The Power of the Media!

Hallamton · 09-06-2009, 23:37

Bonjour folks!

I'm writing a thesis on Crime and the Media and it's really interesting stuff.

I come on the forums quite a bit and often see large amounts of people who read/watch/hear types of media and think of it as fact! (It's actually a massive pet hate for me!)

So my question is - how powerful do you think the media is?

We've seen, in current affairs, how the media is picking apart Gordon Brown, and the Labour party with it. Do you think it's possibly that contemporary media has the power to overthrow Governments, influence the public beyond belief and possibly induce certain types of behaviour?

Debate away!

Redyam · 09-06-2009, 23:46

The media does have an enormous amount of power, but the media also reflects society as a whole. Maybe the media and the public influence each other to the extent that small issues are blown out of proportion, but the issues are still there.

The media keeps government in check, roots out corruption and makes sure the power stays in the hands of the people. Politicians would have too much power without a free press.

Take the example of countries without a free press, like North Korea, and see how much control the leader has over its people.

Hallamton · 09-06-2009, 23:53

But do you not think that media itself is corrupt, just as you say Governments are?

pretty_big · 10-06-2009, 15:15

Just ask the BNP about their media coverage and how words can be twisted around ............. 1+1= 56 etc etc

pem123 · 10-06-2009, 15:23

Here's some good evidence of people believing all they read in the papers to be gospel and totally incapable of thinking rationally, from today on these very boards.

teddie · 10-06-2009, 18:27

You only have to recall the McCann case to see the media manipulation, the journos shut up as soon as the files were open to the public, not that many of them bothered to read them it seems.

depoix · 10-06-2009, 20:04

it all depends on who owns the media and what the owners bias is towards certain groups ,they can make or break governments,put pressure on politicians to alter laws or hound people,the media is a very potent tool that should be used with care

Hallamton · 10-06-2009, 23:30

So if it's established that the media not only have influence but also bend the truth in ways that mislead the general public, do you think their should be some controls to stop, or at least decrease, this practice?

epiphany · 11-06-2009, 00:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hallamton

So if it's established that the media not only have influence but also bend the truth in ways that mislead the general public, do you think their should be some controls to stop, or at least decrease, this practice?

It's a tough one, because a "free media" is synonomous with freedom of expression. The only problem is, that "freedom" becomes dominated by the most established and well capitalised publications.

I think people shut absorb media content in a rational frame of mind. They should learn to sift out the bias and sensationalism. They should be aware of how certain stories might not necessarily be worthy of headline status.

Remember that the media gets its content primarily from the major PR networks. The nature of the PR industry is what it is, and people should learn about the history behind its evolution, and how it influences media content today.

These are interesting times, since we are seeing a relatively new media channel, the internet, compete with the large networks.

Many people are concerned about the concentration of media ownership, in spite of the rise of new media forms. Wikipedia has a good page on this very subject - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concent...edia_ownership

I also think you'll find this PDF interesting. Remember, the US media owns a huge portion of UK media consumption time.