Journalism Inform, Entertain and Brainwash Essay

Journalism: Inform, Entertain and Brainwash As a journalist, the first thing we learn is what are the major functions of the media. In Chapter Four of Print and Broadcast Journalism: A Critical Examination by Ed Applegate, according to William L. Rivers, Wilbur Schramm, and Clifford G.Christians, authors of Responsibility in Mass Communication, the three major functions of the media are to inform, entertain and persuade. However, current articles in the media, especially magazines, have me questioning whether or not these functions actually do exist. The three major functions of the media as stated are to inform, entertain and to persuade. But what exactly is news? According to Thomas Berry, First, news is any printable story†¦show more content†¦In order for news to be true, you must have information to back up your statement, such as evidence or an eyewitness account. Mr. Berry also states that news is also at least a set of facts that have been presented to the reporter as truth. This idea can be somewhat presumptuous also because just because somebody said something is true, it doesn’t mean that it is. The only way you can prove a witness is telling the truth or that evidence is accurate is to RESEARCH and INVESTIGATE your story completely and thoroughly. If you don’t, then your story will look like a piece of swiss cheese. I agree on the last three counts: proximity is necessary when getting to your target audience, recency (or timeliness) is an important element because news should be current and up t o date at all times (unless the piece is over a certain time span; then sometimes timeliness isn’t an important factor), and finally the element of unusualness: this will make the story more interesting to the reader. Mr. Applegate states that for instance, most, if not all, stories that are written follow a particular formula. Other constraints include deadlines and even sources. Also, information seems to be getting more complicated because of jargon, technical terms, and government gobledegook: thus, reporters sometimes have to interpret the news for readers. According to Curtis D. MacDougall, To interpret the news it is necessary to understand it, and understanding means more than