Effectsof News Media
InformationMedia and Social Responsibility
Socialresponsibility is an important consideration in information mediabecause there is a need to make the society productive rather thanleaving it in a mess. Thus, I support the idea that information medianeed to have social responsibility. There are different ways thatinformation media should have social responsibility. One of the areaswhere information media need to have social responsibility is in itscontent (Sandoval,2014).The media organizations have the responsibility of ensuring that theybear full liability for the content that they expose to the masses.The information provided by media organizations may prompt therecipients to behave differently. Thus, the entities should ensurethat their content is responsible enough to the recipients. Forexample, it is vital for media organizations to protect minors fromaccessing adult content. Also, there is a need for media entities tobehave responsibly when publishing political content that iscontroversial because it may cause political unrest, which is athreat to the existence of peace. Another way that information medianeed to have social responsibility is in the disposing of theproducts such as newspapers (Sandoval,2014).This is an environmental concern and there is a need to recycleinformation products, especially print media. Furthermore, anotherarea entails the gathering of information. Media organizations shouldensure ethical standards when collecting data that is to becommunicated. For instance, they should not access private voicemailsof celebrities in generating news.
Roleof the Information and News Media in Shaping of Political Opinions
Themedia has become a big player in influencing the politicalperspectives of the masses. In most cases, the individuals that endup being voted in political seats win because of the mediainfluences. Both the press and online media have a role in shapingpolitical perspectives (McCombs,2013).One of the ways that the media uses in shaping the political opinionsof the masses is through supporting the participation of the publicin political surveys that they later release as news for the membersof the public to understand the state of politics in a region. Themanner in which the media reports influences the opinions that thepublic forms towards those in the political fields. Another role ofmedia in influencing the political opinions is through supportingtools such as “like”, “share”, and “connect”. When thesetools are used, they make the public aware that there is a certainpolitical aspirant in a given area. For instance, the Facebook hasthese features, which may be used in influencing the politicalperspectives that individuals form. Furthermore, the media shapes thepolitical opinions of the people through publishing political pagesin their print media (McCombs,2013).
HowElectronic Media and Their Convergence Have Transformed Journalismand News Consumption
Theemergence of the electronic media, as well as their convergence, hasin a great way transformed journalism and the consumption of news.With the introduction of electronic media, it is possible forconsumers to obtain a lot of information through visiting theinternet compared to the information that they would receive innon-electronic media. This has made a big number of consumers preferelectronic media to print media (Medoff & Kaye, 2013). On theother hand, electronic media have changed the way journalistcontribute information since they are in a position to provide a lotof information in the electronic media compared to the limited datathat they would provide in print media.
References
McCombs,M. (2013). Settingthe Agenda: The Mass Media and Public Opinion.New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Medoff,J.N. & Kaye, B. (2013). ElectronicMedia: Then, Now, and Later.London: Taylor & Francis.
Sandoval,M. (2014). FromCorporate to Social Media: Critical Perspectives on Corporate SocialResponsibility in Media and Communication Industries.London: Taylor & Francis.
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