The Media Dumbs Us Down

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The rise of media in our society has many effects on the consumers of the media. Many people propose the question: is this media making us dumber? Today there are a lot more forms of media available to people today. Through the media outlets of television and news, internet and user-generated content, and social media, people have many options as to where they receive their media. As a whole, the mass media dumbs down society, through their attempt to keep up with the changing of times and reach large masses of people. It is up to the consumer of the media what type they want to partake in. How do media compete in such an environment? The only way to compete is to go with it. To become it, and to help it. New forms of mass media is happening, will happen, and will not stop because we are a constantly changing society. The media tries to put a new spin on media that combines older media techniques with a new more advanced form of media that attempts to reach all of society. Even though they are effective at reaching mass crowds of viewers, and reaching people who may not have ever engaged in issues, they dumb down society by limiting the thoroughness of information presented. The dumbing down is usually applied as a derogatory term that refers to the simplifying of a subject towards the lowest common denominator. Americans consume large amounts of media. The average American spends half or their day watching hours of television, or listening to some sort of mass media. According to Shachtman author of The Inarticulate Society: Eloquence and Culture in America, “most Americans watch thirty hours of television a week, or 1,550 hours a year, listen to the radio 1, 160 hours a year, spend 180 hours a year reading some part of a ne... ... middle of paper ... ...al_media_stats_kagan_fisch_mcleod Carr, N. (2008, Jul. - Aug.). Is google making us stupid?. The Atlantic, 1. Retrieved February 14, 2012, from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/ Shachtman, T. (1995). Extracurricular Educators. The inarticulate society: eloquence and culture in America (pp. 95-142). New York: Free Press. Sommerville, C. J. (1999). How the news makes us dumb: the death of wisdom in an information society. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press. Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the squid, the story and science of the reading brain. New York, NY: Harpercollins. YDSTIE, J. (2007, June 16). Does the internet undermine culture? : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11131872

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