Outline the main factors explaining news definitions of gender and Essay

Outline the main factors explaining news definitions of gender and assess the evidence that journalism contributes towards the a - Essay Example Moreover, stereotypes of a litany of different origins are likely to pervade the media’s representation of any given topic; and have been proven to exist for as long as the modern media has been in existence (Munoz et al., 2012, p. 385). As a means of understanding this unique dynamic, this particular analysis will consider some of the main reasons why the current, and past media, have marginalized and alienated women and how this impact has in fact worked to compound women’s issues within the context of greater degrees of freedom and societal shift that may have otherwise occurred had the pervasive agenda of the media not been in place. In order to begin to discuss such a topic, it is necessary for the reader to come to a firm and complete understanding of what defines the media and to what extent and for what reasons it remains a dynamic and powerful force in formulating the ideas of society. In order to achieve this goal, the first section of this piece will discuss the role and evolution of the media on the lives of those within Western civilization. So powerful has been the effect of the media on the way in which the world has grown and developed that key historians and social scientists in the 19th century collectively dubbed it the â€Å"Fourth Estate†; an homage to the medieval representation of the three estates of society – the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. As a means of defining the power that the media holds over society in such a way, the reader comes to the powerful understanding that such a high level of influence is given to this entity that it in and of itself can be counted as a determinant entity within the â€Å"estates† of modern society. Likewise, by limiting the analysis to Western civilization it will be possible to provide a level of focus upon the same media that affected the nations that comprised the early women’s liberation movement of the 1960s and onwards. One such factor that m akes the media of the recent past as well as the present unique is the surprising level of standardization and singular ownership which defines it. Whether one considers the newsprint media, television media, radio media, or media of other forms, a few solitary players control the lion’s share of these forms of media. As such, the range of diversity and the level to which archetypes have been constructed and accepted has reached endemic proportions. For purposes of analysis, the media which will be analyzed involves print, television, radio, and various other types of less popular yet still visible forms of advertising and media that impact on the lives of individuals on a daily basis. With the growth and widespread popularity of television in the years following the Second World War, media saw a sudden shift in the means by which it could interact with the average individual within the developed world (Ferguson, 2012, p. 890). Rather than relying on selling newspapers, magaz ines, journals, books etc, the media now had a cheap and effective way of allowing the advertising budgets of their sponsors to defray the cost that would otherwise be passed on to the consumer and