Assignment Role and use of Media in current scenario

Submitted by Arathi Biradar

Introduction
In the last 50 years the media influence has grown exponentially with the advance of technology, first there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the internet. We live in a society that depends on information and communication to keep moving in the right direction and do our daily activities like work, entertainment, health care, education, personal relationships, traveling and anything else that we have to do. A common person in the city usually wakes up checks the TV news or newspaper, goes to work, makes a few phone calls, eats with their family when possible and makes his decisions based on the information that he has either from their co workers, news, TV, friends, family, financial reports, etc. What we need to be aware is that most of our decisions, beliefs and values are based on what we know for a fact, our assumptions and our own experience. In our work we usually know what we have to do based on our experience and studies, however on our daily lives we rely on the media to get the current news and facts about what is important and what we should be aware of.

Role & Use of Media in current scenario

With unprecedented improvement in the field of science and technology, media has become an essential part in our society, and has a crucial role to play. But it's up to us to choose the best of all that is flashed on television, radio or newspapers. In the world of today, media has become almost as necessary as food and clothing. It is true that media is playing an outstanding role in strengthening the society; its a mirror of the society. Its duty is to inform, educate and entertain the people. They help us to know whats going on around the world. They put their lives in danger during attacks or natural disasters, just to inform us of the situation. It is partly because of them that awareness is spreading in the society. It is the media who shape our lives. Our lives would be incomplete without the media.

Electronic Media
Media is the watch dog of the political democracy. If it plays its role honestly, it will be a great force in building the nation but now a days, media has become a commercialized sector eying only for news that is hot and sells. Instead of giving important information and educative programmes, all that one gets on television is sensational depiction of all news stories, their only goal being gaining television rating points (TRPs).

Every issue is hyped for a day or two, so much so that you switch to any channel, they all will be flashing the same story but then when the heat is over there is no following of the case. The news then jostles for space with other stories that are carrying the heat then. In spite we all cannot think of a world without television sets, media has become so much a part of us that to recognize its impact, we need to step back and consciously think about how they shape our lives and what they are saying. The media affects peoples perspective not only through television, but also through radio and newspapers. In this way, even many messages, with which we cannot agree, inevitably coming to us from diverse constellations of media. They can even be turned to our benefit by whetting our understanding and articulation of what we believe, today news channels and even some newspapers are

mouthpiece of some political parties. Their work then, limits only to spread the ideology of the party rather than give correct news. People have to judge on their own by looking and listening to different channels for the same news and then form a conclusion. Media is an integral part of our society, but thats also a fact that its too much intervention in everything is a matter of concern. Sometimes, just for making money, insignificant news is given so much priority that the real news is not even brought into notice. Yes, it does also entertain but again its a debatable issue because by entertainment we mean healthy entertainment and not those nonsense TV serials. So at last, like science it is a tool, which we have to use by our judgment to provide maximum satisfaction side by side without harming ourselves. Sometimes, some channels also broadcast and publish the messages in such situation that the real messages are left beyond our hands. The other disadvantage is that sometimes they also publish or broadcast some vulgar news, and sometimes unessential activities are served as very important news and broadcasted again and again. This does not broaden the reach of media. Advantages of electronic media Outreach is more and audiences are heterogeneous. Messages can be communicated within no time. Messages can be communicated to large number of people at a time. Variety of audio, video, text can be used in one single medium. Great possibility of recording and archiving the content for future use. In the near future it might be possible to make this medium interactive. With the advent of live programming, distance is no longer a hindrance in communication.

Print Media
The newspapers can play a very vital role in the reconstruction and regeneration of a nation by highlighting and pin-pointing the social, economic and moral evils in the society. Can be helpful in eradicating these evils from the society.

They can also start propaganda against the economic evils like short-weights and measures, smuggling. Black-marketing income tax evasion hoarding corruption and bribery. Thus the newspapers can help greatly in the nation-building activities. Newspapers provide some material for every type of interest. They give us stories, the crossword puzzles, the post page, the expert's comments on certain affairs of national and international importance. Some pages are meant for women and children as well. Newspapers also provide us information about various matters and things through advertisements. They can help the advertisers to boost up their sale and the consumers to consume the new goods. In other words, newspapers provide a wholesome intellectual food, trade contacts and also job opportunities. It is through the newspapers, many a time that marriages are arranged, and lost things are found. People pay homage to their dead relatives through the obituary notes in the newspapers. In short, newspapers contain all what is needed and desired by every person relating to any field of life. Newspapers play manifold character in almost all fields of life and are becoming more and important day by day. Education plays a vital role in the all round development of the society. Educated masses help in the development of a civilized society wherein they carry on their activities smoothly and hasslefree. People in a educated society communicate with each other, understand each others problems and provide solutions. An educated society, city, state, and country lay the foundation of a great world. Education plays the biggest role in society because without it, we wouldn't have doctors, lawyers, etc...Plus, some people who don't have education usually end up as delinquents.

Online Media There is no denial that media is playing a very significant role in making the world smaller. Through various mediums of media whether it is radio, television, newspaper or internet, we are able to connect with large number of people around us. Especially internet has truly become the need of every individual both for our work and to connect with our friends and well wishers. Facebook, Orkut and Twitter have occupied such special place in our lives that if we are not a part of it, then there is something really important that we are missing.

Online media advertising is one of the upcoming and growing segments in Indian advertisement sector. Internet is one such medium which is accessible by anyone and everyone and that too in any part of the country. This is the reason why online media advertising is catching up with the audience. With its vast accessibility and reach it is easy to reach millions of users at one go. Seeing this latest fad we can say that India is certainly experiencing online media advertising boom.

How mass Media Influence works

Of all the media distribution channels the most influential has been the television, we are constantly exposed to thousands of images of violence, advertising, sex, celebrities and much more, in fact a its known that a child is exposed to about 40,000 ads a year.

How does mass media influence young people?

The media makes billions of dollars with the advertising they sell and that we are exposed to. We buy what we are told to be good, after seeing thousands of advertisings we make our buying decisions based on what we saw on TV, newspapers or magazines to be a product we can trust and also based on what everyone else that we know is buying and their decision are also based on the media. These are the effects of mass media in teenagers, they buy what they see on TV, what their favorite celebrity advertise and what is acceptable by society based on the fashion that the media has imposed them. There are some positive and negative influences in young people. Here is a positive influence example, if there is a sport that is getting a lot of attention by the media and gains popularity among your friends and society, you will more likely want to practice the sport and be cool with all your friends. The result is that you will have fun with your friends and be healthier because of the exercise you are doing. However a negative influence in teenagers is the use of cigars by celebrity movie stars, the constant exposure of sex images, the excessive images of violence and exposure to thousands of junk food ads. Young people are in a stage of life where they want to be accepted by their peers, they want to be loved and be successful. The media creates the ideal image of a beautiful men and women and tells you what are the characteristics of a successful person, you can see it in movies and TV. Its a subliminal way to tell you that if you are not like them you are not cool yet so its time to buy the stuff they buy and look like they look. Another negative influence in teenagers that has grown over the last years are anorexia and obesity. There are millions of adolescents fighting obesity, but at the same time they are exposed to thousands of advertisements of junk food, while the ideas image of a successful person is told to be thin and wealthy. Also more women are obsessive with losing weight even when they are not obese, there are many thin women that want to look like the super models and thin celebrities so they engage in eating disorders which leads to severe health issues and even death.

Effects of violence in the Media

When we watch TV or a movie we usually see many images of violence and people hurting others. The problem with this is that it can become traumatic especially in our children as we see it more and more. Our kids that are starting to grow and are shaping their personality values and beliefs can become aggressive or they can lose a sense of reality and fiction of what they are seeing.

In the past years there have been some cases of kids carrying a gun at school and even hurting others with it. Those kids have been linked to excessive use of violent video games and war images. Another problem is that real war is used as a form of entertainment by the media, we should make our kids and teen aware that war is not a form of entertainment and that there is no win or lose like in video games, in real war everyone lose.

How media influence public opinion

As I have said above, the media has a huge impact on society and also in public opinion. They can shape the public opinion in different ways depending of what is the objective. For example, after the attacks of 9/11 the media gave a huge coverage of the event and exposed Osama guilty for the attack as they were told by the authorities. This shaped the public opinion to support the war on terrorism, the same happened with the war on Iraq. The problem is that if media received unaccurate information then the public opinion supported a wrong cause, this is the power of public opinion influence. Other ways to influence are with polls and trends, especially in political campaigns. The candidates that can pay for more TV and media exposure have more influence on public opinion and thus can receive more votes.

Significance of Media
In spite of being sensational and biased, the significant of media cannot be ignored, especially in an age, in which globalization and liberalization have become the order of the day. In this globalised world, task and duties of media are increasing day by day. There is still a lot to be done by the media for the betterment of the society. Media can change opinions because they have access to people and this gives it a lot of strength. This strength can either be used constructively by educating the people or it can be used destructively by misleading the innocent people. Power of the media can transform the whole society especially in the developing countries it can be used as a 'weapon of mass destruction'. But I think the most important use of media is to educate the people about the basic human rights. The dilemma of the developing countries is that people are not fully aware of their basic rights and if they know, they don't know about what to do and where to go. They don't know their collective strength. Even they don't know how to protest and what is the importance of protests. Media should portray the facts. They should not transform the reality. Education and discipline is key to progress. This is the difference between a nation and a crowd. Media men have access to people and they have an audience. Their programs have an impact and people listen to them. But media is not just confine to informing us about the world happenings and serving a means to connect with people, in fact it also affects out thinking patterns as well. The way we think and perceive various issues about the world is also shaped up by media. Today everyone especially youth is growing so aware about his responsibilities towards society is because of media. Campaign such as Teach India and Jaago Grahak Jaago helps in spreading awareness about human rights and duties. Media plays a vital role in every one's life. In today's modern society media has become a part and parcel of our life. Its duty is to inform, educate and entertain. It is considered as the 4th pillar of our society.

Conclusion
Finally, one of the most powerful strengths the media has in any society is the ability to effect change, both on a social and governmental level. Media plays a very important role in the building of a society. Media has changed the societies of world so much that we can't ignore its importance. When there are so many channels and newspapers we cannot ignore its importance in the society. Media has lot of responsibility on its shoulders as today's society is very much influenced by the role of media. We believe in what media projects to us. We change our minds according to the information provided through it. In the past when the media was not so strong we were quite ignorant about what is happening around us. But today we come to know very quickly what is happening around us. We have the access to all the international news channels that provide us the facts and figures. Considering this fact that media has the power to influence society, it should know its responsibility towards society. It should feel its responsibility to educate the society in a positive way. It should be giving us fair analysis and factual information While my focus in this presentation has been on the role and use of media in current scenario, it is also important to acknowledge the responsibility of the media in society. As journalists we all have the responsibility to report the unbiased, accurate information as it is received from reliable sources. It is our obligation to obtain all sides of a story, and to report on both the good and bad stuff.

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