AREN’T YOU PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE _______ BY DECIDING WHAT TO...

20. Aren’t you putting the cart before the _______ by deciding what to wear for the wedding before you’ve even been invited to it?II. Choose the word A, B, C, or D that best fits in the numbered blank. (1,0pt)The media provides us with the observations and experiences from which we build up our personalunderstanding of the world and how it works. Much of our view of reality is based on media messages. Themedia, to a great extent, gives us our sense of reality.Freedom of the media carries with it certain responsibilities of honesty, fairness, accuracy andaccountability. The power of the media to create and destroy human values come with great responsibility.The media is powerful in the political system, having great influence on politics and on forming socialchange. The power is to decide (21) ________ will communicate what to whom. Television can greatlyinfluence the election of a national leader on the (22) _______ of his or her image.Professional journalists do have a code of ethics. Journalists make a judgement about what’s safe andapproriate to report, (23) ________ often involves difficult choices. German sociologist Max Weberdistinguishes bet ween “ethics of conviction” and “ethics of responsibility”. According to the latter (ethics ofresponsibility), journalists must take into account the foreseeable consequences of their reporting, and theimpact it will have on society. The former, on the other hand, asks journalists to tell the truth, regardless of theconsequences. According to Weber, both ideas of ethics should be considered.Without doubt, information is power, and the big owners of the mass media are very powerful people.Television and radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and websites are, largely, owned and controlled byprofit-making businesses. It is not strange that their ideas will get promoted at times.It is my view that such power and responsibility should never (24) ________ in the hands of a few. Ibelieve it is our responsibility as concerned citizens to make sure we are not merely passive viewers, readers orlisteners. Together we can have a huge influence on the media by making our views known.