The media is considered the fourth estate of our society, so it wields tremendous power. Its pervading presence – we see, hear, and feel a lot of things which come from the media – is an indication of this. Television, films, CDs, newspapers, ads, magazines, comics, radio and the latest in cellular phones all bombard us with conflicting information, values and attitudes.
Considering the extent of influence which media exerts on the mass audience, practitioners and students of the media profession are challenged to redefine a certain journalistic practices and attitudes.
Radio's tremendous reach and influence has enabled it to remain a potent among the major forms of mass media. It is noted for a number of characteristics, among which includes its sense of locality or ability, which enable radio to exert influence on the local communities.
Some stations have special programs, which specialize on commentaries regarding politics and corruption, violence and other public issues. These programs are otherwise known as exposés. Exposés are said to be controversial because the public seems to be divided in terms of its functions and credibility to the public. For some, exposés serve as eye-openers to the possible anomalies committed in the government, so it is said to have a positive effect. Others however, feel that exposés are done on the basis of inadequate information.
What is unique in the media at this day and age is that with the aid of the advanced communications technology, the scope and speed of cultural change is unprecedented in human history and the role of the media is even more prominent and vital.
It is said that the legacy of integrity in the news and broadcast industry is built up through a lot of work, painstaking attention on detail, honestly and commitment on fairness.
The media has no obligation to report to the government the identities of suspects, convicts or escaped criminals who provide them information. The battle of whether the media practitioner are obliged to identify their sources was fought long ago, and resolved with a resounding “no.”
In United States however, the media has, according the Newsweek essay, become the number one enemy as it begins to be seen as a destructive force in American life. In giving his five-to-four major decision, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes quoted from "Blacktones" on prior restraint and post-publication punishment. The liberty of press is indeed essential to the nature of free state, but this consists in laying no restraints upon publication, and not in freedom from censure for the criminal when the matter is published. Every free man has an undoubted right to say what sentiments he pleases before the public – to forbid this is to destroy the freedom of the press - but he must also face the consequences of what he says.
For change, media can give more prominence to technology, trade and industry; it can also create a more positive environment for development-heightening entrepreneurship, the hard work and discipline that we sorely need. We should stop sensationalizing. The world is violent enough without dramatizing it. We scare away not only tourists and investors, but we even scare ourselves. It is time we tell the people that they ought to hear rather what they want to hear. We cannot indulge in fables and keep spinning lies in the guise of searching for the truth, while pandering to the lowest common denominator in order to sell papers.
One of the characteristics of an increasingly complex media environment is that key competitors that participate in collaboration and partnership will, in my view, be fundamental to the success of any ambitious media organization in the future. But for any organization in media, important new methods of delivery as well as a successful brand depends on the quality of what's being offered. In increasingly saturated media markets, a distinctive brand is likely to become even more important.
All around us, there is media. We see, hear and breathe media. Much of what we know or think come from media. These bombard us with information, knowledge, values, and attitudes. There is no escaping.
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