Media continues to consume an ever-growing part of people’s lives. People and young people specifically do not have the face-to-face interaction they need in order to learn social skills, and more and more children are having a difficult time interacting with others, which can lead to unsociable behavior. Media has positive impact on the society as long as it is free from political compulsion and the monetary perspective. However, more than its positives, media contributes greatly to negativity which has been a threat to human civilization.
Here are the major negative impacts of media recognized by scholars.
Media control democracy
Media is considered as one of the pillars of democracy, but this media always tries to control the democracy in some or other form. Interestingly, the media’s opinion is not bought by the people number of times. You could have noticed elections in the recent past where media tried to influence voters heavily against few candidates. But still the person against whom the media was rampant won the elections with thumping majorities.Media influence on society through manipulated news coverage
Yet, media always tries to control democracy. The rulers are afraid of the media and hence, to gain the goodwill of the media personnel, the rulers try to provide advertisement revenue, travel subsidies, accommodation and other facilities to them.
Defamation
Media can easily defame a person in the name of freedom of speech. They can do it intentionally if the particular person is not liked by. They even try to threaten and blackmail the people concerned in order to come to terms with them. The media can also damage civilizations by defaming and bring negative opinion in the minds of the people.
Investigative behavior
When there is crime, the media reports about the crime to the public. But sometimes they even go overboard. They try to investigate in spite of police or people approved by law are working on it. They do especially against few people who they hate. In doing so, they try to influence the police and other investigative agencies involved in the process.
Hiding the truth from the public
There are many instances of atrocities on people by the government, police, military etc. But, these are not made public by the media intentionally. In doing so, they are not honest to their profession but still, they keep the trend due to ill-conceived ideologies.
Expose the national defence secrets
When the media gather any of the national defence information, they try to publish to get higher viewership. Though it is harmful to the country as it is a leakage of defence secrets, still they do to just gain more money.
Media corruption
The media is also involved in rampant corruption. If not corruption, a journalist would not be very rich and leading a lavish style. They try to extract money and other favors by threatening the common or the public servants. In return, they try to hide the misdeeds of those who bribed them. So, media takes bribes to not publish sensitive information.
Working for financial gains
Media in the present scenario work purely for commercial gains. They are least concerned about moral ethics and nationalism. They try to achieve higher viewership and make more money through ads.
Taking sides with the political parties
Once, the media owners or journalists gain some benefits from the governments belonging to a particular political party, they try to support that party. They blindly support whatever that party does without criticizing the harm involved.
Influencing the judiciary process
Media is also involved in influencing the judiciary to some extent. They organize debates, seminars on the issue or case and try to change the opinions of the judges.
Helping in religious conversions
Religion is a private issue and has to be practised in the homes or place of worship. It is a private issue, but the media also tries to cover the religious lectures by taking the money and help in conversion.
Instigating riots
Media is also responsible for many communal or racial conflicts. Without taking the issue to the government, they try to publish the issue to a large section of audience. Due to this more people get influenced leading to widespread riots. The governments in power would not be able to relocate the police or military in time to the place of conflicts. This leads to widespread violence. Even you might have come across an issue of live telecast of terrorist attack and the police encounter. This gives the terrorist beforehand information to tackle the situation and exploit it better.
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