Mass media and social responsibility: A Study

The Mass Media is known as the 4th estate because of its influential and powerful role they play in the society so they deserve to be known as an "estate" on their own. They are the eyes and ears of the common man and are responsible for keeping tabs on important happenings so that the citizens will be able to get a holistic picture of the universe. However, sometimes the media might withhold information from the public as they have been instructed by the governing bodies to keep mum about certain news until a certain date. One example would be the escape of the terrorist Mas Selamat from Singapore's Whitley Road detention centre. Other examples include the death of a president or a big dignitary, which might affect the social and political stability of a nation. This paper is an attempt to understand the responsibilities of the Mass Media and in this paper we have discussed some of the important theories of Mass Media.