Advantages and disadvantages of the media (pros and cons)

Traditional media (such as television) coexist with new forms of digital communication (such as social networks) supported by the network. The big media or mass media have had to adapt to this reality. Despite their late adaptation to the new forms of communication they continue to have a great influence on public opinion. In the following article we are going to present a series of pros and cons of the media. 

Media

Advantages and disadvantages of the media

Advantages of media

  • Large reach. They reach the majority of the audience because they have extensive communication networks.
  • Massive dissemination of information. Their large infrastructures allow them to disseminate a lot of information in a short time. They are continuously generating content.
  • They help to reduce the cultural gap. They serve to disseminate all kinds of knowledge to people with few economic resources. A good example of this are cooking channels or documentary channels specialized in nature.
  • They help to reduce the cultural gap.
  • Immediate. The development of the Internet has made communication instantaneous, without waiting.
  • Economic for the user. Once you have bought the television set, you do not have to pay to watch the antenna channels. In case of internet, if you have to pay for the connection, but there are plenty of free services such as email or social networks.

Disadvantages of the media

  • Technological dependence. They need technology to function. A technical error can prevent the transmission of information. Who hasn’t been disconnected from the Internet when about to download a file to the network after hours of waiting?
  • Costly development. For companies, developing a means of communication is an important investment that is very difficult to make profitable.
  • Information manipulation. Unfortunately, they are not always reliable. Sometimes they manipulate information for political or economic purposes. Which ends up creating a certain distrust in some viewers.
  • Addictive. There are people hooked to social networks or to their smartphone. A moderate use of social networks is always advisable to avoid this type of situation.
  • Authorship problems. The media can plagiarize content from Internet users. There have been cases of videos used by major media outlets without the consent of the creator.