Lecturettes are a short session where a candidate gets an opportunity to express themselves in the group. They are an integral part of the 5 days Service Selection Board process. Candidates have to choose a topic from the list of lecturette topics given, and speak on it for some time. In this series of articles we are bringing some preparatory material on lecturette for you to practice. A list of all the recent topics is provided in our previous article Important Lecturette topics for SSB.
Today’s topic of lecturette is: Media and Society.
What is Media?
In layman term, “media” refers to various means of communication. In can be of any type: vocal, visual etc . The word ‘media’ is derived from the word medium, means mode or carrier. Media is intended to reach and address a large target group or audience. Examples are – television, radio, and the newspaper. Public discussion and gossip are the oldest form of media, and social media is the newest form of media.
What is Society?
Society is defined as a group of people living as a community or an organized group of people for a common purpose. This group is inherently linked with each other through some commonly agreed ground rules, also known as “social ethics.”
Role of Media in society-
- The word Media was first used in respect of books and newspapers . But now with the advancement of technology, media now encompasses television, movies, radio and internet. In today’s world, media has become as essential as our daily needs. It is playing an outstanding role in creating and shaping of public opinion and strengthening of society.
- Chowpaal, or the informal gossips too are a form of media. With advent of time media has grown exponentially. There are certain tools like personal interaction, which lead to one to one interactions, while there are others like television that can be used for one to many form of communication. Finally there are some, like internet, which can be used for one to one & one to many forms of communication.
- While some form of media can be regulated easily (newspaper, television, etc), others can not be regulated easily (social media, etc) because of privacy and freedom of speech related provisions.
- It also acts as watchdog of democracy , more the transparency in media better is the functioning of democratic nation . It awares people and let them know the truth As the fourth pillar of democracy along with judiciary, executive and legislature, media of today has an all embracing role to act against the injustice, oppression, misdeeds and partiality of our society.
- From the earlier days , media has remained an integral part of human civilization. We can interfere it from the manuscripts and the texts that have been left behind .
- Video and print media, media has always taken a pivotal role in shaping our society. Even during the days when we were fighting for our freedom it was the media which helped convey the message of our leaders to masses . Indian media in post independence era has grown up phenomenally and today comprises of more than 50,000 newspapers, hundreds of television and radio channels.
- It is movement of information in society that alters our social perspective. For example a sexual harassment revelation in hollywood led to a #MeToo movement which led to understanding of rights of women in workplace globally.
- It is also because of the role of media that has led to the normalisation of consumption of tobacco, alcohol etc among the youngsters in the society.
Negatives of Media-
- Nowadays, Media is acting as profit making market, here they sell the news and not show the true facts, which sometimes leads to violence and it creates havoc in the society.
- Unverified reports have led to murders, riots, mob lynching, etc in the past.
- Some media advertises for certain products without considering whether that product is authentic or not, or it will be having a good impact on society
- As media is nowadays more inclined to e-media, it creates a lot more negatives, such as health issues, personal life of individual, online fraud and many more.
- Addiction to social media has been diagnosed as a psychological disorder.
Ways Forward-
If we look for the way forward and how we can actually cope up with them , it comes out that it is the overall care that has to be taken , as the Media authorities should work honestly while they are publishing something , if info is to be given it should be cross checked and analysed by the learned person , also it is the duty of the user or the receiver that he should be careful and only pay heed to the guiding ones and not the misleading ones. I think if we do all these things then the media will truly function as the fourth pillar of democracy and society will benefit at large.
We hope this lecture series is helpful in your preparation for Lecturette at SSB. All the best!
