Analyzing Media Influence on Public Opinion and Strategy Formation

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the media's influence, examining its impact on public opinion, business stakeholders, and international policies. It explores the roles of domestic, national, and international media, highlighting the importance of media in informing the public and influencing stakeholder decisions. The report delves into the influence of pressure groups, political groups, and media owners on information dissemination, and the challenges media channels face, including pressures from authorities, constant updates, and increasing competition. It also discusses media constraints, time-critical requirements, and their impact on strategic outcomes. Furthermore, the report examines the interaction between news, public opinion, and stakeholder opinions, the impact of global news media, and how international organizations can utilize global media for policy and strategy formation, concluding with the importance of considering these factors in organizational decision-making.

MEDIA AND ITS INFLUENCE
Student Details

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Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2.1 Domestic, National and International Media.......................................................................2
2.2 Importance of Media............................................................................................................3
2.3 Influence of Pressure and Political Groups and media owners............................................4
3.1 Challenges and pressures faced by the media channels.......................................................5
3.2 Media Constraints and Time-critical requirements..............................................................6
3.3 The Interaction of News, Public and Stakeholder Opinion..................................................7
3.4 Impact of Global news media..............................................................................................7
3.4.1 Utilising global media towards the benefits of international organisational policy and
strategy...................................................................................................................................8
4. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................8
5. Bibliography...........................................................................................................................9

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1. Introduction
Media channels are preferred to communicate any information or the fact over to the public.
The media channels are often classified as local, national or international depending upon the
geographical area or the news content covered by the channel. Such channels are required to
follow various legal constraints and have the responsibility to deliver the correct information
at the correct time so that the people can get information about an event at the time when it
occurred, and be able to form opinions accordingly. Such media channels influence the
opinions of public as well as business stakeholders and are also influenced by various
political and pressure groups, that works focusing on their benefit and influence media
channels to display information and facts that will have a positive influence such groups. The
report is focused on analysing the media channels and the impact of various factors on media
channels and analysing how media channels, influence policy and strategy formation in
international organisations.
2.1 Domestic, National and International Media
The globalisation has led the media channels to interact with each other, thus resulting in
creating a media source which is being accessed all around the globe and has resulted in
influencing people globally. As with the introduction of online media, social networking
weebsites, the information gets spread quickly and easily and have access to each and every
individual around the globe. Due to which the classification between the media channels does
not create a boundary for people around the world to access the media sources. Also, with
improving digitalization, more people are getting involved in communicating over internet,
not only to gain domestic or national news or information, but to interact globally and to
know about the things happen globally (Kaul, 2012).

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The influence of media over global world has resulted in the spread of #metoo, started in a
nation in 2006 but widely spread over the nation, due to the presenece of social and global
media. There were other similar campaigns which support the feminism and were widely
spread as the people now-a-days are more responsive towards the activities being conducted
around the world and adopt them if they have a positive influence over the society (Ohlheiser,
2017).
2.2 Importance of Media
Media plays an important role in keeping the business partners and consumers informed
about products and policies, also keeps the public informed and updated about various local
and international events that would affect their life.
Provides Information: Media keeps the people informed about everything and influences
the public thinking regarding a specific issue (Lee & Ma, 2012). An example of the quickly
spread of information through media channels is the news of Sundar Pichai being promoted
as the CEO of Alphabet widespread quickly and the social media played an important role in
spreading the information around the globe (Garcia, 2019).
Influences business stakeholders: Media plays an important role in influencing the
stakeholders of the business as using the media platform the business organisations publish
various news and updates which is beneficial for its audience, also business uses
advertisements to promote their products and services, so using media the business
organisations can influence their stakeholders and partners about the business working and
development (Voinea & Kranenburg, 2017).
Educating the society: Media has an important role of educating the society, as the media
provides various analysis, reviews and the product comparison, which helps the public in
taking an effective decision, also media focuses on the issues like poverty, social

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backwardness and the illiteracy in the society. Also, it influences the opinion formers within
the society, as the opinion formers are those who have information about a specific field and
can influence the decision of a large audience (Potter, 2018).
2.3 Influence of Pressure and Political Groups and
media owners
A pressure group is termed to groups who have their influence over the government and the
policy formation within the government. Such pressure groups have their influence on the
media’s portrayal as such groups has a specific and common interest goal, (Gavin, 2010).
CND an organisation established in UK focused on running campaigns against the use of
nuclear weapons is an example of such influence of pressure groups on forming policy and
strategy, the organisation focuses on influencing the government policies and the strategies
regarding the building or use of the nuclear power within the nation (CND, 2019). In 2006,
the campaign launched by CND influenced the government and the citizens of UK, and the
Prime Minister Tony Blair commented on nuclear energy (Herbert, 2006).
Political groups are focusing on influencing the media to promote their political interest and
attract the citizens to support their political ideas and policies. In the US the election process
has high influence with the introduction of social media, the politicians are using the social
media platform to interact with the citizens and promote their political beliefs and
strengthening their political base (Diehl, et al., 2016). The US Presidential election of 2016 is
an example of how trhe political groups influence using the media channels and tools. Donald
Trump used twitter as a major source for influencing the public opinion and resulted in
attracting the teenagers votes (Clement, 2019).

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The ownership or the concentration of media power in the hands of an organisation
influences the information and facts that are being displayed over the media channels. As the
media owners are focused on earning a profit share from the information shared. So, they
focus more on information that would provide them with more publicity and portrays the
situation in such a manner which seems interesting along with containing some false and
misguiding facts due to which the society gets influenced towards wrong information. Such
practices by media owners influence the media portrayal of the international policies and
strategies as they keep the information and news aside which is interested in a specific group
(Houston, et al., 2011).
The pressure and the political group, as well as the media owners, influence how the media
showcase the international issues, as each of the group is focused on its group benefit and has
the power to influence the information displayed on the media channel.
3.1 Challenges and pressures faced by the media
channels
Pressure from the Authority: While recording an event regarding the international
organisational policy or strategy, the media channels faces pressure from the authority groups
such as the government, customs or the ruling political party. To influence the media channel,
the government imposes various licencing schemes due to which the media channels fail to
provide the information to the public (Meenaghan, 2013).
Constant updates: The industrial organisations are undergoing constant and frequent
changes, so it has also become a challenge for the media channels to constantly provide the
audience with the updates related to the industry and the organisation's policy and the
structural changes.

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Increasing competition: Among the challenges faced by the media channels in providing
information, increasing in several media channels and competition within the industry is also
a great challenge. As due to increasing competition the focus of media has shifted more
towards attracting the public rather than on providing the important and relevant information
to the audience (Picard, 2010).
3.2 Media Constraints and Time-critical requirements
The media channels and sources are expanding widely and cover every section and issue of
the society, such media sources have both positive as well as negative effects on its viewers,
depending upon the facts and the way they are being displayed. To control the media displays
and its influence, various constraints have been imposed so that the viewers and the public do
not get offended or have any negative effect (Kleinschmit, 2012). Also due to such
constraints the media channels are not able to perform better and carry out developmental
goals within the society (Kadiri, et al., 2015).
Effectively utilising the constraints of media channels and the time-critical requirements, the
organisation can be lead towards positive strategic outcomes. As using media sources that are
bided by legal and ethical constraints will present information about the company in a manner
which will be acceptable by the society and will create a positive image for the organisation.
The government has established various laws such as the broadcasting act, 1990, and the
intellectual laws in order to control the information displayed on the media channels
(Legislation.gov.uk, 1990).
The media constraints and time-critical requirements can be used to achieve positive strategic
outcomes. Through using effective media sources, organisations can develop unique
advertisement campaigns, that can not be used by any other organisation for the promotion of
their products. Also, promotion campaigns using media sources establishes an effective brand

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image for the organisation which contributes to the organisational development and positive
outcomes. As such laws and requirements are required to be followed to ensure fair
competition within the industry along with keeping in mind the self- interest and respect for
the viewers.
3.3 The Interaction of News, Public and Stakeholder
Opinion
The information or the news displayed on the media channels, influence the public as well as
the organisation’s stakeholders. As the public does not have a proper analytical data and
information, so they rely on the facts displayed by news channels. The formation for
international organisational policy and strategy is influenced by the public as well as
stakeholder’s opinion. As while developing a policy, the organisation must keep in mind the
interest of the stakeholders and the fact that how the policy will influence the stakeholders,
and such interest and opinions of the stakeholders are affected by the interaction by the news
and media channels (Islam & Deegan, 2010).
Organisations also use the media channels to influence the public as well as stakeholder’s
opinions, by displaying the facts and figures that would attract the public attention, or by
creating campaigns that would promote organisation’s brand image or goodwill within the
stakeholders. As the organisation growth and success is dependent on the effectiveness of the
policy and strategy formed, and forming such policies and strategies are influenced by the
opinions and interest of the stakeholder (Fourie, 2010).
3.4 Impact of Global news media
The international media has impacted how organisational policies and strategies are being
formed. As with the emergence of global media, the opinions of the people have changed

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accordingly. As the international media provides information about every event occurring
over the globe, due to which the interest and the opinion of the public have changed and
transformed which impacts the process of developing policies and strategies. Through Global
news media, people have access to gain information about new trends that are being followed
around the world. Such global facts are required to be analysed and monitored to form
policies that would contribute to organisational growth (Cushion & Lewis, 2010).
3.4.1 Utilising global media towards the benefits of international
organisational policy and strategy
International Organisations are focused on carrying out activities that are beneficial for the
nations and establishing coordination between the nations. The global media can be used by
the international organisations in policy and strategy formation, by promoting the ideas that
the organisation is working on to implement within the nations. International Organisations
can use the global media to interact with a global audience, conducts surveys and online
seminars to educate people or to know about the public opinions and feedback, so that the
organisation can focus on its policies and strategies and can improve its effectiveness.
4. Conclusion
Media is a powerful tool used to influence public interests and their opinion. The
organisations use the media sources to promote their products and service and to establish a
brand image for the organisation. As with the introduction of national and international
media, the organisations have the chance to expand their business operations and interact
with customers over a global level. The media channels have the right to display facts and
information which are of public interest and importance, but due to various political and
pressure groups, such channels get affected and are not able to present the facts in its original
form to the viewers. To control such activities in media channels and to ensure that the right

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information is being passed on to the viewer various legal constraints have been set up, which
the media channels must follow.

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5. Bibliography
Clement, J., 2019. Social media and politics in the United States - Statistics & Facts. [Online]
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[Accessed December 2019].
CND, 2019. About CND. [Online]
Available at: https://cnduk.org/about/aims-and-objectives/
[Accessed December 2019].
Cushion, S. & Lewis, J., 2010. The Rise of 24-hour News Television: Global Perspectives.
illustrated ed. New York: Peter Lang.
Diehl, T., Weeks, B. E. & Zúñiga, H. G. d., 2016. Political persuasion on social media:
Tracing direct and indirect effects of news use and social interaction. New Media & Society,
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Fourie, P. J., 2010. Media Studies: Media History, Media and Society. 2nd ed. South Africa:
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Garcia, A., 2019. Google CEO Sundar Pichai gets a big pay raise as CEO of Alphabet.
[Online]
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Gavin, N. T., 2010. Pressure Group Direct Action on Climate Change: The Role of the Media
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Relations, 12(3), pp. 459-475.
Herbert, I., 2006. CND membership booms after nuclear U-turn. [Online]
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