Media perceptions of the Third World - Image or Reality?

Modern society is influenced by and acts upon media

transmissions; it helps to generate a collective conscious. The notion of the media being a neutral commentator can be rejected, rather news is selected and transmitted in a framework pre-determined by the communicator who scans the environment for information and selects what he believes will be of interest to the audience; in other words, information that at the end of the process will be profit making.

In the light of this, is information transmitted a true, accurate and unbiased opinion of the issue in question, or is it in fact distorted, so the final article is a tradeable commodity? Our images reflect those of the media, thus are our images of the Third World accurate or are they in fact images of merely one aspect of the Third World - a negative aspect? Is the Third World purely about famines in Ethiopia and the Sudan, floods in Bangladesh, poverty in Latin America and political unrest in Haiti? Is the Third World only in a position to be portrayed in a negative way, are there no positive aspects; or do the media executives believe audiences can only be drawn in through showing the shock and horror faced in some areas of the Third World?

The media is partly responsible for societies developing such images thus the media has the power to correct this negative portrayal - but does it have the inclination? Today we read and hear about the negative aspects only, but what of rural village improvements, better transport and communications in parts of Asia bringing benefits to many and sustainable development projects in Africa?

Is the media portrayal fair or is it doing the Third World an injustice?