As I’ve continued my education in college, I’ve learned
about the different styles of communication. Learning how people lean more on
the media and mass communication as an alternative to the aspects daily life
and relationships, I began to wonder what kind of effect does this have on the
community and do any major corporations know about this, have they capitalized
on this opportunity to persuade the masses to their preferences?
The media today is not only an
outlet for local news and information; it is a worldwide resource. Access to
this resource can encourage the staging of certain broadcasts to increase the
favor for one side or the other. As our knowledge of the world and all of its
activities expands so does the constant pressure to interact with each other
locally. Now the actions of any given politician can be projected into the
community like a flashlight in the dark. According to Graber in 2012 nearly 50%
of news consumption was through local news stations while the major worldwide
news stations received on average about 15% (Graber, 4).
The fact that people tend to turn
to their local stations for information can have an increased pressure for that
station to report on major, countrywide news such as political races. This can
increase the likelihood of scripted or “casted” broadcasts and interviews that
can lean one way or another for the political candidate involved. In today’s
world of multi-broadcast systems we are faced with dozens of television shows
trying to persuade us on their views. It may be common knowledge that certain
shows are written with certain preferences in mind, encouraging its audience to
share the same political and economic views. My question to you is, does this
cause the community to rely on a broadcast to learn their own opinions, or does
the idea of a self-made mentality still exist in such circumstances?
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ReplyDeleteFirst of all I have to say that I agree with you completely in regards to media becoming a worldwide resource in the lives of our society. It is always interesting to see how the media has changed and adapted in order to keep their viewers coming back to their station. With media changing and evolving, in order to keep up with technological advancements in the world, it has also caused the world of politics to change as well. Even now more and more campaigns are turning to social media websites in order to get their policy issues and ideas across to the voters. According to Garber and Dunaway, "by 2008, campaigns were more sophisticated in their ability to tailor content to the interests of social network users." (Graber and Dunaway 90)
ReplyDeleteI regards to your question I think that it can work both ways. My first point is that some people have a general idea of what political side they tend to lean towards because growing up around their parents political point of views. It is like the nature v. nurture theory where people either get certain traits or qualities through their DNA or they learn them through their experiences in life. My second point is that I do think that some people use the media to explore their political opinions and therefore use different news outlets such as Fox 5, CNN, and etc, to be able to find out which political side they tend to agree with more.
I definitely agree that media had become more of a worldwide resource and will continue to grow towards that direction. I remember growing up the local news would only talk about worldwide or national news only if it's necessary. Now my hometown station is continuing to give more and more non local news. I also agree that local media does have the potential to become more and more political. If this phenomena occurs it is very likely that the number of media stations on a local level may grow exceptionally.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your question I think a lot of people believe that they have a self-made mentality but in actuality that's not exactly the case. There are plenty of people that listen to broadcasts that have a certain political leaning but the viewers are not aware of it. To them they are hearing the facts and then interpreting it the way they want to. However, in reality they are already heading a bias towards the story.