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The Social Responsibility Theory and the role of media according to it
Social responsibility theory of the media
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Normative Theory of media and society
One of the aspects McQuail talks about in this chapter is the role that the media play in a free society. He explains that besides “the require[ment] to do no harm”, the media don’t have any formal obligations to cooperate with the government or any other institutions to help them reach specific outcomes. Through history, however, “unwritten obligations” regarding the role that the media play, was established and put into practice. Several internal and external pressures also make it harder for the media to remain independent.
An important element discussed in this chapter is the public interest in relation to the media. There are several definitions to the public interest and many theories on how the
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The outcome of the commission confirmed the bias of the press and urged the media to undertake a social responsibility approach in their work. McQuail mentions the fourth theories of the press which are: the soviet communism, authoritarian, libertarian, and social responsibility. Through several examples, he explains the kind of political and social regimes that apply to some extent each one of these theories. From the perspective of serving the public interest and meeting the ‘needs of society and its citizens’, many countries resort to a system called ‘public service broadcasting’. In this section, the author enumerates the main goals of this system.
Influenced by Jürgen Habermas’s book, “The structural Transformation of the Public Sphere” (1962), the author gives clear definitions of the public sphere and the role of the civil society serving as a liaison between the news media and the
398).It is also stated that news divisions reduced their costs, and raised the entertainment factor of the broadcasts put on air. (p. 400). Secondly, the media determines its sources for stories by putting the best journalists on the case and assign them to areas where news worthy stories just emanates. (p.400). Third, the media decides how to present the news by taking the most controversial or relevant events and compressing them into 30 second sound-bites. (p.402). finally, the authors also explain how the media affects the general public. The authors’ state “The effect of one news story on public opinion may be trivial but the cumulative effect of dozens of news stories may be important. This shows a direct correlation between public opinions and what the media may find “relevant”. (Edwards, Wattenberg, Lineberry, 2015, p.
When discussing the media, we must search back to its primal state the News Paper. For it was the News paper and its writers that forged ahead and allowed freedoms for today’s journalism on all fronts, from the Twitter accounts to the daily gazettes all must mark a single event in the evolution of media in respects to politics and all things shaping. Moving on in media history, we began to see a rapid expansion around 1990. With more than 50% of all American homes having cable TV access, newspapers in every city and town with major newspaper centers reaching far more than ever before. Then the introduction of the Internet; nothing would ever be the same.
Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and internationally. The aim of these companies is to generate revenue and in order to do this they create and air shows that cater to popular demand. In doing so, they sometimes compromise on the quality of their content. This is where public broadcasters come into perspective.
Fog, A. (2004, May 4). The supposed and the real role of mass media in modern democracy. Retrieved from Agner.org: www.agner.org/cultsel/mediacrisis.pdf
First, the role of the media is to represent the public and intervene between the public and the government. The media is a mirror, which re...
Looking the historical moment we are living at, it is undeniable that the media plays a crucial role on who we are both as individuals and as a society, and how we look at the...
as ours, the view that the public has is the most important aspect; the media has the power to
One of the fundamental roles of the media in a liberal democracy is to critically scrutinise governmental affairs: that is to act as a watchdog of government to ensure that the government can be held accountable by the public. However, the systematic deregulation of media systems worldwide is diminishing the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in policymaking process governing the media (McChesney, 2003, p. 126). The relaxation of ownership rules and control, has resulted in a move away from diversity of production to a situation where media ownership is becoming increasing concentrated by just a few predominantly western global conglomerates (M...
One way in which government achieves this objective, is by its ability to misuse the media’s ability to set the agenda. Contrary to popular belief, media is in fact an enormous hegemony. In fact, separate independent news organizations do not exist. Rather than creating an independent structured agenda of their own, generally lesser smaller news organizations adapt to a prepared agenda, previously constructed by a higher medium. Based upon this information alone, it is quite apparent that media functions in adherence to the characteristics of a hierarchy.
Stromback, J. (2008) Four Phases of Mediatization: An Analysis of the Mediatization of Politics, The International Journal of Press/Politics, 13: 228-246.
The idea that lies behind public journalism is that citizens that lack any formal experience are able to utilize the tools of modern technology alongside the limitless Internet to practice a form of journalism that allows the audience to inform one another. There is a sense of freedom with public journalism, also known as civic journalism. In this digital age, public journalism is easier to access due to laptops and cellular devices. It is true that public jou...
How mass media is using both Ideology and Popular Culture to develop societal expectations and social identities. This essay will look at how Ideology, Hegemony, and Popular Cultural Theory shape common values and expectations of society and media’s influence and compare and contrast differing approaches to understanding the relationship between media and society. The discussion will be contextualized through the use of gender roles and expectations, and how these theories develop and affect the female social identity.
Unquestionably the media being newspapers, internet, radio and television, influence society. They can affect, have affected and will continue to affect the progression of life in this nation and around the world, as electronic technology continues to be the chosen mode of communication for a whole generation, offering direct, often anonymous influential information.
The Role of Media in the Society Media has always played a huge role in our society. For a long time media is one of the methods of controlling people and leisure. In In ancient times when there was no newspapers and television, people used literature as a source of information, some books like "the Iliad", and different stories about great kings, shows those people the information about them, and how they are used. Nowadays, media is one of the main parts of our lives and our society, because we use word media, to combine all. sources of information to be used.