Name: Age:

Date of Birth:

Irfaan Ali 16 years December/12/1993

mm Tumpuna Road, Cumuto

Address: Email: Tel.: School:

ali2dbone@gmail.com 643-9245 Trinity College East, Form 5

ROLE OF THE MEDIA BY IRFAAN ALI

The mass media encompasses all organizations which relate information or communicate with large cross-sections of people at the same time. Newspapers, television and radio stations are therefore examples of the media. The development of media within the last century has revolutionized peoples lives and ways of

communicating in an unprecedented way. The media exercises a far too powerful influence on our lives than we can comprehend. It shapes our ways of thinking, behaving, dressing and dealing with situations. Of course, like everything else, the media has its advantages as well as its disadvantages. For some people, the media has replaced their need to travel and see the world since everywhere in the world is accessible through media like internet and television. Images, videos and articles that are presented to the public by the various media have eliminated the desire of some to travel to a specific country. However, many people also choose to have a first-hand experience of a country since they may not be satisfied by just reading and hearing about the country. Another reason though is that some people may not have trust in the various media available. Trust in the offerings of the media by the public is a key issue. Many rumors and allegations circulate the media and are blown out of proportion when in fact; there is absolutely no truth to them. It is therefore important that a media house try to be as unbiased as possible and present facts rather than hypotheses. Consequently, the public would develop faith in that media house, and hence, make use of their materials which would lead to the ultimate success of that particular media institution. It is known that the media has an influence on some of our attributes such as behavior and dress especially on young children. Shows with content that is unsuitable for children would inevitably bring unwanted and unpleasant characteristics to a child exposed to it. Many media houses display subjective and violent content in their publications which children may be exposed to. For example, some television stations broadcast all sorts of lewdness and scandal during time periods in which children are most likely to be watching. This problem has to be rectified if a generation of well respected and responsible citizens is to be brought up. It is therefore the responsibility of the media, once again, to publicise constructive and educational materials for children. Parents of children would therefore have no problem with their child being exposed to this media and in fact, may encourage it. This will in turn gather clients to that specific media house and hence, attain success for the respective media organization. We often hear people lamenting about the high percentage of foreign content infiltrating into our society because of the media. Many local television networks tend to pay foreign distributors to broadcast their property so that they may gain viewers who are

enthralled by these respective programs. Also, this method is quite cheaper and more profitable than developing and broadcasting local productions. The problem of Americanization is brought upon a country solely by the media. The local morals and values are discarded and what is seen on television is adapted. Whatever culture that may be portrayed on television may not necessarily be benefiting to a country and as a matter of fact, it has serious implications. For example, a country such as Grenada that is so dependent on tourism or any other Caribbean nation for that matter. If the Grenadian society becomes Americanized, tourists would have no reason to visit the country anymore since the rich heritage and culture that they may have wanted to experience would be lost to a culture that they are so accustomed to. As a result, the countrys economy would be severely impacted by a drop in tourist arrivals. It is therefore imperative that a media house try their utmost best to harness local productions in every way possible. They should develop documentaries, plays and movies that preserve the local culture as well as intrigue the viewers so that soon enough, each medium would be displaying 100% local productions. There is no doubt that a lot of sacrifices would have to me made if this is to become a reality and it would require a very patriotic media house to undertake this mammoth initiative. Todays media expresses the views of people from all walks of life and hence give their clients a prism perspective on a particular issue. They encourage their clients to see an issue or situation in an open minded way, to not be too judgmental and to rationalise. The ability of a media house to do the aforementioned exemplifies a high quality media. The world today demands people who can put themselves in different peoples shoes and understand the circumstances within which someone lives. These people are more likely to put aside their differences and promote peace within the global community. The media therefore has a responsibility to always highlight the plight and opinions of people. They have the responsibility to present a side of a particular story that is not heard often and give a voice to the voiceless. It is therefore always essential that a country have privately owned media to expose a corrupt government or make public the needs of citizens who are denied their rights. The media is the voice of the people. A great amount of education can be attained from the various media. Everyday, new discoveries are made, secrets are revealed and plans are publicised. We, the citizens are dependent on the media to acquire this information in record time. Also, a lot of

intellect and literature can be gained from the various media. The media has the power to educate their clients about relevant matters and to not do so in a biased and selfopinionated way. They should keep their clients up to date with reliable forthcoming information and give their clients the idea that they care about them. For example, if there is an approaching hurricane, the ordinary citizen would only become aware of this through a media such as radio or television. In this case, the client should obtain all the facts about the hurricane as fast as the media gets it. The media house should also give their clients tips on preparing for the hurricane. This would consequently give the client the impression that the media cares about them. This trust and care on the path of the media would create an unbreakable bond between client and media. Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti earlier this year, many media houses lent a helping hand to the impoverished nation by telethons and fundraisers. Media houses are in the best position to gather relief for any catastrophe since they can publicise the message of the disaster and hence beseech the help of their clients on behalf of the victims. A large percentage of the financial aid given to the survivors of the Haiti earthquake was contributed by media houses. Media personnel also went to the country and let the voice of the victims be heard. Much of the international sympathy shown to Haiti after the earthquake was caused by the intense media coverage. So we see that the media can also bring humanitarian relief by emphasizing the plight of persons in despair. There are endless roles and responsibilities of the media. The media is indescribably powerful and influential. It is a magnificent resource that should only be used for constructive purposes. It can bring out the good in someone as well as the bad. It can cause someone to think or it can think for someone. It can highlight an issue or ignore it. It can educate someone or make them more uneducated. The media is simply a pathway for the expressions of people, whether it may be good constructive expressions or nonsensical, misleading expressions. Either way, it makes known the views of different people all around the world. It brings people with the same view closer together and helps them to understand people with different views. Without doubt, the media is like a gun, it can be used for bad and kill an innocent person or it can be used for good and defend someone from an attack. In the same way, the media can be of poor quality and circulate rumors with no basis or it can be of high quality and highlight a story from each angle possible. It is important that those with the power of the media in their hands

realise the great platform they have and try their best to build their nation and people in every way possible.