The Role of News Media
 

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How news media relate to our everyday lives

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Image courtesy ProCon.org

News media are watchdogs, agenda-setters, and gatekeepers. As such, they deliver a diverse and, hopefully, balanced range of cultural, social, political, and economic perspectives. In particular, the roles of news media include . . .

Enabling citizenship

• helping us create community
• providing public safety information
• checking the power of government
• facilitating business, industry, and commerce
• distributing information we need to participate as citizens in a democracy

Helping us know the world around us

• keeping us informed
• helping satisfy our curiosity
• building a rough draft of history
• giving us helpful and practical information

Facilitating the exchange of ideas and information

• expediting the exchange of personal information
• raising our awareness of social and cultural differences
• helping us understand religions, philosophies, and spiritual teachings
• establishing a forum for the exchange of opinions and developing consensus

Revealing our creations

• entertaining and amusing us
• keeping us posted on the sciences and humanities
• providing information about fine arts and performing arts
• showcasing written expression and the photographic, graphic, and other visual arts

Learn more:

• Media of Mass Communication »
• Media Literacy »
• Media and Culture »
• Media and Society »
• Media and Politics »
• Mass Media Economics »
• Entertainment Media »
• Print Media »
• Broadcast Media »
• Film and Television Program Genres »
• Books and their History »
• History of Newspapers »
• Brief History of Magazines »
• Radio and Television History »
• History of Film, Television and the Internet »
• History of the World Wide Web »
• New Media History »
• What is Social Media? »

Resources for Courses »
© 2013 Dr. Anthony Curtis, Mass Communication Dept., University of North Carolina at Pembroke    e-mail    home page