Preview

In What Ways Can The Mass Media Be Beneficial?

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1618 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
In What Ways Can The Mass Media Be Beneficial?
An increasing emphasis on the mass media has been especially reflected in the wake of events with far-reaching impact such as the September 11 terrorist attacks and the Iraq war. This emphasis is hardly misplaced with the increasing benefits of the mass media becoming clearer day by day. Generally, most people assume that the mass media, which in today's context can be defined as a means of communication that reaches large numbers of people via mediums such as the television, radio, newspapers and internet, is confined within its role to disseminate information. However, the mass media is now well regarded as an instrument for behavior change communication. Furthermore, the mass media acts as a supplement to typical textbook education. Last but not least, the mass media plays a major part in providing entertainment to the masses.

One of the primary benefits that can be derived from the mass media would be its ability to disseminate information. The mass media is used very widely as means of conveying information to many people and organizations due to its wide accessibility. In order to perform such a task, the mass media makes use of channels such as the television, radio, newspapers and the internet. According to the Global Television Conglomerates, 181.9 million people tune in to CNN daily which illustrates the sheer extent to which the mass media reaches out to people through the television. Therefore, it can be seen that society relies heavily upon the mass media for news. In addition, the World Press Trends has conducted a survey which shows that 75 percent of all adult is the United States of America read at least one newspaper weekly. Hence, without the mass media, they would be deprived of current news. Furthermore, besides being able to receive information, the public also obtains it speedily. This is especially true with the assistance of modern day technology, such as high speed satellite communication, whereby information is received in real-time. The

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    It would be impossible for most people to live even one day without mass communication, and yet, many people know little of how the media work and how it influence their lives positively and negatively. However, society has always needed effective and efficient means to transfer information in which mass communication media is the result of this need. Mass communication plays a significant role in modern society. For instance, broadcasting of news and other accurate information represents one of the functions of mass communication. People now days have an abundance of sources at their disposal for acquiring news, in particularly, television medium…

    • 1644 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There is no doubt that the mass media is omnipresent, mediating every aspect of our lives. How one relates to and interprets the world is largely colored by how the media informs us. In the world today, media has become as necessary as food and clothing. It is considered as the “mirror” of the modern society. It informs people about current affairs and entertains through the latest gossip and fashion. The role of media has become one way of trading and marketing of products and prejudice. Communities and individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of sources including TV, billboard and magazines, to name a few. These messages promote not only products but moods, attitudes and a sense of what is and is not important. Mass media makes possible the concept of celebrity: without the ability of movies, magazines, music and news media to reach across thousands of miles, people could not become famous. (Chandler 2000) emphasizes the role of mass media in the reproduction of status quo.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The mass media is defined as, the means by which messages and images are communicated to a mass audience, through various ‘Mass Communication Technologies’ (MCTs). For example, the Internet is a very powerful and influential MCT, used for communicating and sharing important information worldwide. MCTs serve to educate, persuade and inform and entertain their audience.…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Violate Social Norms

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Furthermore, I had never before analyzed the meaning behind the media messages, and the different functions they serve; for example, they can promote consumption, confer status, enforce social norms, and socialize. Although most see the media as a way to get the news, these messages also persuade the audience what to buy, how to act, and who to idolize as well. I know that the mass media has influenced not only my perceptions of other people, places, and things, but also my thoughts and ideas. There is no doubt that I would be a completely different person than I am now if I lived in a world with no mass…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hart (1991) defines mass media as devices that simultaneously transmit messages to large numbers of people and indicates that media are classified in three different kinds which include presentational, representational, and mechanical or electronic media. The mass media performs three key functions: educating, shaping public relations, and advocating for a particular policy or point of view. As education tools, media not only impart knowledge, but can be part of larger efforts to promote health issues and other related activities (e.g., social marketing) to promote behaviour change social utility (Department of Health 2011). For instance, when using the social marketing, the mass media targets a particular through poster and…

    • 2927 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The mass media play a significant role in a modern world, by broadcasting information in fast pace and giving entertainment to vast audiences. They consist of press, television, radio, books and the Internet. The latter is now the most developing medium, however, TV also has a wide field of influence. By creating a certain type of message, media can manipulate people’s attitude and opinions.…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Media, something so pervasive in our daily modern life is so essential that as an individual or society as a whole that it is inevitable to be effected one way or another. Whether it is natural disasters, health epidemic, new product launch or viral videos on the internet, mass media has allowed information to be conveyed to countries all around the world within a blink of an eye. Government bodies utilise mass media to communicate to citizens all over the country promoting health awareness campaigns to educate individuals of the consequences that some problematic behaviours incur. However, it is questionable as to whether these mass mediums have any impact on how individuals see themselves and are fear appeals effective enough to bring about…

    • 2129 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Curtis, A., & University of North Carolina at Pembroke (2012). Mass Media Influence on Society. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://www2.uncp.edu/home/acurtis/Courses/ResourcesForCourses/Media&Society/MassMediaInfluenceOnSociety.html…

    • 1138 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mass media has played a key role in society for many years, it provides information from around the world that people would not usually have access too. Messages in the media keep people informed on things like health service provision, economics, policy changes, crime and do so in a variety of ways such as: leaflets, newspaper publications, television adverts, billboards and so forth.…

    • 1726 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Body Image

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Media plays a significant role and known as the most formidable means of communication in our lives in 21st century. Media images contribute to the socialization of young people across a board range of areas, particularly those in which the viewer has relatively limited real-world experience (Huston et al., 1992). Nowadays, most of the people will get their information through the mass media that they can get if easily which are from the internet, electronic devises, for an example television and mobile phones, books and magazines or newspaper. With all of these mass media, we could know what is happening around the whole world. None of the people would deny that the fact of the power of the medias have totally influenced our lifestyle, approach…

    • 1966 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Functions of Mass Media

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mass media is used to target majority of people (or masses) at national or international level. Television, radio, billboards, internet, newspapers, websites, blogs, movies etc. Are the main sources through which messages are prepared (by making advertisements or promotional campaigns) and are conveyed to the audience in different forms. The electronic media, internet media and print media enables the viewers to keep in touch with all kinds of current event. Differentorganizations and businesses use mass media to promote their products which serves as a source of income for both the businesses (in the form of increasedsales) and the customer (in the form of providing value added information). Media is a great source of entertainment and public messages for the betterment of society. The critical reviews on articles regarding various social, business and ethical issuespublished in web and newspaper create an environment which fosters exchange of knowledge. Media is also a representative of one's culture and traditions. It serves as a platform to provide freedom of speech to the people of society. One of the negative aspects of media is that sometimes source of media is not that much reliable the way it should be in some cases. It can be used for advocating negative aspect in the society to serve one's personal interests. People might perceive different meanings out of the messages received from the media. Media if used politically or used with bias can create adverse effects on the viewers.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    One of the notable changes in our social environment in the twentieth century is theadvent and saturation of mass media. In this new environment, radio, television, movies, videos, video games, and computer networks have assumed central roles in our daily lives. For better or for worse, the mass media are having an enormous impact on our values, beliefs, and behaviors.…

    • 2578 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mass media helps in connecting people and brings the whole world into our view. Mass media includes print media like newspapers and magazines, electronic media like radio, television, movies and new digital media like, internet, and blogs. The history of mass media is very long; it goes back beyond recorded history to the people that figured out that they could reach a larger audience through drawing pictures on cave walls rather than just telling the story to whoever was around at that time. As we read on, let us focus on what were the major developments in the evolution of mass media during the last century, how each development influence American culture, what is meant by the…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    effects of mass media

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The mass media platforms are commonly considered to include radio, newspaper magazine books video games internet media such as blogs, podcasts, video sharing smart phones and streaming satellites. The last century were several major developments in the evolution on mass media. There are a lot of things that happened from one era to the next. Some of the recent develop electric which are encompass modern day media. The mass media connects people and brings the globe into our glance. Mass media is a way of connecting people a message to a large number of audience using technology. This increased efficiency went hand with the rise of the daily newspaper was the perfect medium of the increasing urbanized Americans of the 19th century ,who could no longer get there local news merely though gossip or word of mouth these Americans were living in a unfamiliar territory, and newspaper and media helped them negation rapidly changing the world.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mass media plays an important role in our lives. Without mass media our lives is useless. Mass media are a pervasive part of our lives (Dominick 2013, pg31). Mass media is a type of way to help us to transfer information and receive information from the peoples. Mass media also can be describe as the extensive phrase describing television, radio, film, newspaper and magazines. For example, New Straits Times is useful and it can help to transfer more information to people who can’t afford to buy a television. This is also considered as a media transfer. On the other hand, we could take the perspective of a sociologist and look through a wide-angle lens to consider the functions performed by the mass media for the entire society that called as macroanalysis (Dominick 2013, pg31). Furthermore, there are few types of function of mass media in society such as surveillance, interpretation, linkage, transmission of values, TV &socialization and last but not list entertainment.…

    • 1028 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays