Page 10 - PR Communication Age - JUNE 2016
P. 10
The Media and
Public Opinion
impact on
Country's role in
Global Affairs -
A case study of India and Nigeria
Introduction lation, surveillance socialization and media's role in public affairs as it could
entertainment are functions of commu- apply to national or international af-
This paper looks into the media and nication and media. fairs and public opinion. Media decide
public opinion and their impact on shape of things to come effectively and
country's role in global affairs and In- Media portray what is happening in a media plays agenda setting role effec-
dia as well as Nigeria are taken for country and portray it to outside world tively in democratic societies every-
study. Media plays information and as others learn mainly from media as where.
educational role in telling people what we may know that US public opinion is
is good to them and what they should in favor of Republicans now than be- What media is doing?
do to keep themselves informed as fore. This impression we can gather
many communication scholars from media as media mirror society's or Media have been providing informa-
say.(Bagdikian 1997) Charles Wright, country's happenings to outside world tion, education and entertainment to
is a communication scholar says corre- and to that particular society as well. people effectively in large numbers
and media have become part of
About the author According to Maxwell E McCombs and people's lives. (Parthasarathy 2006)
Donald Shaw media could play a role We get up in the morning & while hav-
S. Ganesh in influencing issues to receive people's ing a cup of coffee we would read our
attention (Littlejohn 2004). Agenda daily newspaper and we would look at
Sr. Lecturer in Mass communication Setting Theory is a famous theory for headline news to catch up with the
Oduduwa University, Nigeria world while going to office.
"The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the
guilty innocent, and that's power."
10 PR COMMUNICATION AGE June 2016
