The Role of Media In Discrimination
The media passes information to the people by gathering and compiling information from different sources. The media ensures the people access information on various factors affecting their daily activities. The media is important because it helps information to spread faster and to influence decisions and reactions. In a society with increasing challenges, the media helps individuals to recognize what is happening. Race and gender discrimination have become everyday debates in society due to their effects on social, economic, and political operations. The media is expected to influence these topics by collecting information and presenting facts to the people. The role of media in race and gender relations will be addressed in this document by assessing the interactions between the media and people. The media’s roles in the issues experienced in society are identified through Media Systems Dependency Theory. The increases in media platforms have increased media desire to address social issues to influence the largest population. The exchange between the media and society shows the role of media in race and gender relations.
Race and gender have become the basis of discrimination in the world. The two phenomena are connected through the treatment people have on them. Discrimination occurs in society through the ideas generated by different social institutions, including the family, religion, schools, and government institutions. Discrimination occurs through the race, but the outcomes are different for men and women. Different countries and international organizations have created strategies to address the issues that emerge through racial and gender relations. The most shared ideology in gender and racial relations includes efforts to end discrimination at every social level by changing society’s perceptions. The societal perceptions are influenced by information sharing and the level of conviction with the public sphere. The media is one of the platforms through which information is shared in society because it is effective and efficient.
The media influences its audience by ensuring they satisfy their curiosity by addressing the most relevant issues. Media System Dependency Theory (MSDT) is based on the idea that the media become more important to an individual’s life when it gratifies their needs. On the other hand, the media will control an individual according to the dependency it has created through the satisfaction of their needs. The media exist in society to influenced individuals through printed, broadcasted, and internet materials. The printed media provide information to people through magazines, newspapers, journals, and newsletters. These platforms are utilized mostly by individuals who find time to read. Broadcast media include platforms such as radio and television that spread information through audio and visual materials. Internet materials include platforms that are accessed through devices such as computers, mobile phones, and tablets. Internet media platforms are widely used in contemporary society due to their flexibility and convenience. All these media platforms exist to ensure the society is updated on various social issues.
The Role of Media in Gender and Racial Relations
The most important role of the media in society is to provide information. Society needs information to satisfy their curiosity, reduce vagueness, and understand their identity and place in society. Society depends on the media to provide them with information because they have resources to search for information. Gender and racial differences within the diverse society create instability to individuals increasing their desire to gain more information about the situations. MSDT asserts that the extent to which the media influences society depends on the social systems’ dependence level. The media wishes to influence the people by ensuring they provide issues affecting society. The United States African Americans depend largely on the media to provide information on their livelihood activities. The increase of uncertainty, especially through criminal justice, influences them to stay glued on media platforms.
The information provided by the media on racial and gender issues creates awareness to the people and help individuals make plans for their lives according to the information. The media has effective effects on the population when it provides information about race and gender issues. Information sharing through different media platforms influences the development of fear, anxiety, or relief. Through information sharing, the media ensures individuals avoid dangerous places that report violent activities based on racial and gender identities. The media therefore warns and prepares the population about gender and racially related activities occurring in different parts. Information sharing can also lead to relief, especially when the report has positive news on racial and gender discriminated populations. For example, information on implementing policies that protect individuals who are racially discriminated against can reduce their worries. The media’s information-sharing function serves the most important role of informing the people of the conditions beyond their access.
The media shapes the ideas surrounding race and gender issues through the interpretative function. Media outlets have resources and means of interpreting information in more explicit ways through professionals in different social aspects. The society includes a diverse population through which ideas, images, and languages are interpreted differently. The media uses different tools to interpret actions and ideas which shape the actions of the public. Current events in politics, religion, and social activities are interpreted through newspaper editorials for individuals who access the printed media. Broadcast media, on the other hand, provide commentary platforms to discuss current issues affecting society. Individuals’ dependency on the media for interpretative purposes creates cognitive effects on individuals’ racial and race issues.
The interpretative function of the media shows its role in influencing public attitudes, beliefs, and values. Ignorance in society leads individuals to think some of the social aspects of life are discriminatory or fair. Socialization influences the ideas individuals develop on a particular race or gender. These perceptions change when individuals are exposed to different concepts. Ethical standards of media promote the presentation of facts that promote equality in society. Interpretations provided in the media help individuals determine whether various actions and activities are discriminative or not. The media may question the values of a certain community to identify how it affects social integration. For example, in a society where women are considered inferior to men, the media can change the community’s perceptions by showing the negative effects of these values. Therefore, the media may influence people’s ideology process by interpreting social policies, beliefs, and values.
In racial and gender issues, the media influences social change through the instructive role. The media serves as a teacher who provides information instead of providing information to show individuals how to act and achieve change. Different media outlets provide educational content such as stories and play, which influence society to behave differently. The media has behavioral effects on its audience through the instructive function of society. Behaviour effects include deactivation from actions that would lead to negative social activities. When individuals are exposed to the negative effects of racial and gender discrimination, they change their behaviors, making them refrain from negative actions and behavior; media contents that teach the audience apply mostly to younger generations that can get influenced by the contents by connecting to their emotions. Children learn the negative effects of racism from stories and react to them by becoming diverse and racially sensitive.
The media influences the audience through content and acting as an example to the audience. The media includes diverse personalities that influence the audience through different attitudes and behavior. Apart from informational content, media personalities’ actions and behavior are easily referred to by the audience. Media individuals influence their audience through their appearance, ideas, and attitudes. Media personality such as Oprah Whitney influences the audience on both racial and gender grounds. As a successful African American personality, she incorporated all races in her show, influencing society to change their race concepts. She was also a woman, operating in a male-dominated profession and overcoming all the challenges presented to her. Oprah’s actions, attitudes, appearance, and success influence many individuals to incorporate all races in their operations and offer more opportunities to women.
The media serves a bonding role in the community by brings people together by sharing common values and controlling information accessed by the public. The world includes an increased effort to ensure diversity in social, economic, and entertainment activities. Individuals are brought together through watching, listening, reading, and participation in media activities. The media controls the information shared by different participants, especially influencing negative concepts of gender and race. The media relays, limits, expands, and reinterpret information to ensure it does not distract the community’s social structure. Broadcast media include ethical standards, while internet media messages are censored to ensure hatred is not spread to society. The technology has, however, influenced the increase of unethical media activities, especially in internet media. Platforms such as social media are slow in controlling the spread of information. The platforms, however, have strategies to control negative racial information.
In conclusion, the interaction between the media and society influences the media’s roles in societal issues. Media Systems Dependency Theory holds that the media needs to influence the highest number of people addressing their needs. Racial and gender issues are some of the societal needs through which the media addresses through information, interpretation, instructing of behaviors, and mobilization of individuals. The media operate through printed, broadcasted, and internet materials to communicate and share information. The media ensures the society depends on it in racial and gender issues by controlling the information shared on different platforms. The main role of media in racial and gender relations is to influence positive attitudes among the people to prevent divisions within society. The increase of media platforms has influenced competition and negative operations in media operations. Still, through the MSDT, the media is forced to address the greatest population’s interests to increase their influence. There exist ethical standards and censorship tools to ensure media platforms improve gender and racial relations within society.
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