The media is a very powerful device that has be ability to place issues and events that occur in society under the media spotlight, whether it be on a local, national, or global scale. The media acts as a transmitter, whether it is printed, published online, or broadcasted on television; information is relayed to the public that they then decode themselves. However, practices of the media can result in certain issues and events having greater significance placed upon them, meaning they are perceived to be of greater importance. Examples of this are front page stories in newspapers, and breaking news stories on primetime broadcast news programs. This method of supply consequently diverts attention away from other stories, and they are then deemed to be of less importance by the institutions relaying them, therefore altering societal opinion in relation to the level of importance.
This can be quite problematic, as companies such as Fairfax and News Corp in Australia. Between these two institutions, they own the majority of newspapers, radio stations, and magazines in circulation. This enables them to infect the public with their own bias ideologies across many news mediums and communication streams. As a result, public opinion can be swayed at a more prolific rate, as they are able to correlate their own bias stances on news via multiple media mediums – however this is not always the case. Throughout my following of the Coal Seam Gas issue I have looked at many different types of media, in an attempt to gauge just exactly how the media is communicating the issue to the public. Certain broadcasting corporations such as the ABC have maintained coverage of the coal seam gas issue, since the story initially surfaced onto the media scene. In my first post The Coal Seam Gas Rush, I draw attention to the fact that the corporation has an entire section of their website dedicated to the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) issue, which lists factual data and is constantly updated whenever new stories surface, giving readers a heightened understanding of the issue. Furthermore, an article in the Australian, reports how the ABC was recently forced by the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association to take down content from their website. This example clearly underlines how significant the ABC considers the issue to be.
My second post focused on Coal Seam Gas in the Illawarra, closely examining the region’s newspaper The Illawarra Mercury, and how the issue was reported on. My research for this blog post found that while the newspaper generally reported on new developments regarding the issue, both on national and local levels. However, I also discovered that even though it is considered to be quite a high-profile story within the region, updates and developments on the issue commonly find themselves placed in latter pages of the newspaper. Consequently this can result in a lack of significance being placed on the issue by the readers. Furthermore, the post highlighted that this also may be a result of print media heavily relying on shocking headlines such as “Grandmother’s body in wardrobe: man pleads guilty” to draw readers into purchasing the paper. Predominately this trend was quite common all of the print publications I looked at; however other forms of media such as websites on the Internet had much more freedom, as the webpages were exclusively devoted to putting the issue under the media spotlight.
Online media websites such as Coal Seam Gas News which I talked about in my blog post “The Internet – Stamping Out CSG?”, is a prime example of online media exclusively focusing on one issue continuously. My research found that the website features regular updates and also runs a live twitter feed to further keep members of the public up to date on the issue. This online publication approaches the CSG issue from a fairly neutral standpoint, stating factual information, allowing for readers to independently form opinions on the matter. The main aim of this website is to raise awareness about the issue, rather than bellowing out bias opinions like traditional media outlets may seek to do.
Overall I found that the media, depending on how the outlet and style of reporting, generally dictates how audiences will react and decode the information given to them. Reputable companies such as the ABC and companies owned by larger corporations such as Fairfax Media and News Limited play crucial roles in drawing attention to these issues and keeping them under the media spotlight long enough to have the issue deemed significant by the public. However, significance of local issues reported on by local media outlets can sometimes see a lack of significance placed on the issues as there is a distinct lack of coverage, meaning that important contemporary issues such as the CSG one may be overlooked by members in the community.
The Internet, An Abyss 