Media’s influence on society is immeasurable. While there are legions of studies, theories and plenty of evidence showing that there is certainly a relationship, it’s impossible to precisely gauge the leverage media has on society, behavior, individual thought process, world communication, opinions and so forth. Personally, I think the impact is even more significant than we think. We get our facts and opinions from several agents in our life such as primary groups (parents), secondary groups (friends, teachers), opinion leaders (preachers, intellectuals) and media. The fact our minds are so vulnerable and accessible to these communication channels is a profound thought.
News can manipulate and be manipulated. To avoid this, most businesses and media adhere to stringent ethical guidelines. Where laws can’t protect from the public from malevolent or negligence, ethics are implied to. Unfortunately, humans’ altruistic intentions aren’t the most reliable for such a power and written guidelines are in place for things you can’t necessarily outlaw.
A new documentary called Hot Coffee was shown at Sundance about how corporations can spend money to influence the media and the significantly persuade the public in another direction. The story of Stella Liebeck and the infamous burns from McDonald’s coffee was incredibly distorted and made Stella a national mockery instead of exposing what really happened and the drastic negligence from McDonald’s.
Committing to business and humanitarian ethics is the socially responsible thing to do; and it’s smart business. When companies and people are trustworthy, they’re listened to. It’s just becomes the chicken and the egg when one decides what to do after they’re listened to-- a successful cycle for good behavior, and usually damaging to the unethical.
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