Mass Communication

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Mass Communication

Mass communications is one of the most popular college majors in the country,
which perhaps reflects a belief in the importance of communications systems in
society. The communications system, consisting of radio, television, film,
newspapers and magazines, effects how we think, how we feel, and how we live.
Therefore, we must ask ourselves, "Is media 'mere entertainment,' or are
there serious side effects of the national preoccupation with the media?"
Long-term exposure to the media has a tendency to influence the way we think
about the world around us, but how? Since the printing of the first newspaper to
the introduction of the Information Superhighway, society has been able to view
itself objectively. The men and women who present media to us: radio
personalities, news anchors, and actors included, are given the responsibility
of showing us society as it is. Sometimes, it is argued, this task is not done
adequately. And so, arises an issue: can objectivity and subjectivity in the
media affect how we approach issues? And, more importantly, can the information
presented affect the value system of a society? The media is so pervasive it is
hard to believe they do not have important effects on society. Yet, many people
do not believe that the media have personally influenced them or have harmed
them. However, to attempt to understand how the media may shape the attitudes of
individuals, and how they may shape culture itself, requires that we stand back
from our personal experiences in order to analyze the arguments presented on
each side of the debate. For example, some believe that it is very important to
report serious, society-threatening news with total objectivity. If it is not
reported in such a manner, an indirect inciting of the more radical audience can
occur. In the September 1996 issue of the "American Journalism
Review," Sherry Ricchiardi responded to powerful reporting by Christian
Amanpour on Serb atrocities in Bosnia. Some observers questioned the decency of
the reporter's approach of support in coverage of these war-torn regions.
Ricchiardi explained that correspondents must walk a fine line between
subjectivity and objectivity in the quest to depict situations as neutrally, yet
as meaningfully, as possible. Another example of subjectivity in the media and
its effect on society is easily viewed in a recent incident in Rochester, New
York. When a controversial biographer visited the University of Rochester to
discuss his ...

The complete article is about 898 words and 3.59 pages long.

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