@Burnok 10 July 2021

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

The power of media even affects the government. It can strengthen the connection of the public and the government. It displays the actuality of our leaders. It serves as a clear window for the people outside to see what is inside. The public, which are the people outside, can see what is really happening inside, which represents the government. The media plays a key role in supporting the process of good governance through supporting high-quality, thoughtful comment and debate on public issues. It informs the public about government’s wrongdoings and provide suggestions. In that way, people are influenced to take part in national issues. It affects the public so much that it even compels and obliges them to have a collaboration in a certain problem. Additionally, the power of media is displayed through its impact to every individual. It urges a person to move. The potential of media to be capable to reach people’s mind by giving suggestions and recommendations that can sole an issue that affects them can be beneficial. If a person is given an idea of how to fix something then he or she would be more likely to move. Media is persuasive. It can stimulate a person’s conviction to join societal problems. Through being influential and impactful, the power of media extends to resolving crises. Right now, more and more people have a say to every issue because of media. It becomes a way for freedom of expression to be more possible. No matter how many people express their opinions if they do not have a way of telling those to the ones concerned which is the government, then it is just close to worthless. New media, including online newspaper, blogs and social media, allows people’s opinion to reach the leaders. It even allows more people to know all trends. Through social media, people can talk about their dissatisfaction of the government with other concerned people. If many people begin talking about it, it will attract more people to focus on that case and even the government are compelled to do so. Though media affects people, people can also affect media. Knowing that, media users should be aware of their responsibilities as a user to avoid negating media. We should be responsible in using media. Media provides us with accurate information. As a user we must learn how we can make that information helpful to ourselves and to others. We must know how it can be of service rather than of harm. Of all the information we receive, we should make sure that it is true and reliable. Never let ourselves be a victim of fake news. It can destroy our reputation and give people the wrong idea. Most importantly, we should know our limitations. In expressing our opinion, especially in social media, we should be tactful to avoid being abusive, offensive, threatening, embarrassing and harassing. It is our responsibility to be careful not to convey any form of unethical and discriminatory statements. Violating any laws and regulations, including intellectual property rights like copyright infringement should be discouraged rather than initiated. It is our responsibility to set the boundaries and follow them to make media useful instead of destructive. Media reminds us that with great power comes great responsibility. The power of media constitutes of upholding transparency, supporting good governance, changing people’s perspective, urging people to take action and giving way for freedom. Those are important factors for progress of an individual and for a nation. However, the power media has can backfire as it weakness if not properly used, therefore, the users should be mindful and thoughtful of their responsibilities by knowing where to draw the line. Final Thoughts Media can be a sword with a sharp edge that saves people from ruthless people but it can also be a sharp blade that destroys people because of misuse. It only depends on the people holding the hilt of the sword. For that reason, we, users, need to be capable of using media properly.