The face of media in Singapore is reshaping. For one, a new radio station Lush 99.5 FM will soon hit the airwaves. Another is the recent finalisation of plans to merge the media entities of Mediacorp and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).
It all started in year 2000, when the government released TV broadcast license to SPH Channel U and Channel i were born. Not long after that SPH launched the free tabloid Streats and Mediacorp followed suit and launched Today. The government had hoped to boost competition for the local media industry but it was eventually found that the local market was simply too small to support two media giants. As a result SPH announced that it would give up the TV broadcast and Streats for a stake in Mediacorp, affecting at least 200 staff.
Mention media and I remember what my General Paper teacher once told us about not believing everything the media says. The media tends to sensationalise news and information. They claim to work on the principle of demand and supply, and are merely delivering what people are interested in seeing.
Thus, it is not unusual to see news being distorted to the point of exaggeration. Then there is the chicken or the egg dilemma of whether shows are a reflection of reality or is reality shaped by the influences of the media. Could it be some people have been brainwashed into believing in the reality created by the media and thereby becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts?
There is no denying the power of the media and we have to choose for ourselves how much of it to take in. Keep an open mind but watch out for rubbish falling in!
3 comments:
aye aye captain!
you have chosen to blog about an issue that's quite close to my heart. media and all its sensationalistic trappings. =)
For once I am simply going to nod and agree with you. *grin*
btw... is 'borned' a word?
=P
Glad you liked it... was worried because it was written by someone not in the media.
Oops! I had published the post in a hurry that I had not the time to go through it. I have edited it. Thanks! ;P
Sometimes you don't really need to be in the media to be able to comment on it. Sometimes the most interesting observations are made by those who are in the media's grasp and thrall. They provide interesting insight into how media's maniuplations influence and truly affect its target audience. And it is always worthwhile to hear from that very target audience. Their very observations often either prove or dispel certain beliefs and theories about media's impact. And proof is always a good thing =)
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