Media
Producers have many responsibilities to uphold to their consumers. The most
important responsibility they have is to instill trust. Before becoming a
well-known source, media producers need to build a strong growing relationship
with the public. If people do not trust the news outlet, they will have no
reason to continue watching or paying for that specific program. Why waste time
and money to learn falsely reported news? If media producers do not take time
to ensure that their consumers trust them, the producers will end up losing
consumers and dropping in ratings. People want to watch accurate news. The
public does not want to be responsible for spreading a false story that they
heard on the news. Naturally, people want to be the most informed first among their
peer groups. One gains a sense of self-pride from it. If a news outlet began
reporting false stories, their consumers would slowly make the move to another media
outlet. Overall, trust is the most important responsibility media producers
have to their consumers.
The
media producers also have the responsibility to continue providing the public with
updates on old news and brand NEW stories as soon as they occur. They have a
responsibly to report on stories first before any other news outlet covers it. The
faster they report new stories, the more consumers they will gain. For example,
on each presidential election night, each news channel is racing to call the
results of each state first; however, the media producers must be responsible and
careful in what they put on the air. Once put on the air, it can never be
revoked. If they are to predict a state wrongly or much later than their
competitors, their consumers will be very angry and change the channel.
Therefore there is a constant race and battle to be the best and the most
accurate.
The
media also must be responsible in ensuring that they make their consumers feel
safe at all times. This involves interviewing specialists and analysts related
to the current crisis that has occurred at the time. This is important in helping
to calm the public down after signs of threats or outbursts of crimes or
diseases.
- Celine Olcott
- Celine Olcott
I completely agree with Celine in that some of the responsibilities of media producers are to gain trust from their consumers by providing them with new and true information. By being well informed, the consumers gain a sense of security and are able to trust the source and prefer it over others.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, media producers also must provide their consumers with entertainment by varying the stories they report. If a News channel only focused on deaths and war, the consumer would feel depressed and probably wouldn't return to the channel for their daily report. But by varying the type of news they publish (such as a satisfying arrest, a small town hero, a happy ending, etc) it allows the consumer to feel informed on different levels, as well as evoke different emotions thus providing entertainment.
-Caroline Ferguson
I also agree with Celine and Caroline about the roles of the media. In response to one of Celine's points about news consumers shying away from falsely reported news I think that some people are so deeply rooted in their ways that they would actually prefer false news if it follows along with their beliefs. Some media outlets can still manage to function, and even thrive, while giving falsified or exaggerated information because they have a strong following of likeminded people. I don't think that this is good but it's true that there are lots of people out there who would rather live a lie than face reality.
ReplyDelete-Jahmel Jordon
I agree with Celine, in that the media must gain a truthful relationship with viewers in order to satisfy a long term relationship. The news must maintain a balance between local and national news to make viewers feel as though they are informed about what is going on locally and around the world. The news most definitely modifies or exaggerates stories to satisfy the public. They are also responsible for withholding classified information until they are allowed to broadcast it to the public. As Celine brought up, the safety of the people is very critical to the success of the media. If news channels are constantly reporting negative or threatening stories, most people will be less likely to turn the news on everyday. A balance between interesting, informative, entertaining, and current news reports is crucial to a successful media business.
ReplyDelete-Maggie Barger
I believe that media producers have a very strong manipulative power over their consumers. Because of this, I find truth in Celine's points. Consumers tend to flock back to the media outlets they find most comfortable and most reliable. Whichever news stations report the most details with their stories, or breaking news in the shortest amount of time, they will be the media outlets that consumers continually flock too. As these media outlets gain more success, it becomes all the more imperative that they take great care with the credibility and quality of the news they churn out. Since there is a large variety of media producers, there can be slight variation in same stories between the various media producers. This may lead consumers to question whether they should get their news from another source. In essence, the media producers are responsible for upholding the success they have with their consumers. The consumers need them, and they need the consumers.
ReplyDeleteCeline also makes an interesting point about safety. I just read a recent article about Kim Jong-un, who was reported to have said that North and South Korea have "entered a state of war" and about how he alluded to the United States's demise. Of course, even I felt fairly anxious after reading this article. The article was rich in grim details of Kim Jong-un's remarks, however the article was written in such a way that the public could remain calm. The author referenced how North Korea often says it will things differently than they actually do. This subtle yet effective inclusion of facts to keep the tone of the articles calm actually has an unbelievable impact. The manipulative power of the media producers is vast, and it is one of their greatest responsibilities to control.
Despite the fact that the media producers can have manipulative powers over their consumers, they are also hugely dependent on their consumers as sources of income. As such, I agree with Celine that it is crucial for the media sources to establish trust with their consumers. A part of this trust would stem from the media providing the most accurate and current news. But I also agree with Jahmels’ point in that another part of this trust will come from the media providing news that goes along with their consumer’s beliefs. Along being informed, consumers also want to be comforted by being right. For instance, when listening to the same news report, conservative consumers would better identify with the conservative commentary, even if the news were not being reported in the most accurate manner. They would feel that that particular media source best understood their own viewpoints. This would explain how there are numerous equally successful media sources from different points in the political spectrum.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I feel that another responsibility of media producers is to entertain their consumers. Like Caroline stated, this would mean that the media producers provide a wide variety of stories that range from the feel-good to the nightmarish, or even provide the occasional tabloid story. As media producers want to win over consumers, they have to be interesting. Consumers should want to listen to them; whether that is for trust in accuracy, for backing up beliefs, or simply for entertainment.
In her post, Celine stated that major news outlets have three main responsibilities: instilling trust in their viewers, reporting on old and new stories as fast as possible, and making their viewers feel safe. I agree to a large degree with
ReplyDeleteCeline on the first two responsibilities. The viewers having trust in their news sources is very important. This is true based on the very nature of news. Reporters are giving the viewers facts (at least they should be) on things going on in the world. If viewers can’t trust news outlets, how can they expect these “facts” to be true? Reporting new stories as fast as possible could also be considered a responsibility of news outlets. In reality, doing this is just in the nature of the industry. The first outlet to a report a big story will get more viewers. That is always good for any news source. I do not agree with Celine on her third responsibility, the responsibility of making viewers feel safe. I do not believe that news outlets try to make their viewer’s feel safe. In fact, I believe that news outlets try to make stories sound “scarier” then they actually are, because scarier stories draw more viewers. Sadly, everything in the news industry boils down to profits. It is sad, but it is something you have to remember when studying the media.
-Linen
For the most part, I would agree with what Celine asserts in her post; however, I would make one clear distinction. In class we defined that the media contains some element of entertainment to it; therefore, we must be careful when answering the posed question. This question, in my mind could be very confused with the question, "What responsibilities do NEWS OUTLETS have to their viewers?" Ultimately, I believe both, whether news outlet or media producer have a specific set of responsibilities but that they are slightly different amongst the two.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would say that media producers must give this "novelty" that Gladstone speaks of on page 62. This is what captivates viewers and harnesses them to the networks; however, since news is a subset of media, there is a fine line. A media producer, must, as Celine says, understand that the news they are giving to the public is trustworthy. In part this may be because people feel self conscious about their own false claims; however, it can also do with one's own satisfaction with understanding the truth.
Secondly, as Celine talks about in her first and also final paragraph, media producers must earn the trust and security of their viewers. This is where Celine and my latter statement come into relevance. If a media producers to comfortable weaving through the line of truthful news and entertainment, their with, with certainty appeal to viewers, thus increasing viewer ratings and gaining credibility. Ultimately, these are the responsibilities that news outlets and media producers have. I do have one question to pose though - if these are the responsibilities and people want these trustworthy yet entertaining networks that provide them with good facts why do their feel that it is necessary to implement the biases that Gladstone outlines? Wouldn't one think that if the news was the latter, it would draw in more people than trying to appeal to specific people which deviating from the said responsibilities?
-Akaash
In Celine's post and just about every comment it has been reverberated that the media's first responsibility is to establish trust with their consumers. Thinking from the perspective of a consumer, I believe that the key characteristic that a media outlet requires in order to be trustworthy is consistency. Consumers grow to "trust" various forms of media when they reach a point where they know what to anticipate when they choose to view a particular type of media. For example, many criticize the Fox News Network for its blatant conservative bias day in and day out. However, that news network is successful because they've a group of followers that choose Fox News as their source for daily political news because the network consistently gives the followers what they desire. I know this is one example, but I challenge you all to consider the various forms of media that you enjoy (whether it be a particular music artist or news network) and examine whether or not those outlets' consistency is what eventually led you to trust and follow that particular outlet.
ReplyDeleteKobby Adu-Diawuo
I agree with Kobby’s point in that if there is to be trust between the media and the consumer, there must be consistency. There needs to be a basis for that trust. I also agree with Akaash’s statement that we must consider the differences between “news” and “media” before we can really answer this question. In combining these points, I believe that most important thing a news outlet can do for the consumer is provide truthful information and frame it in any way they want. If the media source presents information the way they know how and the way they do best, people will watch that station or read that paper. In trying to dull a medium down or make it funny when it isn’t naturally funny is only hurting the credibility. For a source to gain viewers and the trust of its viewers it must be true to itself. It’s like my mother always told me, be who you are and someone will love you for that, because if you act differently people won’t love the real you. Now apply that to the media.
ReplyDelete- Connor Drinon
The news was not created to spread gossip, but to inform the public of concrete facts about what is going on. I don’t watch the news to hear what may or may not be true, I watch the news to find out what the truth behind certain things I’ve heard. Unfortunately I have found, as I’m sure many others have, that the news isn’t always 100% correct. I’ll hear one story one day and the next day the news anchors will be correcting themselves giving me a completely different story. What is odd is that although this happens time and again I can’t help but believing what I hear on the news. I guess that deep down inside me I just really don’t want to believe that my main source of information is feeding me inaccuracies and sloppy lies, I want to trust what I hear because not trusting it is stressful and discouraging. I realize that this may not be the most intelligent approach, especially when I am able to realize my faults, but I’m not sure that I will be able to change this state of mind, at least not right away.
ReplyDelete-Georgia Nicholas
We live in a world where an abundance of information is instaneously available, nevertheless consumers still rely on news outlets consistent and somewhat agreeable to values and views of their own. Therefore, I do not fully agree with Celine who states, “if a news outlet began reporting false stories, their consumers would slowly make the move to another media outlet,” because this statement ignores the obvious biases and embellished statements that “reliable” news outlets perpetuate. Once a news outlet has developed a wide consumer base, they can start reporting stories with false information because their consumers trust them enough to believe the stories they are releasing to the public.
ReplyDelete-Perla
What responsibilities do media producers have to their consumers?
ReplyDeleteTo provide. We can redirect this question to ask, “What should media producers provide their consumers?” This is the essential question we have exploring in this forum and class discussion. Collectively we have concluded that producers provide material that would attract the consumer, and the consumers’ likes/dislikes dictate what is broadcasted. It’s a vicious cycle that constitutes modern politics and media coverage.
For example, according to a 2007 Gallup poll 68% of republicans (and 40% of democrats) did not believe in evolution. Nearly every scientific forum in the US endorses teaching evolution in science classrooms. Since our democratic-republic society demands representation, these numbers must be represented. That’s where you have a politician, whose interest is to be supported by his people and dualistically represent his people. And if his people do not support evolution, he/she will most likely not support evolution, or toss aside the discussion along with “social controversy”. So what are ya trying to say people are stupid? No. But it is a paradox we have yet to solve.
Another motif mentioned in this forum is media trust and credibility. Theoretically as a well-informed citizens we should “trust but verify” and survey a variety of resources. However as we learned in last week’s TED Talk, the content may not always be worldly, regardless of your news provider.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_of_support_for_evolution#United_States
http://books.google.com/books?id=6pMqCjVynG0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=fool+me+twice&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wlRaUfbnJ5So4AOy-IDgCQ&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA
-Omar Peña
What responsibilities do media producers have to their consumers?
ReplyDeleteThe ethics of journalism are unclear. Journalists are uniquely powerful. They may change the world, tip an election or shift a paradigm with their words. Many journalists must therefore feel that it is their responsibility to use their words to enact positive change. If a journalist feels, for example, he could do nothing more noble than see Sarah Palin lose an election, the journalist is likely to feel that it is his responsibility to harm her race with his words. His subsequent reports are likely to biased and exaggerated - maybe even false - but it is all for the greater good! In the end, his words may save our nation from a great threat. I use this example to demonstrate how biased journalism may accomplish positive ends - I am glad that Sarah Palin was never our Vice President. Of course, fans of Palin may have felt betrayed by the media. And, biased stories have hurt more people than Sarah Palin in the past. Still, I do believe that the media's responsibility to consumers is not to simply spout facts but to spread good ideas. This means that I accept that some journalists will spread bad ideas and some will become so fascinated with spreading their ideas that they will forget the facts altogether - such is the current state of the media. This is the price that consumers must pay for a media that has the power to, occasionally, use its bias to do good.