Essay about The Influence of the Media on American Culture

Often, the advertisements aired on television have content that unintentionally support stereotypes. “Contemporary […] news media” (Childs 61) overflow with discussion of racial spurred injustice and conflict, contributing to the negative light shed onto the racial community as a whole. Blackface was quite common in the media, being a way to mock those belonging to the African American race (Tar soap). While discriminatory ads are not as explicitly aired as they were when racial prejudice was standard, there are ways that color bias still exists in current media. Just as Blackface was used to allude to the “sub-human” (Childs 61) dirtiness of the Black community, there are advertisements now that subtly do the same (Dove soap). Priming, “a concept highlighting how […] cues […] activate cognitive associations” (Sonnett, Johnson, and Dolan 328) clarifies how exposure to a stimulus influences later responses to the same stimulus. The negative views one is exposed to often find themselves resurfacing in the ways that we respond to life. Despite the difference in generations, the same bias lies within society’s “racial representation” (Sonnett, Johnson, and Dolan

What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be for a certain age, race, and sometimes even a certain gender. Pop culture has influenced the minority groups and shed light to women 's rights or so it was thought. Lisa Shaffer a fellow student feels otherwise and believes that Pop culture has only defended traditional values and does little to challenge those who already have power . Commercials bring in gender norms and in Steve Craig’s article, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” he speaks on four particular TV ads directed towards a particular gender. What is interesting is it shows a false image of the opposite sex to the audience being portrayed toward their preferences. It is the image the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell their products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows commercials brings gender norms that produce the ideas of what a man’s man and a woman’s woman which is why he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.

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.

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.

     What role does television play in society? For decades we have seen many parts of our world rapidly going through changes in technology. Today’s society has been transformed by means of communication and the available information through mass media. Most Americans rely on television for news, sports, and entertainment. Television is just one of the many examples of how technology has changed our lives. Since the invention of the television in the early 1900’s, it has played a very important role in our lives. Having a television set in the home has become very essential in today’s society. We depend on it to entertain us with its sitcoms and to inform us about current world issues. The

Using more attractive women and sexualizing them causes more attention therefore it will benefit the advertisers. Stereotype is not an odd topic when it comes to advertising. Numerous advertisements who are aiming toward a specific group of people may use a stereotype to attract their attention. To promote their product during a tennis tournament, Gatorade would choose Serena Williams as the main model in their ads. Therefore they are able attract tennis players and as well as African American

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.

From TV commercials and product placement to billboards and posters, thousands of advertisements bombard the average American every day. To be effective, an ad must attract the consumer’s attention, maintain the public’s interest, create or stimulate desire, and create a call for action. These advertisements can be small enough to fit on a three-inch screen or large enough to cover the side of a building. But no matter what the size, in this world of ever-shrinking attention spans and patience levels, ads have to be efficient in portraying their ideas. In order to successfully depict certain ideas, advertisements rely on shortcuts. These shortcuts usually involve stereotypes. In the media, stereotypes are inevitable because the audience

Have you ever looked deeper into an ad than just what they are selling? Pick a brand and look up their different ads. You will probably notice they are stereotypical whether that be dealing with gender race or wealth. If you look at products that are trying to grab children's attention they will probably be the colors pink or purple for girls and blue and green for boys. If the advertisement is trying to attract men, they will probably have an attractive woman in the add. If the advertisement is trying to attract women, they will probably have an attractive man or a beautiful, perfect looking woman. Some ads could even be considered degrading. DJ Trotters, Sex on the Beach advertisement is stereotypical towards gender. A bottle of this alcohol sells for about seven dollars (DJ Trotters Sex-On…). This low price aligns with the ad in the fact that the two people in the ad do not look upper class. The look like two average people. The DJ Trotters ad is stereotypical in the way it portrays the man and the woman, the advertisement is selling off of sex appeal, and is degrading in the way they are showing the woman as someone who needs to be at the man's service.

During an in-class discussion, Dr. Martin explained that one must look through different lenses to view things from all positions. “Positionality refers to the race, class, gender, physically ability and other positions that we occupy in life” (Tackacs, 2002). Understanding positionality allows us to see how our identities may be unique, which allows us to contrast positionalities with others. When looking for racism in commercials, it is important to look at the issue as a whole with the lenses of the people of color that are “off to the side” in these commercials. This allows you to gain a better perspective of how they view people of their own race on television networks.

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.

Can T.V. shows be the reflection of our society or influence the behavior of the members of our community? Since 1936 when television broadcasting begin, it priority was to inform and to entertain our society; subsequently, a massive amount of rules and regulations were created to control the material presented in TV, which principal goal was to safeguard the moral and ethical standards of it time. Nevertheless, from its beginning to the present home entertainment television standards contents have change; likewise, the moral an ethics values of our society have change and continuing changing from generation to generation. TV shows from the 50’s, 80’s, and the present exposed many changes in the way human role are exposed, the language

The cast of many shows on TV are mainly white Americans. Even today there is a rare chance that a person of color will be represented correctly in

Diversity among our society is part of what makes it so unique. This is necessary to incorporate into the creation of any public programs or project, especially in the media business. This can include movies, tv, commercials, games, apps, websites, and so on. Some of the concepts necessary to creating such products include the diversity in ethnicity, culture, gender, social class, and age. Managing the audience your product will appeal to is huge in determining the success of any product. Diversity in gender is easily one of the most basic concepts to consider. If you make a commercial that is targeted towards men, but not women, you will lose at least half of your audience. Hardee’s commercials for their burgers are a good example of what

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.