How Mass Media and Communication Changed Great Britain Over the Last Essay

How Mass Media and Communication Changed Great Britain Over the Last Years - Essay Example Apart from transmitting the culture of a society from one generation to another, the mass media is very important in collecting information on the various aspects of human life like health, education, environment, economics, politics, culture and social changes. They then communicate any changes in these and help in correlating the many parts of the society in regard to changes in the environment. Because of this, mass media has been able to bring lot of transformations in many societies including Great Britain, especially in the last 10 years. Media-mediated/media-enabled changes in Great Britain There has been considerable experience in relation to the value and role played by the mass media and communication systems in Great Britain in health promotion and bringing about changes in health policies. One of the best examples of this is the public smoking ban. Under this ban, no one is allowed to smoke in places that people visit to obtain various goods and services, especially enclo sed places (Bbc.co.uk. 2010 and Opsi.gov.uk. 2010). These include shopping malls, restaurants, bars, any government premise or office among others. Many people agreed with the ideas of Mrs. Hewitt â€Å"not only will we be able to protect non-smokers and the huge majority of pub workers from the harmful effects of smoke. It will also provide smokers with an environment where it's easier to give up" (BBC News 2005, par ). This bill was, therefore, used to encourage the quitting from smoking in Great Britain. Through the use of mass media approaches, organizations dealing with health matters have been able to conduct some social advocacy which has promoted personal education. According to Catford (1995), the mass media are powerful in promoting health and bringing about responsive organizational and personal changes through the promotion of health products and discouraging the use of destructive products, introducing personal health skills and, providing information and advice on hea lthy living. This, in turn, has led to significant changes in personal and group behaviors in regard to issues affecting health. They have also resulted to environmental and organizational changes. Media outlets that have been important in promoting health in Great Britain include newspapers, television, radio, leaflet, posters and books. Mass media reports about the environment have led to a number of changes in regard to the treatment of the environment. Mass communications have played an important role in communicating environmental issues. Among the hot issues in this respect include global warning and pollution. In regard to this, the mass media has provided an important link between politics and formal environmental science, and the realities of how people and their various social, economic and cultural processes experience and interact with their environment. Continually, they report of the ongoing public understanding and action or engagement on with environmental issues lik e international conferences on the environment and their resultant declarations or resolutions (Boykoff 2009). Although the mass media and communication do not determine engagement, they have greatly increased environmental awareness and valuation by the entire Great Britain society. In essence, mass media have enabled the people of Great Britain make sense of the various complexities relating to governance and environmental sci