Lesson 14: Role and Impact of Mass Media on the Society
Political Role
There exits an intimate relationship between the political process and the mass media. The function of the mass communication in the sphere of the politics or of grave importance to India, since more than anything else, the mass media are fully exploited by our leaders for political ends.Mass communication should provide the citizen the means to understand the substance of policies at any particular time. They should perform and amplifying function, by giving wide publicity to the actions and views of important individuals. They should provide, the common fund of information necessary for the formation of the public opinion, and the conduct of the political process. The mass media should attempt to provide standards by which political actions can be judge, the common frame of the reference, which must unite rulers and ruled in a democratic political structure.The media therefore could help in public participation in national regional policies. The reality is that the coverage of politics by the mass media is often fragmented and superficial. The media do not exercise much influence in national or state election. Both the public and private media played up the benefits of the emergency rules. The mass media do play a role in political education, their power less against more mighty factors such as caste, community, Religion, and the like. Interpersonal communication is given much greater credence than group or mass media. One major region for this almost total lack of creditability after mass media is that there are urban and elite orientated and have little relevance to the rural masses. It is clear that people are by and large, active readers of the mass media who frequently reject or oppose media messages.
Participants