The mass media

Newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet—including e-mail and blogs—are usually less
influential than the social environment, but they are still significant, especially in affirming
attitudes and opinions that are already established. The news media focus the public’s attention
on certain personalities and issues, leading many people to form opinions about them.
Government officials accordingly have noted that communications to them from the public tend
to “follow the headlines.”

The mass media can also reinforce latent attitudes and “activate” them, prompting people to
take action.In areas where the mass media are thinly spread, as in developing countries or in
countries where the media are strictly controlled, word of mouth can sometimes perform the
same functions as the press and broadcasting, though on a more limited scale. In developing
countries, it is common for those who are literate to read from newspapers to those who are
not, or for large numbers of persons to gather around the village radio or a community
television.

MASS MEDIA EFFECT PUBLIC OPINION

The role of media is bigger than it has ever been. The best part is that media is still growing and
influencing our lives as the days go by. The media plays a central role in informing the public
about what happens in the world. People rely on media such as television, the press and online
to get news and updates. Anyone can now find out almost anything they want to know by the
click of a button on their smartphone or tablet. However, with how intoxicating the media is
today, it does tend to have the power to shape public opinion, especially over major topics such
as education and religion.

The role of the media is to transmit the reality and uncover the underlying facts of things.
Changing the mentality of the people through media to be more permissive, understanding and
educative is a very difficult task. Audiences form their beliefs and attitudes, either by themselves
or with others, in response to media messages. The level of influence of media varies, however,
and messages from the media are not received uniformly by all audiences.

Direct experience, knowledge from other sources and logic are a few factors that contribute to
the degree to which audiences accept or reject messages from the media. The media has a
massive responsibility in providing factual coverage that does not perpetuate myths or
stereotypes, encourage generalizations or spread misinformation.

The agenda-setting theory is the primary emphasis on shaping public opinion. Pertaining to the
news, there has been a phenomenal nationwide decrease in local news networks and papers
and an increase in national news networks and papers. If a news item is covered more
frequently, especially on national news, the audience will regard the issue as more important.

MASS MEDIA THE BEST FOAM OF COMMUNICATION

Now the mass media is important for several reasons, thus I will just touch on a few key points:

The mass media educates people about the world outside of their locale boundaries - at the
same time it also inform audiences about the world and its surroundings. This may come in the
form of news products, entertainment programmes or other media sources, for eg. trending
news topics shared on Facebook.

The mass media also acts as an important accountability mechanism by acting as a watchdog of
society. For instance, by raising or exposing important issues such as political corruption in a
particular society/country, people are able to hold the government accountable through public
debate.

The mass media shapes and promotes cultural diversity, take a look around you.