The Role of Media in the Society
Media has always played a huge role in our society. For a long time
media was one of the methods of controlling people and leisure. In
ancient times when there was no newspapers and television, people used
literature as source of information, some books like "the Iliad", and
different stories about great kings, shows those people the
information about them. Nowadays media is one of the main part of our
lives and our society, because we use word media, to combine all
sources of information. Average man is spending 4 hours a day on
watching TV and reading newspapers. There're a lot of different types
of information sources, all of them are specific and dedicated for
different types of information. Newspapers, Internet, television,
radio, and magazines are all media. The media provides information to
educate, to inform or simply to entertain its audience. The importance
of the media is to publish the message worldwide, so that it can
become popular. The effects of media on our society are different some
of them are even harmful. Media was one of the causes of World War I,
journalists and writers of that time tried to publish newspapers and
magazines that were telling people how was nationalism good. They were
advertising war and weapons. Another bad aspect about media is TV and
Internet that are influencing our psychology. Nowadays we can see a
lot of violence on TV, advertising of alcohol and cigarettes. Now I'll
tell you about different sorts of media in our country.
Newspaper: A typically daily or weekly publication containing news and
opinion of current events, feature articles, and usually adverti...
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... dedicated to music, not to news and facts. Also there are different
radios that are playing only specific music genres. I'm usually
listening to radio only in my car.
So now we can prove that media is 4th power of controlling society and
it depends on country, who is the head of it - community or
government. People are using media to show the entire world the truth.
Politicians are also using media to make themselves look better and
using Black-PR to humiliate their opponents. In countries with
communist or monarchy regime media is only not armed method to control
people. All this is depend on bunch of people which are responsible
for media - journalist. They have special journalist ethic. After all
without media our world will be boring and life will stops it flow and
whole world will fall in the age of darkness.
1. I think media has a great impact on how people behave. The media is defined as listening to music, watching TV, movies, reading magazines, and searching the internet. I think when people here about certain things in songs, or see things in movies or on television it has an effect on them. If there is violence in a TV show or on the news kids can think that's cool to do and do it. A lot of movies show fighting and violence and it effects people and they may do what they see. Television in the home is the greatest source of visual violence for children. Video games expose young children to a level of violence unimaginable. The news also creates fear .
The issue of the relationship between the mass media and the popular culture has always been a controversial issue in social sciences. The political economists insist on the role of the media industry in the creation of this phenomenon of the twentieth century. Though, advocates such as John Fiske, argue that popular culture is actually the creation of the populous itself, and is independent of the capitalist production process of the communication sector. Basing his argument on the immense interpretive power of the people, Fiske believes that the audience is able to break all the indented meanings within a media message. He also believes- by giving new meanings to that specific message they can oppose the power block that is trying to impose its ideology to the public. Consequently, this anarchistic activity of the audience creates the popular culture as a defence mechanism. Even when we accept Fiske’s ideas, we can not disregard the manipulative power of the media and its effects on cultural and social life.
Aldous Huxley, a renowned English writer, once said “Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards.” The advancements that we have made in the recent years are astronomical. However, people of the present time are becoming increasingly dependent on technology and adversely influenced by the portrayal of the media. Initially media and technology were designed to facilitate a person’s life but as generations pass, it has become a liability rather than an asset.
Media and advertising play a very important role in today’s society. Therefore as humans it can affect our thoughts, decisions, and actions. Society gains these negative perceptions from media, unfortunately not from personal relationships. African American males are portrayed in a negative manner in media, such as that all African American males are troublesome, inadequate fathers, womanizers, and are uneducated.
For years, the population has been exposed to different forms of media. Newspapers, magazines, television, films, radio, and more recently the Internet are ways of promoting ideas, spreading news, and advertising products.
Television is a vital source from which most Americans receive information. News and media delegates on television have abused theirs powers over society through the airing of appealing news shows that misinform the public. Through literary research and experimentation, it has been proven that people's perception of reality has been altered by the information they receive from such programs. Manipulation, misinterpretation, word arrangement, picture placement and timing are all factors and tricks that play a major role in the case. Research, experimentation, and actual media coverage has pinpointed actual methods used for deceptive advertising. Television influences society in many ways. People are easily swayed to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to thirty years, normal social behavior, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered (Browne 1998). Media has changed with time, along with quality and respectability. Many Americans receive and accept false information that is merely used as an attention grabber that better the show's ratings and popularity. Many magazines and Journal reviews have periodically discussed the "muckraking" that many tabloid shows rely on to draw in their viewers. This involves sensationalizing a story to make it more interesting, therefore increasing the interest of the audience. "Along the way, all sorts of scandalous substance and goofy tricks appear, but not much mystery in the logic," (Garnson 1997). People often know that these shows aim to deceive them, but still accept the information as truth. Many times, people have strong opinions on certain topics. Yet, when they are exposed to the other side of the argument, they may be likely to agree with the opposite view. As Leon Festinger said, "If I chose to do it (or say it), I must believe in it," (Myers 1997). This is an example of Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, which pertains to acting contrary to our beliefs. Television influences many people to change their original beliefs. It has the viewers think that the majority of other people hold the contrary idea. Once these views are presented, people have the option to hol...
The media is everywhere and takes up a great deal of people’s everyday lives. People depend on the media to provide them with information that would otherwise be hard to get. The people of society also use the media to communicate with friends, family, and people from all around the world. Also, the media serves as a means for entertainment. Businesses use the media as a way to advertise their products. The media affects society in many different ways; such as, businesses use the media to promote their products, the media effects communication, and the media affects body image and behavior of people in society.
According to Raja Mujtaba, the author of “Mass media and its influence on society” (2011), nowadays, in this information age, the media truly affects our lives in both good and bad ways depended on the motive and types of media. Each of the types contains difference effects to people in all ages. However, all the impacts have raised awareness and need to know the current information in order to make decisions for their lives. People in different ages and positions will be influenced in distinct ways. Therefore, this essay is a response to Mujtaba’s work on the article above, which I agree with his aspects on the influence on adolescents and violence in media. However, I disagree with his viewpoint on the influence of media on public opinion.
Unquestionably the media being newspapers, internet, radio and television, influence society. They can affect, have affected and will continue to affect the progression of life in this nation and around the world, as electronic technology continues to be the chosen mode of communication for a whole generation, offering direct, often anonymous influential information.
As Americans we take pride in our liberating government. But, it is essential to ask how much we, the general public, know about our democracy. Because of the representative structure of our government, it is in our best interest to remain as knowledgeable as possible about political affairs so that we can play an active role in our democracy by voting for candidates and issues. The media, which includes print, television, and the internet, is our primary link to political events and issues. (For the purposes of this essay only print and television will be considered.) Therefore, in order to assess the success of our democracy it is necessary to assess the soundness of our media. We are lucky enough to have a media, in theory, free from government influences because of our rights to freedom of press and freedom of speech, but we are still subject to the media’s interpretation and presentation of politics, as is the danger when depending on any source for information. So, we must address how the media informs us; how successful it is at doing so; and how we should respond to it.
The Mass Media has had a greater in influence on modern culture than either education or history.
Media is the most powerful sector of an economy. It is a tool to maintain a balanced society which is characterized by well informed people, effective democracy and social justice. In fact, media has unparallel influence on all aspects of human life in modern times.
The power of the mass media has once become so powerful that its undoubtedly significant role in the world today stays beyond any questions. It is so strong that even politics uses it as a means of governing in any country around the world. The mass media has not only political meaning but also it conveys wide knowledge concerning all possible aspects of human beings’ lives and, what is utterly true, influences on people’s points of view and their attitude to the surrounding environment. It is completely agreeable about what kind of virtues the mass media is supposed to accent. Nevertheless, it is not frequent at all that the media provides societies with such a content, which is doubtful in terms of the role consigned to it. Presenting violence and intolerance as well as shaping and manipulating public are only a few examples of how the role of mass media is misunderstood by those who define themselves as leading media makers.
The media though is a really good thing. It helps us relay messages back and forth. It is a very good source of communication. It informs people of what is happening in our community and throughout the world. The media can also be a very bad thing however. It is sometimes used against people. It can relay a different message than what is being shown. It can make people seem like really bad people when they are really are just regular nice people.
Media technologies are becoming an important aspect of today’s society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. Media is commonly defined as being a channel of communication. Radio, newspapers, and television are all examples of media. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Since many people use media very frequently, it is obvious to assume that it has affects on people. According to the text book Media Now, "media effects are changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior that result from exposure to the mass media," (386). This leaves us with many unanswered questions about media and its influences. This paper will look at how the effects of media are determined and explore the main affects on today’s society - violence, prejudice, and sexual behavior.