Mass Media & Negative News

Mass Media & Negative News

Put simply, mass media refers to the Forms of communication designed to reach a vast audience without any personal contact between the senders and receivers. Examples would include newspapers, magazines, video recordings, radio and television and of course, the internet. The concept of mass media is now complicated, since through the internet, individuals have a means of potential exposure on a scale comparable to what was previously restricted to select group of mass media producers. These internet media can include personal web pages, pod casts and blogs.

In this day and age, it is virtually impossible to not have a connection to any form of mass media. Radio and television reach out to the remotest parts of civilization, keeping people up to date with events occurring miles and miles away. Mass media has developed extensively throughout the years and with each development, the news seems to travel faster and faster. Newspapers were perhaps the first big device of the mass media. They are still a large part of the mass media although their limitation lies within the fact that they can only be generated once or twice a day and therefore are not as up to date as television or radio shows are. They are however, durable, unlike television or radio which is one of the biggest advantages. TV and radio remain reliable for news and information comes from established stations and sources. The internet however, although it is the most up to date out of all the different types of mass media might be the least reliable for the sources are sometimes unknown. Amongst all the different media listed so far though, internet is the only one whose reach is infinite, for anyone in the world can access a web address yet not everyone may receive the same newspaper or television/radio channel. Therefore, the reach of the internet is limitless. There is another advantage of the internet, that being the one of individual expression. The internet allows individuals to share their opinions, interact with one another, communicate information to a large (worldwide, in fact) audience Ð'- something that can be limited with newspapers, radio and television, since one has to go through a studio/editor etc. Any and every person has the right to freedom of speech and expression and the internet is the most effective in terms of communicating this opinion to a large audience. People are now becoming famous not through television or radio but through the internet, which allows millions of people to view them whenever they like, simply by typing in an address. The internet has become a way for people to display their portfolios and for companies to show people across the world their work. Through the use of the internet, online forums are created, where people from different places can meet and discuss similar interests Ð'- something that radio, television and newspapers could never give us, for they are all limited. The internet does indeed know no boundaries Ð'- neither time nor space. All it takes is the push of a button for instant communication with the rest of the planet. It is, indeed, the world at your fingertips.

Yet, news is never positive and reaching out to people all over cannot always have a good outcome. Negative news refers to a variety of things. It could be a negative image about a certain news item or object/person/group. It could also be negative in terms of unfortunate incidents and occurrences, with no positive outcome such as wars or natural disasters. The media, unfortunately, thrive on this sort of news. Everyone loves a happy outcome, but everyone loves gossip more. Simply because it creates more room for discussion. The media tends to sensationalise news and this, in my opinion, might be because without a little bit of drama, news might seem bland, boring and perhaps a little repetitive. This is not to say that every event in the world is portrayed in an exaggerated manner by the media. There are many an occasion where the news is important, the situation urgent and the atmosphere tense and the media do do everything they can in order to paint as realistic a picture as they can to people sitting far away.

Celebrities, politicians and sports personalities might be the biggest victims of negative news. The media have realized from the beginning that there is nothing people like more than a juicy scandal. Negative news about a person or group can destroy a career, a campaign and a life. Campaigning politicians are very wary of "bad press" because any negative information or news broadcast about them could have a serious effect on their popularity and number of votes. Careers have gone down the drain due to negative news, whether or not it has been proven, for even speculation leads to gossip. Yet there are many who live for "negative news" and actually use it as a method to increase their popularity. Then