Mass Media: More Fantasy and Hype than

Reality and Truth.

“The death of a billionaire is worth more to the media than the lives
of a billion poor people” said Mokokoma Mokhonoana who himself
was a philosopher and social critic.

Good Morning to one and all present here. I am standing on this

stage to share my views on one of the most controversial topics –
Mass Media: More Fantasy and Hype than Reality and Truth.

The mass media, including news outlets and newspapers, are a

powerful influence on most people. News media and journalism
outlets influence public opinion and therefore democracy itself, so
their reach and power is very strong. Good journalism is good for
democracy, but, unfortunately the most popular news feeds have
degraded into poor-quality sensationalism, which is effecting
democracy and degrading society. Aside from the biases that are to
be expected from corporations and editors, newspapers in particular
many-a-times portray the world in an unrealistic way.

Mass media sources, through theories like framing and agenda-

setting, can affect the scope of a story as particular facts and
information are highlighted. This can directly correlate with how
individuals may perceive certain groups of people, as the only media
coverage a person receives can be very limited and may not reflect
the whole story or situation. Stories are often covered to reflect a
particular perspective to target a specific demographic set-up.

Lack of local or specific topical focus is a common criticism of mass

media. It skips over many interesting or important local stories
because they simply do not interest the large majority of their
viewers. An example given by the website WiseGeek is that "the
residents of a community might view their fight against development
as critical, but the story would only attract the attention of the mass
media if the fight became controversial or if precedents of some
form were set".

Keeping the pseudo values intact, a mediocre person dreams to be a

celebrity. A traditional country like India loses its ethnicity. The
beauty of the fantasised world snatches the arms of a mediocre
person. In a recent interview, a celebrity said that he is incompetent
to take his family out with him. The paparazzi follow them and they
don’t enjoy it anymore. Lady Diana remained the object of
worldwide media scrutiny, was chased and died in a car crash in Paris
tunnel on 31st August, 1997 with subsequent televised funeral. Usain
Bolt earns Rs.200Cr for running 9seconds but the effort at the back-
end is camouflaged.

The depiction of disability in the media plays a major role in

moulding the public perception of disability. Perceptions portrayed
in the media directly influence the way people with disabilities are
treated in current society. Media platforms have been cited as a key
site for the reinforcement of negative images and ideas in regard to
people with disabilities.