Impact of the Mass Media on society

In my opinion, mass media is a source of entertainment through which entertainment is being conveyed. It's a very powerful tool as it is able to control the public's access of information. As a result, it must not be abused in any way as it may spark a controversy or even strife.

The positive impacts of mass media is that the government is able to use it to communicate with the masses effectively. For example, in times of emergency, radios are the only source of information the public can get immediate information of any updates regarding the crisis.

The negative impacts are the ones that should be given attention promptly. One of them is the information the mass media provides are often misleading, much of the information may be exagerating. Hence, the public will have inaccurate information of the issue. Also, the mass media, in some way or another, tends to encourage violence especially among the youths. Statistics show that 92% of the Americans feel that television contributes to violence. In my opinion, this is prevalent in Singapore. Take note of the drama serials in the television daily. You will notice that most of them will include a certain level of violence and this may results in teenagers or even young children to turn violent. Furthermore, the mass media can act as a very effective propaganda tool as how the mass media conveys the information across the public will affect the views of the public. People are exceptionally prone to being influenced by whatever that is shown on television or published in the newspaper.

As such, the governments must impose laws as well as regulate them to ensure that the mass media is not influencing the public negatively. Although a free press is favourable, restrictions must still be present. For example, Singapore introduced sensorship, such as rating certain movies as 'parental guidance', 'NC16', 'R21' etc to restrict people of inappropriate age to have access to certain information that is deemed unsuitable for them.

The mass media is so powerful that it is able to manipulate our minds. We are being affected unknowingly. Hence, the government must continue to enforce laws to ensure that the mass media will not protray things that will have negative impacts on the public.