The mass media can have a profound effect on education. It has the power to change opinions of schools and colleges in one headline. If the media declares an education policy a sham, or praises it, their word is immediately taken as the truth. This is a growing problem globally, because people believe the media, no matter what they say and this means that it has considerable power to scaremonger, and make the public believe propaganda that may not be true.
Advantages of mass media in education:
Advantages of mass media in education:
- The mass media is a great tool in grading and inspecting schools and universities. For example, tables such as the good university guide give a reliable top 100 universities, and supply all the facts and figures to help you choose a university or school that suits your needs.
- It is also useful in showing success in schools and universities, by praising those who get the best results out of their students. Through the mass media, they then become more popular through their success.
- It can hype up problems with education and has a tendency to over report the bad things without looking in great detail at the good. An example of this, is the recent fiasco over tuition fees in British universities. Most are now charging £9000 per year, even though at first the media said, only the top few would be able to charge this amount. As soon as it was announced, the media immediately informed us all how much we had been betrayed by the government and how thousands of young people would now not be able to afford to go to university. The media twisted the picture because it made universities look like they were charging unfair prices when it was up to the government all along how much they charged.
