Journalism and Mass Media - Essay Example

Journalism and Mass Media Journalism and Mass Media Introduction Responsible journalism system serves the interest of the public in different ways. The United Nations has been in the front line of advising different nations of the world to embrace the freedom of media policy. This is a policy where the media works independently unlike in the past where the media was controlled and sometimes manipulated by different governments of the world. Even though journalists claim that their biasness and pressure from media owners does not affect their working due to their professional norm of objectivity; all this can affect their work as it might mean feeding the public with the right information. A biased information is not the final truth, and in the case where the media owner influences the kind of information to be issued, then the media fails in being independent (Uow.edu.au, 2013). The norm of objectivity is made up of two components. One such component is depersonalization, which is a requirement stipulating that when issuing a report or information, a journalist should never express his or her own views, evaluations or believes for this may lead to delivery of biased information. The second component is balance, which involves presenting opinions of agents from both sides of a controversy, and by all means avoiding favoring one side. The policy of objectivity requires that when dealing with authoritative sources like politicians, journalist should report the views of these sources in a way that proves that they are not favoring any one side (Uow.edu.au, 2013). The objectivity policy helps in making sure that the public is protected from biased information that may mislead them when making decisions. Sometimes the information to be reported might not be in conjunction with their beliefs or evaluations, and the policy helps in presenting truth to the public during such instances. Under the responsible journalism system, the public enjoys transparency in different arms of the government and the corporate sector. Socially responsible journalism ensures that journalists working in different departments are careful about the kind of information they present to the public (Uow.edu.au, 2013). Balance, which is part of the objectivity policy of journalism, helps in making sure that journalists give the exact information about any authoritative source of information like the government. Through perfect reporting about the activities of the government the public is in a position to scrutinize and put the government. Such information becomes useful to the public when voting in the next government (Uow.edu.au, 2013). Through the policy of objectivity helps in protecting the rights of the public. In most parts of the world the greatest traitors and dictators have been rendered powerless by responsible journalism. Responsible journalism educates the public more about their rights; through such education the public is able to live a life free from any mistreatment by their leaders. Sometimes when some governments fails to offer good leadership, the media comes in with the role of activists. This can be the best way of toppling the government by inciting the public, the public enjoys good governance. Responsible media and journalism is known to offer the right information to the public, through their documented report they usually advise the public on some issues on how to invest and this helps in boosting the financial status of the public. Through most of their channels they give information about weather forecasting and this helps the public in deciding type of clothing and even travelling calendar (Carr, 2006). There are several cases in different parts of the world where a social responsible journalism system saves the day by giving the public the right information. Journalism being a source of information, analysis and comments on the current affairs, journalism as a field helps in many different roles in the modern society. The principal goal of almost every professional journalist is to serve the society by being transparent as they issue the right and true information to the public. They also examine the way power is being exercised by the elected or appointed leaders. Through this, they help in inspiring democratic debate, and this leads to growth, and developmenton on the way the politics are conducted as it inspires social and cultural development in the modern society. For example, in a democratic nation elections must be free and fair. The media has a role to play in such elections; it helps in providing information and analysis, they also function as watchdogs and being the voice of the voters. Being the voice of the voters’ means they are speaking in one voice with the voters, this helps in making sure the interest of the public of electing the right leader is enhanced (Aibd.org.my, 2013). Elections are known to determine the future of a nation and even individual. Most of the countries like Rwanda who experienced genocide were as a result of politics. This means elections and politics are a most important aspects of determining unity and peace of a nation. During elections the media plays a very big role in making sure that the public gets the right information at the right time. The media plays three major roles in every democratic election held in the world (Aibd.org.my, 2013) Through the media citizens are able to access a lot of information about the elections to be conducted. Since the public depends on the media to be informed about the election professional journalist who are socially responsible gives the relevant and important information to the public. They avoid giving any information which can spark conflicts because their interest is the public to know everything helpful about the elections. Media from different nations of the world has been in the frontline acting as link between the election commission and the citizens. Secondly the media acts as a watchdog of the elections, this means they can report any irregularities during the election process, and they are not supposed to be biased when reporting about the elections. Acting as the voice of the citizens is the third role of the media, this means the rights of the citizens are protected, and in case they are abused the media comes out in defense of the same; and this helps the citizens in enjoying their different rights without fear all being intimidated in any way (Aibd, 2013). Socially responsible and a professional journalists observe the journalism ethics; this helps the public in getting information which is not biased in any way. In the current modern society of the Latin Americans, journalists are aware that their duty is to offer the public true information. This supremacy of truth helps in making sure that the society lives in a transparent world. This is the reason why most of the Latin American countries are growing both socially and economically. Responsible Journalists will offer complete information, with no fact forged or removed; this helps the citizens when making decision (Fes.de, 2013). Freedom of Expression This is an ethical norm which plays a very big role in the mass media and journalism media. Freedom of expression supports the rights of every individual to express their views and opinions freely. This freedom has helped in democracy growth in different parts of the world. Through the availability of true and socially responsible journalists it has been possible for people to enjoy freedom of press and expression, unlike in some states where the media gives out biased information because they might be fearing the government, this will kill freedom of press and expression. This is highly practiced in Latin American countries like Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, and the rest (Lerner and Lerner, 2009). It is the duty of their journalist to defend the right to the freedom of expression. This helps in creating a free world where people can give out their opinions without fear. This is unlikely in some African and Asian countries where freedom of expression is not given to the maximum, due to existence of dictatorship form of governments in these two regions. Freedom of expression is a big booster to journalism because they have right to say the truth no matter how bitter it might be, to the public or the leaders (Fes.de, 2013). References Aibd, 2013. Fair Elections and Responsible Journalism. AIBD - Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development. [Online] Available at: http://www.aibd.org.my/node/1083 [Accessed: 13 Nov 2013]. Carr, H. 2006. Purpose-Driven Media Literacy. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Fes, 2013. Ethics in Journalism: A Reader on Their Perception in the Third World. [Online] Available at: http://www.fes.de/fulltext/iez/00710b03.htm [Accessed: 13 Nov 2013]. Lerner, A. and Lerner, A. 2009. Freedom of Expression. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Uow.edu.au. 2013. The Media - Objectivity. [Online] Available at: http://www.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/STS218/media/objectivity.html [Accessed: 13 Nov 2013]. Read More