Prioritizing on the implementation process of the strategies that have already been assigned, for instance the operational strategies and decision strategies. In the main, communication processes are very essential tools in management and operations of any organization. It is usually preferred since the many forms or types of strategies help in improving the performance of any society. This is because in case there are various uncertainties and unpredictable risk in the line to which the company is dealing with, it might be forced to collaborate or form a joint partnership with other companies suffering the same challenges to outdo them. On the other hand, the communication organizations will stand still regardless of the competition subjected to them from other competitors due to the quality of products and services that the company offers. Thus, it can be argued that journalism, mass media and communication positively influence of the media on politics in the society, and this has been confirmed by the results reflecting on the United States of America’s political society. References Bloomgarden-Smoke, K. "Donna Tartts long awaited third novel will be published this year". The New York Observer. 2013. Comstock, G. A., & Scharrer, E. The psychology of media and politics. Amsterdam [etc.: Elsevier. 2007. Frame, J. D. Managing projects in organizations: How to Make the Best Use of Time, Techniques, and People, 3rd edition, Jossey-Bass, 2013. Jhumpa, L “A Temporary Matter.” Interpreter of Maladies. New York: Houghton Mifflin, . 1991. 1-21. Nesbitt-Larking, P. W.. Politics, society, and the media. Peterborough, Ont: Broadview Press. 2007 Popkin, S. L. Changing media, changing politics. Perspectives on Politics, 4(02), 2006, 327-341. Rozell, M. J.. Media power, media politics. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. Tracy, H. Donna Tartts "The Secret History", New York and London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001 Read More