The media surrounds us; from the shows we watch on television and the music we listen to on the radio, to the books, magazines and newspapers we read each day. Without the media, we, the people in society, would be cut off from the rest of the world. The flow of information is important for the expansion of communities and the media aids this. Without a wide range of information, people's opinions and views would be bounded and their impressions and assumptions of the world around them, exploited. Though media is not the only communication means used to distribute the flow of information, its significance in developed countries is worth mentioning as it is the main source of informing the people on political issues or current affairs. It is also one of the chief foundations of entertainment.
Print media has always been a dominant medium throughout the decades in the western civilization. Media workers have to do research for their reports, which include sifting through piles and piles of information to support a thesis and make it more than one thousand words in order to explain an event, a situation, or a person. Journalists have the duty to report unbiased, accurate information as it is gained from reliable sources. It is their obligation to obtain all sides of a story and to give an account on the good and bad results. There must be a balance of moral and immoral deductions in the final product.
Today television channels and newspapers are making rapid income by cashing in on the news in mistaken techniques. In the race to become the most popular and the richest, they have broken the laws that media must follow while trying to build a progressive society. There is no respect for the principles of the people and land that they serve. With their persuasive ways, they try to control people instead of simply advising them as they are supposed to. While the media is sometimes viewed as being overly violent and greedy in their plight for the latest and hottest news, their purpose is essential in a democratic society so that the people can keep track of their administrators. The media has the ability to hold governments responsible, forcing them to explain their actions and decisions, all of which affect the people they represent.
If media did what it was intended for, it will be a great force in building the nation but, at present, media has become a money-making sector. Instead of giving important information and educational programmes, all there is on television, is sensational depictions of new stories; their only goal is to get television rating points. Every issue is publicised for a few days, on most channels around the same time, but when the drama is over, no channel follows up the case to let the public know what is going on. They conceal this by using other heated issues. In a democratic community, people should know all their options but the media, which usually provides this, is corrupt. Television channels and newspapers act as the mouthpieces of several parties and spread the parties' ideologies instead of delivering accurate news. The public has to judge on their own by looking at different channels or newspapers for the same news, and then form their opinion.
One of the most influential forces of the media in any society is the ability to effect change on both social and governmental levels. The media affects people's perspective through its diverse assemblage of mediums. People can be either positively or negatively affected by these messages. In today's world, media has become almost as necessary as food. Media is a mirror of society and plays an outstanding role in strengthening it. The media put the lives of its workers in danger during attacks or natural disasters to keep us up-to-date. It is partially due to the media that awareness of many problems is spreading in the society. The media has become so involved in our lives that to recognise its impact on us, we need to step back and make a conscious effort to think about how it shapes our lives and what those in the media are saying.
Media is an integral part of our society, but too much intervention in everything is a disturbing matter. Sometimes, just for the sake of a higher income, insignificant news is given so much detail and so much priority, that the real news is hardly noticed. Like science it is a tool, which we have to use by our judgment to provide all round satisfaction and safety. In spite of being cerebrally biased, the significance of media cannot be ignored, especially in this age in which globalization and liberalization have become well known. In this overall orb, known as the Earth, the tasks and duties of the media are increasing day by day and there is still a lot to be done for the betterment of society.
Chamalee Ramnarine
Naparima Girls' High School