Role of Media in Promoting Respect for Human Rights and Human Development - Research Paper Example

Consequently, the promotion of human development is not just an economic, technological, and social challenge; it is a political and institutional challenge. Supporting these new findings is a mounting conviction that many development problems that persist reflect weakness in governance. Human rights and human development can only be encouraged by responsible leadership, accountability, and good governance. In many countries, the role of media in the promotion of respect for human rights and human development cannot be disputed. The media has played a major role in bringing forth or into the limelight the violation of human rights that occur in different democracies around the world.

Studies in various countries have demonstrated that weak governance is responsible for lagging behind in development and indescribable poverty. Weak governance is seen evidenced in corruption, public services that are inefficient, and a range of other incompetence. In trying to shape the direction of development in democracies around the world, the media has come up to support efforts of recognition of human rights and human development. The significance of human rights can only be recognized when the founding principles are reviewed.

Media Theory Media effects have been attributed to some theories that characterize the public sphere today. There could be four approaches that are broadly pertaining to culture and mass media that perspectives are built on. The first one is mass culture conservative fear by the mass media in a democracy of populist mass. The second perspective is neo-Marxist and Marxist perspectives on the mass media and culture. The third perspective is the culture industry notion which is related to the 1st generation of Frankfurt School.

The last one is liberal democratic theory and media as significant to pluralism and where public opinion may be formed independently. Writers in the critique of mass culture and mass society view new media as being a threat to either institution of democracy as they were to the cultural values of elites. This is a pessimistic and conservative view of modernization, democratization, and mass education. There are many politicians who talk about mass democracy and they do not mean what they are saying.

This approach is not common, but some elements associated with it can be seen in journals and newspapers which offer avenues for various views that are conservative. Media and democracy contrast liberal tradition which is of the perspective that mass media is essential to democracy development. Mass media is viewed as assisting in securing citizenship rights through the dissemination of information and views of pluralism. Through this process, public opinion is seen to influence and form government. Media is crucial to the public sphere operation of open debate. Media becomes a public watchdog for looking at the affairs of the general public.