Zarządzanie Kulturą, tom 6 (2013), nr 4 / Culture Management, vol. 6 (2013), no. 4
Mirela Mazurkiewicz (Opole University) MEDIA IN THE SPHERE OF POLITICS; OBSERVERS OR CREATORS OF THE POLITICAL STAGE?
The article was written for the 60th anniversary of Radio Opole.
Key words: The media in politics, politics in the media, infotainment, the power of the media, media as the watchdog of democracy, function of the media, political marketing. Abstract: The global processes of informatization and the progressing tabloidization of the media cause the evolution of their current functions and roles in the society. Reliable and thorough analysis gives place to events or pseudo-events which, on one hand are devoid of cognitive value, but on the other hand are endowed with the emotional component which speaks to the recipients louder than the most thorough analysis. According to some people, the media gradually lose their label of „the fourth power” which came into being in order to control the three other powers. On the contrary, the media has become the first power, admittedly devoid of the legal instruments but in fact the most powerful one. What is the role of the media in the contemporary politics and social life? Which one of their functions is dominant: the one of the controller and the observer of the political scene, or the one of the creator of the events? The author comes to the bitter-sweet conclusions. The media are still the guard of the democratic values, but selecting the content and forming the message, they are driven by the economic aspect which enforces them to choose the style which, in turn, attracts the biggest amount of the audience. The more brutal (even if it does not go beyond the verbal sphere) and sensational setting, the better. This is what the audience expects and their preferences influence what the media market offers.
Introduction A discussion on a role of the media and their impact on the society has been continuing for years. Some researchers think that the debate is in many respects a critical battle in the larger, cultural war.1 On the one hand, there are media entrepreneurs who generate revenues in the process of production and distribution of information and, on the other, their opponents: social elites anxiously watching broadcasters gaining power. The influence of media on the public opinion is indisputable, however researchers differ as to how strong that effect is. The aim of this paper is to take part in the debate on the evolution of contemporary media and their significance in the social and political life. It is the author’s objective to look at the debate from the macro level, i.e. global trends and micro perspective, i.e. the Opole Province (Voivodeship), in which regional media and politics interrelate, crossing the established boundaries, and from an observer’s point of view as he is becoming a creator of political stage.
1
The battle is over the foundations of broadly understood social order, in which we live. See: S. J. Braun, D.K. Davis, Teorie komunikowania masowego [Theories of Mass Communication], Kraków 2007, p. 51.
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