Mass Media in Australia
Like any other country, Australia has several medial sources that rage from television and radio broadcast to newspapers. The Australian broadcasting corporation renders its services both locally and internationally. In order to market its art well, Australian television network has spread its wings significantly to the Asia pacific.
However, the Australian media has been found to sway the public leading in some cases of misconceived ideas among the public.According to Bessant & Watts (2007), media has dearly impacted the modern day to day lives (p.435). The authors argue that the Australian media has negative and positive effects to the public on how it relate and interact on the daily basis (p.435).
The majority of Australians have fallen prey to the temptations of modern life courtesy of the media. Most households have Television sets to keep up with what is revolving around the globe. From the comfort of their homes, it is now possible for most Australians to watch latest movies and films.It is through the media that the public can gain access to news, on any matter. For example, through radio broadcasts one can catch up with news from BBC London, through television one can get the very latest on the war against terror live from CNN. These are very positive attributes of the media.
Internet is another form of media that has impacted many lives. Through social websites like Facebook, members of the family and friends who dwell apart have networked and become very close. The media has also been a uniting channel for terrorist gangs and other groups in the society (Greg & Scott, 2003, p.110-115).
It is however imperative to mention that we rely heavily on mass media and personnel to know what is happening in what country and in which location. Businessmen and women seek to know the weather conditions of the places they plan to visit so as to plan well. This is the case with farmers who seek to know when to prepare land for the planting season. Political figures also engage mass media to get coverage of their rallies while the general public can get to know who leading or who to vote for in an election through online surveys. The media has a responsibility that we can never wish away.
Mass media in Australia has brought about globalization due to the availability of information almost at the finger tips. It expresses how changes have taken place and that now we are on another level of information technology. The current media depicts the globe as very advanced and that it has knowledge in different aspects due to the occurrence of major media industry players like Microsoft and Google.
Before this level, people used to talk directly in their social welfares or travel for several days just to pass information. Then the evolution came that saw them transform from writing on paper, telegraph and telephones to today’s broadcast houses and internet (Bessant & Rob, 2007, p.438).Despite being capacitated to critically think on what the public can hear and see, the mass media has managed and succeeded in swaying it. When seriously absorbed in to a television soap opera or drama, and an actor or actress gets hurt or seriously ill, the events that unfold are very close to reality making it hard for the public to separate fiction and truth.
Many are the times that people get emotional and break into tears .This clearly manifests how people drown into mass media activities. In sensitive issues like sex, the media has influenced teenagers and even adults to experiment what they see their favourite personalities doing (Reiner, 1995).In most cases, the third person effect applies to a lot of people who are consumers of the media content. This is whereby people think that others are affected by the media while they themselves cannot be affected (Duck & Mullin, 2006, p.
77-82). They tend to think that they are very much aware of the media effect such that they can avoid being swayed away. This ideology is not substantial because like the third person effect, these people also end up being swayed.It is important to understand that all aspects of mass media in Australia are very fruitful because the effects, both positive and negative have been tackled extensively thus helping every household member from parents to teenagers to identify how they can be affected. This will help parents and guardians to keep vigil on the behaviour of their young ones by relating their social being and the modern media contents.
They will then determine the extent of media influence on the youths and choose possible remedies. For the teenagers, they will know what will interest their parents and what will annoy them (Reiner, 1995).An understanding of mass media and its swaying effect at large is very vital for students of criminology. According to (Loges & Ball-Rokeach, 2010), public quest for crime related news has shot up recently, it is interesting to note that there are commercial incentives for reporters and broadcasting houses for providing crime related material. Crime has gained fame among the public such that it is likely to influenced journalism. Crime has become a no big deal to those youths who watch violent programs from the media.
In conclusion, it can be recommended that unlike ordinary citizens, students of criminology should not be influenced by what revolves around the media. They should not make judgment based on media but real and actual facts. Criminologists have conspicuously refused to participate in arguments between media violence and aggression. This clearly indicates that criminologists should be independent in their judgment. They should not be party to unsubstantiated media reports.
Similarly, an understanding of the effects of the mass media on human behaviour can be able to provide solutions to complex situations that require the expertise of criminologists (Hassan, 1995, p.480-483). This is because it is also a contributor to crime and other related activities.
