Social Responsibilities of News Media

I believe that sources for information media have certain responsibilities to the general public. They are supposed to provide news stories that they believe the public will be interested in such as happenings in the political world, goings on in other countries such as international treaties and breakthroughs in new technologies. They are also responsible for keeping the general public entertained as well as informed and they do that by including public interest stories about normal people with extraordinary stories. Giving the “average Joe” something human that they can relate to. The news also has the job of reporting crimes that have occurred so that the residents of the area know how safe the city they live in is. Depending on the channel you are watching the subject matter of the news can and will vary drastically. There are channels exclusively dedicated to reporting on politics, as well as many channels dedicated to sports reporting. There are shows that put a comedic twist on the news in order to attract viewers, using satire as their main tool for delivering the news of the day, and there are news shows that take everything they report as completely serious without any attempt at entertainment at all. In my opinion it is better to keep your viewers entertained at the same time as informed as it tends to keep your viewers around for longer than the fear mongering techniques that some news channels choose to continually use. A well informed public is one that pays attention to the happenings of the world they live