Mass Media Enhance or Diminish Term Paper

Total Length: 580 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 5

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In a democracy like American where freedom of speech is enshrined in the Constitution, this view takes on a certain reality in that the news and views disseminated by the media may not always be factual or true and the reader or viewer has to be very discerning in what they read or watch. A study on this subject entitled Mind control and the media states that while the invention of printing is historically linked to the rise of democracy in the worlds and in Media, yet, "...this does not mean that the mass media inherently serves democracy." (Gannaway)

This article goes on to articulate a view that has become reiterated in many other studies of the media with regard to the potential that the media has to present false and biased views to the general public. The study also repeats a view that is central to the criticism of contemporary mass media in this country and in many areas of the world.
"In today's world, media are vulnerable to manipulation by political authorities and economic forces. They are not inevitably an agent of democracy." (Gannaway)

Gannaway also explores another issue that relates to the different ways that the mass media influences the public. This refers to the fact that different areas of the population perceive and view the media in different ways. Access to information is not always the same for all areas of population."... even in wealthy, literate democracies access to information is not universal. Patterns of media consumption and political participation differ enormously for various incomes and social classes. Thus even in open societies poverty and illiteracy can be barriers to media experience.".....

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"Mass Media Enhance Or Diminish" (2006, December 07) Retrieved May 16, 2024, from
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"Mass Media Enhance Or Diminish" 07 December 2006. Web.16 May. 2024. <
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Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

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"Mass Media Enhance Or Diminish", 07 December 2006, Accessed.16 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/mass-media-enhance-diminish-41180