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The media does not intrinsically hold any responsibilities. All of the responsibility that the media holds is constructed by those who consume media and see the flaws of unregulated media. As an aside, I am not referring to legal regulation and obligation, but rather regulations and obligations that the public collectively agree are necessary regardless of whether or not those regulations are written into law. The million dollar question of course is, "What are those responsibilities?"

The classic example that is used in popular culture is that the responsibility of the news in a democracy or republic is to inform the electorate. This entails telling all parts of a story and not trying to insist that there are only two sides to a given narrative. The more difficult task is to not push an agenda or highlight a narrative while disguising the fact that an agenda is being pushed. The thing that makes this difficult are personal moral responsibilities, the responsibility to a network, and that networks responsibility to its share holders.

These responsibilities reflect across all forms of media, not just the news. The responsibility of media resides within those who consume media in a very round about way. Nielsen ratings are what will drive the landscape of silver screen media, box office earnings are what will drive the landscape of cinema, print numbers are what will drive the landscape of newspapers.

If you don't like something that you see in the media, the most powerful thing that you can do is stop consuming it (or organizing a boycott).

Till next time,
-lachuger