The Media

What is the Mass Media?

Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audiences, such as the population of a nation state. It is sometimes referred to as “The Media”, the “Broadcast Media” or even the “Corporate Media”.

Many of those who post on the various message forums and blogs have a tendency to refer to the electronic media (ABC, Fox News, CNN, CBS MSNBC, et al.) as the “Mass Media”, “Mainstream Media” or simply the “MSM“. However, we also find that some sites on the internet fall under the header or the “Mass Media” or “MSM”. In addition to the electronic news agencies we find that many magazines, newspapers and other forms of media are included in the term.

Purposes for the Mass Media

The Media was originally intended to inform the general public about news and information, which would be of interest to the people. The newspapers would not only cover local issues and events, but they would cover items which were more of a regional or national interest. The media now, and most probably always, had a variety of purposes, which can be broken down into 5 main groups:

Advocacy: Advocacy is the act of arguing on behalf of a particular issue, idea or person. Individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments can engage in advocacy. It can include advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations, political communication and social justice.

Enrichment and Education: Education means 'to draw out', facilitating realization of self-potential and latent talents of an individual.

Entertainment: Entertainment is an event, performance, or activity designed to give pleasure or relaxation to an audience. This includes, but is not limited to, sports, music, plays, opera, movies, sitcoms, and even computer games. The audience may participate in the entertainment passively or actively.

Journalism: Journalism is a discipline of gathering, writing and reporting news, news, and more broadly it includes the process of editing and presenting the news articles. Journalism applies to various media, including but not limited to newspapers, magazines, radio and television.

Public Service Announcements: Public Service Announcements, or Community Service Announcements, are non-commercial advertisements typically on radio or television, ostensibly broadcast for the public good. The main concept is to modify public attitudes by raising awareness about specific issues.

The Effects of the Mass Media.

The effects of mass media exposure, as indicated by decades of studies, are varied and reciprocal. It is found that not only does the media impact it’s audiences, but also that the audiences impact the media by the intensity and frequency that it is used. In other words, those involved in the Mass Media give the people what they want and this is judged by “ratings” and the amount of publications sold. For example, if no one cared a fig about Paris Hilton, then those in the media would not provide us much news and information, if any, about her.

J. R. Finnegan Jr. and K. Viswanath (1997) has identified three effects, or functions, of media, they are the knowledge gap, agenda setting, and cultivation of shared public perceptions.

The Knowledge Gap. Health knowledge is differentially distributed in the population, resulting in knowledge gaps. Unfortunately, mass media are insufficient for distributing information in an egalitarian fashion—changes in social structure and institutions are also necessary for this to occur. Thus, the impact of mass media on audience knowledge gaps is influenced by such factors as the extent to which the content is appealing, the degree to which information channels are accessible and desirable, and the amount of social conflict and diversity there is in a community. Hence, public health media campaigns are more effective when structural factors that impede the distribution of knowledge are addressed.

Agenda Setting. The selective nature of what members of the media choose for public consumption influences how people think about health issues, and what they think about them. When Rudolph Giuliani, the mayor of New York City, publicly disclosed he had prostate cancer prior to the 2000 New York senatorial election, many news media reported the risks of prostate cancer, prompting greater public awareness about the incidence of the disease and the need for screening. A similar episode occurred in the mid-1970s when Betty Ford, wife of President Gerald R. Ford, and Happy Rockefeller, wife of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, were both diagnosed with breast cancer.

A related theme is the extent to which the media set the public's perception of health risks. According to J. J. Davis, when risks are highlighted in the media, particularly in great detail, the extent of agenda setting is likely to be based on the degree to which a public sense of outrage and threat is provoked. Where mass media can be especially valuable is in the framing of issues. "Framing" means taking a leadership role in the organization of public discourse about an issue. Media, of course, are influenced by pressures to offer balance in coverage, and these pressures may come from persons and groups with particular political action and advocacy positions. According to Finnegan and Viswanath, "groups, institutions, and advocates compete to identify problems, to move them onto the public agenda, and to define the issues symbolically" (1997, p. 324). Thus, persons who desire to access mass media's agenda-setting potential must be aware of the competition.

Cultivation of Perceptions. Cultivation is the extent to which media exposure, over time, shapes audience perceptions. Television is a common experience, especially in the United States, and it serves as what S. W. Littlejohn calls a "homogenizing agent." However, the effect is often based on several conditions, particularly socioeconomic factors. Prolonged exposure to TV or movie violence may affect the extent to which people think community violence is a problem, though that belief is likely moderated by where they live. However, the actual determinants of people's impressions of violence are complex, and consensus in this area is lacking.

Perceived Inherent Negative Characteristics of the Media.

The “Central Media” is another term used in connection with the “Mass Media”. The Central Media is when the same identical stories emanate from a central point to numerous recipients. It is claimed this forces certain inherent limitations on the information which we are told, such as an inability to transmit tacit knowledge, that is “knowledge which people carry around in their minds and is difficult to access” (or perhaps it can only transfer bad tacit knowledge as opposed to good). A focus on the unusual and sensational rather than a restatement of wisdom, the promotion of anxiety and fear to sell the newspaper/channel, etc. inability to deal with complex issues so a need to simplify.

This view of central media can be contrasted with the “Lateral Media“, such as emails networks, where messages are all slightly different and spread by a process of “Lateral Diffusion“. Lateral diffusion is basically the “knowledge that people carry in their minds and is, therefore, difficult to access”.

What is the Main Stream Media?

"MSM" or "Main Stream Media" is a term used frequently by bloggers, and media critics in general, in discussions concerning the mass media and media bias. It’s used to mean the “corporate media” and includes outlets that are in harmony with the prevailing direction of influence in the culture at large. Most often the MSM is applied to news or information in order to give some sense of “unfairness” or an evil overtone.

In the United States, usage of these terms often depend upon the connotations which the speaker wishes to invoke. For example, the leftists use it to imply that the MSM consists of large multinational corporations, or are controlled by elements of the right, and promotes their interests. Meanwhile the right wing claim that the majority of the mass media sources are dominated, or controlled entirely, by far left wing radical elements who use the MSM to further their agenda. Over half of all Americans say US news organizations are politically biased, inaccurate, and don't care about the people. .

Error in Media Reporting

The first observation to note is the obvious concerning the “Errors” which we often can find in media reporting. In the past there have been many instances where people of all walks of life have noticed and commented upon “errors” which they found in news reports they read or heard. The reasons these errors have been spotted are due to a wide variety of reasons, such as someone being involved in the situation, or event, in some way and they noticed the reporters didn‘t report the news accurately for some reason. For example, an auto accident occurred and the person was a passenger in the car which was involved. The media reports that the cause of the accident seemed to be due to the driver being on the cell phone and the person knew the driver was not on the cell phone before or during the accident.

Another way which the information given was in error is known may be due to the story dealing with the subject matter being discussed in the news story. For example, a news story being reported has to deal with a traffic study causing a road closure. The viewer, or reader, works in the field and has done many traffic studies. He or she knows that one cannot do a traffic study on a closed road, in order to perform a traffic study… the traffic must be flowing. The person may not know why the road closed, as reported, but does know that it was not due to the reason given by the reporter..

A third possible way to know the original story was in error comes from listening to follow up stories and seeing the story change from report to report. For example, a news bulletin interrupts the regular 4 PM programming and states that a plane is being held in a landing pattern because someone noticed “tire damage” on the landing gear and another plane was sent to check it out. A report 5 minutes later says the damage is to the landing gear itself and another plane is on it’s way to check out the situation. The very next report heard says there is damage to the wing and a plane is being checking out the damage. It is obvious that the media is clueless as to what is actually going on but are simply reporting rumors or what they think might be wrong.

The reasons for why a news story, given in error, was noticed truly doesn’t matter a great deal, what does matter is that we are aware the media doesn’t always get the story right for whatever the reason… especially in the initial reports. .

Why the Media doesn’t get it right?

There are many reasons why the media gets the story wrong, or doesn’t tell the full story properly. The following are just a few possible reasons:

Time and Space restrictions

News Articles generally have to fit into a certain amount of space allotted for the story, or a certain amount of time. The guiding factor could be how many words or the reporter given only 20 seconds to a minute get the story told. In order to fit a complex story into the amount of time or space allowed, the information given is condensed or left out completely.. When editing an article, especially when it is done by someone other than the original reporter, mistakes can be made which alters the article due to the lack of knowledge on the subject.

Sensationalism over Fact Reporting

Much of the news today seems to concern itself more with sensationalism rather than reporting the facts. Over the past decade or two several respected news reporters have came out with comments concerning the standards of news reporting in today‘s media. One notable journalist, either Cronkite or Rather, made a comment which amounted to “…in their (the journalist speaking) day they needed a minimum of 3 sources of which 2 had to be unimpeachable, then that changed to the requirement of only 1 source which was unimpeachable. Today the journalists don’t even require one solid source“. When the reporter doesn’t have to get his, or her, facts right by the use of several valid sources, sensationalism arises because the news is reduced to the “he said/she said” reporting. .

The “News First” Phenomena

Today we are saturated with the “News First” style of news reporting where the importance is getting the story out first, regardless of what the reporters find out. The objective is not so much as to keep ‘the people“ informed, as it is to boost ratings for that particular news channel.
A media outlet hears of a situation going on and deploys their reporters out to get the story. The reporters get on the scene and the news crew performs whatever set up that is required, then immediately goes on the air. The reporter often talks to a few people, gets the gist of what is going on, and begins reporting the “news”. The facts, which we are often given, are mostly rumors and conjectures at this point… yet the news reports this as if it was ‘real news”. Worse, most of those listening hear what is going on and are still confused over the situation. All of this doesn’t matter, where the news organization is concerned, because they can say the story is “developing” and correct whatever errors they tell us later. Meanwhile the information conveyed can have various effects on the listeners, such as a mother becoming needlessly worried about her son because he could have been in that area at the time and she hasn’t heard from him.

The whole idea is that it’s more important that the station gets the story out, instead of getting the story out right. Quite often the media would do the public a better service if they wait awhile before giving in depth reports and only dole out the information required in the early reports.
Where printed media is concerned, it’s a similar idea. Instead of taking the time to find out if the allegations are fact or fiction, they rush to meet deadlines and tell us faulty news… often filled with opinion. This is called “News”, however, and to do anything to impede it in any way would bring screams of “the people having the right to know“ and “that is a violation of the first amendment“. It doesn‘t matter if logic and reason apply to the situation, what matters is ratings and sales. No one in the media ever seems to think things like “What does it matter if we hold this story for half an hour until the evening news comes on?”.

Agenda Setting

As much as we may not like to think it, the various news agencies are controlled by people, or groups, who have definite views about the ecology, politics, religion, etc.. Fox News, for example, definitely has a more conservative slant; while MSNBC has a definite liberal slant. These beliefs are often reflected in the way those working for these organizations report the news… or are allowed to report the news. On the other hand, in order to be fair to some news organizations, reporters and commentators are hired by the company due to their beliefs in order to help give us a more rounded opinion of current events. If you look at most news organizations, you will see they hire conservatives, as well as liberals… even if one set of beliefs are outweighed by the other. PBS is especially good at presenting more than one view.

The point for consideration is that it’s not always those who run the news organization who guide and manipulate the news, sometimes it’s those who work for the company. For example, over the past 4 years we have seen several of the “giants“ come under fire because their reporters, photographers, or some other employee manipulated the facts in order to support a particular agenda. When it was found out that the facts used for the story were wrong, or slanted, the old “Newsroom Two-step“ ensued and a variety of reasons were given to try to excuse the news organization, or reporter, from their responsibility.

Whenever the news we are given is not presented in a fair and just manner, it furthers someone’s agenda. The media loves to promote the idea that they are their “for the people” or “for truth and justice”, however we find that mainly the news is their for the news. Whether they are mainly their to promote an agenda or because the information they give is simply due to sloppy work, the facts remain that the media is more concerned with their own self-image than they are there for what is best ‘for the people’.

Honesty in Reporting:

One of the things I notice is that people tend to believe media sources which has the tendency to agree with their opinions. For example, Jim Smith likes Fox News because they tend to give pro-conservative views, while Annie Bailey loves MSNBC because they are heavy in attacking the conservative viewpoint. On the other hand Jackson Willoughby likes ABC because the facts most often given when it comes to the military are facts he knows to be true… and let’s not leave out Shel Silverstein who loves HonestReporting.com because it exposes the lies and errors given by the mainstream media.

The fact is that all media outlets, including internet sites and blogs, are prone to error and even personal opinions. Sometimes those views are similar to ours, sometimes they aren’t. Another thing to remember is that facts can be manipulated to give the appearance of truth. All news reports should be taken at face value with the knowledge that even the best of them sometimes makes mistakes.

Belief in the idea that Blogs are real news

It astounds me the number of people on the net who speak with great authority on subjects which they have very little first hand knowledge, then supports their views with mostly blog sites. Some people are so disenchanted with the MSM that they seem to put forth the idea that only bloggers will give us the real story.

The fact is that many bloggers primarily get their information from the same sources the rest of us get our news. They get their stories from the AP, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Various Newspapers, Talk Shows, Propaganda Films, and even internet sites. They then, often, write their blogs with their own set of opinions.

The truth is that some bloggers do have personal experience and knowledge which they can fall back when formulating their opinions, but most do not. Many bloggers are merely restating what others say, while adding their own twist. Some don’t even twist, they just rewrite things they have read. The only difference between most bloggers and you is that they are writing blogs and you are not. That doesn’t make them any more knowledgable than you. Anyone can be an editorialist, all you have to do is write your opinion, but to be a good one you need to use facts to back up what you say.

Believing the propagandists over the Media

The MSM has a bad reputation and in some cases it’s probably deserved, however we should strive to remember that these people are in the business of reporting the news and they are not only formally educated in the field of journalism… but many have years of experience in the field and they know it‘s ins and outs.

Every reporter has two options, or paths to follow. The first is presenting him, or her, self in such a way that he/she is considered to be a top notched, serious news journalist. To do this they have to present the image to the public of being a dedicated, well-informed news person who strives for accuracy in their reporting. The second path is followed when the reporter presents him, or her, self to be a “Fluff Reporter”. This is accomplished when the reporter is nailed too many times of presenting inaccurate information and/or is best noted for sensationalistic reports and basically “garbage news“.. The fact that a reporter may attract thousands of faithful followers in no way shows the reporter as being a serious news journalist.
Geraldo Rivera, for example, was taken as a ‘garbage news’ reporter for many years because of the sensationalistic stories he presented… however when he was given the chance of being a serious journalist, he actually did very well (even though he made a mistake or two which cost him where his reputation was concerned). The man did show the talent to be a good news reporter.

Summary

There is no denying that much of the media is using it’s position to shamelessly promote the views and agendas of those in it to dictate how they tell a news story, and which stories they report. We also shouldn’t deny to ourselves that sometimes the media is actually doing it’s job, with in respectable tolerances, but it’s getting a bad rap by viewers, listeners and readers who simply have opposing agenda’s and views. As one who is analyzing the news, we should strive to realize that just because someone says something we agree with does not mean they are reporting the information in a fair, just and truthful manner. The same goes for those in the media with whom we disagree.

We must realize that just because a reporter sits in the White House press room on a daily basis does not mean that he or she knows more about what is going on than we do. Reporters get their information from “sources” but even those sources do not always tell those in the media the full story, or the correct one. The reporter has to judge what information he or she hears and try to find out whether the facts given were correct. When a reporter fails to find out that the information is truthful and accurate, then reports it as fact, he or she is guilty of not upholding their promise of honest reporting.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Mass Media
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media

Answers.com: Mass Medium
http://www.answers.com/topic/mass-media?cat=biz-fin