On this page, we discuss more than two ways in which the media often fails to fulfill their responsibilities to society. The media’s main principles are aimed at being fair, honest and reliable. The minute the media deviates from these core principles, the society suffers the outcomes.
7 Ways in which the Media often Fails to Fulfill their Responsibilities
- Most media make money from advertisements and sponsors. The media therefore aim to satisfy the interests of their advertisers. These may not be the same as the interests of the public. They may withhold information or give biased reports, to satisfy their sponsors.
- News entertains rather than informs. Some media are filled with gossip, scandals, sex and violence rather than facts.
- Political news is often more about personalities, than about politicians’ work and contributions. Media publicise the scandalous private lives of politicians and their families, which have nothing to do with their work.
- The lives of famous stars are made difficult by the paparazzi who invade their privacy. The media are like vultures when celebrities are in trouble; they persecute rather than protect them.
- The media sometimes exaggerate dangers and make people afraid for no reason.
- News and interpretations of events may be biased, incomplete or incorrect.
- The information in the printed press, radio and TV has been selected from a large pool of information. Somebody, somewhere, made a decision on what was necessary to tell the public and what not. What is not told may be just as important as what is told.
