Answer to Question #261664 in Sociology for Karen

Question

1. Expand on the following. Use references (start with the provided text).

What can you say the role of the media is in a society? Consider, for instance, the history of newspapers in SA and their impact on society.

2. Do you think the use of internet and social media can enhance political participation of citizens? Explain.

3. Expand on the following. Use references (start with the provided text).

Distinguish between pluralism and diversity, by identifying practical examples of this in South African and international media (for example, magazines, television programmes and movies).

Answer 1

What can you say the role of the media is in society? Consider, for instance, the history of newspapers in SA and their impact on society.

In the two and a half decades since apartheid ended, the South African media has played a critical role in politics and society. The South African media has contributed to a culture of democratic debate while also serving as a watchdog to hold political power accountable through investigative reporting into corruption and misconduct, supported by strong constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and a vibrant civil society. Despite these beneficial achievements in South Africa's growing democracy, the role of the media in the country has been hotly debated. Like the rest of South African society, the media exhibits major socio-economic inequality, and the print media, in particular, has been accused of primarily supporting an elite. In addition, the country's normative self-regulatory policy has been challenged and has undergone multiple adjustments to be more responsive to the requirements of a changing South African society (Wasserman, 2020).

Do you think the use of the internet and social media can enhance the political participation of citizens? Explain.

Generally, the widespread use of the Internet and social media has aided in voter mobilization (Zhuravskaya et al., 2020). The Internet and social media play an important aspect in amplifying political, economic, and cultural grievances globally (Zhuravskaya et al., 2020). Social medial is used in coordinating protests and expressing grievances by the opposition in an autocratic regime. Additionally, autocratic regimes use the Internet and social media for surveillance, propaganda and distract voters from politics (Zhuravskaya et al., 2020).

Distinguish between pluralism and diversity, by identifying practical examples of this in South African and international media (for example, magazines, television programs, and movies).

The term pluralism is what describes a society while diversity is confirmed and supported. Besides, diversity explains why there any many groups of people in society but pluralism describes a community where diversity is supported after being accepted. For instance, the \south African media is considered to be of moderate plurality but not really diversity. This is because a lot of media firms offer more similar and not true choices to the leading sources of information, entertainment and news.  

In pluralism, it is concerned with the unbiased distribution of resources as well as authority, which means authority is attributed among certain groups. In this region (SA) it is combined with NGOs, investments unions, proficient teams, and business experts who share power, but South Africa’s cultural diversity encouragements are described in certain ways. The unique and famous are the diverse cultural influences that go into the food that folks eat.       

References

Wasserman, H. (2020). The state of South African media: a space to contest democracy. Publizistik, 65(3), 451-465.

Zhuravskaya, E., Petrova, M., & Enikolopov, R. (2020). Political effects of the internet and social media. Annual Review of Economics, 12, 415-438. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-economics-081919-050239</span>