Do We Get What We Need to Know From the Media?
by Media is — as its name says — a medium of communication in a given society. But, does media fulfill in pure sense its obvious mission?
Fourthly, media practitioners have at their disposal at least a couple of proven modes of obliterating the truth. This is either through omission or commission. An act of omission is giving a item a “silent treatment.” I again refer to my experience. I was likewise involve in peace advocacy formerly. Now, in one instance, I was put in a rather bizarre situation. A provincial leader of the rebels sought refuge in our place of work. Given the peculiarity of the situation, when I was asked we were to put on air the news, my answer my negative. To my judgment, then, our “silent treatment” of the occurrence is prevailed upon by the need to protect the human life that was, figuratively and literally, in our hands.
An act of commission typically consists in giving different (read: ideological) slant to an otherwise matter-of-factly reporting.
Finally, the power to regulate by the government is also to blame. The government’s regulatory function over the media (and all other industries) puts it in a position to issue or revoke franchises, licenses or permits to operate. Practically, this is akin to the sword of Damocles hanging over anyone’s head.
This is an invitation for all of us to be extra critical of the media that we patronize. We cannot fool ourselves into believing that we are receiving what we need to know. For the fact is, we only receive a part of what we need to know.
Liked it
