Saturday, January 17, 2009

media as a social agent for change

We all know about the importance of media in the society. Media is known as the “fourth pillar” of the society. Its job is to inform aware and educate the masses. It has to act as a people's representative while dealing with the system. Media also spreads awareness about the existing facts which influence the society. Precisely, media is an integral part of the society, which functions nonstop for its betterment.
It also voices people's grievances against the system. Here comes the role of media as a “social agent for change”. Wherever the executive or the legislation falters, it's the media who takes up the issue as in a democracy it's the people who have the power in their hands. But sometimes, this power of being able to reach to the masses and the ability to shape the public opinion is not aptly handled by the media. For instance(as discussed in the presentation also) as we saw in the case of Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Mattoo, Nitish Katara, Shivani Bhatnagar and the Aarushi murder case, media has played an immense role in charting out the cour e of justice.
Not saying that taking up the cause of justice for someone in particular is wrong, but is the media right in being subjective? Should it try making and judging opinions rather that just providing information? Is it justifying its role when it tries to play the judiciary in these cases?
Please reveal your thoughts on this…

1 comment:

Joseph Kalassery said...

i think media can be an enabler of societal change rather than being a prime agent. this is because, the role of media is to bring into focus what they think are the relevant issues. to say tat they themselves can/need to take up collective action is diluting the purpose of media as their major role is to be a critical observer to watever is happening around them.

i understand tat newspapers and weekly's have contributed to social movements, but i think they are outgrowths of the movements rather being the "soul" of the movement.

again, pls feel free to correct me..