Mass Media And Reflection Of Society

Throughout the years the use of technology has increased, and expanded. Mass media plays a vital role in society. Mass media can be defined as any means of communication, to an extremely large group of people. Technological advancements have been extremely beneficial for prior generations, the generation we now live in, and will be for the future generations to come. Such as, providing news for the world to hear, entertainment, and much more. Some examples of media would be television, films, newspapers, and the Internet. Unfortunately along with benefits, there are disadvantages concerning gender discrimination, and sexism. Such as, women feelings forced and obligated to stay at home with their children instead of working, and the representation of beauty involving both men and women. Examples of how the media can accomplish this would be through the use of advertisements, movies, magazines, and the radio. The media has an enormous effect on people within society today.

During the 1950’s the culture, trends, and demographics had a huge impact on television production.Leave it to Beaver, a popular sitcom during the 1950’s portrayed family life as it was during that time period. A period of elegance,family significance,and refinement. While watching an episode of Leave it to Beaver I quickly observed the difference

Over time the image of a family on television has changed, these changes highlight important issues in society - which can be seen through the comparison of Leave-It-To-Beaver and Modern Family. One of the main issues portrayed significantly is gender roles. In the 1950s, the World War 2 aftermath encouraged the traditional gender roles to be put back using sitcoms such as Leave-It-To-Beaver, which heavily highlights gender roles. On the other hand, 2000s family portrayal on television began to defy these ideals through switching the otherwise established roles of the mother and father in a family.

As early as 1950, television families have depicted not only the way we live today, but also the way we ought to live (Tueth, 2003). Hence, television has continued to present comedies about family life that ranges from the didactic model of domestic conventionalist and gradually to non-conventionalist ways of life. By conventionalist, I mean the depiction of the “nuclear” family that consists of clear roles, responsibilities, and gentle lines of authority that flow from the wise dad and understanding mom to the obedient children (Kutalas, 2005). Examples of these types of shows between 1947 to 1990 that constructed more than 60% of family sitcoms included: The Cleavers, The Cosby Show, Father Knows Best, Family Ties, and Growing Pains

“The media 's the most powerful entity on Earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that 's power. Because they control the minds of the [people]” (Malcolm X). The message of this Malcolm X quote is that society can control the mind of the individual. This is true. For many years, society has influenced everyone worldwide both negatively and positively. That is because society has the ability to control the individual’s decisions. They can control the individual in making their decisions that could affect people’s lives worldwide; it also has the ability to control their decisions that could affect the individual’s life. You might be thinking “But why should we care about this topic? This doesn’t seem really important to us” well it’s important because we all can relate to this as everyone has been influenced by society at least once in their lifetime. Just ask yourself this. Have you ever simulated a role model that you had by just copying the actions that they do just because you wanted to be just like them? Have you picked up habits from society that is around you like family or peers that has affected you in your life? Have you ever maybe tried something you found from your family members or from the Internet to get your personal needs? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are involved in this conversation. But there’s a problem. There’s an argument going on about this topic. The controversy of this topic

The consciousness, beliefs and culture that individuals in society adhere to are largely influenced by the ever-growing mass media. As a matter of fact, Americans devote an average of twenty-eight hours to watching television per week (Mantsios, 2008). Furthermore, they put in an undetermined number of hours listening to the radio, going to the movies and reading periodicals (Mantsios, 2008). It is clear that the media has an overarching impact on society, yet American mass media have highly concentrated control and ownership compared to other social institutions (Mantsios, 2008). Over 20 corporations own a majority of all daily newspapers, magazines, radio, television and movie studios (Mantsios, 2008). What’s

For many years now when we picture the quixotic American family our thoughts often go to the suburbs. We visualize a family with a father, a mother and the average 2.5 children. Perhaps, this stereotypical family has roots in the 1950 's. After World War II, there was a substantial move from urban and rural areas to the freshly sprouted suburbs. The GI bill, signed into law in 1944, provided significant funding for this movement with low-interest mortgage loans. (Moon, n.d.) Into the twenty-first century, the suburbs and metropolitan areas continued their growth. (Frey, 2012) During the period the suburbs were in their genesis, a relatively new medium, the television, was placing its roots as a staple in the suburban living room. This device replaced the radio as a family 's focal point for news and entertainment. In the mid-fifties, a new form of entertainment emerged, the family situation comedy (sitcom). The show, “Father Knows Best” was credited as the first successful form of the new style of comedy in 1954, and would have an extended run in broadcast and syndication for the next thirteen years plus spawn many imitators such as “Leave it to Beaver”. (Taflinger, 1996) Because of their high viewership and capacity to produce income for networks, producers, and broadcast stations, the domestic sitcom continues to saturate the small screen today. (Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, 2013)

Television has always portrayed the culture of the time and in the 1950s a very domestic picture was painted. Family, marriage, and an obedient housewife were all a common factor in sitcoms during this time. Contrary to popular belief, sitcoms in the 1950s rarely portrayed men as loving, doting, patriarchs, but rather as distant providers of the family with stick and stern rules for both their children and wife. (Anderson, 2012). Although television has changed rapidly since the 1950s I argue that the representation of men in sitcoms have evolved very little over time. Using both sitcoms from the 1950’s and today I plan to prove that an emphasis on masculinity and male dominance have remained a common underlying theme since

Let us face the facts, mass media and popular culture need each other to coexist. Furthermore, in today's society the mass media serves the interest of popular culture. Moreover, it is the vehicle of free speech in a diverse, multicultural society. In addition, mass media refers to communication via radio, televisions, movie theaters, television, newspapers, magazines, and, etc; thereby, reaching out to the larger audience. On the contrary, popular culture can refer broadly to common aesthetic or life practices, in both the statistical and qualitative senses. However, therapists have used the term more precisely to designate a particular form of common culture that arises only in the

Mass media affects large numbers of people within a society daily. Such as television, movies, internet, radios, newspapers, magazines and the list seriously goes on. In my perspective this topic is incredibly important because mass media is a source in which many different types of technologies are meant to reach large audiences through communications. It also plays a strong role in society and culture because it is the main channel in which people communicate with each other shaping opinions, beliefs, values, and attitudes. In my response to that; Are women or men more affected by mass media and in what way? Furthermore, I will utilize the functionalist theoretical approach because it portrays how the media can be positive, but can also bring negative effects within gender stereotypes.

Growing up, children are predisposed to TV shows and literature that tend to shape/place ideas in their mind as to how relationships form and what a relationship consists of. The famous saying goes that opposites attract and it is never more prominent than in the media of today 's society. It is evident in various comic books, animes, cartoons, and well-known books acknowledged by people of different ages. Opposite attraction is shown in the media as a very natural and constant occurrence while this tends to get overexpressed it still holds some truth in everyday relationships.

While there have been ideas and mass media in which we have access to, there is small changes in which The United States as a whole has been affected. There have been many discussions on how social media has played a part on American culture as we are becoming more reliant on computers and technology as well as we have in communicating. Social media and mass media has an affect modern society as technology has grown, so will its effects on people.

Science and technology has created a comfortable and easier way of living in modern times. Media is by far the most used in all of those technologies, and it is considered as a daily essential to many of us. However, using media, not only can you look at Taylor Swift’s new posts on Facebook or text your friends, there are some corrupt people out there that could target you for cyberbullying or try to hack your personal information! Here is a closer look to how mass media impacts our society.

Mass media has evolved tremendously in the last century and even the last few years it has changed. Each type of mass media however functions differently in society. For example, one mass media platform is newspapers. Newspapers were the first mass news media, beginning in 1692 till 1920. When newspapers first started out, the government controlled the content that newspapers produced. This impacted significantly how this society shaped itself, and also what people thought. That quickly dissolved when newer technology evolved. In the 19th century larger audiences were able to be reached, helping people become more informed. By the 20th Century newspapers were the only source for politics culture and social issues. During this time was also when yellow journalism developed. Which created a new form of dramatized and at times untrue news that people believed in or simply bought into. Although, in 1950s television was introduced which contributed to the declining of newspaper and how society receive news. Nowadays most large corporations own newspapers but they are still losing readers showing how greatly the impact of other forms of mass media are.

Running head: MASS MEDIA AND ITS EFFECTS ON SOCIETY 1 Mass Media and Its Effects on Society Alexander Wilson Kansas State University MASS MEDIA AND ITS EFFECTS ON SOCIETY 2 Mass Media and Its Effects on Society Sudden introduction of mass media into society undoubtedly caused a shift in societal views and behaviors, evident from the vast amount of research that started as soon as television and other sources became available in households worldwide. Mass media constitutes anything that helps reach a mass audience such as television, newspaper, radio, social media, and even video games. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a mass medium as “a medium of communication that is designed to reach the mass of the people – usually used in plural,”. From building a dependency on mass media, to changing the way some children and young adults behave, mass media has played and continues to play a massive role in shaping today’s society.