Paper Example on Communication, Information and Mass Media

Introduction

We are living in the twenty-first century surrounded by so much technology and news that much of what was regarded as truth twenty or so years ago have been challenged, debunked and redefined. This age we are living in is the Information Age. Hence, we need to understand what information is. Information is general facts on people or something which can be backed by evidence and which has value in knowing. Ideally, information is supposed to be true but with the tense political atmosphere of the twenty-first century, what people believe to be true is more critical (Mackova,2018). Communication is the transfer of information between two or more parties, people, and devices and so on. Mass media is a general term for all platforms where information transfer is to a broad audience (the public). Examples of mass media include television, newspapers, radio and the internet. Information, communication and mass media are intertwined.

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Research and journalism are some ways on information gathering. Research techniques include interviews, questionnaires, using secondary sources such as other research, journals and periodicals, and so on. Information just like communication and mass media is linked with technology. When it comes to information, credibility and clarity are key. However, the most challenging part of collecting information is ascertaining whether the information is accurate or not. Objectivity is the ideal, the penultimate target in information gathering. That being said. Nonetheless, human beings are subjective creatures. Hence what is right for one person, could be regarded as complete fabrications to another.

Information processing is highly susceptible to bias. A good example is the recent phenomenon of fake news/ "fake news" depending on a person's stance. President Donald Trump is an ardent Twitter supporter. Twitter, being a social media site qualifies as mass media because people use the platform to disseminate information amongst one another (communication). President Trump has on occasion called out broadcast news stations notably Fox News and Cable News Network (CNN) terming reports about his governance as fake news. Donald Trump is concerned that these stations are pro-Democrat hence anti-Trump. Republicans of course side with him, while Democrats are supporting the news stations. Who is telling the truth and who is lying? The answer lies on where you stand, though a neutral is the least concerned.

Communication means the transfer of information. The internet has been the most explosive and the fastest form of communication. Communication can be broadcast communication and private communication. Mass media deal with broadcast communication which targets a large audience. Schaffner and Sellers (2010) call how the media communicates information as framing. Private communication is person to person in most cases such as email message. Again, with the internet, there is so much communication such as social media. There are professional sites like LinkedIn. People can form groups on Facebook, Telegram or WhatsApp to convey personal agenda. The internet has become a vital resource for mass media. All the major television, radio and newspaper networks have websites, pages, and profiles on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Additionally, these social media platforms themselves are part of mass media.

Conclusion

Regarding communication, information and mass media, there have been some new trends over the years. Besides fake news, there is hate speech and political correctness. People have to use their language very carefully, or they may be liable in a court of law. Fabrication of information is another such as Facebook's being harvested from the private information of 87 million of its users by the research company Cambridge Analytica (Kang, C., & Frenkel, S. (2018). There are bots which are programmable interfaces which mimic humans on social media. Some people have pseudo-accounts which are mostly fake or imposter accounts. Hacking social media is also an emergent trend. In conclusion, technology is changing the face of information, communication and mass media as we know, and if it is for better or worse, only time knows.

References

Kang, C., & Frenkel, S. (2018). Facebook says Cambridge Analytica harvested data of up to 87 million users. The New York Times, 4.

Mackova, A. (2018). Hybrid politics: media and participation.