The role of the media in modern society and in shaping public opinion

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:40

Society has repeatedly noticed how great the influence of modern media. Television, newspapers and magazines, radio and the Internet - all this is so familiar to each of us that we tend to trust any written word. In turn, people who need the support of the public do everything to make this word sound as profitable as possible.

"Fashion" for information

There is an opinion in the world that a leader is a person who owns information. Is it then possible to assume that each of us has the opportunity to become such a person? Far from it. And all because having information and taking note of what journalists write are two different things.

Unfortunately, today's trends tend not to develop the once rare and unusual craft - journalism, but, on the contrary, to use this profession for selfish purposes.

By the way, writing various articles, shooting commercials and other marketing videos, airing on the radio may not work at all in order to provide people with important information. Oftenthey exist so that a certain product is bought as much as possible. In fact, journalism can quite easily move away from the media to the sphere of propaganda and advertising. However, this is exactly what can be observed very often now.

Efficiency

The role of the media in modern society has reached a fairly high bar. No company, no politician, no entrepreneur becomes successful without the influence of the media. People's trust is earned through numerous articles and broadcasts. The consciousness of almost every modern person is possessed by a certain force that makes you believe, vote, support this or that representative.

And indeed, the manifestation of the role of the media in modern society has greatly increased. Again, we see how journalism and mass media are becoming a way to “advise” as many audiences as possible to use this or that product.

Types of media

It is very easy to see that people choose a certain category of media. Each of us uses one or two sources that we trust and prefer to us. Why is this happening?

The role of the media in the life of modern society is to meet its needs mainly in two directions: informational and thematic. Let's give a simple example: in the category "Cooking" the percentage of females will prevail. While on football channels, the audience is mostly men. This is due to the interests of each of them, if a person is not interested in watching the game, hecan switch the channel to a more favorite one - for example, culinary.

Information needs are much easier to define. These are simple news channels, urban or rural publics and pages on social networks. They are aimed at giving you daily information about what is happening or not happening in your city or in your country. In addition, with the help of such information sources, you can learn about events from around the world. Thus, we again see how the role of the media in modern society is increasing every year.

Source of Knowledge

Today's information technology system is difficult to underestimate, agree. It is hard to imagine life without the Internet, television or popular magazines. However, can the media be used to your advantage?

The age of technology has brought us to the point where we can not spend money and time on tutors to learn any language in the world. It is online portals, electronic resources that help us learn something or find the information we need.

What can we say about the possibilities of various courses and programs that we learn about through the media? Naturally, we do not always receive knowledge from the media, but it is thanks to them that we can do this in a variety of ways.

Influence on behavior

Have you ever noticed how much the media change the psyche of people? It is worth paying attention to the video or posts of your favorite blogger, how he becomes an object of imitation, his habits becomegenerally accepted, they try to copy behavior and even buy things like his.

One can easily conclude from this that both the media and electronic information sources have a huge impact on the human psyche. It becomes easy to subdue him and force him to buy the advertised product, imitate the idol, and in some deplorable situations, the media (more often Internet sources) became the causes of tragedies.

What is the role of the media in modern society and what exactly do they influence? First of all, information affects the worldview of each person. From what he reads, hears, views, depends on how he will behave in life. This can be quite easily compared with the behavior of a child. After all, the habits that parents have are almost always adopted by their children.

To give a simple example, if a scientist comes on TV every day with "evidence" that black turns out to be pink, sooner or later people will believe it. The familiar can very easily become strange and unusual, and the information we had about some things can become completely irrelevant.

What is really important to note in this situation is that the worldview directly affects the future decision that a person makes, helps determine how to move in life and in which direction to go.

Manifestation in the media society

Three manifestations of the role of the media in modern society in providing reliable information, entertaining people andform their opinion.

So, let's take a look at what sources the media influences our worldview so much:

First of all, these are newspapers, magazines, brochures and so on. Of course, modern society is not accustomed to reading newspapers (and reading in principle) as much as our grandparents did. However, they are still a means of conveying certain information.
Radio. It happens that we are just preparing dinner or doing any other business, and the radio is playing in the background. However, although we mostly ignore it, we inadvertently listen to some news.
Well, where without television and the Internet? Advertisements, clips, films, series, news channels, entertainment and scientific channels. Almost any information in the world comes to us from these sources. But in which version exactly?

All these tools somehow shape our worldview, impose stereotypes and “advise” us to act in a certain way and buy these particular products.

Reason for media influence

Yes, quite a lot of people do not succumb to the provocations of the media, do not watch TV and are not interested in modern media at all. What's the matter?

But the fact is that the role of the media in the life of modern society has increased so much that they begin to play on emotions and feelings. It is already quite natural, if you are a sensitive, sentimental, besides a gullible person, then to inspire information about a car accident in which you are to blamethis politician will be easier.

And vice versa, rationally assessing the situation, based only on real eyewitness testimony or official statistics, one can draw one's own conclusions, not imposed by the media.

Great advice to give to the most gullible, and to ordinary people too: all the information you get through the media is spoken and filtered by people who are strangers to you. Would you trust someone you don't know at all?

After all, in modern society, the media acquire a huge role not because they have unique information or the way it is presented, but because they make people believe, even by imposing false stereotypes.

Mental he alth

Yu. I. Polishchuk actively says that the media have an extremely negative impact on people's mental he alth.

He is concerned that the population of Russia, for example, is already susceptible to diseases. A large percentage of people annually suffer from various mental, and not only, disorders. This is an example of the role of the media in modern society.

That's why a formal request was made to the government. “Develop laws and regulations that provide for the responsibility of the media for disseminating information that is harmful to the moral and spiritual and moral development of the child, for promoting cruelty, violence and all forms of sexual depravity.”

It was also indicated the need to counter those media that harm the moral and psychologicalcitizens' he alth.

Dignity

Let's still discuss the advantages of the role of the media in modern society. As mentioned above, the media are divided into newspapers, radio, Internet and television. Each of them has certain advantages, so let's put them together and define our media advantages:

The ability to return to what you read, saw, listened to again, whether it is an article in a newspaper that can be cut out or a news broadcast that is easy to download from Internet resources.
Accessibility. Anytime, anywhere.
If you briefly characterize the role of the media in modern society, then this is the opportunity to receive any information, regardless of how busy you are. As mentioned above, this may be a banal radio that plays in the car.
Efficiency. Not even an hour will pass after any incident, as all possible media will "reverberate" about it.

At the same time, it must be remembered that each of the above advantages has a downside, so it is impossible to unambiguously talk about the harm or benefit of the media.

Media in politics

An example of the role of the media in modern society is nothing but politics. Naturally, where are modern politicians without the mass media? As one journalist put it, as soon as the elections begin, “a real storm in a teacup begins in the information sphere.”

Politicians promote their agenda and methods not only through television, newspapers and magazines, internet and radio. They manage to do this even with the help of cinema. Simply put, political films are by no means uncommon these days. Yes, even in feature films, one can quite easily come across a phrase with a certain background.

Thus, leaving the house, we get a lot of information about what is happening in the world of modern politics, who is running for the upcoming elections, and who is already campaigning.

And yet, how do politicians use our media? This method is called political manipulation.

Political manipulation - methods that are used to convey a certain kind of information, to encourage residents to take certain actions, conduct a kind of propaganda. This happens especially often on the eve of elections from those who run for some post and conduct a campaign program. Just look, you will find a booklet or two in your mailbox.

However, in addition to innocent booklets and custom articles, there is a whole range of actions that politicians are ready to take. This is where we see how big the role of the media in the political life of modern society is:

Using false information about yourself and your actions (including promises).
Frequent juggling of facts.
Spreading false information.

There are situations when, for example, a terrorist is called a "fighter for justice", "a person who knows how to defend his rights and the rights of people", thereby smoothing out sharp corners and using beautiful vocabulary.

Using these techniques,many politicians really reach the top through the manipulation of facts.

In addition, in addition to influencing the population with the help of the media, the authorities are often very actively monitoring everything that journalists write about, jailing everyone who wrote not quite what was required, and anything “contradictory” and "offensive" even if it was true.

From here we can conclude that just as the media has a huge influence over the population, there is a certain “top” above the media themselves, which dictates what exactly to write or broadcast.

The role of the media in society

On the topic of information, you can write quite a lot of articles, publications, shoot endless reports and ask children in schools essays. The role of the media in modern society is the impact on people's opinions.

One can easily draw many conclusions about today's media. The influence we have on television, magazines and newspapers, radio, even cinema, is truly impressive.

And the fact that with the help of the media you can easily control the minds of people and inspire them with various thoughts, lead to certain actions, even sometimes scares. Many journalists believe that older people trust any information the most. They don't tend to think it's cheating, simply because the media wasn't as active in their youth.

It will take quite a long time to think about technology, human achievements and characterize the role of the media. In modern Belarusian society, for example, all mediaare a single system. And although this does not help alleviate the sometimes detrimental effect of these funds on people, the information is in the same systematization.

That is why, before trusting what is said on TV, heard on the radio or read in the newspaper, remember that no person, except for real witnesses, can give you accurate data and facts, and the presenters only inject into you in a superficial course of action.