The role of media in shaping public policies and public opinion.
Introduction
The role of
media is bigger than it has ever been. The best part is that media is still
growing and influencing our lives as the days go by. The media plays a central
role in informing the public about what happens in the world. People rely on
media such as television, the press and online to get news and updates. Anyone
can now find out almost anything they want to know by the click of a button on their
smartphone or tablet. However, with how intoxicating the media is today, it
does tend to have the power to shape public opinion, especially over major
topics such as education and religion.
The role of
the media is to transmit the reality and uncover the underlying facts of
things. Changing the mentality of the people through media to be more
permissive, understanding and educative is a very difficult task. Audiences
form their beliefs and attitudes, either by themselves or with others, in
response to media messages. The level of influence of media varies, however,
and messages from the media are not received uniformly by all audiences.
Direct
experience, knowledge from other sources and logic are a few factors that
contribute to the degree to which audiences accept or reject messages from the
media. The media has a massive responsibility in providing factual coverage
that does not perpetuate myths or stereotypes, encourage generalizations or
spread misinformation.
The role of media in shaping public policies and public opinion
The
agenda-setting theory is the primary emphasis on shaping public opinion.
Pertaining to the news, there has been a phenomenal nationwide decrease in
local news networks and papers and an increase in national news networks and
papers. If a news item is covered more frequently, especially on national news,
the audience will regard the issue as more important.
According to
Lumen Learning, “Two basic assumptions underlie most research on
agenda-setting: One, that the press and the media do not reflect reality, they
filter and shape it; and two, that media concentration on a few issues and
subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other
issues.” Agenda-setting occurs through a cognitive process known as
“accessibility.” Accessibility implies that the more frequently and prominently
the news media cover an issue, the more instances that issue becomes accessible
in the audience’s memories. Mass media coverage in general and agenda-setting
in particular have a powerful impact on what individuals think other people are
thinking as well.
The
agenda-setting theory has a huge effect on shaping public education because a
majority of parents have very strong opinions about where their child gets
their education. Parents will pick schools for their children based on a number
of factors: sports, religion, theater, teachers, reputation, etc. Pertaining to
public versus private school, parents also tend to favor one over the other
depending on where they themselves went to school. If they hear bad news about
one school or about an outbreak of sickness on some national news media,
parents will be quick to form their opinions about certain schools. Especially
since everything is online now, parents can see anything positive or negative
about a school. For example, with this flu outbreak I spoke to a number of
parents about what they think of it, and a lot of parents were very mad and
concerned. They started calling public schools unclean and dirty, even though
the outbreak is all over, not just in schools
Some parents
only send their kids to public schools if they cannot afford a private
education or do not have any religious beliefs. Public school generally has a
reputation for not being as good as private schools; however, private and
public schools are in fact very similar. Public school parents tend to believe
they are judged for sending their child to a public school, like they are
somehow doing less for their child. Private schools have the reputation of
being academically superior and increasing the child’s chances of getting into
a great college.
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