Many people do not realize it, but the media actually helps shape our opinion. The media has three main purposes: to provide news, to entertain, and to educate. People generally formulate their beliefs and decisions based on what they know as fact, assume, or from their own experience. We also mainly rely on the media to give us our news and tell us what we should know and be aware of on a daily basis.
The media can shape and change public opinion on many things depending on what their agenda is. An example of this is advertisements. We buy what we see advertised or what we see our favorite celebrities promoting.
The media is controlled by companies who own the media outlets, the editors who edit the articles, and the journalists who write said articles.
The media owners tend to select the stories they show, whether on television or newspaper or another medium, with the goal of making their platform more appealing to advertisers and sponsors. The media relies on advertisers and sponsors to keep them in business so the outlets need to ensure that they are appealing to their advertisers.
Billions of dollars are spent every year on television advertising alone, so the media tries to produce products that are most appealing to advertisers. Advertisers pay the media companies' to show their commercials or put their ads in the paper, while bigger corporations may sponsor a newscast as a whole for more publicity.
The owners also appoint editors to edit articles journalists write. The editors become the voice of the owners and select what stories to publish. Journalists are free to write whatever they want as long as the editors and owners agree to it. The journalists control who they interview for research and who they choose to quote in their stories. This is significant because journalists often make connections with political figures, influential businessmen, and more who are willing to give them quotes, information, and even leaks for big stories. In return, these journalists do not write anything controversial or negative about said sources.
Journalism objectivity is a big debate right now since the media is currently under fire for being biased towards one side. Of course, all journalists claim their work is not affected by their own biases or pressure from advertisers and owners because they are professionals and have to be objective. However, the accepted norm of journalistic objectivity is not the same as the trust.
Journalism objectivity has three main parts to it: depersonalisation, balance, and accuracy. Depersonalisation means journalists should not insert their own views when reporting. Balance means journalists report both sides equally. Accuracy means journalists report the facts and quote people accurately.
Much of the news reported comes straight from press releases and handed to journalists, not requiring the journalist to search for a story. These press releases are either copied or adjusted and paired with other material or even just rephrased. It causes journalists to react rather than initiate.
TV news differs from other platforms, such as newspapers or magazines, in the type of story that is reported. Typically stories on TV are short in length but contain appealing visuals. They are often action stories that add excitement to the news and provide drama and emotion without in-depth details on complicated topics.
Sources:
Beder, Sharon. “Moulding and Manipulating the News.” University of Wollongong. Accessed
May 13, 2019. https://www.uow.edu.au/~/sharonb/mediachap.html.
Mughal, M.A. “Mass Media and Its Influence on Society.” The Daily Journalist. Published December 11, 2013. http://thedailyjournalist.com/pen-and-pad/mass-media-and-its-influence-on-society/.