Debate- Media has gone astray
Answers
Answer:
The former Irish Times editor, Conor Brady, has made a contribution to the seemingly unending debate about the differences between mainstream and social media.
Given his veteran journalist status and newspaper background, it may be no surprise that he finds some social media output to be unacceptable.
In fairness to Brady, I don’t think the headline to his column, in the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, “Trust and respect for the media are being bruised by the hunger for hits”, reflected his central concerns about arguments raised at a women in media conference and at a Boston College conference.
But he did make make much of an alleged “drift to desensitisation, coarseness even, as the boundaries between conventional media and ‘social’ media break down”. Note those redundant apostrophes, with more to come. He wrote:
“It was shocking to hear [at the women in media event] speaker after speaker describe the offensiveness and abusiveness they encounter on social media and the sense of helplessness at being unable to prevent it or respond effectively.
At the same time, it was striking to hear so much emphasis from editors and journalists working in social media on the speed of their responsiveness as well as the volumes of ‘hits’ and ‘impressions’ they rack up, but with little focus on the value or the importance of what is being said.
News is increasingly about the instant and the urgent, and not so much about the important or the enduring.
In this climate it is inevitable there will be poor judgment calls, with perhaps unintended hurt and sometimes unfair characterisation of people and organisations that come into the news agenda.
And it is not possible to ring-fence these new media in such a way that they don’t influence more traditional media. All, from newspapers to radio programmes to television stations, are finding themselves caught up in the whirlwind that demands instant reaction, allowing virtually no time for reflection or application of critical judgment...
The internet and social media cannot be uninvented. However, if journalists and programme-makers allow the urgent and the trivial to drive out the important, and if they frequently sacrifice judgment to speed, there will be a breakdown in trust and respect for the media.”
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I would guess that some critics of the mainstream press would counter that its questionable ethics - including plenty of “instant reaction”, a failure to apply “critical judgment” and the “unfair characterisation of people” - existed well before the arrival of the internet.
Misbehaviour by newspapers in particular has a long history and all of the sins he visits on social media have featured in countless analyses of ink-on-paper editorial output.
So he may be wide of the mark by blaming digital technology for journalistic misdemeanours. It is pushing it to suggest that mainstream media is being led astray by social media.
That said, he surely has a point about the need for newspapers and TV newsrooms to resist the temptation to react too hastily to online postings.
More importantly, it cannot be denied that Brady is right to point the “offensiveness and abusiveness” encountered by women. That was a major finding of the Guardian’s recent series about online harassment.
I may be unduly naive in thinking that it will, eventually, die down. That is not to say we should turn a blind eye to the phenomenon. It is vitally important to highlight the abuses and, where possible, to expose the abusers. Law-breakers must be brought to book.
But we need to put trolling in some kind of historical context, viewing it as an initial, if unacceptable, response to the freedom to shout and scream and swear while maintaining anonymity.
It is the online equivalent of crying “fire, fire” in a crowded cinema when no fire exists. In other words, a misuse of freedom of expression.
I doubt that it will stop entirely but I have a hunch that it will decrease in intensity and, most importantly, its effect will be diminished by a greater understanding by victims of the cowardice that underlies it.
Answer:
Media has gone astray
Good morning everyone; I am here to debate on ‘media has gone astray’; and I am going to speak in favor of it.
Media has a very crucial responsibility of bringing the truth to light; becoming the voice of the oppressed and fighting injustice in the society. Undoubtedly, media shoulders this responsibility, but it could do much more than what it is doing at present.
Unfortunately, the prime motive of media has become earning huge profits. This has influenced media’s responsibility also. One of its responsibilities is to show what is right and not showing what is wrong. Unfortunately, media has failed in its responsibly to withhold showing the wrong content also. Advertisements shown on media show wrong and misleading content.
The products and services shown in the advertisements are presented in such an appealing way that the people watching them feel tempted to buy them. The target of these advertisements are children and adolescents. They are too young to think logically the pros and cons of the products advertised. These advertisements are made to attract them. For example, the advertisement promoting a bike, will show the bike in such an attractive manner, that the young boys will feel attracted to them. This attraction gives rise to the urge to buy that bike.
Similarly, other products and services are presented in the same manner. For example, Mc Donald burger add will present the burger in such a manner that children and youngsters will have an urge to eat them.
The bitter truth is most of the advertisements are misleading. Their chief purpose is to trap people’s attention and entice them to buy the products and services shown in the advertisements. They purely lead to wasteful expenditure.
In NEWS media also, at times compromises are made in telecasting the right news and lobbying is done to make wrong public opinions. Though, there are many checks on them, still media can play a far better role in bringing about better changes in the society.
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