The Debate Over Media Effects On Our Lives

Media plays an important and influential role in society. The media effects so many different institutions throughout a society that researchers have began to wonder how the media is really effecting these processes. Over the years many models have been developed to explain this process. The models that I will look at, include the hypodermic model, the mass society theory, the minimal effects model, and the agenda setting and priming model. Before looking at these models, we must first look at some of the challenges researchers ran into while trying to understand the media effect. Many researchers believed that media had influence on the public, but did not change or have an effect on what the public believed in. However this was false statement, “This idea contrasted sharply with the public’s general perception that media play a very influential role in society. There are three major reasons for this gap in perceptions” (Graber 2009a). The first reason for this misperception was because of how narrow researchers looked at the effects on media issues. An example of this is when researchers looked at voters and whether certain media exposure would alter their vote. They concluded that there was no media influence, but the catch was that these studies were conducted during a time when party loyalty was very strong. This would be an important factor in the reasons why media did not influence the publics vote. To gain a better understanding researchers should have,

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.

Women around the world face overwhelming oppressions in their daily lives. That is not news to anyone and these oppressions have occurred for so much of history, that it is often times overlooked by the mass majority; even the younger generations of women do not know the types of oppressions that they will soon have to face. To combat this, FCKH8.com, a well known organization that sells t-shirts and other merchandise with witty anti-racism, anti-homophobic, and pro-feminist catchphrases on them, created the video, “Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism”. As the title implies, the video contains little girls, ages six through eleven, aggressively yelling “FUCK,” towards the camera while rattling off facts and statistics about some of the oppressions women face because of their gender. The comment section of this video is erratic; the viewers often have conflicting views about the meaning of the video as well as whether or not it was successful in its purpose. One thing is for sure, the video makes an impact by using several rhetorical devices including word choice, pathos and logos; all which separate it from other pro-feminism videos that exist.

The media we view helps us to understand and help shape our ideas of society. For example, after you watch a show it helps you pick out your deepest values. What you consider to be good or bad, positive or negative, moral or evil. Along with helping you pick out your morals media spectacles help you understand who has the power and who is powerless. Often, the media will dramatize the symbolism of power.

Televised news has the ability to influence the lives of the human population. News broadcasts have an impact on communities in a way other media outlets have been unable to accomplish. Major events have been captured by television, which affects individuals, and multiple aspects of society.

The media is one of most popular sources of information we use in this generation. It has given us the opportunity to communicate with others over social media and connect with discuss all the outlets that interest us. Whether it be sports, music, fashion, social media, or news outlets the media will always have an influence over our society. The media has the power to make great changes in our society. However, it still doesn't understand that with great power comes great responsibility.

What media sources affects your life the most. The sources I believe affects mine the most is television. The T.V. has gotten where all shows is cussing ,violence,and P.D.A. Television has a very bad impact on my life.

The idea that media can influence people of all ages in a positive and/or negative way is not usually challenged, and this is because of plentiful evidence against anyone who has stated that media is only one or the other. For example: Media cannot be only negative because it has connected people and ideas from around the world, rather than keeping us in the dark about what is happening in surrounding states and countries. It has helped individuals express their unique thoughts, opinions, and emotions, by displaying celebrities as they encourage these actions publicly. However, the negative aspects of media are as ugly as the positive aspects are beautiful… if not more so, and this is where I stand on the topic. Media, offering us chances

While media has brought about many benefits, giving us the ability to communicate and interact easily, breaking down cultural and social barriers, it has also restricted ourselves from independent thinking and self-control, leaving us gullible to believing that the exaggerated images and news we see are the truth and what is ‘meant to be’, when in fact, they are not.

Since its early days, the media have always had a hand at molding who we are as a society. It is an extension of our culture and who we are. It has been a conduit of knowledge and information from person to person. A consistent attribute of media is the desire of the elites to control it and a resistance from people that want more freedom from such influences. Today, it is all around us, affecting most, if not all, of our daily lives. It influences how kids grow up in our society. It creates ideals that we want so much to achieve; labels us in order to promote the consumer culture. Being filled with media all the time, it can affect our society in a way that most people would think are negative. It can be a source of unrealistic expectations, a distorted look on reality, a distorted image of beauty and a reason health to deteriorate, be it physically or mentally. The media is a blessing for us, but one must be careful with it for it will always be accompanied with things that can have a negative effect on us.

It is increasingly clear that media and culture today are of central importance to the maintenance and reproduction of contemporary societies. Cultures expose society to different personalities, provide models, which display various forms of societal life and cultivate various ways to introduce people into dominant forms of thought and action. These are the types of activities integrate people into society and create our public sphere. Media and technology surround our society; engrained into the fabric of our existence so much so, that it has become hard to find an aspect of life not influenced by its effects. For this reason, media controllers, wield extreme power and influence over the lives of everyday people. Although, they

Media has become a powerful source of knowledge, and a great breakthrough in human history. Who can regret that media is a daily need in our lives. Media has the ability and control to adjust to all levels of knowledge in people. Media helps us to escape from our daily lives and our problems in times of stress. Thou Media as proved to be beneficial by educating, entertaining and informing us, it has also have its downfall, to cause many bad influences to the younger audience. Media has influenced us to conduct bad behavior, breed violence among teens and fear to the public, thus causing a lot of negative conflicts among ourselves. Television, Music, Internet, and more, are just some of the media exposure that needs to be censored and

Media in all forms has transformed the world in many aspects of the society as a whole as well as individuals lives. With technological advancements, the influence of social media has had a significant and detrimental effect on the masses. In Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death he discusses the role that television plays in society and how its methods of providing information to the public are nothing more than entertainment. In addition, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World Revisited discusses his opinion on mass communication through media as well as his prediction of the future of propaganda in the political world. The influence that the media has on the public has grown exponentially in the past few decades and with that being said,

Media plays a big role in society these days. Whether it be letting society know what is going on the in the world today or something as simple as updates on current life on social media. The media's role in society not only delivers information of the world but also brings people together through common interests or general talks. In Brian Knappenberger's documentary: Nobody Speak: Trials of Free Press it is seen how media effect lives and how there is a much stronger meaning to what media stands for in society and why media needs to take its stand when it comes to people who want to devour them.

Like many people my age, media is a huge part of my daily life and is prevalent in all my memories. Media such as photography brings to life memories I otherwise would have forgotten, while the internet allows me to connect with others from across the world and gives me access to resources like Khan Academy to aid me in school. Media also has more negative impacts, such as interfering with family time. Whether its effect is positive or negative, media has influenced my life since the start and this reflection helped me realize that.