Nowadays, the mass media do not report the news; they make the news. Discuss this with references to recent events.
Firstly, we must think about what is considered as recent events. My definition would be, something that have happened or established in a time shortly before the present, i.e. about a year from now. Also, www.dictionary.com defines mass media as newspapers, motion pictures, radio, television, magazines and internet, all of which have the technical capacity to deliver information to millions of people. With response to the statement, I agree that the mass media do not report the news but make the news instead. However, we must also consider why such phenomenon is on the rise.
Previously, the role of mass media has been thought to convey information to the general public through mediums like, newspapers or new broadcasting. Unfortunately, this pure and simple task seemed to be manipulated overtime. The main idea of bringing the news to you and I doesn’t matter anymore, but rather, if people will come to read the news so as to boost the media’s ratings.
One example would be that of a Taiwan television station (TVBS) reporter helping an armed gangster to shoot a video threat to his rival. ‘Eager to score an exclusive, TVBS reporter Shih Cheng-kang, who eventually confessed, and his supervisor had lied about the video clip being delivered anonymously. The clip, first aired on 26 March, showed gangster, Chou Cheng-bao, sitting behind a table laden with rifles, brandishing a pistol and threatening his former gang leader: “The next time I bump into you, I’ll kill you.”’
Even though Shih was fired at the end of the saga, the issue of the mass media making news was highlighted once again. Sometimes, one wonder, do mass media have to resort to fabricate news just to woo more readers and viewers? Isn’t mere reporting sufficient to entice the public?
Sources: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=66757
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=66651
Firstly, we must think about what is considered as recent events. My definition would be, something that have happened or established in a time shortly before the present, i.e. about a year from now. Also, www.dictionary.com defines mass media as newspapers, motion pictures, radio, television, magazines and internet, all of which have the technical capacity to deliver information to millions of people. With response to the statement, I agree that the mass media do not report the news but make the news instead. However, we must also consider why such phenomenon is on the rise.
Previously, the role of mass media has been thought to convey information to the general public through mediums like, newspapers or new broadcasting. Unfortunately, this pure and simple task seemed to be manipulated overtime. The main idea of bringing the news to you and I doesn’t matter anymore, but rather, if people will come to read the news so as to boost the media’s ratings.
One example would be that of a Taiwan television station (TVBS) reporter helping an armed gangster to shoot a video threat to his rival. ‘Eager to score an exclusive, TVBS reporter Shih Cheng-kang, who eventually confessed, and his supervisor had lied about the video clip being delivered anonymously. The clip, first aired on 26 March, showed gangster, Chou Cheng-bao, sitting behind a table laden with rifles, brandishing a pistol and threatening his former gang leader: “The next time I bump into you, I’ll kill you.”’
Even though Shih was fired at the end of the saga, the issue of the mass media making news was highlighted once again. Sometimes, one wonder, do mass media have to resort to fabricate news just to woo more readers and viewers? Isn’t mere reporting sufficient to entice the public?
Sources: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=66757
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=66651
Earlier this year, 17 February, the notorious pop star Britney Spears surprised her fans when she appeared in a tattoo parlour with her head shaved bald, some new haircut indeed. This sparked off a series of paparazzi frenzy, all fighting to get hold of her latest news even weeks after her audacious act of going bald.
Evidently, this enormous coverage showed the mass media grabbing hold of the golden opportunity to make as much profits as possible relying on readers’ interest in celebrities. Instead of just reporting Britney’s intriguing haircut, the mass media crossed the line and went on to examine her life, how ruined her marriage with Kevin Federline is and the frequency of her checking into rehabilitation centre. This thus shows that the mass media not only reports the news but also make the news.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252563,00.html
A week ago, ‘the ghastly events at Virginia Tech University in United States’ took the world aback. ‘Police has identified Cho Seung-hui, a legal U.S. resident, as the shooter and said he may have acted alone in killing 32 people before pointing the gun at himself on Monday, 18th April.’
Even though the killer has been recognised, the innocent Wayne Chiang wishes to clear his name. That he ‘—the subject of fevered speculation on the internet—is not the killer.’
Evidently, this enormous coverage showed the mass media grabbing hold of the golden opportunity to make as much profits as possible relying on readers’ interest in celebrities. Instead of just reporting Britney’s intriguing haircut, the mass media crossed the line and went on to examine her life, how ruined her marriage with Kevin Federline is and the frequency of her checking into rehabilitation centre. This thus shows that the mass media not only reports the news but also make the news.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252563,00.html
A week ago, ‘the ghastly events at Virginia Tech University in United States’ took the world aback. ‘Police has identified Cho Seung-hui, a legal U.S. resident, as the shooter and said he may have acted alone in killing 32 people before pointing the gun at himself on Monday, 18th April.’
Even though the killer has been recognised, the innocent Wayne Chiang wishes to clear his name. That he ‘—the subject of fevered speculation on the internet—is not the killer.’
'Rumours that Chiang 23, was the mass murderer swept across the world after links to his gun-obsessed blogs were posted on social networking website Facebook and similar sites. More than 180,000 people visited his sites, with many noting the similarities between him and the man described in accounts of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Some went as far as jumping to a conclusion, “Early 20s, Asian man, vetch student. Fits the bill,” wrote one commenter on one of Chiang’s blogs. Another simply wrote: “Why why why why why?”
From here, we can see that even internet has the power to bring an innocent individual into the limelight. Reading too much between the lines can be a fatal mistake at times, having similar straits doesn’t necessarily prove Chiang as the killer. Could this news be highlighted just to arouse the readers’ interest of the massacre?
From here, we can see that even internet has the power to bring an innocent individual into the limelight. Reading too much between the lines can be a fatal mistake at times, having similar straits doesn’t necessarily prove Chiang as the killer. Could this news be highlighted just to arouse the readers’ interest of the massacre?
Source: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=67959
However, one must consider, why is this phenomenon of the mass media making the news on the rise?
During a discussion between the Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) and several US journalists, concerns like the lack of public interests in news were raised. One possible reason could be the lack of international news coverage in commercial news media. If the public could pay more attention to global issues, then perhaps such cases of media manipulation could not have emerged. So from today, why not spare a little more of your precious time to read international news? Why not go to ‘World’ section before jumping straight to the ‘Life!’ section? In the end, this little action of yours could save the agony reporters have to go through just to squeeze out juicy and intriguing news.
Source: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=65537
However, one must consider, why is this phenomenon of the mass media making the news on the rise?
During a discussion between the Association of Taiwan Journalists (ATJ) and several US journalists, concerns like the lack of public interests in news were raised. One possible reason could be the lack of international news coverage in commercial news media. If the public could pay more attention to global issues, then perhaps such cases of media manipulation could not have emerged. So from today, why not spare a little more of your precious time to read international news? Why not go to ‘World’ section before jumping straight to the ‘Life!’ section? In the end, this little action of yours could save the agony reporters have to go through just to squeeze out juicy and intriguing news.
Source: http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=65537
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