The mass media operate other important societal functions as well. Harold Lasswell, political scientist and communication theorist, illustrates three features: surveil¬lance of the world to report ongoing events, interpretation of the meaning of events, and socialization of individuals into their cultural settings (Lasswell 1969). The other fourth function must be added: manipulation of politics. The way that these four functions operate, influences the political destiny of individuals, groups, and social institutions, as well as the course of internal and international politics.
5.1 Surveillance
The first function mentioned by Lasswell suggests two leading tasks. When it serves the collective needs of the public, it forms “public surveillance,”
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Their reportage selection is politically important because they determine who and what will have a good opportunity to be the center for political debates and activity. News people with their stories compel political leaders to react to events and conditions on which their viewpoints and platforms would not have been transmitted otherwise. Without media attention, events that the media news offer and the society might have less impact on decision making—or none at all. Situations that might be accepted in unimportant events, they can become intolerable in the fierce of publicity. Consider the case of Senator Lott’s salute at Strom Thurmond’s birthday party. Without the public exposure of a particular private situation, Lott’s politi¬cal failure and its consequence would not have occurred. Politicians are heavily aware of the media’s agenda-setting power. That is why they strive immensely to organize and arrange events to give as much appropriate coverage as possible and to avoid detrimental publicity.
Media surveillance can have good as well as bad consequences. Misinterpretation and panics fabricated by news media have often threatened security in good policies, people, and products. The individuals and economic implications have been huge. For instance, suspicious stories that challenged the well-being of bioengineered foods lead to the lose millions of dollars in the damaged
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.
“With surveillance technology like closed-circuit television cameras and digital cameras now linked to the Internet, we now have the means to implement Bentham's inspection principle on a much vaster scale”(Singer) Bentham's inspection principle is a system that allows the collection, storing and dissemination of data on individuals, corporations, and the government. This collection of data has large implications in regard to privacy and security. “There is always danger that the information collected will be misused - whether by regimes seeking to silence opposition or by corporations seeking to profit from more detailed knowledge of their potential customers.”(Singer) What is done with the information collected is the main issue in terms of privacy. We do not want to be marketed to, or inundated with spam from third-party sources. We also do not want our private social circles and experiences to appear that they are being monetized or subjected to surveillance outside our control. In addition, surveillance has a large effect on the government that can beneficial or detrimental to democracy. Exposure of government secrets may make officials tread carefully when making decisions, ensuring that politicians are nothing but just and fair.“The crucial step in preventing a repressive government from
Taylor, James Stacey. "In Praise of Big Brother: Why We Should Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Government Surveillance." Public Affairs Quarterly July 2005: 227-246.
The critical issue that needs to be addressed in the argument for or against the use of public surveillance system in the USA is which one takes precedence, viz, whether safety of the public and property at large or the invasion of the rights of the individuals who are subjected to some sort of interference in their privacy. In other words, does a citizen have an unfettered right to privacy even when it comes to issues relating to the enforcement of law in prevention of terrorist attacks, crime and restoring security and peace of the citizens at large? I propose to argue in this paper in favor of the need for public surveillance system by advancing the reasons for its imperative and take the view that it does not amount to prima facie violation of individuals' rights and in contravention to the rights guaranteed under the constitution...
Richards, Neil M. The Dangers of Surveillance. Harvard Law Review. N.p, 20 May 2013. Web. 3 Apr 2014.
Another function the media has is that of the scorekeeper. This function is that of making or breaking politicians depending on the coverage given to them. If ...
Mass surveillance is a word that has been thrown around every so often in the last few decades, especially ever since George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four. Although this book was released over 60 years ago, some aspects of the book are seeming to become true in the United States, and other parts of the world today. The idea of mass surveillance isn’t so taboo anymore, as there are several programs ran by sovereign countries around the world which monitor their domestic citizens, as well as citizens and leaders of other foreign countries. With all of our technological communication advances since 1949, this age of information is only going to get more severe, and more tracking and monitoring will be done. The biggest offender of doing this is the NSA, shortened for National Security Agency. The NSA is an organization that was made by the US Government to monitor intelligence, and collect, translate and decode information. What’s important about the NSA, is that this most recent summer, a program named PRISM was revealed by a whistleblower, and in summary, PRISM monitors everything it can, including our own citizens in the United States. This “scandal” had a lot of air time for many months, and is still in the news today. The revelation of what the NSA is doing behind our backs is what made the basis of this essay, and made me think of how similar this entire situation is to Nineteen Eighty-Four.
The media’s manipulation of society is a real and scary issue that leads to many of the psychosocial, financial, and political issues that the American populace faces on a daily basis. The factual events skewed by subliminal manipulation of information has been blinding the American people from the realities of global and local events that the media has tried to twist and cover up for generations for their gain, for the benefit of businesses the affiliate with, or to make their personal belief on an issue stand out more than the truth.
Terror is becoming a major threat to the security in the United States following the September 11 attack. The government has increased its security, and one way to do this is to increase surveillance. Now, part of the citizens believes that the government has gone too far in the use of these cameras. The surveillance cameras are now being used for many other purposes, some of which are not related to security in any way. Top government officials can now monitor actions of people they suspect to be a threat to the country, but others think that this action is spying on the innocent citizens who are busy developing the country in their own private ways. There is a limit to which this security measures become a public pain. As much as people may want to feel secure at all times in every place they go, they also value their privacy. That is one of the essentials that define a human being. Even wild animals in the forest enjoy this right to be private. No one wants to be monitored at all times because it creates a psychological feeling that he or she is in a prison. One feels that their world has been narrowed to the corners of their own house. In fact, some members of the society claim that this privacy inside one’s house is lost as soon as the curtains on the window are removed due to the presence of
Basically, the media performs three functions to inform, to influence and to entertain. But effects of these functions are multidimensional in modern times. It has provided awareness about the whole world. In twenty-first century, media has a tendency to shape political, economical and social values of an individual. Moreover, media has eliminated the boundaries of information, so that a person can become an active citizen of the global economy. Hence, it is logical to state the media has become a basic need of human civic life.
The article “Mind over Mass Media” was written by Steven Pinker; a professor of psychology at Harvard University. His purpose of the article is to explain his reasoning on why he claims mass media has more positive effects on today’s society then negative. Steven’s audience is a mixture of people that have different opinions on the topic “Mind over Mass Media”. His main objective is to persuade his audience to believe in his way of thinking. In the text Steven expresses that, “ Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart. Stephen uses many facts and opinions to convey his idea to the reader.
The Power of the Media in Politics The mass media possesses a great deal of influence in society and politics in the United States. Newspapers, radio, magazines and television. are able to use their own judgment when reporting current events. The The power of the mass media is an asset to the government in some instances and a stumbling block in others. Recent technology and regulations related to The media have improved the means by which the public can get information.
...eillance mentioned subjugate the individual in various respects; surveillance restricts privacy, freedom, and how the individual identifies themselves and others. The individual is being socialized to expect an invasive sovereign surveillance, as well as to deem privacy as a privilege rather than an inherit right. We are constantly told of the benefits of surveillance but rarely educated on its limitations and consequences. The sovereign must distinguish the purpose of CCTV cameras to the individual; CCTV technology should not gather more material than needed. Usage of CCTV cameras should be made public; the individual has the right to know where they are being observed and why. Additionally. A hierarchical observation should be developed to observe the functioning of CCTV cameras and other surveillance methods to ensure its distance of subjectifying the individual
Americans look to the press to provide the information they need to make informed political choices. How well the press lives up to its responsibility to provide this information has a direct impact upon Americans: how they think about and act upon the issues that confront them.
The relationship between journalism and politics is a two-way street: though politicians take advantage as best