Electronic Media And Youth Violence

Electronic Media And Youth Violence Electronic media has forgotten Ethics and Social values, revision of media suitable for viewers through recommendations for producers and censor board. Media needs to be aware of the effects caused by their negligence and the inactive censor board. Nudity and violent footages, dramas and soaps exploiting and distracting the youth, scenes containing smoking and drinking shots, spreading wrong news before time and usage of copyrighted footage without permission should be stopped. One whole generation of the world is learning from electronic media and has learnt entirely immoral and incorrect information. This needs to be prevented in order to save next generations. Recommendations are given by interviewing executive producers, censor board executives and other directors. Executive Summary Electronic media has forgotten Ethics and Social values, revision of media suitable for viewers through recommendations for producers and censor board. Media needs to be aware of the effects caused by their negligence and the inactive censor board. Nudity and violent footages, dramas and soaps exploiting and distracting the youth, scenes containing smoking and drinking shots, spreading wrong news before time and usage of copyrighted footage without permission should be stopped. One whole generation of the world is learning from electronic media and has learnt entirely immoral and incorrect information. This needs to be prevented in order to save next generations. Youth is easily deceived, because it is quick to hope. Aristotle The youth is getting the wrong path by the use of this E-Media. Our main aim is to protect our youth from the dangerous effects of E-Media. In E-media we will target specifically the TV media which is accessible by the whole family especially the youth. Further in youth TV is mostly watched by the women of the family. These effects are either caused intentionally or by the negligence of E-media personals. Intentional effects are either for the promotion of their channels. The E-Media personals are displaying the unethical dramas, either the stories are distracting the youth or the scenes of the drama are disturbing and unethical. They provoke the female and male relationships which are considered unethical in our society. Most of the dramas and soaps are based on love stories and relations of married women with young guys. Some TV shows are provoking aggressiveness in our youth. We will mention a program of ARY MUSIK named LIVING ON THE EDGE. This program consists of unethical, immoral and non islamic dares given to the youth of Pakistan. That is done to provoke aggressiveness and to bring our youth to the level of the unethical youths of western countries. He is trying to copy the programs like FEAR FACTOR, RHOADIES etc. Similarly the E-Media personals are provoking nudity. Either that nudity is in full form or half nudity. We use the term half nudity for the scenes in which women or men are wearing inislamic clothes. Wearing sleeveless, wearing Capri, uncovered hair, uncovered belly etc is completely inislamic. Hereby we will mention some channels that have bought the licenses of western movie channels and are showing scenes containing kisses and some other unethical scenes. Channels are ARY DIGITAL who has recently bought license of HBO. Plus there are our cable operators who are showing unethical channels at midnight and at day time. Research methodology is based on interviews and questionnaire. Interviews are conducted from the media personals which include producers, directors, editors and executive producers of different TV channels. And questionnaires are floated among general public to gather their views about todays E-Media. Majority of the people have opposed medias current role. They want it to be made better by some central body. They want the media to be unbiased, responsible and correct. More entertainment channels should be introduced and number of news channels should be decreased as they are creating hypertension. Infotainment quota should be increased. Programs provoking aggression should be banned. Media should not be biased. Producers should show the real culture of our society. Channels should register their ratings. Channel owners involved in unethical and immoral airing should be penalized. Censor board should be made active. Censor board should penalize the parties distracting the youth. Censor board should take strict notice of the cable operators. E-Media is a very important sector of Pakistan. Along with the advantages of E-Media there are many disadvantages. These disadvantages should be eliminated and E-Media should be utilized to its best. Pakistans E-Media has all the capacity to be among the best. Hence everything is up to censor board. It should be made active and should be given the authority of penalizing and banning. It should take a serious notice of all the activities carried out by the E-media personals. INTRODUCTION Electronic Media Electronic media are that utilize electronics or electromechanical energy for the end user (audience) to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media), which are most often created electronically, but dont require electronics to be accessed by the end user in the printed form. The primary electronic media sources familiar to the general public are better known as video recordings, audio recordings, multimedia presentations, slide presentations, CD-ROM and Online Content. Most new media are in the form of digital media. However, electronic media may be in either analog or digital format. Devices such as televisions, computers and cd-roms that make information available to people. Importance In October 2003, the British humanitarian organization Christian Aid released a report that $4 billion in Iraqi funds, which had been earmarked for reconstruction of the country, had disappeared. The Coalition Provision Authority (CPA), the U.S. controlled body that ruled Iraq at the time, was relegated with handling that money. An examination of financial records between June 2003 and October 2004 showed poor bookkeeping and investigators found indicators of potential fraud, the report said At the time, the CPA vigorously denied the accusations. By June 2004, the amount of money gone missing had more than doubled from four to almost nine billion dollars. This story was reported with minimal coverage when the announcement was first released. As the investigation progressed, the story of the missing billions was reported several times during the summer months of 2004 and again in January 2005. However, it was never given prominence in any news medium. The writers at Faithful Progressive called it the biggest and single most under-reported story of the last year. News Media and Democracy In a democracy an informed public is of critical importance. In matters regarding the self-interests of the citizenry and of the nation as a whole, knowledge is key in making decisions regarding participation in the process of democracy. Indeed, failing to report important news, or reporting news shallowly, inaccurately, or unfairly can leave people dangerously uninformed. The mass media of today has tremendous power within society. What and how information is distributed can have indelible consequences for individuals and society as a whole. As such, control of media outlets is regarded as a valued form of property for those seeking political or economic power. Among other sources of power, it is important to note that mass media has the ability to: attract and direct attention to problems, solutions, or people that can favor those with power; it can confer status and confirm legitimacy; it can be a channel for persuasion and mobilization (Graber, 33). This represents an incredible amount of power, and over the past twenty years or so, people have taken control over these outlets for the sole purpose of attaining both political and economic power. International In the United States, there are three twenty-four hour news networks. President Bill Clinton stated it well in a response to the question of the condition of todays media. He stated, The thing I worry about most is that people will have all the information in the world but wont have any way of evaluating itThats what I consider to be the most significant challenge presented to all of you by the explosion of media outlets in the Information Age. COMPARISON WITH PRINT MEDIA Illiteracy According to United Nations report Pakistan has 55% literacy rate. This makes it 160th country in world. Because of low literacy rate people cannot read the printed news. This gives an edge to electronic media over print media. Media of future Electronic Media has a clear edge over print media even if new media (for eg. The Internet) is not included in it. Print media is more of a habit with people and still caters to a sizeable population. But electronic media offers a lot of choice to the people, especially to the youth (GEN Y), the largest growing segment of our population and more importantly, has the ability to maintain the pace at which the preferences and demands of the Gen Y changes. The shrinking readership of the print publications perhaps is testimony to the changing media consumption pattern of the people today. Although we dont see an immediate threat to the print media, more so because it is a centuries old media, yet we believe it definitely is not the media of the future. Moreover, electronic media is visually more appealing and more effective in not only conveying a message but by virtue of being a frequency medium, is also effective in registering it, thus ensuring high brand recall amongst viewers poten tial customers. For the advertisers and advertising agencies, it provides exciting opportunities to experiment with new and innovative ideas which reduces the medias dependence on traditional source Which is best? It depends on which area you are in. In rural areas, where there is no technology, print is better, but for the urban areas, electronic media are the best. Print media was supposed to have died 10 years ago, but that has not happened. In terms of mobility and cost print media is better than electronic media. But in terms of speed, coverage and reliability, electronic media are the best. Newspaper is no longer essential, while attending the usual morning business, in the toilet. Laptop is the in thing; one can browse as many e-papers as desired. IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM New technology has many social and educational benefits but caregivers and educators have expressed concern about the dangers young people can be exposed to through these technologies. To respond to this concern, some states and school districts have, for example, established policies about the use of cell phones on school grounds and developed policies to block access to certain websites on school computers. Many teachers and caregivers have taken action individually by spot-checking websites used by young people, such as FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE. This brief focuses on the phenomena of electronic aggression: any kind of aggression perpetrated through technology-any type of harassment or bullying (teasing, telling lies, making fun of someone, making rude or mean comments, spreading rumors, or making threatening or aggressive comments) that occurs through email, a chat room, instant messaging, a website (including blogs), or text messaging. Youth is easily deceived, because it is quick to hope. Aristotle The youth is getting the wrong path by the use of this E-Media. Our main aim is to protect our youth from the dangerous effects of E-Media. In E-media we will target specifically the TV media which is accessible by the whole family especially the youth. Further in youth TV is mostly watched by the women of the family. These effects are either caused intentionally or by the negligence of E-media personals. Intentional effects are either for the promotion of their channels. The E-Media personals are displaying the unethical dramas, either the stories are distracting the youth or the scenes of the drama are disturbing and unethical. They provoke the female and male relationships which are considered unethical in our society. Most of the dramas and soaps are based on love stories and relations of married women with young guys. Some TV shows are provoking aggressiveness in our youth. We will mention a program of ARY MUSIK named LIVING ON THE EDGE. This program consists of unethical, immoral and non islamic dares given to the youth of Pakistan. That is done to provoke aggressiveness and to bring our youth to the level of the unethical youths of western countries. He is trying to copy the programs like FEAR FACTOR, RHOADIES etc. Similarly the E-Media personals are provoking nudity. Either that nudity is in full form or half nudity. We use the term half nudity for the scenes in which women or men are wearing inislamic clothes. Wearing sleeveless, wearing Capri, uncovered hair, uncovered belly etc is completely inislamic. Hereby we will mention some channels that have bought the licenses of western movie channels and are showing scenes containing kisses and some other unethical scenes. Channels are ARY DIGITAL who has recently bought license of HBO. Plus there are our cable operators who are showing unethical channels at midnight and at day time. Smoking scenes also provoke the drug addiction in youth. Previously the ads of cigarettes were banned in order to decrease the percentage of people converting to addiction. But now these smoking scenes are consistently being shown in many dramas and shows. When a youngster watches his favorite actor smoking in a TV drama and performing stunts or having lots of girlfriends because of that cigarette then that youngster follows him. Same is the case with scenes containing alcohol and beer. Violent footages are also disturbing for the youth. We see many Indian movies which are showing scenes of fights which are followed by the youngsters. Same is happening here these days all the boys are found to be fighting with each other. They think they are living in their ideal movie and they are the heroes. Wrestling and cartoons are watched by the children and they try to implement that in their real life often damaging either themselves or some other member of family. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROBLEM Before examining the state of the news media in todays society, it is important to define what good reporting of news should be. Doris A. Graber, in her book Media Power in Politics, thinks it important to distinguish between news and truth. The function of news is to signalize an event. The function of truth is to bring to light the hidden facts, to set them into relation with each other, and make a picture of reality upon which men can act (Graber, 41). News dissemination, whether through radio broadcast, newspaper articles, or a web site posting, should perform both functions in order to truly inform. Good news can affect society in positive ways. Determined, sweeping coverage of important topics can improve local communities, rid government of improper public officials, save lives, and so many other things. Reporting events and uncovering truths is critical for the news media to perform its function. Media is the pillar of a society. Television is a vital source from which most people receive information. News and media delegates on television have abused their powers over society through the airing of appealing news shows that misinform the public. Through literary research and experimentation, it has been proven that peoples perception of reality has been altered by the information they receive from such programs. Manipulation, misinterpretation, word arrangement, picture placement and timing are all factors and tricks that play a major role in the case. Research, experimentation, and actual media coverage has pinpointed actual methods used for deceptive advertising. Television influences society in many ways. People are easily swayed to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to th irty years, normal social behavior, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered. Media has changed with time, along with quality and respectability. Many people receive and accept false information that is merely used as an attention grabber that better the shows ratings and popularity. This involves sensationalizing a story to make it more interesting, therefore increasing the interest of the audience. People often know that these shows aim to deceive them, but still accept the information as truth. The E-media has severely damaged our youth and provided them with altered and incorrect information. Thus one whole youth of Pakistan is having incorrect information and has inaccurate knowledge which not only is damage for them but for the whole generations which are to come. Following quotes represent the significance of youth; Youth is the trustee of prosperity. Benjamin Disraeli Almost everything that is great has been done by youth. Benjamin Disraeli RESEARCH METHODOLOGY TO BE USED Research methodology is based on interviews and questionnaire. Interviews are conducted from the media personals which include producers, directors, editors and executive producers of different TV channels. And questionnaires are floated among general public to gather their views about todays E-Media. Questionnaire is attached below while the list of interviewees is written below. Executive Producers Hammad Ghaznavi WAQT TV Rukhsana Noor Programs Manager WAQT TV Shah Bilal Programs Manager ATV Arooj Samdhani DUNIYA TV Producers Ahson Tirmazi DUNIYA TV Irfan Asghar DUNIYA TV Farrukh Tango GEO TV Noman Saeed ATV Munawwar Butt ATV Editors Usman Warraich Editor ATV Basit Javed Editor DAWN NEWS FINDINGS RECOMMENDATIONS By conducting the full report and analyzing the findings following recommendations are given; More entertainment channels should be introduced and number of news channels should be decreased as they are creating hypertension. Infotainment quota should be increased. Programs provoking aggression should be banned. Media should not be biased. Producers should show the real culture of our society. Channels should register their ratings. Channel owners involved in unethical and immoral airing should be penalized. Censor board should be made active. Censor board should penalize the parties distracting the youth. Censor board should take strict notice of the cable operators. CONCLUSION E-Media is a very important sector of Pakistan. Along with the advantages of E-Media there are many disadvantages. These disadvantages should be eliminated and E-Media should be utilized to its best. Pakistans E-Media has all the capacity to be among the best. Hence everything is up to censor board. It should be made active and should be given the authority of penalizing and banning. It should take a serious notice of all the activities carried out by the E-media personals.