Propaganda in American Media Essay

The importance of television’s impact to spread news and awareness, which was always debatable, has become controversial. The substantial influence of television has sparked the controversy over the potential impact of this trend on spreading news and awareness over the years. It can be agreed that television is an effective method to transmit news, but some people claim the opposite. This essay will elaborate on how effective television can be to transmit news and how it is simply an entertainment tool after this, a logical conclusion will be deduced.

The final chapter of Timothy Glander’s book, Origins of Mass Communications Research During the American Cold War: Educational Effects and Contemporary Implications (2000) stands as a disappointing example of academic research becoming hijacked by the author’s personal opinion. Focusing on the hidden nature of propaganda in American life, his concluding chapter presents a very drastic view of the individuals who crafted the academic subject now known as mass communications. I see the need for investigating the status quo, for digging into the motivations behind the images and data churned out in the mass media, and for questioning the trivia facts that become common knowledge. For that reason, I am wary of completely discrediting the

According to Neil Postman, we are in the decline of the Age of Typography and the ascendancy of the Age of Television which will redefine public discourse and public life as we know it (Postman 8). In a world-pervading of technology, factors such as education, religion, and politics have to adjust in order to better suit these changes, in this case, television and media. Although each of these factors is affected by the media, one example of a role in the media in the contemporary world is the use of television in order to manipulate as well as encourage political views with the use of images. Furthermore, the opinion of the public sphere is influenced more by the image, along with the appearance, of political figures rather than their ideologies.

As Americans, we believe that world events over the next few years will unfold from September 11th. The safety and security that we all felt before will never be the same. While Americans continue to recover our enemies continue to plan a way to bring us to our knees once again. Many of us will never again be able to fly without a fear of what if and many of us will never again be able to turn on the morning news without the fear of what if. We tend to have the attitude that terrorist attacks are events that happen in other countries like Israel where peace is unsteady. Many of us never dreamed of having it in our own front yard and to compound those affects by seeing parts of the world celebrating

As a society, us Americans tend to put stock in varied forms of mass media. From Disney to Gannett we grow up with selective views of the world and shaped opinions based on TV ratings. There are many theories on hegemony in American society. Dr. Noam Chomsky, a preeminent authority in 20th century political philosophy, discusses how news media is a tool for disseminating propaganda provided by the powerful elite in his book Manufacturing Consent. He discusses how American mass media is a tool of democracy to placate the majority of the populous and encourage compliance without overt use of force. He makes several major points throughout his book. Chomsky discusses how propaganda is necessary to the functioning of our “democracy” similar to how other types of government either overtly or covertly enforce support among their regime. He makes the point that our media and news outlets are inescapably tied to the political machine. Most importantly, he discusses what he calls the propaganda model of the media.

Television, radio, movies and other forms of media provide us with prescription and description. It tells us how society sees us and at the same time the

Television, a widely accepted form of media and communication, has spread into the political world with an amazing speed. There are both useful and detrimental aspects to this newfound relationship between television and politics. Sources A and E describe the more useful aspects of television within the political sphere, whereas Sources B and C portray the contrastingly detrimental aspects.

A walk down the streets of D.C. provides more than just exercise and scenery. It is a journey through the stages of Mass Media. The first newsstand one spots is full of every newspaper one could possibly want to read. A couple more steps down the sidewalk, and one can see the televisions flashing through the windows of ESPN Zone, and one is bombarded by the blaring sounds of radios from car stereos and stores alike. It is almost impossible to escape the claw of Mass Media, because there are very few places to which media influence does not extend. Through the beginning of Mass Media during the 1400’s to the present, television, radio and video games have become a large part of every child’s life.

Television is the source of the most broadly shared images and messages in history. Mainstream of the common symbolic environment. Television shows no sign of weakening-consequences are felt around the globe. Cultivation analysis focuses on television contributions to viewer’s conceptions of social reality. In the typical US home, the television set is in use for about 7 hours a day. The more people watch, the less selective they can be.

TV also played a big role in our history as being one of the most used media; it played a role in WWI & II by using the media to spread Propaganda to influence the society to justify immoral actions, just as used in 1939 by the Nazi “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”(Einstein, A.)

According to the latest polls, 90% of Americans favor military retaliation for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Taking into consideration that all aggregate data is used for self-serving means, this number is still exceptionally large. The numbers are manufactured by propaganda vehicles, or rather the mainstream media. In a sort of Orwellian fashion, the media bombards the audience with images, voices, and memoirs of death, grief, and pain that pervert their way into public consciousness, creating a sort of “group-think.” In the essay “Propaganda, American-style,” Noam Chomsky writes:

American Political System is highly dependent on Mass Media since the development of media began a century ago through the development of first successful newspaper ( Boston News Letter).This was the beginning of an inevitable development in global communication or mass media. Since then, other media friendly devices have cemented their spot in the industry such as the television, the radio, cell phones and social media. It is with these tools, protected by the first amendment, that people peek into what is going on in the world around us, from business to welfare, from sports to political events. If we take a closer look at the political world in America, We clearly identify how powerful the media can be, this raises questions on the power of media and its manipulations as a tool of campaign, for instance the recent presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton .This paper also touches on the various ways that the media can influence politics both foreign and domestic and how it is used by political

Another major development in the emergence of mass media was the invention of television. Television brought about news programs, reality programs, and product commercials along with many other types of informational programs. People did not even have to step outside their door anymore in order to find out what was going on in the world. In today’s world, the majority of homes have at least one television set. People can catch up on current events, find out

The term media is often represented within popular culture in varying degrees. To a great extent, there seems to be a tendency to interchange media and mass communication. In this regard, it is imperative and perhaps prudent to define media holistically before proceeding further. For purposes of coherence, the definition of media will be categorized into two spheres; traditional media and new media. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (2009), traditional media can be defined as the collective media technologies such as radio, newspapers, television, newsletter, magazines, and other print publications. New media, on the other hand, refers to the new generation of digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2009). Examples of new media include internet forums, blogs, wikis, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr. There can be no gainsaying that the distinct role of the media, aside from providing entertainment, is the dissemination of information to the general public. The purpose of this paper is to critically examine how the media influences politics.

Nowadays, television is our main source of news and current events around the world. It is indefinably the most popular media in society today. By watching TV,we are kept updated of the various events and dealings occurring around the world. It provides us with broadcasts of the news and weather stations and many more,therefore helping us not to be dropped back from the world of information. People need to be aware of whats going on around them and to keep on top of current affairs,and television allows us to do so.Without it we would be an outsider in society and totally cut off from the happenings in our local area as well as the political world(Palmer,2010). Not only this, but it helps us increase