Why are some media forms regulated by the government?
Some media firms have contributed to several ethical concerns. These ethical concerns threaten to destroy the trust and responsibility among humanity. The consequences of these ethical concerns necessitated the establishment of several acts that would offer appropriate control and limitation in the use and misuse of media forms. Same as face-to-face communication, media can reverse a group’s view of life either positively or negatively. If the content directed to an audience is demystifying, the final effect over a period of time is the same. Thus, the government has found it necessary to regulate media to preserve the cultural and ethical norms of communication in society.
Why does media policy matter?
Media policy reaffirms the rights of the society to protect its moral views and norms that do not arguer well with its set limits of media content reporting. The media policy protects the vulnerable audience from materials that appeal to prurient interest and are utterly lacking social redeeming value. Besides, these materials or acts are patently offensive since they affront community contemporary standards and are basically valueless to the moral cycles of the societal building blocks. Through the integration of media policy, the relationship between the media agents and the target audience will function within proactive parameters of mutual respect, adherence to the law, and betterment of other social aspects of communication.
Apart from the policy in what other ways are media regulated?
Media ethics are moral obligations that media agents should follow when reporting or airing media content. Reflectively, when a media agent fails to follow these moral ethics, ethical dilemmas such as explicit content, and false statement are likely to occur and negatively affect the trust in communication. Based on the code of ethics, the media fraternity is regulated by the media ethics to ensure report accurate information, airing media content at the appropriate time, and offering the parental adversary whenever the content of media has a restricted age for viewers or users.
Why is media ownership important?
Media ownership is an important element since a group or an individual owning any form of media may influence the perception or viewpoints of many people in society. Reflectively, media ownership skews the opinion of the mass on an issue and can easily manipulate the facts within that issue. When unregulated, media ownership may form the focal point of propaganda campaigns that may disgrace the basic norms of the society, especially when the owner seeks to serve the personal interest in an issue.
How might concentrated transnational media ownership impact national cultures?
Concentrated transnational media ownership has several impacts on the national culture of a country especially on the elements of cultural diversity and political freedom. In the transnational media ownership arrangement, media conglomerates may dominate the communication portal and limit independence in news reporting since they have the critical mass and economic power to survive external pressure. As a result, the transnational media ownership may report on sensitive matters of the society without any ethical consideration. Through excessive dominance, transnational media ownership may lead to diminished production diversity and promote unhealthy media pluralism despite the different linguistic and cultural diversity of the audience.
What policy initiatives might diminish the effects of concentration of media ownership?
Policies that aim at regulating the media on the basis of concentration of media ownership may help the governments and independent authorities such as the United Nation to preserve the culture of different audiences across the globe. For instance, a policy targeting empowerment and development of domestic media may offer a long term intervention to undesired media pluralism. Besides, the government may partner with international media regulation agencies to protect local media from unfair competition.