Media Lending Precedence and How We Are Connected
The media provide links between people on many levels and in manyfacets of life. This is evident by the ubiquitous presence and use of theTelevision, Radio, and the Internet in modern day society, all over theworld. In fact, to a large extent, human society today is organized aroundthe mass media since it is the media that disseminates the information,news, views, and entertainment that is seen as essential to staying intouch with the events and trends in the world: "We are connected by themedia as members of a global information cooperative. Information andculture are the raw materials of our civilization; the media are the webthat holds civilization together." (Lowe, 1995, p. 12) Thus, it is prettymuch irrefutable that the media can, and does, play an influential role ininfluencing and molding societal and cultural values. As such, it isimportant that the media fulfill its social responsibility by giving dueprecedence to issues and events that are important even though these may The issue of the media lending precedence to important, butuninteresting, issues and events arises primarily because the media has amarked tendency to devote prime time or spac
A fact that was recognized by Thomas Jefferson as earlyas 1787: "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a governmentwithout newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should nothesitate a moment to prefer the latter. Therefore, themedia's primary aim is to produce content that will be popular with themasses and lead to increased viewership or circulation, as the case mightbe. 79) In many ways, the media argument is a valid one since the attitudesheld by media professionals are common to the wider society (Lowe, 1995,p. The fact is the media can easily fulfill its social responsibility byspotlighting important issues and educating the public about them. On the contrary,"their output, with its direct access to mass audiences, must. Clinton acknowledged the powerand influence of the media when he urged journalists to educate the publicon subjects of global importance, such as climatic changes, AIDS, childlabor, and "how the Taleban treats women. All it takes is for the industry to garner the desire and the willto do so by realizing where its social responsibilities lie. The producer's commitment to a comprehensiveplan of research that informs the creative process has been a hallmark ofthe program. The media justifies this "byasserting that the ideas, beliefs, and values.
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