Commercial media: is it really doing us any good?

"In this regard, one things stands out above all others - the view that the very nature of the commercial equates to a corruption of the social. In other words, as media become more commercial, they do so at the expense of their social function. This is seen as zero-sum game. Profits come before equality."

The quote from Professor Michel Bromley sums up the daily injustice that are our commercial media outlets (ie; various newspapers, television stations, radio stations and magazines). They cast aside the relevant and important issues in our society today in favour of trashy, tabloid stores about celebrities and fashion. This is done out of a need to make a profit. But has it gotten to the point where money is more important than actual news worthy stories? 

If you looked at a newspaper, say for example, The Courier Mail, your chances of finding an important and newsworthy story on the front page would be very slim. Depending on what the latest scandal is, you could be seeing anything from Kate and William's unborn child, to a sports scandal - most likely to be involved with the AFL or rugby. The sad things is, this shocking phenomena has been going on for years. 

It seems that people these days are more interested in the latest celebrity "news" (ie; the use of drugs in sport) than the state of our hospitals, or the fact that our LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) youth are three and a half to fourteen times more likely to attempt suicide than the general community. But are there news stories on either of these things? No, there are not. Instead, every news program, newspaper, and radio station focuses on the issue of drugs in sport and how that "affects" the rest of the country. How and when did the issue of what steroids athletes use become more important than preventing our youth from dying?

One journalism student shared her opinion on the matter, "I think that there are some issues that need to be much more prevalent in the media than some of the topics that are being reported," she said. "There needs to be more articles on what's happening in Iraq, or the issue of sexism and how it's still prominent in society."

Whether or not the media ever do start reporting on what's important, one thing's for sure;
as media become more commercial, they are most certainly doing so at the expense of their social function.