What is the True Role of Media Outlets?

[owidjaja]

Hey guys,
So I was rewatching a video on how Tide Pods got its attention at the beginning of the year- as stupid as this sounds, this video actually addresses some serious issues in the media. The fact that news outlets took these Tide Pod jokes too seriously which led to the an increase in teenagers consuming Tide Pods on social media. It was a different stance on this issue because it's quite easy for news outlets to blame on the younger generation on how dumb we're becoming even though this information is becoming misconstrued, which leads me to my next question:

What is the role of media outlets now?

We would initially view them as a way to keep us informed, but at this rate, the lack of research going into these topics are starting to show. The fact that Matpat (the Youtuber in the video) discussed about how the media is focusing on too many negative stories and tends to emphasise on 'click-bait' titles instead of ground-breaking discoveries (e.g. they're developing cancer vaccines!) really caused me to question to what extent should we trust the media. Are they supposed to just tell us how bad our society is becoming or balance out the news with some positivity? An interesting aspect of this video was that Matpat believes the media is more concerned in keeping us engaged rather than informing us.

What do you guys think?

Warning: anyone who's interested in watching the video, it's kinda long (~ 15 minutes)

[dancing phalanges]

Hey guys,
So I was rewatching a video on how Tide Pods got its attention at the beginning of the year- as stupid as this sounds, this video actually addresses some serious issues in the media. The fact that news outlets took these Tide Pod jokes too seriously which led to the an increase in teenagers consuming Tide Pods on social media. It was a different stance on this issue because it's quite easy for news outlets to blame on the younger generation on how dumb we're becoming even though this information is becoming misconstrued, which leads me to my next question:

What is the role of media outlets now?

We would initially view them as a way to keep us informed, but at this rate, the lack of research going into these topics are starting to show. The fact that Matpat (the Youtuber in the video) discussed about how the media is focusing on too many negative stories and tends to emphasise on 'click-bait' titles instead of ground-breaking discoveries (e.g. they're developing cancer vaccines!) really caused me to question to what extent should we trust the media. Are they supposed to just tell us how bad our society is becoming or balance out the news with some positivity? An interesting aspect of this video was that Matpat believes the media is more concerned in keeping us engaged rather than informing us.

What do you guys think?

Warning: anyone who's interested in watching the video, it's kinda long (~ 15 minutes)

My views going into a Journalism course - I really don't want to sacrifice my values for success. The media these days places a great emphasis on clickbait and sensationalist reporting in general to generate interest and sometimes sacrifice the truth of what they are reporting and invade personal privacy. This is something I hope to personally avoid.

[EEEEEEP]

Hey guys,
So I was rewatching a video on how Tide Pods got its attention at the beginning of the year- as stupid as this sounds, this video actually addresses some serious issues in the media. The fact that news outlets took these Tide Pod jokes too seriously which led to the an increase in teenagers consuming Tide Pods on social media. It was a different stance on this issue because it's quite easy for news outlets to blame on the younger generation on how dumb we're becoming even though this information is becoming misconstrued, which leads me to my next question:

What is the role of media outlets now?

We would initially view them as a way to keep us informed, but at this rate, the lack of research going into these topics are starting to show. The fact that Matpat (the Youtuber in the video) discussed about how the media is focusing on too many negative stories and tends to emphasise on 'click-bait' titles instead of ground-breaking discoveries (e.g. they're developing cancer vaccines!) really caused me to question to what extent should we trust the media. Are they supposed to just tell us how bad our society is becoming or balance out the news with some positivity? An interesting aspect of this video was that Matpat believes the media is more concerned in keeping us engaged rather than informing us.

What do you guys think?

Warning: anyone who's interested in watching the video, it's kinda long (~ 15 minutes)

Here's a theory =)

The media is meant to be educational and instructional. It is meant to call out BS when it's found. The media has not changed much at all (but the people controlling it has). Society has also changed too.

There are still good media outlets like the Washington post, The NYT, the ABC and Vice. The people controlling the media, are now profit driven and only seek to push out as much drivel as they can  (even if it isn't educated first). Just look at whenever something happens... they push out something with WEAK analysis and then update it later.

Now onto people.... society as a whole has changed. We are now impatient, look for convenience  and don't have much time to read long articles.

It's all a big cycle now... people want quick and fast news (not detailed analysis), so the media outlets push that.

[owidjaja]

My views going into a Journalism course - I really don't want to sacrifice my values for success. The media these days places a great emphasis on clickbait and sensationalist reporting in general to generate interest and sometimes sacrifice the truth of what they are reporting and invade personal privacy. This is something I hope to personally avoid.

The people controlling the media, are now profit driven and only seek to push out as much drivel as they can  (even if it isn't educated first). Just look at whenever something happens... they push out something with WEAK analysis and then update it later.

Now onto people.... society as a whole has changed. We are now impatient, look for convenience  and don't have much time to read long articles.

It's all a big cycle now... people want quick and fast news (not detailed analysis), so the media outlets push that.

It's quite concerning that we have trust issues towards the media when they were made to inform us, which is funny because when you look at one of the first few newspaper articles to be published (around 1800s), they also used click-bait titles so more people will buy newspapers. So is it in our nature to want to constantly search for drama in society?

And on top of this, how much is the media allowed to say? In the video I linked, there was this statistic that after the Marilyn Monroe suicide report, suicide rate increased by 12% (keep in mind these are US-based statistics). So, what is the media allowed to report? Too much on one issue can make the issue even worse and too little research will lead to unconfirmed rumours being circulated.

[dancing phalanges]

It's quite concerning that we have trust issues towards the media when they were made to inform us, which is funny because when you look at one of the first few newspaper articles to be published (around 1800s), they also used click-bait titles so more people will buy newspapers. So is it in our nature to want to constantly search for drama in society?

And on top of this, how much is the media allowed to say? In the video I linked, there was this statistic that after the Marilyn Monroe suicide report, suicide rate increased by 12% (keep in mind these are US-based statistics). So, what is the media allowed to report? Too much on one issue can make the issue even worse and too little research will lead to unconfirmed rumours being circulated.

I do see where magazines and media outlets are coming from as sensationalist news and click bait is the best way to make money. Hence, why I prefer doing work experience for media sources that are reliable and trustworthy in what they report.