How does media shape the publics agenda of issues?

Media itself is clearly very influential in todays society. It is all around us- adds, T.V, press, and the internet. It would be very easy to believe that the media tells us what to think and what to do. The difference is that instead of the US media telling us what to think, they tell us what to think about, or give us an agenda.

By choosing to focus on specific hot topics or issues, the media can zero in the stream of information the public is getting. If there is zero media coverage for a topic, it is very difficult to attain a significant amount of citizens interest. On the other hand, if there is a large amount of coverage for a certain topic, it will spark a lot of interest and there for change. The media has control over the information they give us, and because most americans rely on the media for our information stream, they can give us nearly everything they wish for us to consider. When you are the source of information, you control what is given.

How does mass media reflect a political system globally?

Media- often the second runner behind the governement as the voice of the people. (well hopefully). In this country we follow the idea of libertarian, choosing that information should be free and un regulated by government. This follows the rules set down by the first ammendment, which protect speech and press in addition to other areas of life. This system is a more liberal, freedom and expression based system, much like the US itself is built around and functions like.

Authortarinism is much more like china, or korea. This system is far more regulated, just like the Governments themselves. For instance, in china, the government is based around communist beliefs. This certain type of government prevents people from speaking out against the government, and thus many websites and publications are blocked and censored. So, stricter government, stricter media system.

The media portrays in large the countries ideals and visions. If this is driven by equality, lack of expression, and a pro government stance all the time, the media will reflect this. If it is driven by open expression and a freedom within government and its ideas, this will in turn be reflected, as media is a reflection on the political systems of a country.

What is the significance of the First Amendment with speech and press?

The First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press and one of the most important rights listed in the United States Constitution, however, just six years after the ratification of the this document, laws were passed to limit free expression. These laws were called the alien and sedition acts of 1798, resulting in people getting jailed or fined for criticizing government leaders and policies. The reason these laws were passed was because the government was paranoid about a French invasion but it infuriated the people that the same men who wrote the Constitution could turn around six years later and take away the freedoms they had given.

The rights of speech and press make sure the government cannot interfere with a person or group if they are merely speaking their minds through voice or text. Adding on to this is the idea of prior restraint, which further states that the government cannot silence someone from speaking their mind before they have spoken. If these rights were taken away then the whole idea of democracy would be lost, as the government would be able to control what the people say and what they write so nothing slanderous would ever be written about the people in power. In this respect, the rights of the First Amendment are the most important items listed in the Constitution as they prevent our form of government from falling apart and ensure the common citizen continues to have a voice in society.

How does mass media reflect a political system globally?

The countries political system often reflects how they censor and run the mass media coming into and leaving the country. China, for example, is a dictatorship where the people cannot vote for their leader or speak bad about him in public. This is reflected in the fact that the government has complete control over what the public can and cannot see on the internet and television. An interesting thing to do is to search on Google for Tiananmen Square and look at the pictures of the massacre of college students by the government which occurred there. Then go to Google China and search the same thing to see what the Chinese would see if they were to search for the major event and all you see is images of the square with tourists and nothing bad happening because the government has banned those images from Chinese servers and, therefore, Chinese eyes.

Another country who's mass media reflects their political system is Colombia, where anarchy reigns. The radios in Colombia are filled with pleas to release kidnapped family members and friends so that it sounds like an episode of Criminal Minds, the sad part is, it's all completely real. In a country filled with chaos and little rules, people are kidnapped every day and the radios hardly play music as they are filled with these desperate pleas for mercy. In the 1990s 31 journalists were killed because of their job with another 16 who's deaths may or may not have been related to the news they reported. In an average year six to ten journalists are kidnapped. These two countries prove, if the government has complete control, like China, the mass media is completely owned by them and if the government has no control, as in Colombia, then the mass media has no purpose but to invoke fear in its citizens.

What is the significance of the fourth estate?

The idea of the fourth estate comes from Medieval times in England and France, where the population was structured into three different estates. The first estate consisted of the clergy, the second was the nobility, and the third estate was the common people. With the arrival of the printing press and the early reporters, the written word industry created its own place in society and it did not fit perfectly into either of the three estates, so a fourth was created. First coined by British Parliament member Edmund Burke in the mid-1700s, the term "fourth estate" is now used to describe all journalistic activities.

When the United States was founded under the three-branch form of government, the term fourth estate took on a new meeting as the press was designed to regulate the activities of the other three branches and it was stated in the first amendment that the government should not interfere in the actions of the press. However, the press was not given a formal branch of the government but was still called the fourth branch. The unofficial fourth branch of our government is meant to be a sort of watchdog of the people to keep containment on the government. As the founders put it, "the role of the press is keeping tabs in power to keep them honest."

What are some mass media effects and their impacts on society?

Mass media effects are used to explain the actions of people when exposed to media. The first effect we are introduced to is the third-person effect, which plainly states that people overestimate the impact of media messages on people other than themselves, basically the old claim that "it's the other guy who can't handle it, not me". The next media effects are part of the minimalist effects theory, the first being the two-step flow model which states that people are motivated less by the opinions of the mass media than they are motivated by people they know personally and respect. In this effect it explains why a young teen can watch television all day and agree with Democratic views, but then talk to their father, who is a Republican, and easily be swayed back. The second of the minimalist effects is the status conferral, where the media does not tell the person what to think, but what to think about. This is used mainly in political campaigns where the media chooses which topics are to be discussed. The last of the minimalist effects is the narcotizing dysfunction, which states that, rather than the media promoting someone into action, the person is normally overwhelmed by the media until they withdrawal from the situation completely. Lastly, there is the media effect of role modeling, where a character people look up to and consider a good guy is used to influence them. Examples of this are when Batman and Robin enter the Batmobile they are always shown fastening their seat belts or when the concern of AIDs mounted in the 1980s studios went out of their way to show people putting on condoms before sexual scenes. This last effect proves the famous saying "monkey see, monkey do."

What audience analysis measurements principles and techniques are mist effective and why?

The most effective techniques at gathering information from an audience are polls and surveys. In the United States there are about 300 companies which specify in surveying people for private clients, these include Nielsen Media Research, which specializes in network television ratings, the Pew Research Center which studies attitudes towards the press and politics, and Arbitron, which mostly measures radio audiences in local markets. By using the results from these surveys, a good public relations officer can figure out the best time to place an ad for a specific product. In the area of polls and surveys, there are even smaller branches which are specific ways to poll and survey. One of these methods, probability sampling, relies on sample size, sample selection, and confidence level to determine a certain group's reaction to a question. The magic number for sample size has been determined to be 384, meaning that no matter how large the size of the group you are polling, 384 is the maximum amount of people you will need to directly survey. The next step is determining the sample selection, you do this by taking the total population and dividing by the magic number, and that number is the interval between people you should survey. Lastly, confidence level is inversely related to the margin of error, as a larger sample size can increase confidence and decrease margin of error.

The other method of surveying is quota sampling, where you figure out a ratio between, for example, the number of men in the population size, and the size of your survey group. You then interview that many men to fill your quota and repeat for any other group in your population. This method was used by Gallup to come up within 4 points of the average but then switched to probability sampling to come up within 2 points of the average.