Oceana Hill

Let's Talk About Media


We, as individuals, each have specifically planned lives that are intertwined amongst the millions of people that live and function around us. Even though we barely notice all of the things taking place within the same environment, the same community, and even the same world, we more often than not feel the effects of the events that take place day by day across the globe. Throughout the past two decades, industries have developed and deeply changed the way society chooses to see the issues taking place around us. One of the largest and the most important driving forces in the distribution of necessary information is media. Many people often criticize media for lack of local or specific topical focus, spreading false information, and causing conflict. Although some of this criticism has proven true at times, studies along with media itself have shown that it is the quickest and the most dependent way to keep people informed anytime, anywhere. Media is the most effective way to spread information and present new ideas to mass audiences.

Approaching and reaching a mass audience are two equally difficult tasks. Since new information is constantly reoccurring, a source that is easy to interpret is critical in order to effectively deliver each issue in a way that can easily be understood by a wide variety of people. Media is typically responsible for creating a homogenous, plain idea of communication and culture designed to entertain individuals without excessively challenging them, because of this they are usually forced to skip over many important and interesting local stories because they simply fail to capture the attention of the majority of the audience. Despite the disclusion of certain pieces of local informational stories, the media never fails to successfully provide the most important news. They have an overall successful way of providing information that captures viewers’ attention while keeping them highly informed at the same time.

The spread of false information has been an ongoing issue for viewers and distributors alike. The belief that not all information presented is well researched is a common one, and never fails to be the main reason for the consistent attacks that occur towards the world of media. It is true that false claims are often made through media, specifically referring to advertisements, but all information that is presented through sources such as news channels and newspapers is information that has been researched and distributed accurately in order to correctly update people with information that can be proven to be true. The rate of false advertising and distribution of false information has extremely decreased within the past five years due to the fact that more and more people notice and point out when a company is trying to sell false information, and not only does this have the potential to ruin a company’s reputation but also the potential to cause the company to suffer an extreme loss of money. The fact that the media can quickly distribute necessary information to mass audiences overrules the fact that false information may occur from time to time.

There's no denying that mass media often plays a key role in today's conflicts, mass media in general is an instrument of dominant political and economic power, therefore it is natural for it to cause conflict. Different people view what the media chooses to present differently, in other words, each individual obtains a different opinion and reacts on each subject different than one another, because of the extreme amount of variety among people, conflicts are inevitable. The media chooses to allow individuals to develop their own viewpoint based off of their own thought process which is why each set of information is designed to present itself in a way that all forms of people can easily interpret from their own standpoint. Conflict truly cannot be avoided, especially when a mass audience is so unique when broken up individually.
A solution is something that cannot easily be proposed in this case, all the industry can do is continue to aim to distribute information that will benefit the need and knowledge of society. The majority of populations all over the world claim that media is a vital aspect of human society. By being exposed to and understanding mass media, one has the ability to better understand one's population and culture. Media is designed with the prime goal to inform and educate. Not only does media reach out to mass audiences, but it also never fails to show different outlooks and present new ideas that help us support our decisions and influence the idea that we as a whole should have the constant opportunity to actively participate in all aspects of the world around us.