According to (Dictionary.com 2011), the phrase media is outlined being any means of conversation like the television, radio, newspaper etc. that arrive at surprisingly sizeable numbers of individuals at any specified time. Community thoughts and opinions on the flip side is described because the collective view or see of many folk on some issue or downside, and so on. especially for a tutorial to action or choice.
From as early as the 18th century, the media or even the press as it was referred to inside of the earlier was thought of the ‘Fourth Estate’. As a make any difference of reality the term was coined by Edmund Burke a British Politician from the late 1700s. Burke posited that along with the (3) a few branches or (estates) of presidency (Executive, Judiciary & Legislature), the push was the “fourth estate”; the latter he said was the most important of them all since only the push had the power to really unction the population on certain issues and also force the government’s hand for any real change to come about. Since more contemporary times, the push has still maintained this somewhat symbiotic relationship when using the populous.
It is true that community point of view is shaped to some extent by the information offered by the media, (Roberts 1971) posited that “the distribution of information among the members of a society makes possible public judgment, which cannot help but influence the course of government…”. Roberts further highlights that each belonging to the various forms of political potential is characterized to the basis from the amount of information it distributes; in authoritarian states, for example, control is usually exercised through instituting censorship. That is through control of the media authoritarian leaders attempt to mold the minds of their individuals by giving them access to only information which supports the benefits of prevailing policies-policies which may have been determined with little regard for the individuals.
In a democratic state on the other hand, it is vastly different and in this type of state, the citizens have a right and responsibility to influence the policies by which they are governed, so said by (Roberts, 1971). In a society including ours, this assumption gives the media a major role in governance. This is particularly true as only the media in more and more cases is the only sect able to rally full general public participation in lots of vital and complex issues; issues most notably voting, human rights, environment issues, education, and issues about the economy are just a few to mention. This essay serves to highlight the ways in which the media interacts with various populations, and how they manipulate each other. I will also seek to explain the ways in which general public judgment and the media influence each other and their relationship altogether.
The information provided thus far, indicates that the role on the media with the contemporary democratic society is to act as a passage for the disseminating of information between policy makers and the public. This is true as being the media is expected to ensure that citizens are well informed to make responsible decisions, as well as serves as a watchdog on elected officials to make sure they live up to their duties. In essence the media serves for a tool for citizens both to debate with each other and to express concerns to those in authority.
In an ideal world, the media plays a truly active and powerful role in making policy. The reason why the media is and has become so powerful is because it has the power to frame issues of domestic and foreign politics in countries everywhere, which has earned them the title with the ‘fourth estate’. Further consultation with the literature (Boaz, 2005), illustrates that the representation of issues with the media exerts an independent effect on the public’s view. One issue in which this relationship is often seen is war. The question then arises how do the media influence a population’s view? Well, this is done through the (process of framing and agenda setting); but the media are also vulnerable to manipulations by some sects of a population being a tool of propaganda.
Framing and agenda setting are primary devices by which the media shape community opinion and the general public agenda. It refers to the way specific events and issues are organized and made sense of by those in charge on the media. Identifying media frames is highly important in understanding how public view is shaped, since http://www.professional-writings.com/ the way information is structured affects the way customers process it, and ultimately it affects the meaning regular people derive from that information. So take for example, how were Americans persuaded to support the invasion of Iraq in 2003 when citizens elsewhere were not? The truth is that the public’s impression on foreign policy and other issues whether they are national security or not is directly related to the media’s ability in producing naturalizing violence and creating the perception of natural and global insecurity. Therefore, the type of media information to which different countries’ citizens have access to is directly linked to general public support for say, a war in Iraq.
Where do you turn to for information or news about current events? A question asked by (Turow 2009). It is amazing, because it make you think, can we really trust some of these well-known news sources to provide us with credible information. One illustration that a lot of people can associate with is inside the context on the war in Iraq. Quite evidently the media did play a pretty important role in this regard. (Turow, 2009) highlights the reality that mainstream media did support the government’s 2003 final choice to go to war, this was through the constant circulation of pro-war arguments. In other words the ‘power with the press’ was overwhelmingly evident at that time. In any case, the media influences the view of its audiences that will in turn influence a government’s position to the situation.