How To Use The Media For Social Change

When Zana Briski traveled to Calcutta’s impoverished red light district in 1997, she did not expect her documentary capturing the lives of eight marginalized children would arouse the consciousness of millions of people around the world. By displaying the poverty and grime of the brothel while publicizing children’s artwork and their lofty dreams to become educated, the documentary “Born into Brothels” succeed in raising awareness and attracting financial support worldwide to provide these children with reachable quality education. In other words, it is the film as well as the discussions related to it on various media platforms that brought about life-changing opportunities for those eight children, which evidently unfolds the transformative power of media.

In fact, most media content are no longer merely artistic and informational – they are meant to engage the masses thus to exert profound influence not only on individual development but also on social advancement. No one can deny that in the contemporary world, media, composed of dynamic and various platforms, is widely perceived to be the predominant means of communication. Noticeably, the term media is first used with the advent of newspaper and magazines; yet with the passage of time, the term is broadened by the inventions of radio, television, video and internet, which are all adapted as forms of media that bring the world closer to us. Indeed, media depends on its wild audience coverage, active public engagement and open, two-way communication to create a highly interactive platform through which “humanity, fully connected, collaboratively build and share a global world”(McLuhan 160).Without doubt, media presents a strong impact upon individual and society in the proc...

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... and above, the profound influences that media exerts on individuals and society become a good indicator of its transformative power. From education promotion to poverty salvation and women right protection, media proforms a noble mission of promoting advancement in the whole world.

Works Cited

Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids. Dir Zana Briski ,Ross Kauffman.ThinkFilm, 2004. Doumentary.

McLuhan Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. Print.

Bandura, Albert. Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press,1971. Print.

Sabido, Miguel. Towards the social use of soap operas. Mexico City, Mexico: Institute for Communication Research, 1981. Print.

United Nations. United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report. New York:United Nations Development Programme, 2013. Print.