Social Problems in the Media

 Social Problems in the Media                                          
The media provide access to and try to construct social problems for a large number of audiences. Given their numerous and complex effects, the mass media has been heavily blamed for a broad spectrum of theories and critics. They have been lamented for promoting violence, sexism, ageism, racism and other oppressive phenomena. Many of this social problem connected with the mass media involve harmful media content which mainly target and influence the children and youth (Benkler, 2006). This effect range from pornography, degradation of the female gender and sexuality, inequality, promotion of excessive habits of consumerism and advertising of alcohol and related drugs (Johnson, 2005 ).
          Television has become a primary vehicle that disseminates information to the society and presents its values and expectations. The most important role the TV plays is during the presentation of information and news. The way media station chooses to present as newsworthy do play a role in how the recipients view their society and the immediate world around them. Many inside stories have featured urban violence and associated it with black neighborhoods. This has made the African-American community fall a victim of circumstances. The mainstream media has negatively portrayed the black as criminals and drug peddlers thus aggravated the spread of hatred, mistrust and racism within our society (Lasswell, 1972). The minority group becomes a subject of such stereotypes as the images become fixed mental images which are exaggerated and applied to such a group as a whole. The whites view the blacks are less intelligent, uncivilized more violent and less human. Many United States cases involving police department and the communities have had the black's being subjected to extra-judicial killings and shooting. 
The minority group thus develops an adverse reaction turned inwards which create a profound sense despair, hopelessness, and self-doubt which lead to even sociological and psychological problems. They tend to turn into alcoholism, crime, drug abuse and aggression to justify their feelings of being a target.This images present by the media thus contribute towards this circle, self-reinforcing  and provide a little solution for the larger problem of racism.
Linked to racism, there comes an issue of class. With the lifestyles of the poor, inner-city communities being viewed and portrayed negatively, a flight of the social class and economic activity develops in line with these stereotypes. The elite class with capital avoids being associated with the violent minority communities since they are portrayed as dangerous.Once such a disparity sets in, minorities become trapped in dogma and an economic isolation which is devastating.Access the job industry becomes near to impossible while welfare reforms loom in failure without no hope in the employment industry. With the fall in such changes the country risks being divided into multiracial and probably prosperous; while the other disadvantaged dark-skinned poor society (Bauer, 1960). With the rate of poverty increasing among the inner city, negative attitude and stories developed and propagated by the media instead of finding an amicable solution towards helping the disadvantaged in the society.

In accordance with gender, even though the television has been steadfast in championing the rights of female gender and promoting their equality it has failed to provide a balanced picture of the diversity of women lives and their contributions towards the society. The billion dollar advertising companies do emphasize on sexuality and the importance of the physique in an attempt to increase the sales. This places unnecessary pressure on women to improve and focus on appearance, and many are fallen victims of anexoria and slimness.All this are because of what the media podcasts as the trends and fashion industry revolutions. The onset of plastic surgery was aggravated by its spread by what the media feeds the youth in the society (Curran, 1991).
	Mainstream media programs which are based on the traditional roles of women have propagated the vices of domestic violence, and this has become impedance towards achieving the equality in the society. The sexual implication seen of women satisfying men in videos and music with merely naked women reinforces the myth that women are just sexual creatures. This does not solve the inequality problem but creates a wider issue of male chauvinism in the relationship among men and females. The political shape of our election pattern favor men to women and this has been championed by the media portraying women as weak and thus not trusted with leadership.
According to studies, education and consuming such respectable news results in a way more sensible view of the world in matters including economy and crime (Fowles.Jib, 1999). Drama programmers have presented a largely sanitized picture of poverty, in which the little income effects were not probably addressed. Even the hard-hitting characters rarely appear too deprived of the essentials through the low income. Time has come where some introspection of media is needed this is because it has acted irresponsible and wayward which needs to be reined in.
Even though there are government restrictions regarding licenses for the content and news channels to which has created an uproar, we still find that the information presented being doctored to suit the intended goal. However, freedom can be time absolute, and thus, reasonable restrictions can be subjected to it since it's their priority to provide truthful yet objective information to the public. This enables them to form rational opinions on the subject matter. Media has perpetuated the defect on portraying non-issues as real issues while sidelining the real ones. The real problems such as poverty, lack of better housing and medical care and unemployment are scrapped in the mainstream media. Instead of the mainstream media addressing these real hard issues, they have often tried to divert the attention of people to non-issues. They tend to bring news of celebrities and prominent people affairs.
With the rise in terrorism, a grave problem arises which makes the Muslim's victims of circumstances. When bombast takes place, the mainstream media starts showing news items linking attacks to the Muslim community and depicted texts or emails which allege claimed responsibility. The names of those portrayed organizations always revolve around Muslim's. The manner in which media shows such news create a tendency of an impression that Muslim's are terrorists, evil and should be treated with suspicion (Johnson, 2005 ). This creates hatred and trust issues among religious divide which is always the British for divide and rule policy. The trending issues in Twitter are set to split the world into religious fascism, and this is due to the impact on biased information by media. Instead of articulating this issues through democracy either allocating airtime to discussions, persuasion and consultations the media enjoys catching the public minds with allegations. This with the electronic media, we can introspect and find ways of rectifying the defects in the media and society.

Advancement in print media technology has revolutionized the social networking. The onset of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and internet has open doors to the spread of pornographic content with a click of a button. Many kidnappings have been channeled through the print media, and this is blamed on the information that is shared. Cybercrime has become a significant threat towards security and many companies online banking system is vulnerable to hacking. The gang problem thus becomes a constructed picture with an enormous power in the public domain. Views and opinions expressed in socials sites aggravate the spread of mistrust and violence.
The term gang is powerful aspect and tool for conjuring up the picture that can be exploited by a panel of hosts in a bid for power and negotiation of social influence. The media can construct a social problem, and this can be portrayed it as more than the reality would expect to agree. The print media also has influence in issues pertaining class. In situations such as labor strike, the print media can biasedly help influence the success of other class matters that portrays a different view. This print media has mostly been used by the government to brainwash people on various ideologies, especially international issues. The US government had brainwashed its citizens alleging that the Daesh terrorist group was created by Assad government in Syria, yet they did so when the uprising emerged as they left Iraq. This act of government has enabled them to evade corruption allegations’ and misappropriation of funds. Also, as linked to television news media, print media can further the economic difficulty of the urban population (Fowles.Jib, 1999). Finally, print media can reinforce and influence negative gender inequality and programming through their coverage.
Politics and the race to power have been channeled through mass media. The mainstream media has created division by taking part in support of a political faction at the expense of their role.This is evident in the US presidential bids which saw the CNN being a propaganda tool in support for Clinton bid. Media has been used to thwart the opposition’s views and criticize their agendas being baseless. Mr. Triumph latest comments have been twisted to portrays him as arrogant, inhuman and with no agenda thus creating social division within the media. This has shown that the mass media has been in its agenda on issues. 
Contrary to the charter which runs the operation of mass media and print industry, the media has perpetuated and caused a rise in civil wars and genocides.The Rwandan genocide is a proof of the power vested in the press. The call on the Hutus against Tutsi was evidently done through the use of radio and media. This could have been evaded if the press had taken its stand in preaching for peace and reconciliation. The fall of many institutions of government, banks, and social structures have been orchestrated through media. People get a different perspective which creates an overall impression of the intended agenda (Curran, 1991).
Mass media is a valuable tool in examining social vices and how they are born and the way they persist. The way the media chooses to present its news and views affects the opinion of the public. Race, class and gender are closely tied as stereotypes perpetuated by the media about how these factors led to often leads  directly to social problems. The three factors are closely linked especially in helping explain why the mass media operates in the ways it does so. The media can present information in the way it does in order to perpetuate our social institutions as well as behavior’s that have been functional for their operations.
Also, the media can act ultra vires in a way that enable the wealthy, males, white who own and distributors of mass media in their position of power. Although these social problems have been in existence from time immemorial, the media ought to be made more open to challenging perspective and views to weed out many stereotypes which exist in the real world. The modern society must strive to make all of the media outlets a powerful tool in which the voices of the oppressed can be championed in the society (Tichenor, 1980).
The society will move closer to curing the vices among the social variables when the media takes its position and role in championing for the voices of the oppressed. Change needs to be instituted to eliminate the disparities and gap in the society.
There has been a lot of concern in the recent times on the power which communication holds as an agent of the control of the company. This is portrayed by the number of the moguls dominated the mass media which promotes a conservative view contrary alternative opinions of the general population. The wide-reaching and growing capabilities of the press especially via internet allows this influence to spread across the country and to heighten the sense of societal control. Although there have been calls for regulations and fines set down in the media industry, the concepts of free speech as well censorship have existed.
In conclusion, the media has acted towards perpetuating these social vices it covers in their analysis and news. Their impressions have been seen to influence public opinion as well as democracy. Aside from biases expected from the corporations and the editors, these tabloids have portrayed the world in an unrealistic way. The mass media should be largely considered as a large part of the real problem in the areas of class, gender, and race. In order to fight this situation, the media especially mainstream must formulate a new plan that is open to different views and perspectives (Bauer, 1960). The programming setting should also challenge the tradition models of the class, race, and gender.


References
Bauer, R. &. (1960). America, mass society and mass media. Journal of Social Issues, 10(3):266.
Benkler, Y. (2006). Wealthy of networks. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Curran, J. S. (1991). Mass Media and Society.
Fowles.Jib. (1999). Television violence. Sage.
Johnson, s. B. (2005 ). Everything Bad is Good for you. Newyork: Riverhead books.
Lasswell. (1972). Media as a propaganda technique. Cambridge: M.I.T Press.
Tichenor, P. O. (1980). Community Conflict and the Press. Beverly Hills: CA: Sage.