Modern political dispensation identifies four estates of the realm viz: executive, legislative, judicial and the press. While the first three bodies are officially recognized as the legitimate institutions responsible for the smooth daily running of governmental affairs, the fourth unofficial estate, the press is largely responsible for the dissemination of information to the masses, hence the term mass media.

Mass media consists mostly of the mainstream news, information and entertainment disseminating organizations found in most countries. Mass media can be either privately owned or publicly run or both depending on the political leaning of the country these organizations operate from. Hence we have such organizations as CNN and others in the Americas and Al Jazeera in the Middle East.

These two prominent and well-known organizations are typical examples of Mass Media which set the standards by which most privately owned mass media organizations operate. These organizations exist in a democratic society and the role they play appear to be a sort of check and balance on the excesses of the other three members of the estate. The theory is that if the governed are properly informed of the activities of their members of parliament, judicial organizations, the offices of the president or the prime minister, public reactions are likely to compel those occupying these offices to play fair.

In totalitarian states like China, North Korea or currently tumultuous Libya, mass media is a prominent and official fourth estate member of the realm which role in society is the dissemination of information that is designed to extract compliance, cooperation and loyalty from the masses.

In a perfect world, the mass media would accomplish its task and most countries on the planet would be paradises on earth while the rest would be the perfect hell. This however is not the case as the role of the mass media in society has continued to evolve over time, especially with the rapid advancement of computer technology, the Internet, several modes of communication and the masses’ improved access to education.

Organizations that disseminate information operate by the whims and caprices of the paymaster. Most privately run organizations have owners with private agendas which in most cases is to get a very high return on investment and hence are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their objectives. It is not surprising then that most news is never good news. Sensationalism, expressed through graphic and virtually screaming headlines sells the papers, makes listeners pay attention to their TV sets and attracts hordes of surfers to corporate web sites.

The role of the mass media of course is not limited to the dissemination of news items only. The mass media houses are the hub of all manner of entertainment. As art imitates real life events, entertainment coming from these media houses tend to characterize and portray the realities of our society in a very graphic format in the form of TV shows, movies and gruesome sporting events.

Mass media is very informative through the use of several interactive media such as radio, TV and many article, audio and video oriented web sites on the Internet. Typical examples are You Tube which looms large among many and of course Helium .com which is one of many article sites where individuals can voice their opinions.

The Internet is still relatively new compared to the age of print media, but it has displayed the kind of effect it can have on the masses as demonstrated by the ongoing political uprising in several middle eastern countries, most of which were planned, coordinated and executed via some very popular social networking websites. On a smaller scale, individuals have been known to captured video clips of other people doing everything, except what they they were supposed to be doing either in private or public places, prompting investigation and reprimanding or correction by the responsible authorities in many cases.

The role of mass media in our society should be to be able to disseminate the right information at the right time and place and in the right doses without prejudice whatsoever. As the unofficial fourth estate member of the realm, the mass media should be the check and balance system that assures everyone that our society is on a path of progressive development and not regressive disintegration.

This it can accomplish by involving both the masses and the people in high places in its activities on a level playing field, through thorough investigative journalism, by means of positive programming ethics, by toning down the sensational and the subliminal aspects of it’s programs, reporting all news items including the strange and even seemingly ridiculous ones and providing entertainment that nourishes rather than depletes the human soul.