Introduction
The mass media – both traditional and social – are an important component of the mass communication of society, which acquires special significance in the post-industrial era. The media carries various socio-political roles: organizing, unifying, consolidating society, educating and informing masses, and others. However, it can also play a disintegrating, separating role, especially nowadays, when political and economic crises are shaking the pillars of America. Media responsibility in regard to presented data has become a serious issue in the modern society.
Discussion
Traditional news media, for example, take a rather differentiated approach to providing information to people. There is a variety of newspapers for almost every political alignment of the masses – from right wing conservatives to democrats, liberals, libertarians, and others. The same message can be presented very differently in accordance with the news outlet’s political agenda – the most relevant and current example is the issue of transgenderism and its’ discussion. Conservative aligned media often try to portray transgender people as mentally ill, perverted, or even sex offenders, while liberal newspapers advocate for trans rights and highlight many injustices this community faces. According to Burke and Kazyak (2022), “during the 2022 midterm election campaign, Republican public officials targeted transgender rights in what NPR and other news media have called the new front in the culture wars” (para. 1). As a consequence, the information often gets distorted to support the media audience’s views, which, in turn, results in further separation of the masses. In this regard, the problem of the accuracy of the factual data becomes especially acute, as incorrect information might be used to fuel hate and spread falsehoods about important social and political matters.
Social media are fundamentally different from traditional news outlet, as they offer people the opportunity to express their own opinions about various issues rather than presenting established perspective. Twitter, in particular, has become a platform for continuous open discussions, where one can view real-life arguments between representatives of different points of view. Even gimmick accounts are now partaking in expressing their owners’ political and social opinions, often prompting heated arguments among their large audiences. Younger generations, such as millennials and Zoomers, are now using social media platforms to establish their worldviews and look for support among their peers. This has been actually becoming a serious concern nowadays, as the quality of the information provided by personal accounts on social media is often not just questionable but downright false.
People who express their opinions on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or any other media have no legal or professional responsibility in regard to the messages they post, and this affects the reliability of this data significantly. From this perspective, it seems that social media have to step into the discourse to offer factual checks – via moderating the messages or providing additional context, for example. Twitter has recently introduced the option of adding informational context to tweets that might be spreading disinformation; the necessary data is supplied by users and volunteers (Lorenz et al., 2022). Still, the amount of tweets that require such checks is growing each day. Meanwhile, this function relies upon the responsibility of the users themselves and a small group of volunteers, so it is not a truly viable solution. Thus, the platforms themselves need to introduce new methods of combatting false information; however, with the amount of content produced every day, it is, indeed, a complex issue.
Conclusion
All types of media continue to play a crucial role in informing people and creating mass opinions on important issues. This makes the need to increase their responsibility for the accuracy of the information they provide more acute than ever, as formed views on specific problems might cause further separation of an already quite segmented American society. However, the complexity of supplying continuous factual checks to the ever-growing amount of content poses a barrier mass media has yet to tackle.
References
Burke, K., & Kazyak, E. (2022). Analysis | Americans’ support for transgender rights has declined. Here’s why. Washington Post. Web.
Lorenz, T., Oremus, W., & Merrill, J. (2022). How Twitter’s contentious new fact-checking project really works. Washington Post. Web.