by Marisela Feldman

Created on: July 01, 2008

Is it the media's responsibility to go beyond what's happening today in order to predict future conflicts?

The responsibility of media varies depending on the place, political context, and graveness of the issue. As the boundaries and meaning of "media" have become blurred, so have its' "responsibilities". Modern media is the method of mass communication. Here, the focus of media is the act of broadcasting news through various wide-ranging mediums in a wide range of locations.

Ideally, media is intended to educate and motivate citizens to foster participation in civil society. In order to do this, citizens must be living in a democratic society. Without rights to democratic institutions, it is (nearly) impossible for citizens to practice democracy and participate politically. Furthermore, most countries that are not democracies have partial or full control of mass media. In this case, these countries (and their political systems) are considered obstacles in the goal of worldwide media freedom. This goal is not necessarily a "responsibility" or media in general, but rather a common objective integrated into the very definition of media itselfglobal awareness.

Generally, the responsibility of the media depends on the political system under which it resides. However, in the age of globalization and extreme levels of accessibility, media outlets have become more autonomous, and therefore less accountable to anyone or anything. In some countries, this is not a problem, because limited exposure erases the issue (or at least delays it from disrupting civil society for a while). For example, limited Internet in China and Russia and banned YouTube access in Turkey. In these countries, media exposure is lower than in others and therefore automatically takes on different responsibilities and obstacles.
In the United States and the EU, media "responsibility" has become more of a problem. "Informed" citizens are actually misinformed, cynical, or indifferentor all three. The "Free World" is bound to the chains of too much awareness. No one knows what to do with piles of information. Mobilizing intuitions and organizations seems pointless or impossible to a myriad of people. It seems we are all approaching (or already playing) in a zero-sum game.

The issue of democracy becomes highlighted with the responsibility of media. If the Western style of life imposes itself on every corner of the planet, will the media maintain a different purpose? For now, media heightens awareness of

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