13.5 the media and law reform

What is media?

Platforms used to communicate information and ideas to the public

Roles of the media

• inform and raise awareness

• Assess community support

• Influence public opinion

• Shape public opinion

• Place pressure on parliament

• Provide a platform

Positive Impacts

Social media

• Rapid large-scale reach

• Global connection

• Direct access to politicians

• Real-time footage

• Independent platforms

Traditional Media

• Investigative journalism

• Credibility

• Mass audience

• Mulit-platform expansion

Negative impacts

• Media concentration

  • few companies control most outlets → risk of potential bias, limited perspectives

• Misinformation

  • Social media lacks strict regulation; false info can spread rapidly

• Algorithms

  • personalised feeds limit exposure to diverse views

• Emotional oversimplification

  • Graphic or simplified posts may create strong emotional reaction without deep understanding

• Public fatigue/desensitisation

  • Constant exposure to injustice can overwhelm audiences reducing engagement

• Unequal coverage

  • Editors and algorithms decide which issues receive attention, less dramatic issues may be ignored

• No law-making ability

  • Even highly successful campaigns cannot compel parliament to reform the law