Mass Media in Malaysia
Introduction
Mass media is defined as print and electronic means of communication that transmit information to widespread audiences (Schaefer, 2012). Examples of print mass media included newspapers, magazines, booklets and brochures, house magazines, periodicals or newsletters, direct mailers, handbills or flyers, billboards, press releases, and books. While examples of electronic mass media are television, radio, computers, and smartphones. The past of mass media is extensive and complex. It stretches back further than the dawns of recorded history to the people that figured out that they could reach more audience through painting a picture on a cave wall than just by telling the story to whatever group happened to be present (Damitio, 2012).
From the viewpoint of conflict theorists, the divisions in our society are reflected and even exacerbated by mass media. There are three major concepts from conflict perspective, which are media monitoring, digital divide, and dominant ideology.
Media monitoring often used to refer to interest groups’ monitoring of media content (Schaefer, 2012). One of the media monitored by some authorities is internet, which is also known as internet censorship. According to Webster Online Dictionary, internet censorship is control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. Since 2009, Google has been praised for publishing "transparency reports" on government demands to take information offline. Each time a government official requests for a search result to be congested or a YouTube video to be taken down, Google marks down the request and reveals the number of such takedowns each nation has asked for every six months or so (Isaacson, 2013).
Digital divide refers to a gap between places and groups that have far less access than others to the latest technologies because the advances in communication technology are not evenly distributed worldwide. For example, people in low-income families, developing
Mass media is defined as print and electronic means of communication that transmit information to widespread audiences (Schaefer, 2012). Examples of print mass media included newspapers, magazines, booklets and brochures, house magazines, periodicals or newsletters, direct mailers, handbills or flyers, billboards, press releases, and books. While examples of electronic mass media are television, radio, computers, and smartphones. The past of mass media is extensive and complex. It stretches back further than the dawns of recorded history to the people that figured out that they could reach more audience through painting a picture on a cave wall than just by telling the story to whatever group happened to be present (Damitio, 2012).
From the viewpoint of conflict theorists, the divisions in our society are reflected and even exacerbated by mass media. There are three major concepts from conflict perspective, which are media monitoring, digital divide, and dominant ideology.
Media monitoring often used to refer to interest groups’ monitoring of media content (Schaefer, 2012). One of the media monitored by some authorities is internet, which is also known as internet censorship. According to Webster Online Dictionary, internet censorship is control or suppression of the publishing or accessing of information on the Internet. Since 2009, Google has been praised for publishing "transparency reports" on government demands to take information offline. Each time a government official requests for a search result to be congested or a YouTube video to be taken down, Google marks down the request and reveals the number of such takedowns each nation has asked for every six months or so (Isaacson, 2013).
Digital divide refers to a gap between places and groups that have far less access than others to the latest technologies because the advances in communication technology are not evenly distributed worldwide. For example, people in low-income families, developing