Reasons for choosing The New Paper over The Straits Time

This article tilted “Lured by bigger bucks in bars elsewhere?” was published on The New Paper. The highlight of the article is to inform the public that one of the night clubs in Singapore faced issue where the employees from China freed after they managed to get the work permit. The victim in the article suspect that these China women who are supposed to be working as singers in the nightclub escaped to other places in hope of finding a job that offers a higher pay.

I grabbed hold of the latest copy of The New Paper yesterday on my way home out of boredom as the traveling time is rather long which according to Charles Wright, as “surveillance”. Choosing The New Paper over The Straits Time makes me understand that my relationship with these media sources is voluntary. I can choose not to consume any of these media articles and stay ignorant or I could choose another form of media to gain information such as watching the daily news which tend to be more appealing in my own opinion as there are clips inserted to give me a visual view and there will be a reporter reading the news to me thus saving the effort to read the article. This then shows another characteristic regarding the mass media as there is competition with other media sources. Not to forget, I can have a choice of terminating the communication when I feel bored or when I am not interested in the article. Personally, there are only selective news that would interest me to read on. For example, this article on the runaway China singers whereas other issues that were also included in the papers like the economic fluctuation will not interest me. Thus, i will only select to consume social news and would terminate communications with other forms of news.

The various topics covered in the newspaper shows another factor regarding the mass media- they are not individualized. Whatever articles that are printed in The New Paper are not specially printed to suit any of its readers. They are inclusive of topics that one might not be interested but luckily (for me) the wide varieties of mass media choices allow me to turn to whichever source that interest me. Freedom of choice perhaps? An individual source of media will not be specially printed to suit to perference but rather, it would include a range of world issues. The varities of choices mentioned can spring from sources like magazines, reader digest, different newspapers and the television.

From my point of view, mass media like the newspaper exists for intended purpose that is to inform the public of the latest issues. It enables readers to be aware of the changing world and enjoy the entertainment provided like the comics and articles covering sports, movie reviews and a close-up with different movie stars. The unintended part could probably be that it leaves a bad impression such as the article today seems to highlight the dangers of taking foreign workers as they could escape. Unintentionally, I have adopted prejudices against the Chinese for such acts because not only did they escape their duties as a nightclub singer, they have inflicted harm on the person whom have hired them.

In my perception, mass media creates a great impact on our lives. It is easily available, in bookshops, supermarkets and magazine shops like Buzz. Given the easy access, I believe that the most common and convenience type of mass communication are the newspapers. Newspapers available in Singapore would include The New Paper, Lianhe Wangbao (the blue one), Xinhe Zao Bao (the red one), The Straits Time, Today, and My Papers. Though their coverage are rather different, I feel that the content are more or less similar. The choice of media chosen depends on the individual and the issues talked about. Therefore, the choice of mass media we consume depends on alot of factors that range from reasons why one would consume a particular source to why one would reject to consume any.