The Role of Media in Shaping Political and Socio-Economic Narratives

Table of Contents

Introduction

Theoretical Background

The Narratives of a Modern World

The Evolving Strategies and Roles of the Media

The Perception of Bias from the Media

The Types and Impact of Media Bias on Political and Socio-economic Trends

Measuring and Evaluating Media Bias and the Factuality of Narratives

The Emerging Threat of ‘Fake’ News

The Possibility of Attaining Balanced and Objective Media Reporting and Coverage

What ought to be Done Going Forward

Further Recommendations for the Future

Conclusion.

References

Introduction

The media plays an integral role in influencing trends in the modern world. The information era, a phrase used to capture the way the world has developed to rely on information for most of the actions that people take, remains significantly different from all the other periods in the history of humanity. Information and narratives now have significant powers to change and influence the way people think and act, and more importantly, the reasoning they portray on various topics in their societies. The media plays a significant role in pushing for specific narratives and messages in the modern world. The current media has emerged as the most advanced system of communication that the humanity has ever experienced. Unlike in the past when information and narratives could take long periods to reach people, today the situation is significantly different owing to the developments that the modern media has seen in recent years. The role of the contemporary media in driving narratives has been studied quite extensively. The existing base of literature has focused mainly on the way the media delivers messages from the source to the consumer. The current paper recognises that most researchers and commentators have not studied as extensively as required the role that media and communication play in driving narratives on political and social-economic trends. As such, the focus of this paper will be on the ways through which media and communication outlets influence the reasoning that people hold as truths in a world that has diverse sources of unfiltered information from multiple sources.

Theoretical Background

The most basic definition of a narrative is a record and an account of interconnected events, or just defined as a story. People have cognitive wiring that leads them into believing the stories that they hear multiple times. The people living in different societies may be directed to holding different and varied views regarding a standard issue and topic. Taking such a look as the basis of the argument to be presented herein, it is essential to analyse the narratives that are initiated at media outlets and propagated to the people who are so eager to consume such information emanating from the media (Robinson, 2001). The media has a critical role in the communications that are made in the modern world. It is unquestionable that the contemporary world has a myriad of contentious issues to deal with considering the many diverse points of view that people discuss various topics. The contention often arises from the beliefs that people have and the principles that guide their thinking and judgment. The political and socio-economic sectors of the modern society have limited topics and subjects that people a common belief in. For instance, many people have highly diverse views on the political and socio-economic issues. Unfortunately, with the democratisation of the modern societies, many people have to believe in a specific narrative for them to support it and have it implemented in their spaces of living. In this regard, the media, which plays an integral and critical role in communication, has significant powers to sway the beliefs that people hold as truths (Kitzinger, 2000).). The current paper will analyse the strategies that the modern media utilises to have people believe in specific issues and have them reject others. Additionally, the present paper will explain the morals and ethical principle that the modern media outlets have to practice if the critical role that they play will oversee the development of a morally sustainable human society for all people.

The Narratives of a Modern World

Unlike in past periods in the history of the world, stories emerge and spread more quickly hence influencing the information that reaches people. It is not questionable that today, information spreads more rapidly considering the development and advancements that modern media systems have acquired in recent years. The spread of data from the source to the consumer takes a shorter span of time than that it used to take in previous years. The modern narratives that the media chooses to present have a specific role that they are supposed to serve among the members of the public. As such, a story relayed through the media has to be chosen appropriately, packaged systematically and presented to the consumers in a way that evokes a specific reaction that will serve to support or derail a particular cause. It should be understood that every story and news item has multiple sides from where any person can choose to analyse and interpret it from as they process it in a form that they can understand. The media outlets, which are the most critical players in the modern communication niche, choose to receive, package and present specific information as per the cause and trend they may be supporting.

The demand for new information from the public is growing with every other new day. The rate of consumption of news in the modern world has surged more than at any other given period from the past. As such, the media outlets that have the most diverse sources of new information have the most significant public followings. The larger the following that a media outlet has, the more successful it is especially when it comes to catering for the costs of the operations that it supports. It is important to note that people have the affinity to the consumer at a faster rate news items and information that is more contentious than that which is common knowledge (Ward & Wasserman, 2010). The newness of information and the levels of controversy that it evokes determines the rate at which it will be consumed. As such, the most advanced news and media outlet, the one with the most significant area of coverage will attract the most significant levels of following. The ability to influence broad masses of the dominated class of people determines the levels of success that a media outlet will record. As such, the modern media has to find a way to adjust the information that it acquires in a way that will help it meet the core elements of influencing, educating and informing that the media serves in public.

The Evolving Strategies and Roles of the Media

The role of media has not remained static when considering that most of those it serves have changed quite considerably. The environment in which the modern media operates has also turned in a significant manner. The fact that the press is helping a primarily educated population, unlike in the past when most of the consumers of the information that the media presented were uneducated, has led to the need to adjust some of the strategies utilised in processing and offering news and information to the public. The current news and information consumer needs far more complicated procedures to convince them regarding the information and message contained in a news item (Borden, 2007). The media has to ensure that it owns the narrative that it seeks to push to the consumers that it serves. It is in this context that the concepts of left, neutral and right media outlets have emerged. It is unarguable that the information that reaches various consumers today has tinges of bias whose aim is to influence a specific position relating to the prevailing political and socio-economic trends. Therefore, if news and information from the media are to be taken in a context that could be reliable, it is imperative that the nature of bias and the position of the outlet presenting it is understood in the first place.

The Perception of Bias from the Media

In the face of fierce competition of ideologies, various groups have sought to enhance their influence by capturing specific media outlets with the aim of maintaining their authority.

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