Mass media: A brief introduction

Collective term for press, radio and television, in the broader sense also for books, CDs, videos and the Internet, means media with which news and entertainment in writing, sound and images reach a broad audience.

Role of mass media in democracy

The mass media of the press, radio, television and the Internet are assigned an important task in a democracy. They are intended to provide comprehensive, appropriate and understandable information so that citizens can form a political opinion and participate competently in political decisions. In addition, the Basic Law guarantees the media freedom of reporting and prohibits any censorship.

How mass media earn money

In day-to-day business, however, other aspects also play an important role. The many individual newspaper, radio and television companies are in tough competition with one another and must first of all earn money in order to be able to continue to exist. The main source of income is advertising, as advertisements in the press and as commercials on radio and television. A media company can obtain higher prices for this advertising, the higher the sales figures of its newspaper or magazine or the audience figures of its radio or television station. But if you want to achieve high sales figures or high audience ratings, you cannot afford to simply provide dry information. At the same time, he has to entertain, arouse curiosity, and constantly attract attention – and select his messages accordingly. Through advertisements, you can Find the best strollers here.

Selection of reports

The selection begins with the reporter on site and continues in the news agency, where the event reports are collected and then resold to newspapers, radio and television. In the individual newspaper, in the individual television station, journalists then decide again what to choose from the news agencies’ offerings. What finally appears in the mass media does not depict reality, but is a selected, manufactured image of it. Journalists put it together.

Principles for serious reporting

There are at least two principles for serious reporting

  1. The journalist must have carefully checked whether what he is passing on as news is actually true.
  2. The journalist must distinguish between the news and his opinion on it.

The opinion belongs in a separate comment, but reporting an event, even if the journalist does not like it, should be as objective as possible. Incidentally, those who use not just one but several media products to protect themselves against possible manipulation of their opinion by the mass media are best protected.

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