Television News as a New Media

In Television News is a New Mythic Form, Marshall McLuhan discusses how news coverage effects society in North of Ireland in the 60's. McLuhan states that the public is in their homes watching news coverage, and then they come outside when it is over to participate in covering the news and acting it out themselves. McLuhan goes on to say that he feels that the role of hired actor and the public itself is starting to merge. I could not agree more with McLuhan, I too feel that there is a blurred line between the public and the media in today's world which happens to be 46 years after this video was created. M.A. Mughal wrote a piece for Thedailyjournalist.com about three years ago that touches upon mass media's effect and influence on society. In the article he discusses violence on television and how watching it continuously could be traumatic. He specifically writes, "Our kids that are starting to grow and are shaping their personality values and beliefs can become aggressive or they can loose a sense of distinction between reality and fiction." (Mughal, Mass Media and it's Influence on Society, 2013)

Networked Publics by Varnelis touches upon the same idea of news and its effect on society but in a more current role. Varnelis writes that, "The balance of power between news providers and news consumers has shifted." (Varnelis, 2008 p. 67) He continues on later in the paragraph to write, "Video and text bloggers, DIY media activists, and professional journalists are struggling over the right to define the truth and to determine what form and practice of news production yields more credible product." (Varnelis, 2008 p.67) In this book Varnelis is saying something similar to McLuhan in that there is still a blurred line between the public and today's media. With the use of emerging technologies we the public are now able to get news out faster and sometimes more accurately then the media. The public does not need to look any further then social media to find out the latest news or what's happening in our world. There is no longer that need to wait until the 5 o'clock news to come on.

I personally believe that the use of technologies and new media has made reading about current events easier. There are also more options to researching topics and current events and more tools that can be used. We as a society have access to online databases, newspapers, and news outlets all at our fingertips. It's truly never been easier to find out what's happening around you then it is today. It should be the role of the teacher to help students understand how they can access any information at any given time of the day. As we continue to grow in the technology era I believe that we will see an increase in online news outlets and networks.




References:

References:
Varnelis, K. (2008). Networked Publics. Cambridge, Massachusetts 

M.A. Mughal. (2013) Mass Media and it's Influence on Society.
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