Mass Media and Its Role in Society - Term Paper Example

The commonly used term ‘mass media’ encompasses numerous institutions and individuals that differ in method and purpose. In general usage, the term has been considered to define groups who make up the communications profession in both the entertainment and news industries. Americans view the media as a trusted source of information. The media can also be perceived as a bosom friend, opening a world of enlightenment to the comfort of our living rooms. There is no shortage of media coverage inundating society on a daily basis. In addition to television, radio and the internet, approximately 1,550 daily newspapers are currently published in the United States along with about 7,500 weekly newspapers that provide local community news. About 5,000 AM and 5,000 FM stations are broadcasting in local communities as are 1,550 commercial and 350 educational television stations (Hiebert 2001). All citizens are heavily exposed to mass media, but how is this enormous amount of ready information impacting society? Does it influence opinions or reflect society’s thoughts, and feelings? Obviously, mass media does indeed influence opinion as it is the genesis of the information by which opinion is formed. To what degree depends on the variables considered as the effects of mass communication are many and diverse and may be short or long-term, obvious or concealed, intense or ineffectual. They may derive from any number of aspects of the communication content. “They may be considered as psychological or political or economic or sociological. They may operate upon opinions, values, information levels, skills, taste, or overt behavior” (Hiebert 2001). The media reflects and reports, and as some speculate, shapes society, thus an understanding of these venues of information is vital to the understanding of our civilization itself. This discussion will examine how the media uses various aspects of the communication process to shape modern society. Television is a truly democratic mass medium that spreads information uniformly without regard to wealth, position or education and has clearly broadened our general dialogue. The average community in the United States now receives over 30 channels of television with many receiving hundreds. This diversity of programming presents perspectives regarding every conceivable characteristic of American society. With this expanded supply of social conduits, the influence of the media will only continue to grow. Examining national news programs on FOX News Channel and MSNBC, it is clear that the media outlets are working toward shaping community opinion regarding the upcoming Presidential elections. Despite this, the programs seem to follow along a fairly predictable path that serves to lull the public into believing that every newscast is the same and is therefore not doing anything to manipulate thought. Thus, the similarities will be discussed first before the deeper and more subtle manipulations can be exposed. Each newscast is given 30 minutes in which to broadcast, which is a comfortable time period for the average American adult. Both broadcasts begin with a quick recap of the day’s news highlights and special occurrences, which are often very close to the same things. This is immediately followed by the top story of the day, the most sensationalistic story, which this week focused on the hotly debated confirmation of the new attorney general Michael Mukasey. The differences in reporting styles will be discussed in a moment, but for the purposes of comparison will be ignored for the present. Amazingly, the coverage time for the story was almost identical, both stations covering it for approximately 7 minutes and featured two interviews as well as news anchor commentary. With a quick teaser of what’s coming up next in the news, both stations then cut to commercial. Both news programs returned with 2-3 stories covering other important issues like the Iraq war, the environment (in the case of MSNBC) and international and national general news before cutting away again to another commercial, giving the audience time to absorb all they’d been told but with a promise of better things to come. Finally, the program would close with a short humanitarian or ‘feel-good’ story of some sort, such as the images of the Earth as it sets on the moon taken from Japan’s lunar probe shown on MSNBC or the Holmes Comet discussed on Fox. Despite the similarities in basic content, the differences between these broadcasts went well beyond the obviously different reporting approaches. Fox’s slant was decidedly Republican-oriented throughout its program, blaming Democrats for holding up processes in Washington with a needless confirmation question, featuring stories about progress in Iraq and matching content for content in the astronomical realm while avoiding any connection to MSNBC’s recent commitment to their ‘go green’ campaign. With this approach, Fox is able to present itself as the strong man on the block with a mainline to the TRUTH and a commitment to ensure those radical hippie Democrats don’t go throwing away the ideals of our forefathers. For their part, MSNBC was decidedly Democrat-oriented in their approach, encouraging representatives to stick to their resolve not to confirm the judge until he makes a decision regarding waterboarding. Their stories on Iraq focused on the return of soldiers to their families and again issuing a call to pull soldiers out. Finally, with the image of the earth setting on the moon, the station is able again to put in a shameless plug for their ‘go green’ humanitarian campaign based upon their acceptance of the global warming theory. They embrace the concept of the tree-hugging hippie and demand to know just what is wrong with people caring about the health and welfare of other people? These two news stations have been increasingly open about their political leanings, often directly opposing each other such as in the battle between MSNBC’s Keith Olberman, who always makes fun of Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, and Bill O., who refuses to acknowledge Keith’s existence. The careful battle that is occurring on TV news is echoed in the newspapers and, to a lesser extent, on the radio. In some cases the program is dually broadcast on TV and on the radio waves at the same time, which indicates the level of similarity between these forms of news coverage. In addition, it is difficult to find news radio programs on the FM dial. The news covered on the channels that most people listen to most of the time consists of little more than a minute of every half hour period to provide a one or two sentence summary of the top headlines of the day. When it comes to format, both of these types of media follow the example brought forward by the television. It may perhaps be more correct to say that the television mimics the example set by the older media form of the newspaper. The front page is, of course, reserved for the paper’s top stories of the day. The story printed at the top of the page translates naturally into the first story covered by the TV programs. However, the TV almost never gets beyond the stories found on the front page of the paper and certainly not into the deep back pages, where the newspaper covers a greater number of political issues, arts and sciences, business news, environmental concepts and sports. While the newspaper has the available space to cover a great deal more news than the TV, most of its space is devoted to advertising revenue. In most of the papers viewed, there was a ratio of approximately 65-75 advertising/photography to 35-25 news story. Within this ratio, photography represented a very low part of the ratio, perhaps only filling 5-10 percent of the available space. However, it should also be noted that newspapers have made it a science to know how the combination of a well-selected headline and a compelling image might affect the general public and begin to sway opinion. The most efficient and expanded source of news was found on the internet where news from around the world was available at the touch of a button and often at a moment’s notice. While each of the major news corporations make the attempt to appear even-handed and neutral, they all demonstrate a bias and, through the way in which they slant the story, as discussed in the television example, are able to influence public thought in one direction or another. Thanks to continued advances in technology, these internet channels make it possible not only for news to be updated by the minute, but also for the viewer to interact by sending in their comments, participating in online polls, asking questions and following links to further information about those stories that interest them. “Over the next 10 years, as a new political generation comes on-line, the Internet will probably surpass television as the main mode of communication. And with the Internet will come an even greater ability for the public to talk back” (Ansolabehere n.d.). As compared to the newspaper, the internet has considerably less space devoted to advertising on its pages, but probably more advertising all together and it features advertising on its front page, something the newspapers almost never do. There are numerous ways in which the media utilizes the concepts of color and other aspects of their differing delivery methods to influence the ideas of the public and thus shape culture. Depending on how they shape their approach, the news media can convince us of our humanitarian responsibility to liberate foreign countries with oil from evil dictators and the importance of such action in keeping terrorists busy ‘over there’, or they convince us that this same action is globally criminal on our part. Auxiliary stories serve to set the tone of the TV program, newspaper or radio program and, although they attempt to fill pages with stories from around the globe in every topic, internet. Yet the internet is already having an effect on society, shaping it into new expectations in which news is available at the touch of a button and viewers’ opinions are counted and shared on a much wider scale than has ever been possible before. “Media defines our interaction with other people on a daily basis as a diversion, as sources of conflict, or as a unifying force. It is part of our routine relations with family and friends. Media has an impact on society not only through the content of the message but also through the process” (“Mass Media” n.d.). This is increasingly easy to forget as we become ever more integrated and assimilated into the media culture. References Ansolabehere, Stephen. (n.d.). “The Role of the Media.” n.d. Illinois State University. Available November 14, 2007 from Heibert, Ray Eldon. (2001). “The Growing Power of Mass Media.” Southern Connecticut State University Journalism Department. Available November 14, 2007 from < http://www.southernct.edu/~seymour/cases/heibert.htm> “Mass Media and Society: A Sociological Perspective on Media.” (n.d.) Arizona State University. Available November 14, 2007 from Read More