Media influence
June 3rd, 2008Though the total revenue of media companies may not be as large as that of companies in other categories like manufacturing, media outlets are given a lot of importance by the government and businesses in most countries.
This is because they have a disproportionately greater influence on the minds of people, as they are the main medium through which a person gets information about the world. A person can get information about his or her immediate surroundings by interacting with other people, but the news media are the means through which updated news about the rest of the world can be obtained.
The importance of the mainstream media is even higher in countries where internet usage is low. Unlike other forms of media, an internet user can choose from thousands of news source. The cost of publishing information online is very low, so anyone with an internet connection can publish what he or she considers as news on any website. However, this makes it difficult to authenticate the information published online.
The mainstream media in most countries consists of print publications and television, both of which need a lot of initial investment. So these media outlets are usually controlled by well connected businessmen, who will also promote their other interests. So it is difficult to get non biased information from media outlets, there is always some spin in news publications.