Do the media ‘construct’ social reality, or does it...

It is often suggested by scholars that the world and in all its content is ambiguous, there is no universal meaning, nothing can be interpreted the same way. Opinions are constantly clashing and facts somehow constructed, or tempered during the processes of news production. News becomes the fictions of reality; it becomes a way of story telling, made to the taste of the viewer, depending on the society of course. The same stories carry different values depending where when and how the stories are broadcasted, I will be talking about this in this essay. There are two approaches to report a piece of news; the realist, purely factual no interpretations given and very clear in usage of language. This method differs to that of the†¦show more content†¦Our ability to choose what news is significant, is â€Å"culturally determined† (Galtung and Ruge in Cohen and Young, 1981: p.52), this meant that we are as a society will receive reports the same events. Although the proces s of this â€Å"choosing† is questioned, as majority of the time, audience do not get to choose what they read, hear or watch about the world. This procedure is done through the structuring and the selection of news before it reached to them. Galtung and Ruge suggested a number of hypothesises that interrelate the value of news to, metaphorically speaking, that of the radio wave signals. (in Cohen and Young, 1981: p.52) the factors that measures news value are as follows; ‘frequency’ the time it will take between the happening to reporting to interpretation of a specific event. For example the death of Baby Peter on August 2007 , several months after the death of Peter, the process of ‘interpreting’ who is to blame, is still showing on television and newspaper. ‘Clarity’, the report content is clear and unambiguous, it enlightens, and not confuse audience, provides a clear sometimes biased definition and argument of the situation or event. ‘Unexpectedness’ this is why TV listing and train times are not considered news worthy, viewers prefer sensationalised reports; itShow MoreRelatedMedia s Influence On Perceptions Of Self1563 Words   |  7 Pages The media plays a sig nificant role in influencing and shaping individuals’ perceptions of self in American society. Additionally, the media plays a key role in how it portrays people of color (POC) and, therefore, in how it affects their perceptions of self and others. 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