Mass Media

It being the leading source of news since the printing press. We put our faith in the media to report accurate facts unbiasedly. Between 1983 and now the media industry has consolidated from 50 individual companies to 6. That means that though the impression given is that there are a multitude of sources to attain information, the messages being communicated are all one in the same. The limitation of media sources cause a ripple effect of limited information, allowing these companies to control the public’s perception on

The mass media has become a big part of our society and its counterparts. In a time span of 50 years this medium has influenced society to an extent where it has created wonders. This immaculate tool can control almost every action we perform, from speaking to the actions that every human being performs in society. The mass media has brought upon a new era of idea's and changes in the world we live in. As we analysis media in depth we will find many aspects of media which overlap and some of the smallest factors and aspects of media, which create the biggest impact on society.

In this new day and age we are granted with advanced technology that helps every one of us. A major capability that we now have is the capacity to spread information like no other. The television and internet are major sources to access material and influence the masses. The question becomes whether these sources really inform the people, or just put information out that benefits the few. Evening news is where the breaking stories take place and where we can see the difference in channel ideology. Citizens have a right to know what is going on in the country but due to biases we see this fail. This causes televison to poison the electoral system, glorify conflicts, and polarize views.

Mass media is one of the greatest tools of communication. Media is the source of mass communication which can be delivered through newspapers, radio, and television. Mass media is very important because it provides information for people around the world. Because of its importance, mass media is always changing day by day. The development of technology lead a change to digital media. Internet, for instance, has been most popular in recent years. It has provided people with a large source of information. As a result, printed media such as newspapers are left behind by the majority of readers. For example, readership for the New York Times has dropped by 50% (BBC. 2010). Newspaper readers have moved onto digital media because of several reasons. These reasons prove that paper newspapers are becoming obsolete.

The past studies have determined that culture change has a great impact on journalism all over the world. Along with culture impacts is culture change, and how that influences the journalistic environment of a particular area. Culture change, as defined by Pearson’s Third Edition on Cultural Anthropology, changes in people’s ways of life over time by both internal and external forces. (Bonvillian 490) One of the most significant changes to the Western World in the current era is the invention and expansion of social media. Social media allows people to have instant communication with anyone from anywhere in the world, sharing ideas, pictures, video and even news. Modern events can be heard about from those who witnessed them and posted on social media before a news source is even on site. A team of researchers conducted a study on Popular Culture and Communication Practice that traced the evolution and changes in journalism based on culture, communication and media changes. “Most research on popular culture address fiction, television, and forms of expression that aim at entertaining an audience” (Buhmann 8) However, this study goes in depth on the impacts of popular culture

This research has been conducted due to the fact that some researchers have claimed that “journalism is dying” whilst others have argued that “journalism is not dying but is simply evolving” (Blatchford: 2014). This has been a much contested debate triggered by the decline of news circulation from traditional news sources i.e. newspapers, television and radio together with the technological advances of the internet and social media (Cub Reporters: 2010). This has raised many questions and firstly, this dissertation will assess whether the rise of social media has led to the decline of news circulation from traditional news sources. Secondly, this paper will look at what the advantages and disadvantages of using social media as a news distributor are for professional journalists and the general public. Lastly, this study aims to investigate

People now need the media news, information for different reasons, on one hand it can be used to socialize and on the other to make reports for the news

Individuals can easily access so much information with a flip of a switch and by turning to social media. The media exists to benefit our world; to study the facts, to connect and/or to entertain its audience.  Our culture in the United States is encouraged to believe and view headlines as truth and fact; it is for this reason I believe that news and social media has a manner of manipulating and influencing their audience’s attention. My own view is that media educates people with or without credible knowledge, especially in the topic of racial inequality. Racism is defined as “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior” (Oxford). In the different ways that media chooses to portray knowledge to their audience is how media manipulates what their viewers see. The media falls short of telling the whole story; in addition, many times they display African Americans in a negative way.

Does mass media influence human lives so greatly that a self-inflicted 48-hour free period from the influences of mass media such as television, social media, internet, recorded and live music such as the radio, could have a measurable effect? As my personal journey into this experiment is laid out the conclusion will become clear. Through removing forms of mass media such as radio, television, internet and newspapers I have learned that indeed mass media is not easy to get away from, and it has a deep impact on mood, response, and critical thought processes. Through a 48-hour period, I consciously chose to remove all mass media influence, such as social media, television, radio and recorded music, and in doing thus have come to some rather startling conclusions about the severe and often silent effect that mass media can have on our lives. This was a rather difficult task as most people never take the time to consider where and how mass media influences our daily lives, and how deep the impact can be. The escape from radio is difficult, the desire to lose oneself in television after a hard day is overwhelming and the sheer amount that we rely on social media is harder still to understand unless you do without it for a lengthy period. While staying clear of these forms of obvious mass media such as overt advertisements, or Facebook seemed easy enough, though one can never be prepared to cope with the interruption of the thought processes and mood changes that accompany this

The effects of mass media and social media have changed the way people have experienced presidential campaigns in many ways. With the development of new technologies through the last hundred years many different ways of experiencing the campaigns have taken place. Newspapers, radio, television, internet and social media websites have changed the ways we all have experienced elections.

The belief that journalism is in decline has triggered major alarms, because society needs an informational environment that is easily available to all citizens such as newspapers. There is a large body of journalist that suggests that if television has taken over from the press as our main source of news this may limit our capacity to learn about public affairs; newspapers are believed to be far more effective than television at conveying detailed information necessary to understand complex and detailed issues. There is also widespread concern that if journalism fails as a profession it will not be able to reach large sections of the community, particularly younger or less educated readers. This may reinforce a growing gap among citizens between the information that they receive.

Mass media is a media intended for a large audience. It may take the form of broadcast media, as in the case of television and radio, or print media, like newspapers and magazines. Internet media can also attain mass media status, and many media outlets maintain a web presence to take advantage of the ready availability of Internet in many regions of the world. Some people also refer to it as the “mainstream media,” referencing the fact that it tends to stick to prominent stories which will be of interest to a general audience, sometimes ignoring controversial breaking news. Many people around the world rely on this form of media for news and entertainment, and globally, it is a huge industry.

To wholly have a grasp on how this new founded approach to journalism has changed alongside technology—as well as understanding the dangers such openness brings forth—one has to understand what exactly those changes are. Primarily, those that are writing for the sake of offering information have, whether willingly or not, fed into the usage of social media as it has become a centralized method of distribution that is relatively inescapable with the current times. As such those framing the news for the masses find an authentic avenue to stay in contact via social media that has benefits ranging from, “its extraordinary newsgathering potential; its potential as a new tool to engage the audience; and as a way of distributing our news” (Eltringham, 2012), all of which are deeply different from the presentation of reporting that occurred during earlier eras. Days of strongly structured instances of journalism that could not travel with such speed have been replaced as, “social media has trashed many of the foundations on

Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies, including the Internet, television, newspapers, and radio, which are used for mass communications, and to the organizations which control these technologies.

The thesis written by Teun A. Van Dijk talks about how the western media takes a one sided view- portraying minorities, immigrants etc in a negative light while still trying to prove itself independent of any bias. He explains that although neo-liberal discourse may now be prevailing, but it also exhibits conflicts and contradictions. The optimistic rhetoric of a New World Order after the Cold War is replaced by deep-seated doubts about how to manage current world problems. While the deeper causes of various political events in the south and the East also affect the North, we are also facing an Increasing ethnocentrism and racism in Europe and North America as people