Mass Media Importance

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The significance of mass media in human life cannot be underestimated. This is true because beyond the physical requirements of food and shelter everyone needs communication, entertainment and information. And it's mainly mass media that can satisfy all these requirements at the same time. Mass media is usually considered as the main source of entertainment and news. Even entertainment carries news and information in form of story or satire; they also carry messages of persuasion and messages for binding communities. Entertainment is the only function that fulfills both social and psychological needs of a person. As life is getting increasingly busy, it has become more difficult for people to relax, unwind, divert mind from tension and spend …show more content…

• On an average newspaper and magazines contain 15-20% entertainment content such as sports news, horoscopes, jokes, satire, etc among others. • 50-75% of TV’s progammes are entertainment such as music, movies among other forms. • On an average spending 2-3 hours on internet chatting, reading articles, reading entertaining stuff, etc. is entertaining. Entertainment is often called the diversion function because it diverts us from the real world. Through sound recordings, film, radio and television, entertainers have been able to attract audiences around the globe. Painters, sculptors and poets reach mass audiences through books and magazines. The entertainment function of the media has been subdivided into three categories: • Stimulation (as an antidote to boredom): o People seek emotional or intellectual stimulation which psychologists have called “ludic” behaviors for instance, playing, recreation, etc. are performed to help maintain the level of intellectual …show more content…

• Entertainment for Cognition: People use the media to satisfy their desire for to know something or for knowledge. There are various events that happen in the world daily. People tend to have desire towards knowing these events. They therefore rely on the mass media to follow such events. For example; People watch shows like “The Week that Wasn’t” that talks about the current events in satirical way. Or people watch channels like History and Discovery for knowledge and at the same time unwind and relax and fill in the empty time. Entertainment that is educational or inspiring encourages people to achieve success amid their existing or perceived difficulties. • Entertainment for Social utility: Entertainment is important as it brings people together and is a good way for the entire family to bond. This is where people use media to strengthen contact with family, friends and other members of the society. It takes various forms: o Conversational currency is where the media provide a common ground for social conversation and people use things they have read, seen or heard as topics for discussion with

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