We're all at Aakansha's house for Diwali watching Cartoon Network, and we're watching these Godawful cartoons (SUSHI superheroes?!) preaching about how lying is bad and stuff, and I get to thinking that this would be a good example of mass media to blog about. Turns out that at least two of us had the same idea after seeing that show, so now, I'm going to focus on something else.
The main thing about the mass media that I wanted to address is the powerful effects theories and the magic bullet model. The magic bullet model of mass media states that the media is all powerful and the audience is completely passive. That is to say that the public is merely a mindless, opinionless body that takes in anything that is fed to them, or that would be what this theory seems to imply. However, man's opinion is based on his socializing agents and the information available to him. One can be highly mature and postconventional in his way of thinking, but if the only information made available to him is a skewed view on society provided by biased sources, then he would adopt that viewpoint, being the only viewpoint available to him. Such a scenario is highly unlikely and rather rarely observed today, but in certain situations where there is only one channel of information, it is still possible.
Take for example the Vietnam War. Communication between the troops in Vietnam and the White House were severely limited and primarily controlled by the media and intelligence wings of the army, and their will was enacted by the radio stations they ran. This gave them the ability to control the information coming in, going out and circulating Vietnam, which gave them a lot of power. They were able to withold information from the States so as to not incite panic amongst the American public, and they could filter out the pessimistic reports from the military strategists and the politicians in the States so as to not demoralize the troops. To some extent, they could also control the dissemination of local info, as can be seen in this clip from the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam.
Brief storyline synopsis so far: Adrian Cronauer (played by Robin Williams) is a USAF airman sent to Vietnam as a DJ for the army's radio station. He is instantly a hit amongst listeners, due to his over the top humour, spontaneous personality and rock and roll playlist, although his superios are highly annoyed as they consider his humour and song selection inappropriate. They also hound him regarding censorship, and do not allow him to report any news they receive until it has been approved, much to his annoyance. In the second part of the video, he witnesses a local bar get blown up by VC insurgents, and when he returns to the station, makes a move to report it but is ordered not to do so by his superiors.
Once again, another self posted clip, so hope YouTube does not pull it down.
The main thing about the mass media that I wanted to address is the powerful effects theories and the magic bullet model. The magic bullet model of mass media states that the media is all powerful and the audience is completely passive. That is to say that the public is merely a mindless, opinionless body that takes in anything that is fed to them, or that would be what this theory seems to imply. However, man's opinion is based on his socializing agents and the information available to him. One can be highly mature and postconventional in his way of thinking, but if the only information made available to him is a skewed view on society provided by biased sources, then he would adopt that viewpoint, being the only viewpoint available to him. Such a scenario is highly unlikely and rather rarely observed today, but in certain situations where there is only one channel of information, it is still possible.
Take for example the Vietnam War. Communication between the troops in Vietnam and the White House were severely limited and primarily controlled by the media and intelligence wings of the army, and their will was enacted by the radio stations they ran. This gave them the ability to control the information coming in, going out and circulating Vietnam, which gave them a lot of power. They were able to withold information from the States so as to not incite panic amongst the American public, and they could filter out the pessimistic reports from the military strategists and the politicians in the States so as to not demoralize the troops. To some extent, they could also control the dissemination of local info, as can be seen in this clip from the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam.
Brief storyline synopsis so far: Adrian Cronauer (played by Robin Williams) is a USAF airman sent to Vietnam as a DJ for the army's radio station. He is instantly a hit amongst listeners, due to his over the top humour, spontaneous personality and rock and roll playlist, although his superios are highly annoyed as they consider his humour and song selection inappropriate. They also hound him regarding censorship, and do not allow him to report any news they receive until it has been approved, much to his annoyance. In the second part of the video, he witnesses a local bar get blown up by VC insurgents, and when he returns to the station, makes a move to report it but is ordered not to do so by his superiors.
Once again, another self posted clip, so hope YouTube does not pull it down.
As can be seen in the clip, Cronauer is insistant on reporting the truth, as the media should. However, his superiors are more concerned about what efect the news will have on the public and the troops. At that point, the army is still operating under the euphemism of a "police action" in order to avoid admitting that they are actually going to war, as declaring such would cause panic and possibly drop troop morale. Thus, the media is actively controlling and witholding information for their own agenda.
This is where the magic bullet theory comes into play. By selectively choosing what to disclose to the public, amongside being the primary and perhaps only viable source of credible information, the media is effectively telling the public what to believe in the knowledge that they will just have to take in what they say as the truth. Media institutions that actively withold information from the public, as opposed to reporting everything from an unbiased point of view, obviously have their own agenda in moulding public opinion and perception to something analogous to their intentions and ideals.Additionally, when there is no transparency or opposing opinions, the media's biased view is the only view.
So today's question is: Is such control of information by the media justifiable? Should it disclose everything properly and potentially shake the public's view of the government, or should it disclose only what the public needs to hear while trusting themselves to maintain the illusion of peace?
This is where the magic bullet theory comes into play. By selectively choosing what to disclose to the public, amongside being the primary and perhaps only viable source of credible information, the media is effectively telling the public what to believe in the knowledge that they will just have to take in what they say as the truth. Media institutions that actively withold information from the public, as opposed to reporting everything from an unbiased point of view, obviously have their own agenda in moulding public opinion and perception to something analogous to their intentions and ideals.Additionally, when there is no transparency or opposing opinions, the media's biased view is the only view.
So today's question is: Is such control of information by the media justifiable? Should it disclose everything properly and potentially shake the public's view of the government, or should it disclose only what the public needs to hear while trusting themselves to maintain the illusion of peace?
RSS Feed (xml)
