Social Services

The Impact of Media on Community Welfare

The media is an effective tool. Its enormous impact on issues related to community welfare is undeniable. The media can be criticized for being more of a burden than a help, yet being a vital instrument in efforts to address harmful issues impacting the community.

Sensationalism Issue

First, the media are to fault for the sensationalism issue because they excessively focus on melodramatic and destructive tales at the expense of issues of national importance, which instead get scant or no coverage (Molek-Kozakowska, 2013). For instance, when the media consistently reports about terrorism, it amplifies the public’s sense of unease and unpredictability (Biagi, 2012). It may undermine the state institutions’ ability and credibility in protecting the lives of the citizens and their property (Biagi, 2012). Besides, Howitt (2013) notes that overreporting on matters of national security may scare away investors leading to capital flight and a consequent lack of investment. Such effects are detrimental to the national economy.

Agenda Setting

Moreover, the media has a crucial role of agenda setting (Wolfe, Jones, & Baumgartner, 2013). What we see or hear on media platforms is selectively chosen. Fundamentally, the media shapes public agenda which enables focus on intended public issues (McCombs, 2014). Consequently, public agenda serves to push policies that impact on the community. In this regard, if the media is biased, vital problems affecting the community may fail to reach the media houses over external influences, or they may be unreported altogether (De Bruycker & Beyers, 2015). Therefore, the social problem may not be brought to the attention of the relevant community agencies. Thus, police and community agencies should desist from using the media for enhancement of community health and safety.

References

Biagi, S. (2012). Media impact: An introduction to mass media. Cengage Learning.

De Bruycker, I., & Beyers, J. (2015). Balanced or biased? Interest groups and legislative lobbying in the European news media. Political Communication, 32(3), 453-474.

Howitt, D. (2013). The Mass Media & Social Problems (Vol. 2). Elsevier.

McCombs, M. (2014). Setting the agenda: Mass media and public opinion. John Wiley & Sons.

Molek-Kozakowska, K. (2013). Towards a pragma-linguistic framework for the study of sensationalism in news headlines. Discourse & Communication, 7(2), 173-197.

Wolfe, M., Jones, B. D., & Baumgartner, F. R. (2013). A failure to communicate: Agenda setting in media and policy studies. Political Communication, 30(2), 175-192.