The Reliability of Mass Media. The internet technology and mass media

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The Reliability of Mass Media
Introduction
Mass media is any channel of communication that is used to pass across information to many people simultaneously, and it includes radio, newspapers, television, billboards, magazines, films, books, recordings, and of late the internet. The question of reliability and credibility of the information which passes through such media raises many questions based on the source or means of acquiring the information sought (Wimmer & Dominick, P. 2). Content analysis is a critical element in the assessment of the validity of the information being propagated to the masses, and as such, it calls for keenness to ascertain the message’s dependability. This paper seeks to explore more on the reliability of the mass media since; media is a powerful tool to the masses because the mass relies on any update brought forth by the media about the events taking place within or outside their environment. In the same breath, the analysis involves the conventional press and the internet and how the information is received and processed.
In all human social activities, matters of trust have taken center stage. It is for this reason that trust plays an instrumental role at both societal and interpersonal level. In the recent past, there has been a lack of trust in many public institutions, the media, and politics. The failure of the traditional monetary model of the news media has brought about reducing returns and redundancies. It is because of this that some of the most established enterprises in the journalism industry have lost big because of restructuring. Moreover, these upheavals have also led to an existential crisis in the field of journalism as the professionals work tirelessly to outdo the boundaries created between them, bloggers, citizens and the role of other communications (Fisher, P. 3).
The tsunami effect from the global trends has also been a significant impediment in the credibility of the news items presented by the journalists. This means that there is plenty of information which is exposed to the public, which in the end becomes hard to distinguish the credible from the less credible information. There have been reports on poor reporting skills and standards that have led to a decline in the level of trust. In the same breath, there have been reports of high profile plagiarism, distortion and daily inaccuracies that have undermined the reliability and credibility of journalism to the public (Fisher, P. 3). It is with this mind that there have been frantic efforts to push pressure on the journalism practitioners, to boost their transparency, by revealing their editorial decision making to the public, because of increasing the necessary trust (Fisher 3).
According to recent research findings, matters of trust can be divided into three common areas. Firstly, the credibility of the message – or the trust in the information; secondly, credibility of the source or the kind of trust which entrusted in the provider of the information and finally, the credibility of the media which is also referred to as the credibility of the channel or medium for transmission. The biggest challenge in all these is that there has been no specific yardstick to measure credibility and trust of the news media (Fisher, P. 4).
According to Fisher (p. 5), television was more believable, truthful and essential in the eyes of the public when compared to radio since TV projects the images of the scene. The TV was able to project the whole story in a fair manner with limited bias, respected the privacy of people, separated fact from opinion, facts and proof of proper training of the reporters. Thus, in the end, were touted as the yardsticks for gauging credibility. Based on the findings of a recent study, it was discovered that there was no clear understanding of whether the public trusted the medium of transmissions such as the TV or the news and events being highlighted.
The credibility of the source
This points to the provider of the information which forms news. According to Fisher, (P. 7), it was revealed that trustworthiness and expertise determined the critical determinants of perceptions of credibility in the people who provide the information. Other schools of thought, reasoned otherwise when they used the theory of journalism. The hypothesis of their model sought to find out the response of a person’s reaction when asked a question such as if they trusted news media. In essence, they were concerned with the selectivity element in the aspects of journalism. They reasoned from a four dimensions approach: firstly, the trust in the topics selectivity; secondly, fact selectivity; thirdly, the representation accuracy and finally, journalistic assessment trust which could lead to the presentation of pertinent information (Fisher, P. 7). The most necessary element in all this is the fact that the reputation built by the media house, will play a vital role in its success since reputation comes together with trust (Golan). According to (Volobueva, P. 7). Someone’s background might lead them to either trust or distrust the media. This could be as a result of culture, political situation, historical events or the prevailing social situation.
The credibility of the message
Top on the priority list of concerns such as sensationalism, media bias, wrong prioritization, it is the credibility which takes center stage (Sabigan, P. 2). The primary challenge that elicits criticism from the public is merely the way reports ask their question since they include their own opinion. This, in the end, confuses the accuracy of the respondents. The most prominent factors in the credibility of the mass media are the character and authoritativeness.
There has been a significant shift in the perceptions and conceptions regarding trust in the twenty-first century, concerning media. The emergence of digital media has also added a twist on the same compared to the traditional media regarding the message (content), source and the channel of transmission (Fisher, P. 7). There is an unclear distinction between the source, media, and the projected message. The MAIN model (modality, agency, interactivity, and navigability) has enabled the stakeholders to understand the credibility assessment of digital media. To the young people, the credibility of the media is attached to features on the surface such as ease of interaction, the appeal of the design, navigability and download speed.
People can tweet on social media, but what is lacking is the actual truth behind what is trending on the net. Most of the digital news has been personalized. However, the results in all, these are the fact that the content (message) should pass the credibility test which is so elusive by nature. The personalization of news on the digital platform, could be the solution to consumer preference shortly and also act as an avenue for stabilizing news journalism (Fisher, 9). Mass media has also been accused of eroding the indigenous culture of the developing countries hence culture decay. It has changed the consumption habits and their general lifestyle, creating stereotypes, altering authority patterns and the images of other countries. There is also a correlation between the role of media and economic development in the developing countries. In some parts, mass communication distorts the true nature of the situation a...