Interconnection of the media, government, and the public
The media functions as a support tool or a watchdog of government functionality. Its primary concern is its reputation and not profit. The media is responsible for delivering information to the public about occurrences around the world. The media also plays a role in constructing public opinion, beliefs and attitudes and also contributes to social change within the society. The press shapes general belief by drawing the public’s attention to specific topics.
Balkin(1998) states that the significant roles of mass media in the government include helping people understand government functionality, take part in political decisions and also holds t government executives answerable. The media plays significant roles such as educative and participative roles and also acts as a watchdog.
Under the educative role of the media, the media assists people to comprehend government functionality as Balkin (1998) further adds that the central aim of the media to notify the public about government errands. The media also publicize the decisions made by the supreme court that have a significant effect and crucial social and political effects. The media also reports on vast ongoing projects in terms of their capitalization, completion, standard and any arising conflicts of interest or irregularities. The media, therefore, delivers essential information regarding government operations for public consumption to achieve transparency within a country and excellent governance.
Under the participative role of the media, the media is responsible for making political choices. The media should always take a neutral stand in political and legislative problems; however; sometimes, the media could take a firm stand on a specific choice, therefore, showcasing their care for the public. Under the participative role, the public can also actively gather, report, evaluate disseminating content through communication media channels, blogs and podcasts. For instance, after the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, a non-profit photo project in response to the September 11th attacks provided a space where people could display photos and captions.
The media showcases its concern for the public through editorials and opinion columns in the newspaper where they outline their thoughts on particular ongoing issues or their political concern. The media’s views may not agree with the government, therefore, resulting in the expansion of public debate among the public and government executives. The media plays a participative role in government decision-making process indirectly. To measure government functionality, private research firms may provide approval ratings to make the government function better.
Under the role of the media as a watchdog, the media holds government officials answerable and evaluates the government for any form of corruption and other wrongdoings. For instance in America, through the media, president Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal where a security guard discovered that former FBI and CIA agents sneaked into the Democratic Party offices months earlier. After the media publicized this story, President Richard Nixon resigned.
The media can also be used as an ideological apparatus by the government or other interest groups to ensure their voices are heard. Through the media, government and politicians may push their interests my rhetorically manipulating the media in terms of election discussions aired on television and radio. Through these discussions, the candidates seize the opportunity of convincing the public to support them by delivering well-prepared speeches. Huge businesses also use the media to reach the public through paid advertisements to increase sales. Sometimes public opinion is overridden by truth, as Kippman ( 1922)states although it is difficult to accept this, truth is at times meaningless, and public opinion may be prioritized in place of truth. Through this statement, Kippman outlines the role of media in shaping public opinion.
The media also possesses the power to reach a massive number of people, thus powerfully influences public opinion through the use of visuals, research data, appeal to emotion etc. This hence influences public opinion based on feelings instead of reason. For instance, Publicizing the cases of Breanna Taylor and George Floyd appeals to emotion, especially to the black community, thus resulting in severe protests in demand for justice.
Apart from the media assessing and monitoring government inequalities, the media also has a role when government fails. Two features of a failed government may include when vital administrative offices are no longer performing as they used to before and when the majority of the public fails to trust in the government. Therefore when the government fails, the media helps minimize this tragic impact by ensuring the dynamic flow of information. The media also plays a role of social services by permitting free access to telecommunications and fundraising. The media could also call for international aid when faced with a crisis.
In conclusion, the media, government and the public are interconnected I, i.e. under media to government, government to media and media to the public. Under the connection between the media and the government, the media influences the government and assesses government functionality and in some instances, assumes the government’s role in case the government fails. Under government to media, the government can use rhetorical manipulation, and under the role of media to the public, the media plays an educative and participative role to the public.