Continuous Development Of Modern Media Technology Media Essay

With the continuous development of modern media technology, constantly updated means of communication and increasingly rich forms of communication, mass media almost always affects people in all aspects of life. In current society, a variety of communications activities has become indispensable in our lives. As an example, the radio program “Mars on Earth” reported in 1938, which led to huge panic in the United States adequately illustrated this point.

TV, newspapers, online news, and radio stations and other news media access to information are now the most important source of information for people to understand the social. Media as an integral part of life, its coverage means often affects the public’s mood, and the report of people’s point of view often leads the trend of public opinion. While the continuous spread of important information for the audience, the media is also instilling the relevant concept to audience in a subtle way, in order to affects our attitude, and thus to some extent, to change our view of the world. Just as C. Wright Mills stated that “Media not only give us information, they guide our very experiences.”

This paper will make a detailed analysis of the social function of the media, first introduced the media function in the information dissemination, and discusses the media as information channel for people to provide services. Then this paper will analyze in which way the media influence people’s attitudes, behaviors and experiences.

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2.0 The social function of the media

The news media is part of the whole social system, which is responsible for reporting the development of the whole society and change, recording the process of the functioning of society bit by bit, with has social information dissemination, public opinion, social supervision and cultural heritage features. In all above, information dissemination is the most basic function of the media, and it has been undertaking to pass true and accurate social information, as well as the task of passing the first-hand information to the audience.

Through continually providing a large number of reports of the social events, media transfers flow of information about the surrounding environment, transportation, culture, news, financial market to the public, and also a variety of impending disaster has occurred or, threats and other information to meet their needs. (Bryant & Oliver, 2009) In addition to the basic functions of information dissemination, media also has social supervision, education and guidance functions. This paper focuses on the social function of how media guides people’s behavior.

3.0 Means by which media guide people’s experience

3.1 Media decides the content and intensity of information dissemination by news selection

There are many large and small event happen every day in the world, reporters choose what to report and what not to have set the window limits for the mass audience, and the scope of the subject of discussion. (Deephouse, 2000) The media measures whether the incident should be reported and how they are reported by a certain news value, in which the fresh of news and timeliness are the key criteria.

The fierce ratings competition between media makes the journalists must be ready to face tight time pressure; they all hope to make exclusive reports and starting the news. (Lengel & Trevino, 1987) When a hot topic in the head, the media will rush to chase stories, all television, newspaper layout with large, a lot of time around the same topic, it is important to create the atmosphere. But soon, when the subject lost its news value, it will completely disappear in the media. The chase of timely news brings urgent pressure of time, so that media workers have difficulties to do in-depth coverage of events. The media led the public to focus a particular issue, it will also lead us quickly forget the subject.

3.2 To guide the public emotions through different ways of media coverage

Press report is easy to influence the public’s perception of news events, and lead us to a particular point of view to understand the event. The news media report implied social customs, ethics, philosophy, personality temperament and other news elements of influence and control human emotions more and more apparent. (Scannell, 1992) For example, media report to specific geographical coverage and the spread of video content, due to re-process or phenomenon and not only focus on its nature, to live lives of such people would deepen the misunderstanding of people and things, the tendency of these people and events to be rendering, and thus have a negative impact on the public: not only will affect the group’s feelings, but also affects the positioning.

Media’s role is to help us to transcend personal experience of life constraints, let us know what is happening in other corners. News reporting should be objective and fair. But each person’s perception of the world derived from the individual’s life experience, according to different backgrounds, social status, gender, ethnic group, different people present for the same facts, is bound to see a different face, resulting in different interpretations, no one can remove the “view” or “values “. Of course, media are no exception. The integration of these differences in the news becomes emotional and cognitive impact of a factor to people.

3.3 The development of new technologies creates more possibilities for the media influence on people

Television reports which allow people to the text provided in the newspaper and sound provided by broadcast, it’ll also see a real vivid picture. TV news focuses on visual effects, even if not shooting pictures, television stations often use computer graphics showing the incident, manufacturing, and shot in the visual. These impressive images are easy to be trusted by people, so television has more social control force than other media.

In addition, the way to receive information from television is mostly passive, television is relatively weak selective information, which more seriously confined the scope of access to information sources of the audience.

In today’s information society, media pluralism has been formed. In the press, radio, television and other media followed by a “fourth media” – Internet. (Edwards, 1998) The rapid development of new media provides more extensive information on the public. (Couldry & Curran, 2003)

3.4 advertising leadS tendency of the media coverage

“Advertising is the greatest sense aggressors of modern society and the strongest message implants.” As an advertising vehicle of the release of advertising, the tremendous impact on the news media brought by the advertising is inevitable. As we all know, at present, the news media advertising is still the most important publishing platform. News and advertising co-exist on one platform, to contradictions and problems inevitably arise. (Schewe, 2004)As social and economic development, the role of advertising is growing. It passes the information to promote economic development in goods but also to both the media and advertisers to create huge economic interests. In the interests of the stimulation, the media coverage will inevitably have a certain bias.

Media on corporate image, product performance, marketing activities and other information for publicity, this practice is called soft ads by some media, and is called hidden advertising by advertisers. For ordinary consumers, these practices are very deceptive in nature. This appears to news is actually a style advertising openly in the news section, so unknown to the audience and may mislead them to believe.

4. How people’s experience be guided by media

4.1 Reconstruction of social values through public opinion

Opinion is the most controversial social life events have a certain tendency to published comments, opinions and views. As a common psychological tendency of public opinion, it is hidden in the depths of people’s thinking, through the social assessment with value judgments, such as a specific values or behavior of the praise and admiration or criticism and condemnation, resulting in a social atmosphere, to have an impact on the values and behavior of the community Members.

With members of the broad impact on society, public opinion has become an important means of cultural control, and the control system in modern society has an important position. Through the role of public opinion, on the one hand, the mass media will be the legislative branch and public administration institutions to develop, promulgate laws, decrees made public, called on people to adhere to the existing social norms, while the mass media to spread the people values, beliefs and life behavior in order to guide public choice to establish a correct outlook on life and behavior; on the other hand, public opinion and mass media will call through the network, television, radio, newspapers and other channels back to the social ruling, prompting the legislature and public regulatory bodies to consider the public demand, the existing legal and institutional system to adjust and improve, and continuously improve its administrative capacity to maintain social stability and social order.

Thus, there is the formation of mainstream social values, although it is not mandatory like the law, it generally widespread impact on people’s thinking and behavior as an invisible constraint.

4.2 To change the public’s lifestyle and spending habits

Mass media treats “guide” as a starting point, using its powerful propaganda to make people happy in leisure reading among accepted the new consumption patterns and lifestyles, (Morris & Ogan, 1996) which gave birth to consumer culture. The shopping information published in the Newspaper also makes people change their attitudes in consumer. Which stores have recently engaged in activities, what brand, price number, price information, etc. Which pharmacies, we reported on the exchange received from these messages, and compare, go consumption. Difference with the elderly is that, young people read newspapers are concerned about the strong style of entertainment news and employment information. Some people also go through the information reported on the drivers, waiters, security and other jobs. From that point on, the mass media, consumer culture and consumption in the formation of lifestyle play a “conspiracy” role.

4.3 News reports of crime and violence have a tremendous impact on people

With the development of society, media attention on political related events has gone from a single broadened to a variety of criminal phenomena, showing a trend of diversification. With the strengthening of public opinion functions, the number of news reports of crime and weight has been significantly improved, which strongly shocked criminals, and demonstrate the power of the rule of law. (Thoman, 2010)

“Media is keen to report crime and the main reason is that crime news concerns the audience easily and access to them more attractive. Crime news reports often have twists and turns of the plot, as well as the color of violence, it has more stimulating and entertaining elements than the other news stories. The authenticity of news reports also makes it depicts the victims of crime, especially violent crime, to bring serious consequences, more than the literary fiction film and television has more power to shock.” Driven by the economic interests, news reports of crime is inevitably some distortion of the real social phenomenon: excessive rendering of malignant cases, highlighting the cruel circumstances, the disclosure of personal privacy and other related personnel cases.

Violation of implied theory believes that exposure to aggressive stimuli may increase a person’s motivation level of physical and emotional. In other words, the content of news violence can increase aggressive behavior stimulation occur. In some cases, aggressive characters in the news will give them a role model. Which can be seen, the mass media violence and the proliferation of pornography are often imperceptible to the audience’s behavior and way of life tend to have a negative impact on these effects if left unchecked, it is possible to induce the production of deviant behavior.

Elizabeth (2010) said that, “Many blame media for the rise in violence, but of course that’s not the whole story… Some of the details of this connection might be questioned… But the fact that a connection exists is hard to dispute. Which leads us to an inescapable conclusion: Something must be done.” The media should adopt accurate news reports of crime, so the audience can keep abreast of the latest social facts of the crime, ease because it caused an unknown number of tension, suspicion, rumors and other negative emotions have to create a good environment for punishing evil and promote good.

5. Summary

Since the 20th century, mass media has had a profound impact on people’s lives. The newspapers, books, radio, television, communications satellites and the Internet all represented the modern media space, which makes the whole world a small village. In the aspect of time, the whole community culture and communication network system stay in the same structure, which enables human to enjoy the same important information at the same time, so that all ethnic and cultural exchanges and interaction between real world.

The news media with modern sense has become the dominant mode of existence of a culture in modern society – the news media culture. Media culture on the psychological characteristics, behavioral structure, attitudes toward other aspects have had a significant effect on the contemporary human life form, content and even ways of thinking have changed dramatically along.

With the in-depth of news media era, mass media plays in contemporary society, not only to transmit information, provide entertainment and other social functions, but also changing people’s values and way of life, shaping the social and public life. It continually to provide a series of community-oriented public values and colors to create a highly popular media discourse system, the media text is also increasingly becoming an important form of the modern spirit of the consumer.

As a result, the news media become a pervasive cultural existence for its coverage of the large community and huge influence on people in modern society. The news media refers to mass media culture as a carrier; to the media of expression is the basic characteristic of modern society, a cultural phenomenon unique.

Either as channels for the dissemination of information, or acts to guide the public, news media should be fully aware of their responsibility, (Curran & Seaton, 2003) and try to make it fair and make contribute to sound development for the community. (2109 words)