Assess the role of the media

Assessing The Role Of The Media In society the media is, arguably, one of - if not the - most powerful of institutions however some sociologists would argue, for example Baudrillard, that its' power is diminishing or weak. The media is debated widely both assessing its' influence and functions, or in some cases dysfunctions. The media's primary function is to inform the masses which is the origin of its' overwhelming power in society because obviously through manipulating what the masses are informed of - censorship - and the altering the portrayal of parts of the news the media - propaganda - they are able to control our thoughts - ideological control. The media is associated with not only informing the public but furthermore representing the public and bringing up moral, political and social issues on behalf of the public. Also the media gives the public freedom to express and broadcast their views and opinions; take Youtube for example, Youtube allows anyone to broadcast online videos, newsfeeds and blogs it enforces freedom of speech and Youtube along with other independent media sources, such as The Independent, ITV etc. increase and extend democracy in the UK. Dahl, a pluralist would agree with this view of the media, that the media informs us, and he says that the media demonstrates thousands of millions of different views and opinions, it broadcasts many different

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  • Word count: 1220
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Sociology
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