The Effects Of Mass Media On American Culture

Using material from Item C and elsewhere, examine how the new media have affected the role of the mass media in society today. (18 marks) (June 2010)

There have been so many major developments in the evolution of mass media we now live in a day and age where we are constantly continuously connected. I have greatly always been fascinated by how much things have changed in just fifteen years. Fifteen years ago when I was sixteen and looking for a job. I would have to walk into an establishment and physically fill out a paper application and sometimes get an immediate interview. The other options were to use a news paper to look for jobs. Now just fifteen years later not even a century I can down load an application have my resume uploaded and apply for twenty jobs in a matter of minutes and receive call backs the same day it’s incredible. In the last century we have gone from the radio invention with just sound listening to movies, to black and white TV set, to color TV set to big flat screen TV that can go 3D.

Mass media has experienced many major developments over the past hundred years. As the manner in which media is communicated to the world evolves a definite shift to American culture has occurred in the process. Mass media has undergone numerous changes in the way it is distributed to the general public, going from newspapers, to radio, to television, and now to the World Wide Web. American culture is so ingrained in technology, that distributing mass media in this format seems like a natural step in the evolutionary process of distribution.

Mass media is communication that reaches a large audience. This includes television, advertisement, the Internet, newspapers, and so on. Mass media is a significant effect in modern culture in America. It creates ideas and sustained within society not only send ideological messages out to the public but to advertise this ideas which are tend to manipulate our mantalities.

In the last century mass media has went from paper to digital, these major developments have influenced American culture in many ways.

In what ways have various forms of entertainment media shaped American culture and its values?

In modern day United States, the media is a huge pool of information that is always apparent. Almost every household in America has a television; hundreds of channels on the television are mainly news, local or national such as Good morning Colorado, Good morning America, and World News Tonight, even talk shows such as Late Night w/Jimmy Fallon are fueled by the media.

In today’s society, media is present in our lives 24/7 allowing it to have a major influence on our culture in both positive and negative ways.

A diseased representation of women, advocated by the media, is detrimental to the American culture (Chittom, N. Page). The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), asserts an upsurge in eating disorders, inadequate self-esteem, and depression cases are attributed to this illustration (Chittom, N. Page). The portrait of American beauty has transformed greatly over the years (Chittom, N. Page). At the dawn of the twentieth century, beauty centered around abundant chests and minuscule waists, accentuated with tight corsets, but in the 1920’s, this image changed to glorify flat chested “flappers” (Chittom, N. Page). By the 1950’s, the shapely figures were once again popular, but in the 1960’s, with models like Lesley “Twiggy” Hornby, thin was

Back in the 1920s people had receive news and entertainment through the radio, which then in turn out-shined newspapers and magazines. Now day’s social media sites have become the most popular form to get the news and information. The biggest tool in the media that generates revenue by the millions every day, is advertising. The media has its way of showing us constructive information when it comes to news channels, travel and other educational shows. Kids benefit from watching these, since it can boost self-esteem, heighten interest levels in a particular subject, or encourage them to ask relevant questions.

Luke Scott once stated, ¨Crime is actually less in places where people own guns. Washington, D.C., is a case in point. It has the strictest gun laws, but who has the highest crime rate in the country? Washington, D.C.¨ Many people in the United States of America own firearms and use them in a proper, safe manner. Yet, gun control advocates pursue in trying to ban and put limits on the purchase and ownership of guns because of rare mass shootings that the media portrays to the general public. The media never shows the public the good that firearms do, the way firearms saves lives and keeps people safe. Gun control advocates believe that minimizing the availability of purchasing guns will decrease gun violence. This is ignorant and not a

The new era of technology led to major developments in the evolution of mass media, worldwide. In our society, we originally communicated orally before the Internet and wireless devices existed. Individuals relied on traditional forms of mass media, such as the television, radio, newspapers, and magazines, to attain knowledge of the outside world. Thereafter, the development of new forms mass media evolved, and we were introduced to the Internet and other wireless communication devices such as IPads and tablets, smart phones and social media sites. Regardless of the rise and fall in popularity of certain forms of mass media, the evolution of mass media influenced the American culture greatly.

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.

The media has been a part of the daily life of the American people for the longest time, because of this fact, the media influences the decisions and views of how people should live. One big part of the media that tends to start to develop a sense of how the day-to-day American should live is Disney. Since kids are the main source of Disney’s billion dollar industry children have become an important dimension of the social theory (Giroux 1999: 65). “Within this context, television emerges as a consumer-oriented medium that reflects advertisers’ desire to reach a young, upscale, and primarily White audience” (Goodale1999; Henderson and Baldasty 2003: 100). As a result other races and ethnic groups other than white Americans are often put

This aspect of how media conglomerates influence their viewers strategically is only one ways these companies influence the American population. There is a key difference between the selective exposure theory and the echo chamber effect. That difference is that audiences and users are the driving force behind the selective exposure effect, but the echo chamber effect is facilitated by media companies and website personalization. Since people are not exposed to opposing point of views when Facebook, Google, etc personalize their results in order to make more money for their advertisers. But because of this isolation, these opinions are strengthened and never challenged, contributing greatly to arguments and disagreements, which end violently or are completely shut done.