The Role of the Mass Media in the Contemporary World

THE ROLE OF THE MASS MEDIA IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

The power of the mass media has once become so powerful that its undoubtedly significant role in the world today stays beyond any questions. It is so strong that even politics uses it as a means of governing in any country around the world. The mass media has not only political meaning but also it conveys wide knowledge concerning all possible aspects of human beings' lives and, what is utterly true, influences on people's points of view and their attitude to the surrounding environment. It is completely agreeable about what kind of virtues the mass media is supposed to accent. Nevertheless, it is not frequent at all that the media provides societies with such a content, which is doubtful in terms of the role consigned to it. Presenting violence and intolerance as well as shaping and manipulating public are only a few examples of how the role of mass media is misunderstood by those who define themselves as leading media makers.

As long as violent programmes are shown on TV, the role of the mass media becomes completely different from how it was originally treated. Violence is socially harmful and especially the youth are very prone to such scenes that may strongly affect their psyches. It is true that programmes featuring cruel pictures are marked as 'only for adults' but the time when they are emitted is relatively early and the access to them seems to be rather unlimited to young people.

Another matter that is very fretting is the fact that examples of intolerance quite regularly appear in media. A number of radical views relating to, so called, society minorities like homosexuals, members of different religion groups and even the disabled, is increasing rapidly. This can be mostly observed in press. Appealing to free speech should not be perceived as the only, indisputable argument.

Not long time ago had public's points of view been shaped for several decades until the late 1980s when, as most of people believed, everything changed for better. But did it really become like that? Fifteen years have already passed and many still feel that shaping does take place constantly. Politicians and great companies have the same aim as in the previous system, which is making inhabitants think in a certain way, the way that is profoundly advantageous for achieving their intentions. Once again, free speech is underlined