THE ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN SOCIALISATION AND WELL-BEING: THEORETICAL ANALYSIS AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS

Determining the Relationship between Media Literacy and Social Skills

In the current digital era, the topics of media literacy and the trust placed in social media news are among the most pertinent research subjects due to their significant impacts on individuals. This study aims to examine the relationship between media literacy levels and trust in social media news among Generation Z, considered digital natives. Conducted with Journalism Department students at Uşak University Faculty of Communication, this study obtained 311 usable responses. It was found that students used social media for more than seven hours daily, with WhatsApp being the most frequently used platform. Both the stu-dents' media literacy levels and their trust in social media news were found to be high. No statistically significant difference was found between the students' descriptive characteris-tics such as age, gender and average social media usage and their media literacy and trust level in social media news (p>0.05). However, a positive, significant, and moderate rela-tionship (r: 0.382) was found between media literacy and trust in social media news (p<0.05). Regression analysis results showed that media literacy had a 14.6% effect on students' trust level in social media news (p<0.01). This result could be interpreted as the younger generation placing more trust in social media news due to reasons such as the traditional media's low levels of press freedom in Turkey and biased press reporting.

The aim of this paper is to look on level of media literacy and activities in this field in two countries – Latvia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. People are exposed to a flow of diverse content of information and opinions, there it is important to discuss about media education and it`s outcome – the media literacy. Media literacy helps people to analyze, evaluate, and create messages thus develops people's critical and creative abilities. The survey about credibility of mass media, critical use of information, understanding of media literacy in each country, institutions promoting media literacy and the impact of media literacy on political decision making was carried out. The main hypothesis of this case study was that media literacy is basic presumption of the establishing the critical thinking of society of developed democratic consciousness.The comparative analysis showed that sociological aspect in the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the deep division in the society itself, with the lack of consensual awareness creates presumption trust completely into the mass media, while in the case of Latvia there is just few answers related to the existing media literacy.

The downside of the integrative aspect of the digital space is how easily fake news can propagate which jeopardized the regulation and control measures of the COVID-19 pandemic. While existing literature expounds on the nature of infodemic phenomenon, recent curiosities lack the exploration of the contributing factors that led to the inability to recognize fake news on social media as it corresponds to the New Media Literacy (NML) levels. NML allows adaptation to technological advancement as it constantly evolves with great sophistication. Anchored from this gap, the study employs a quantitative research design where 385 respondents from Cebu City—a highly urbanized city in the Philippines—were asked to answer a three-part survey questionnaire. The findings purport that a high percentage of respondents can distinguish legitimate from fake news and take proactive measures in reporting or resharing the posts. Moreover, the study reveals that the respondents have high NML levels, particularly in functional prosuming and consuming aspects, which the study probed according to the demographic factors. The salient discussion then revolves around the low critical outcomes of prosuming and consuming NML aspects to push for educational policy formulation methods with interpretive social-scientific approaches. This reinforces the post-truth lens in expanding the fields of concerns arising from the infodemic phenomenon. Furthermore, recommendatory measures are provided in the Philippine educational system— that may be reintegrated into the dimensions of policy theories for educational policy evaluation to probe different areas of improvement in the Media and Information Literacy of the K-12 curriculum. Keywords: COVID-19, fake news, infodemic, new media literacy, post-truths

The purpose of the article is to conduct a theoretical analysis of the content, essence and functions of the mass media as an important part of the functioning of the political system of society; research on the interaction of government authorities and the mass media; features of the impact of the mass media on society and public administration. Such general scientific and special methods were used in order to reach the set goals: generalization method was used in order to reveal the theoretical and methodological foundations of the communicative interaction mechanisms in the public administration sphere; system method was used in order to reveal the conceptual foundations of communicative interaction in the public administration sphere; logical and dialectical methods, generalization method, method of complex and systemic approaches were used in order to improve certain definitions; logical method was used for theoretical generalization and formulation of conclusions and proposals. In accordance with the goals of the research: 1) on the basis of the theoretical analysis of the research field on the interaction of public administration authorities and the mass media, it was proved that public administration in modern society is impossible without an extensive system of communication; 2) it was established that in the conditions of transition to the information society the role and importance of mass media in the public processes, which take place in modern Ukraine, grow. At the same time, the subjects of public power become the subjects of the communicative process; 3) a theoretical analysis of the research field on the interaction of government authorities and the mass media, where the mass media is often seen not as a socially responsible business, but as a component of political capital or influence, was made; 4) it was established that the formation of the global communication space also affects the role and functions of the mass media; 5) features of the impact of the mass media on society and public administration were analyzed and concepts were singled out; 6) positive aspects of cooperation between the mass media and government authorities in terms of the term “interaction” were defined; 7) it was proved that the mass media is an important tool of public administration, which directly depends on the current political regime in the country; 8) it was established that the mass media is an integral part of the mechanism of democracy functioning, its values and normative principles as well as an important tool of public administration, but it directly depends on the existing political regime in the country. Openness and ensuring access of citizens to information on the activities of the government as well as the involvement of the population in the discussion of socially important information are crucial for the government. It was established that democratic transformations are possible only under the condition of wide openness of the society, publicity and freedom of speech, which would not give advantages to any political force in possession of the mass media. The author’s position on the definition of positive aspects of cooperation between the mass media and government authorities in terms of the term “interaction”. The article contains an original analysis of modern approaches to the peculiarities of the relationship between the government and the mass media, government authorities and the mass media as well as certain aspects of the functioning of the mass media in the processes of democratic transformations of Ukrainian society and legal regulation of state policy in the mass media sphere. The article can serve as a methodological and theoretical basis for further study of the mass media as a component of human communication; the mass media as a channel of manipulative influence on society; features of the functioning of the mass media in the period of transformation of modern Ukrainian society; as well as the role of the mass media in the process of forming the social and communication sphere of civil society.

This article gives an overview of the role of the mass media in highway safety campaigns directed at the drinking and driving problem. Attention is focused on public service campaigns and paid advertising campaigns. The following questions are addressed: (1) what is known about the role, use and effects of mass media in campaigns on drinking and driving; (2) what are the deficiencies in the research evidence gathered thus far; (3) what additional knowledge is needed to conduct successful mass media campaigns; (4) what research is needed to get that additional knowledge; and (5) what practical actions can be started now to improve media campaigns?

The problems of media education and media literacy, which have been in the focus of attention of different sciences for a long time, are closely related to free media access possibilities and ability to produce own media texts, on the one hand, and the ability to critically interpret information, on the other hand, and, most importantly, they are related to the issues of trust in the media and in the content generated by it as a whole. At the same time, it should be noted that the trust phenomenon itself is one of the most complicated phenomena in public relations studies. Paradoxically, however, even though the level of trust in mass media as a social institution continues to remain an important indicator of societal well-being, the ability to take a critical view of any media message, characterize a certain maturity of the social environment, a certain level of media literacy and critical mindset of citizens. That is exactly why it deemed important for us to emphasize the issues of trust in information sources in the course of a survey of Russian students’ media literacy level which took a few years, the results of which are presented in this article.

In the article the author examines the challenges related to the increasing role of the mass media in the modern world. Two contrary approaches to the role of mass media in the modern world are being reviewed: the liberal and the postmodernist one. Based on the critical analysis of the most accredited ideologists of postmodernism, who most critically and thoroughly observed all aspects of the emergence of information society and its effect on the political life and political consciousness, she unveils the role of the mass media, points out the new opportunities for media-manipulation that have become apparent in the post-industrial society. The author examines key features related to the increase in the role of the mass media, which encompass: modern world as hyper-reality and “spectacle”, appearance of new ways of delivering information to society, uncritical perception of information by the public, “depolitisation” of politics and upsurge of yellow press and “entertaining” media, new opportunities of government control via mass-media, fight for mass-media ownership. These features indicate that today mass media are not only the tool of reflecting the reality, but also of shaping it. They become one of the ways of shaping and influencing public consciousness and a true “fourth power”.

Mainstream media often simply download information posted on social media from unreliable sources without critical thinking and verifying the content. Nowadays, the accuracy of information in all types of media is less important than the number of clicks and views per media content. Due to the fact that there is a proven correlation between the level of media literacy and democratic development of a society, as well as the fact that the media have a great influence on the shaping of public opinion via media framing and agendas, this paper explores the awareness on media literacy of Twitter users in Croatia (primarily journalists) and their perception of their own consumption and dissemination of fake news across social networks and traditional mass media. Although Twitter is not popular in Croatia, it is intensively used by Croatian journalists, and tweets often serve as topics for media processing, which gives Twitter great importance in creating the Croatian media discourse. The research was conducted by encouraging a discussion and undertaking further content analysis of tweets regarding the role of media literacy in combating the impact of fake news, especially on social networks. This was followed by semi-structured in-depth interviews with six journalists who are active Twitter users and content analysis of articles on media literacy and fake news available on Croatian web portals. Triangulation was used in order to reduce the echo chamber effect on the results of the study. The research has shown that respondents, i.e. Twitter users in Croatia – including journalists – are not sufficiently informed about media literacy and its impact on combating fake news. It has also pinpointed their lack of awareness regarding their own consumption and dissemination of fake news across social networks and mass media. The objective of the research was to create a model for analyzing the interrelationship between media literacy and creating fake news from two perspectives: (1) evaluating self-perception of Twitter users via content analysis and in-depth interviews, and (2) analyzing media publications on the topic of media literacy and fake news, whose content reflects the perception of the media on these topics.

This study aims to provide a practical framework for enhancing university students' media literacy capabilities and mitigating negative emotions related to information during public emergencies. Methods: Through comprehensive literature reviews, we rigorously screened items for inclusion in the media literacy and information-related emotion scales, developed and validated a customized assessment tool, and collected data through a well-structured questionnaire survey. Results: Our findings indicate that there are no statistically significant differences in the impact of gender and place of origin on students' media literacy levels or their information-related emotions. A notable correlation was observed between media literacy levels and information-related emotions, with information retrieval learning experiences emerging as a significant factor influencing students' media literacy. Conclusion: The overall proficiency of university students in managing information-related emotions and media literacy needs improvement. It is imperative to harness the educational potential and guiding role of information retrieval courses within academic institutions. By adopting a "task-driven" teaching approach and emphasizing the cultivation of students' skills in information evaluation, analysis, management, and utilization, we can elevate their media literacy levels and effectively alleviate negative emotions related to information during emergencies.

Role of Journalism and Media During the Crisis of the Coronavirus Pandemic in India: A Review

The media has a very important function in providing information needs for each individual. Media that contains content that is negative to the community can have an adverse effect on the formation of people's perceptions in decision making. Regarding this, mass media users need other options in order to be protected from the various influences of mass media and require individuals to be smarter using media. This study aims to determine the level of media literacy on the self-esteem of students at 214 Public Middle Schools Jakarta. The method used in this study is a quantitative method with a clause associative approach. Data analysis technique is done by tabulating data according to students' answers to the questionnaire, then calculated using the Simple Linear Regression formula. The results of the study concluded that Media Literacy influences students' self-esteem, this is evidenced through hypothesis testing which is known to have a significance value of less than <0.05 with a value of 0.009, in addition it is known that the R Square value of 0.091. This value means that the influence of Media Literacy (X) on Self-Esteem (Y) is 9.1%. From the results of the hypothesis test, it can be concluded that media literacy has a positive effect of 9.1%, which means increasing student media literacy will affect the increase in self-esteem

Mass media have been a significant element in society. However, as people have more access to information and communication technology, they spend more time on digital media than on mass media. Thus, we explore this issue along with the factors and implications that this trend might bring about. This is the first study to conduct an in-depth comparative analysis along with literature review to understand this major change in media consumption. The paper first analyzes the characteristics and the communication process of mass and digital media. Then, we compare mass media and digital media’s usage, the numbers of Internet and digital media’ users in the United States along with global social media users. We discover the usage per day for digital media has increased while that for mass media declined. We explore the reasons behind this change and identify factors affecting the marketers’ decisions to change the ways they spend marketing communications’ budget on both types of media. We are also interested in the roles of mass media in the era when digital media gain more popularity. Implications and recommendations for marketers to cope with this major change are discussed including the impact on target market selection, marketing communications budget planning, functions of the media, behavioral transactions of both types of media, new supporting roles of the mass media and the roles of both types of media in supporting integrated marketing communications’ campaigns.

The paper discusses the issues of improving students' media literacy skills to help them to navigate through an increasingly complex information so- ciety. It reports on a project aimed at applying the blended learning model to boost high school students' media literacy levels. The given model is recognized to have a number of advantages for both teachers (tutors) and learners (students). It is generally accepted that the blended learning method provides students with profound theoretical knowledge and retains the emphasis on practice. Besides, online classes offer a great opportunity to reach a wider audience. The purpose of the paper is to describe the authors' experience in introducing a new method for improving the learners' media literacy skills based on the blended learning model. The survey responses demonstrated that the accessibility, ease-of-use, and duration of the classes were deemed effective in terms of students' engagement and increases in their media literacy level. The course helped learners to develop their critical thinking and other media-related skills, to identify propaganda, ma- nipulation, and fake messages found in media streams.

There are plethora of contending reasons for the failure of the third-term agenda embarked upon by the erstwhile President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo to elongate his term of office from the constitutional two terms to a third term. Although no single account is sufficient to explain the failure and its implications on the festering governance crisis in the country, one key point of convergence is that the media played a pivotal role in ensuring public education on the contentious issue. The study therefore assessed the influence of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s policies on the role of mass media against the Third Term Agenda. It also attempts to verify the actual nature of the role of mass media in the Third Term Agenda and investigated the influence of ethnicity and media ownership on the role of the mass media in the Third Term Agenda. It further examined the efforts of the mass media in the emergence of the Fourth Republic in Nigeria. This was with a view to assessing the roles of the mass media in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Third Term Agenda. The study utilized both primary and secondary data. A total of 170 copies of questionnaire were distributed among members of political parties, academia, journalists, pro-democracy groups and relevant NGOs. The selected respondents were: two members of five major political parties; twenty scholars from recognized academic institutions in Nigeria; three journalists each from three dailies and two weekly newspapers; one member of staff of FRCN in five States as well as National Television Authority staff members: and two members of staff each from state owned radio and television stations in the sampled states; five members of staff each from Private radio stations; five members of staff each from two private television stations; five members of five pro-democracy Non Governmental Organisations across Nigeria; and five members of staff each from National Broadcasting Corporation and Ministry of Information. The secondary sources included books, journal, dailies, among others. The primary data were analysed using the descriptive and inferential statistics while the secondary data were subjected to content analysis. The results showed that 37.2% of the responded clearly that government’s policy did not impact the role of the mass media on the third term agenda. It also, the study showed that the mass media played agenda setting role upon which other actors based their agitations in the third term agenda (54.3 per cent) and that ethnicity did not condition the role of the mass media. Furthermore, the result showed that privately owned media outlets provided a quantum of agitation against the third term agenda. Finally, the mass media were major actors in the race that birthed the fourth republic and in the quest to ensure the preservation of the democracy. The study concluded that the mass media, maintained an approach and strategy that were largely encapsulated in aggressive attack and criticism rather than an educative effort that is capable of nurturing a democracy. KEY WORDS - Mass Media, Democracy/democratization, Third-Term Agenda, Tenure Elongation.