Tuesday, March 19, 2019

MEDIA SELECTIVITY
Image result for media selectivity
If there is anything that could influence the public opinion, then it is the media. Of course the
politicians do that comparatively better. But it is the media that creates an impact on both literates
and illiterates. Unfortunately, the media also has the power to choose which stories get the most
attention. Many incidents in the world remain unreported, this is where we are forced to question
on media selectivity.
Nowadays, professionals in the media are compelled to decide the stories that would kindle the
spectators’ curiosity. Unlike olden days, it is not easy to run a news channel. They strive hard to
compete with the online news sources, though both are inclined to the same notion. So, they focus
on interesting or peculiar occurrences more than the pivotal global conflicts. Like, the news of a
celebrity couple getting divorced will be a hot news but a news that is concerned about global
warming or agriculture will remain blithe.
To survive in such an industry, everyone, be it newspaper or news channel or online news, fail
to focus on important news but interesting ones. Once in a blue moon, if someone stands out and
delivers the crucial need of the hour news, then he won’t get public interest. Even people tend
to select some particular aspects of given information which they incorporate into their mindset.
The audience select the news based on their perspectives, interests and beliefs. While picking their
favorable information, they unconsciously ignore the unfavorable.
If the white-collar people in the media is focusing on a particular issue, then it implies that, they
have assumed the public would continue to seek out the information on that particular news even
after they have taken a stance on it.
Most of the times, media miscarries its obligation by delivering less prominence news as wild
and woolly. Doing this, the media deviates from its path. Sometimes, it would hype up hate crimes
against different kinds of minorities and this overtly perpetuates ignorance and discrimination.
Moreover, all the major networks have a distinct political bias. Primarily, every political party
in our state operates a news channel and blows their own trumpet and picks apart other political parties.
This would be the sole drive of such channels. In such cases, people get fed up with the clichéd
news and look out for some hot news. This is exactly how media has modeled the public. In a 2017
study, the Pew research Centre found that 31% of adult viewers stop watching at least one network
because it didn’t provide the information they wanted.
As lifesavers, some downright journalists and reporters like Prannoy Roy, Gauri Lankesh, Arnab
Goswami etcetera have tried to change the face of Indian media. One should not forget that some
of such reporters and journalists have even been mercilessly silenced. These people strive hard
to sustain the esteem and value of the ‘powerful’ media.

One cannot blame just the media for such selective media exposure, but the public contribute to
it as well. Otherwise, in order to sustain viewers’ interest, the professionals in media must be
aware of media selectivity and take steps to counteract it.

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