' Mind Over Mass Media, By Steven Pinker

Today’s media (news) plays an enormous role in the lives of people in directing a specific perception of the world around them. Most often media conduct's a subconscious effect upon its spectators in which the upshots are deliberately or illdeliberatly towards a particular topic.

The media’s job is to entertain, inform, and educate society on what is going on around the world. The media entertains society by reporting stories that amuse people. The educational function of the media is about allowing society to know their legal rights. The informational aspect of the media does not need to be explained; it is self-explanatory. Within the last three decades, the media’s role has changed dramatically. The media went from using telegraphs, post offices, newspapers, magazines, radio, and television to using cell phones and tablets. In the modern era, which is also sometimes referred to as the information age, global networking and global communication have shaped modern societies. The majority of

2) Logos involves winning your audience over with facts and using your opponent’s argument to your own advantage

The mass media has become a big part of our society and its counterparts. In a time span of 50 years this medium has influenced society to an extent where it has created wonders. This immaculate tool can control almost every action we perform, from speaking to the actions that every human being performs in society. The mass media has brought upon a new era of idea's and changes in the world we live in. As we analysis media in depth we will find many aspects of media which overlap and some of the smallest factors and aspects of media, which create the biggest impact on society.

Once Jim Morrison said that whoever controls the media controls the mind. This shows that he had recognized the immense power and influence that the media has in our day to day lives. The media plays a very important role in the society as the source of information for every person. Hence, it is very hard for the modern society to live without the media. As a result of the media being the major source of information in our society, it is an undeniable fact the media shapes people’s opinions, attitudes and actions on particular issues (Czopp & Monteith, 2006).

Media has an increasing part in public life, provoking emotions and swaying opinions. The power of the media is played out using language which is specially designed to persuade; But it is through rhetoric; ethos, pathos and logos (especially logos and ethos) that it tries to earn some credibility. Webster’s meaning for ‘Rhetoric’ is the art of speaking or writing effectively. Considering this, the tools of rhetoric- ethos, pathos and logos can be seen in the media coverage surrounding the events of 9/11, the Vietnam War and the Beaconsfield Mine disaster. The media at the time of 9/11 swamped the masses and portrayed ethos, persuading the viewers of an American unity, that could not be crushed, no matter how evil the attack.

When comprising an argument, the use of rhetorical strategies is essential to planning out how one presents both the chosen argument and the evidence for their position. To understand these strategies and how they are used allows for a deeper understanding of the argument and invokes critical thinking. For instance, in Journalist Joanmarie Kalter’s piece “Exposing Media Myths: TV doesn’t affect you as much as you think”. The author attempts to convince the reader that the notion, that TV is the number one source of information used today and therefore holds immense sway over the general public, is false. And because of how the rhetorical strategies are used in the article. She manages to get the reader to second guess the notion that TV holds

All throughout history we have used metaphors to describe people, places, events and emotions; so it is perfectly fitting to describe the mediums with which we project our ideas as a metaphor as well. This is Neil Postman 's basis for his book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. Television and other media outlets have conditioned us to accept entertainment in every aspect of life; but most of all it masks the state of public affairs and politics. Through his book, Postman begs that we recognize the ways in which media shapes our lives and how we can use them to serve us instead of hurt us. Broken into two parts, Amusing Ourselves to Death focuses on a historical analysis of media, then discusses the television media-metaphor in more detail. Postman examines how media has infected every aspect of public discourse by prizing entertainment as the standard of truth.

Assignment: As the documentary Miss Representation explains, “The media is now the message and the messenger.” Every day, we take in countless hours of media that influence how we view others and in turn how we view ourselves. It is our responsibility to consume media in an intelligent way AND fight back against negative messages put forth by the media.

Logos is one type of rhetorical appeal speakers and writers can use to persuade their audiences. Logos evidence being used to persuade

Opening the book, Postman explains how he will fulfill showing that a “great media-metaphor shift has taken place in America, with the result that content of much of our public discourse has become dangerous nonsense” (pg. 16). There are two major points First: under the printing press, discourse In America was different from what it is now—generally coherent, serious, rational. Second: under the governance of television, it has become withered. This made me think about how much media affects us on a daily basis.

When Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “the medium is the message” back in 1967, we were facing a very different society than we are today. His focus was of course on the mediums of the time: radio, newsprint and television. Mark Federman, a Chief Strategist for the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology asserts in his article, What is the Meaning of the Medium is the Message? (2004), McLuhan was not speaking directly about the medium itself. His thought process went to a deeper level. Federman “note[s] that it is not the content or use of innovation, but the change in inter-personal dynamics that the innovation brings with it” that is the issue. In a world that we can now access hundreds of thousands of bits of information in milliseconds, we can certainly see a shift in media influence. Today we can actually watch events as they unfold, whether they are events for a greater good or events of horrific acts of terrorism, technology has enabled society to be omnipresent. Melody Thompson (2011) refers to Jaron Lanier in discussing how technology shapes our relationship to itself. She notes that Lanier believes technology imposes on us its own viewpoint and that shapes our decisions. In a world where we live with a 24 hour news cycle and news stations that can skew their reporting to send the message they want their viewers to hear, it is quite prophetic when Lanier states “it

Neil Postman deeply believed that the medium inevitably gives off a strong hold on the messages that it communicates. A medium as Postman explains to the reader, is to technology as the mind is to the brain. In this sense technology is viewed as a mechanism. The medium is viewed as the social and intelligent world made by the mechanism. Postman argues that the formation of public discourse even if that form is mainly obtained through the technology of newspapers, books, etc. or electronically through television or the radio, will impact the ideas that we perceive and formulate daily.

In both technology oriented text "Mind over Mass Media" by Steven Pinker and Jonah Lehrer's summary of Sherry Turkle's book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less From Each Other had opposing views on technology. Both texts were meant for magazine readers to hopefully either realize technology is a benefit or it is what is hurting society. After analyzing both texts I feel strongly that Pinker's text was more rhetorically powerful due to his argument structure with a more logical approach. Lehrer's review took a more emotional approach but did not seem to back up his initial emotions and then went into a completely different path leading me as a reader to mistrust him.

Postman (1987) claims that television is an evil that destroys the purpose and complexities of public discourse. He argues that important issues are oversimplified and drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Chaffee and Metzger (2001) confirm this assumption by remarking the evolution of print and radio into television and television into new media. Establishing the similarities between Postman’s chief complaints about the television medium and the new media then rearing its ugly head. Chaffee and Metzger indicate the shift in the denotations of mass, media, and communication. With technological advancements, it is impossible to ignore the new media and its impact on modern culture.