HI all,
Love them or hate them, you just can’t ignore them goes an adage. This couldn’t apply more to the media than anything else today. Print, electronic or any other form of media pervades every aspect of our life; informing us and determining, to a reasonable extent, the formation of views and our response to developing situations.
The ongoing Swine Flu Pandemic has highlighted the media’s role yet again in informing, educating, spreading information and awareness among the masses. In fact, I reckon, without the proactive media we have today in this country, the flu could have posed a much bigger threat than it currently does.
Having said this, there are proponents of the argument that media is primarily doing this for the sake of TRPs. Undoubtedly there is great public interest surrounding this flu and media outlets just want to cash in on this frenzy. They point out that we experience greater numbers of mortality just due to preventable diseases like malaria etc. So where was the media all this while, they ask. Fair argument by any measure!
So what are your thoughts on media’s role in this pandemic and in troubling times in general?
5 comments:
If there was some way to 'elect' media people, it'd be nice, I think. Media on reporting any issue, inevitably being human beings, put their own emotions and thoughts into the mix and that's where I'm a little concerned. We don't want the writer's opinion always - we sometimes want just what's happening, just the gist of it so that we can come to our conclusions. I for one don't want to be looking through someone else's glasses all the time. I'm paranoid about media in any form.
hmmm...agree with you for the most part..but being paranoid...dont you think you are taking it a little too far...cos without them we will news starved...:)
I've to really watch out for what they really mean or else I might be sat with the wrong interpretation. That's what I meant by being paranoid.
What I think is people look out for only negative news like how many died because of the flu. Media people know that no one is more interested in telling that there are actually hundreds of people affected by the flu in our city and out of that 7 have died. But people want to focus on the italicized part more than anything else. Media is just a medium. Whatever people want media gives. Tomorrow if something happens like people start becoming positive then you will see positive in flow from media too. Media just gives what people want to see, hear etc...
@sriram...taking whatever is reported with a pinch of salt...i guess with the media that we have today, we need to take such precautions...
@simran...you are saying media content is just a reflection of ppls' desires...i tend to disagree with you on this..not everyone of us is sadistic in nature and need to hear only the most drastic of news thats available.
and even if we do imagine an improbable scenario where everyone wishes to receive only a genre of news, then what happ to media's responsibility of reporting unbiased news...
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