As much as I know that watching the news is our most fundamental and basic way of keeping updated with local and international current affairs, the news channel is not the first button on the television remote control I press. However, I am forced to watch it or at least listen to it whenever my parents decide to tune in to our local news every night at 9.30pm. This is an example of media being forced unto me. However I still have a choice on whether I want to resist such information, by simply walking away from the television set.
The agenda setting function of our news as a mass media is indeed amazing! I have never considered how it influenced and defined what I saw as important. On some level I feel almost controlled. I always thought it was the media that had the responsibility to shape the messages according to what the public wants or finds interesting instead.
Recently, the news has been reporting quite a bit on the sale of houses, telling the public about their prices as indicated in the news clip above and exhibiting the surveillance and correlation function of the media. This certainly got people thinking about housing. And as if the news coverage regarding homes is not big enough, they publish it in yet another mass media – the newspaper: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_443462.html?vgnmr=1
The more frequent the topic is brought up (volume of news coverage on the issue), the greater the ability of the media to set its agenda, which in this case is to raise the significance of purchasing houses in the public's mind. The other big feature in the news clip shows China's 60th anniversary celebrations. To the China citizens, this definitely drives home the point of patriotism. Here embedded within the context of a parade are elements of culture that reflect China's environment, and we as viewers are educated through this cultural transmission. The chinese people themselves are reassured when they are shown the big missiles that exist to protect them from physical threat as well.
This is the power of the mass media.
heyhey!
ReplyDeleteFinally found somebody who has similar childhood experiences as me! My parents had forced me to watch the news every night, with exception that the news is in Chinese. (Not that I am grateful or naything. In fact, that's why my Chinese is still not rusty today)
The power of mass media is super influencing. I realised that the people in this industry love to blow things up. For example, the scandalous nude-top car washing event. It was supposed to be a "private" event and look what happen when a newspaper decided to report on it? Photos of the 4 more models were splashed across several newspapers and the Internet. I guess the only place that these photos have not reach is the on-air news programme.
Comment on my blog too:)
-Chu Yuan
Greetings...
ReplyDeleteInteresting observation there about media being forced on us.
It is one thing to have media being forced on us and we know it but a world of a difference if we are unaware of it.
For those of us who owns a car, are you aware that the default radio channel for different make of cars are set differently? Audi has a preferred channel while Honda has another. Interesting that we are not up in arms on being ‘force’ to listen to something not of our own choosing. All because we are non the wiser.
But that is reality. Because of advertisement, both passive and active, social norms evolve. We are not who we want to be… or are we a person of our own choosing?
The media certainly plays a very big role in everyone. Thinking back i have realise the the media has been forced onto me many times, over and over again. Unknowingly, we have actually been watching the News alot, and this is a good thing we as Singaporeans should adapt too.
ReplyDeleteThe media has a very wide range of News and updates which is very important to our general knowledge as well as for our own personal use.
hey! thats Compass Point at my house here!=D
ReplyDeleteMass media definitely influenced us with the information they got and the medium they used to convey the message.
I am so glad that we are in the modern era where we can choose to select the information we want. (eg. by walking away from tv like u mentioned haha)
This is because not all information portrayed on the media is true and authentic. Hence, we have to learn to sieve out the truth and consume the information that is "real".
On the surface, the news merely seems to be a source of information, meant to take a neutral stance. Superficially, this source of the mass media shouldn't have any influence on us. However it is how subtly the television station choose certain clips in order to portray a certain message and imagine regarding (for the particular clip you used) China and it's communist ruling. The news, though seemingly harmless, however being something people watch everyday for information, has the ability to shape our thinking and perception. The influence of this source is great, but it influences us so subtly (with great effect) we tend to overlook the fact that it plays a part in shaping our lives.
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel
ReplyDeletehmm propaganda eh? Well, the media can influence society by increasing the frequency of the advertisement shown. But, it can also work when they choose not to air something! For example, if a nation wants to boycott another country's product, they can simply refuse to air their advertisments!
The mass media is indeed a very influential tool today. When a company wants to advertise their product, using the mass media will be one of their means as their advertisement, through the mass media, will reach us, the consumers as we are receptive to what we see/read/hear etc. Hence, the mass media is indeed something that will always influence us.
ReplyDeleteBreda
Hi Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI dread watching news too! With that said, I believe that behaviour would apply to the Limited Effects Theory. Where the audiences are active with the ability to resist media messages. However, despite not watching the news, in reality, we have no full control of tuning the news out, as we will eventually hear about it later, from the peers around us.
And I agree with you that with the fluency of the news being report, it will definitely catch my attention, as it will affect my perception that it is of great importance and push me towards the view the media wants me to adopt.
I really do agree with your point about how the news can set agendas for people, and that it might not tell people how to think, but what to think about. So why exactly does the media want us thinking about houses?
ReplyDeleteLately there has also been alot of news in relations to natural disasters in other countries. Why do they report on so much depressing things instead of placing greater emphasis on the lives of the rich and famous? I know why - it is to tell us to be contented with what we have. Seriously we think that mass media informs us and we should be grateful for that, but it also sneakily controls our thoughts.
Hi Rachel,
ReplyDeleteYou said the news or for that matter mass media influences us on what to think, but aren't topics brought up in news and all that, such as current affairs, important to know anyway? Could it really be that we are forced to know certain things but there are in fact other things in the world that are more important to think about? Perhaps you could list a few for example.
Mass media is really influential. I agree that higher frequency of a topic brought up can really reinforce that topic into a person's mind. So basically even advertisers can choose to print more of their advertisements in newspapers to promote more frequently their product. But they would need alot of money to do so. Which brings me to another point - people with more money can have more advertising time and can influence others more easily.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, for the news it is the government who controls it and tells the people what to be concerned about, and i think that in a way we become more unified in our thoughts. This can be in a good way or a bad way.
Mass media is not as powerful as before. People are more and more accustomed with what advertisers and the media senders are trying to portray. Before long, mass media will enter a stage of stagnation.
ReplyDeleteCHU YUAN>>
ReplyDeleteHi there! I agree with you that one of the capabilities our mass media has is the ability to blow things out of proportion. Frequency is one factor to embed something into consumers' mind, but intensity and hugeness of situation is another.
LIM>>
ReplyDeleteHey! Yes I agree that it make a big difference if media is forced upon us and we actually are aware of it. Because if we know it, we can actually make a conscious effort to select information that is beneficial to us.
AMOS>>
ReplyDeleteHi! While i agree that news and current affairs and all that are good because they keep us updated, have you ever wondered that perhaps our minds are being controlled by the mass media because they tell us what to think about? It is a very powerful tool especially for those who control the mass media.
I agree that in all media texts bits of culture are embedded in them. Even style of presenting or writing can be considered culturally significant. From the clip I could see how China's culture is one that promotes a high level of patriotism and unity in the country.
ReplyDeletehi!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting interpretation of media influence. I have always thought that the agenda setting function is more applicable for advertisers as they have a clear motive in mind, which is to convince consumers into buying their products. I didn't realise that the news is subconsciously affecting us in making decisions. thus, i think we should be aware of such influence and make sure that we are not easily wavered by the mass media.
Mass media!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm personally obsessed with mass media! Okay just the news alone, can you imagine how much time I spend on it? I watch the channel 8 news at 10pm and World Tonight on Channel News Asia at 11pm. Sometimes, I watch the Primetime News on CNA too. Don't you think it's obsession? Maybe that's why I want to go into that field after graduation.
News somehow interest me quite a lot and I feel that it informs me about what is going on in different parts of the world.
In my opinion, news reported in Singapore is ratther objective, unlike that in some other countries. For example, there is total media freedom in India and as a result, many newspaper companies have sprouted and no one there really knows which to trust because news tend to become sensationalised when the companies are competing for higher readership.
=)Kai Ting
not all the info in the news can be trusted because not all of them are true.
ReplyDeletethe media never really dig deep enough to allow a fair judgement from the audience.
but then again, it is not possible to find out the whole truth of everything.
what i feel about mass media is that it is especially powerful in singapore where it is partially controlled by the government. hence the government filters for us the content.
ReplyDeletethis is not right. we are grown ups. we can make decisions for ourselves. what you think you cannot see doesnt mean we cannot see. hence censorship is pretty useless. anyway with the ease to getting to foreign sources, censorship doesnt play a part at all
anyway what i feel is that we should be able to decide what to see and what not to and not be decided by the authorities.
hi rachel,
ReplyDeletethe mass media has indeed made huge impacts on our lives and they do tend to exaggerate news. They do so by selecting the content that they want to be aired on the news and also by replaying the same identical video over and over again so as to influence our perceptions on certain issues.