The Theory Of The Media

If society has been paying any attention to media as it has changed over the years, people would likely realize that it has transformed from a means of educating to entertainment. The demand for high ratings has become more necessary than valid information. As a result, media produces a lot of bias in both individual stories and opinions. Whether it’s because of (dis)abilities, privileges, or identities, one is likely to see that a single story could vary from source to source in both whom the writers agree with and what the right or wrong actions were. Therefore, the media’s professional display decreases with the usage of personal opinions which sways their viewer’s opinions instead of allowing them to form their own.

The ideology of the media is broad and manifests in the communicativity of the media. To facilitate ideological analysis, however, the key is the fit between the images and texts in a specific media output, plus the manner thought and discussion on social and cultural issues. Questions, however, arise as to how the media content (shaped by ideologies) depict real life. This begs the question of function and ethics. The ideological analysis further attempts to answer questions about what the media messages depict of the society and its people.

The media is an important part of our daily lives. It shapes and molds the lens through which we see the world. It controls everything you see, read, and hear. Media also determines what is said, who said it, how it can be said, and who can hear it. The news for a lot of Americans calls them into action. Depending on what is being discussed it can really sway your emotions. The News can make you happy as well as make you sad or angry. Contrary to popular belief manipulation does not require a device or hypnotism; we are being brainwashed right before our eyes. Television is that most sophisticated media of worldwide communication and viewers are completely susceptible to the media molding their opinions and attitude; as well as influencing what is acceptable and what is not. There is an unconscious “groupthink” mentality that taints news coverage and allows only one side of a debate to receive a fair hearing.  When that happens, the truth suffers. In this essay, I will discuss the types of bias and manipulation, how it affects us, and the ways to prevent it.

History has changed. Ideas and standards have also changed. Back in the day, when the media or movies showed a hint or a dash of blood, the reaction of the average person was shock and disgust at the blood and gore shown. These scenes and clips shown have become more and more extreme over the years to the level of being hazardous to society. Even in the videogame industry, certain scenes that may have caused outrage and commotion fifteen years ago are now seen as childish and may even be considered as humorous. To put it candidly, most of the mass media has been used widely to its ability to influence and persuade, to glorify, and diabolize thoughts and actions of individuals. Yet people of this generation still spend a great percentage of

The media is perhaps more controversial in recent times than it has ever been. The one thing that everyone seems to agree upon is that it is in some way flawed. However, everyone has their own opinion on what the media should be, and how it should operate. Numerous writers have given their opinions on the issues surrounding the media, and give a variety of reasons on how the information from popular sources isn’t always as accurate as they would claim to be. Edward R. Murrow, Ahmed Al Sheikh, James L. Baughman and David French are among these writers who provide their voice to this topic. Conducting research in the popular sphere is problematic, because the sources are more interested in reaching a large audience, eliciting an emotional response

There are two major perspectives on what role the media occupies in the current political landscape: Pluralist and Marxist. Those who support the pluralist perspective see the media as performing two essential tasks, “(1) it informs the public and (2) it acts as a watchdog on those in power” (Edkins, and Zehfuss 157). The second perspective on the media, the Marxist perspective, takes the following view, “For Marxists, the ruling class uses the media as a tool of persuasion: they try and convince everyone that the hierarchical structure of society is serving everyone’s interests, not just their own” (Edkins, and Zehfuss 158). The unifying trait of these perspectives is the belief that media is influential in the formation of public

The term bias is relevant by critics in news outlets because people wonder why the shooting of 17 year old teenager airs by the means of showing a picture of the victim at age twelve. Bias occurs from these types of actions. This type of action carries into political markets by looking at the way major media outlets can be measured by their types of broadcasts. Some may be more liberal and others conservative. More specifically, the leading liberal outlets are Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and CBS evening news; the leading conservatives are Washington Times, Fox’s News special report, and ABC good morning America (Dubner). From a peoples perspective if they want to find a media outlet agreeing with their favorite political personality like President Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton they can look into the more liberal outlets; as for republicans they seek out conservative outlets (Dubner). News bias is prevalent in organizations with the use of dramatic and personalized aspects of events by focusing on individual actors (Bennett 42). In my opinion mainstream media has become bias to agree with the narrative that is more attractive to the audience or headlines that divides the two major political parties.

It is no mystery that the media has much influence in constructing social norms and shaping political dissertations. The expeditious growth in the media, during the previous years, has meant that individuals are able to get many distinct perspectives on the news and with all these opinions thrown at the audience, it is safe to believe that it aids the public to create their own opinions. But is it? Is the media even trying to be informative to the public anymore? It doesn’t seem so. People rely on all media sources to report factual information which helps the public obtain a much different understanding of what’s going on in the world. Except in today’s era, most of the information is altered to fit a desired narrative. Their widespread exposure empowers them to convey their notions to the public, regardless of the public's awareness. In my analysis on the bias in mainstream media, I strongly believe that it is almost impossible to get a sincere nor forthright answer on any important topic, because the media seems to target a specific audience with expectations of creating an imbalance in dispersing information, sustaining rivalries, maximizing profits and increasing racial tension.

Social media publicizes a substantial amount of messages about identity and acceptable ways to express gender, sexuality and ones lifestyle, but at the same time, the viewers have their own differing feelings about the issues. The media may suggest certain feelings and actions, but the audiences feelings can never overpower self-expression completely. The media portrays certain things because it is what is being accepted. Neither parties, these being the media and its audience, have full power over their actions. Both go hand-in-hand to influence each other at times allowing media to take over actions, while the audience has its own feelings about actions to either agree or disagree with the media. Gender and sex are two different things that people tend to confuse when describing people, but both can easily be cleared up, along with talking about how people influence media and media influences people. Television, movies, and toys are not just to blame on media making them the way they are today. The societal influencing that inspired these may have turned into an exaggerated form, but the overall concepts came from society and would not continue to be around if the consumer did not accept these feelings, issues and lifestyles.

Seen as the heart of the political system, the media and its different portrayals of the presidency result in a quite unique relationship. At times, the media portrays the President positively and at other times the relationship may be a bit more negative. This relationship tends to make the flow of information and media spotlight a concern for the President to maintain. But, controlling the stream of information isn’t an easy task particularly when it is unfairly negative. The mass media retains unrealistic expectations of the President at times. Positive and negative portrayals and the constant effort to control the flow of information shape a distinctively complicated relationship with the media.

The propaganda model of the media argues that media falls under five different filters. These filters describe how the media is controlled and influenced. The first filter consists of the size of the corporation, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the company. The second comes in the form of advertising as the primary source of income for

The “Media” or medium is defined and described by encompassing television, music, radio, Internet and the newspaper to effectively communicate to populations worldwide. With all these mediums to ensure communication and information to communities globally, it has become a great staple in how many conduct their lives and communicate to others. While many would suggest that we are to not believe everything we read or see, could that mean that it has the ability to have a negative effect on some? And if so what age, demographic or social group could be considered to be more vulnerable to these effects?

Being able to understand all sides of the story is very important when trying to pick a side. Today, news broadcasters are notorious for providing everyone with bias news. There are six main news sources which are called the Power House Networks; Fox news, ABC News, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and NBC, but unfortunately each one pushes a different political view. A good example is a current event about the health care plan by which each powerhouse network pushes their political view. News viewers tend to be oblivious when it comes to bias in the media because they would rather hear what they believe is right. There are many ways to find truth in journalism that everyone needs to be aware of for example, going to more than one source and conducting a

Media has the power to strengthen the changes in our social, cultural, and political values. The improvement of media has increased the spread of ideas and has made communication more convenient. Television, Facebook, and Twitter are all considered mass medias because they provide people with entertainment, and it is where the flow of ideas is disseminated. In James Fallows essay, “Win in China!” he states that media encourages the Chinese to follow their dreams, such as becoming an entrepreneur. Through television, people are able to see real life activism take place, which encourages them to coin the definition of success. Media is motivating the Chinese people to try and improve their lives by shying away from their traditional

More so than any other aspects of modern life, the mass media determines the public opinions on issues in the United States and around the world. Many different forms of media exist in developed nations along with many assessments about each of these innovations and their respective impacts on society. As with all sociological issues, there exist four major divisions of perspective: the interactionalist, functionalist, feminist, and conflict theorists. Each of these groups shares a few opinion connections with the others but all employ their own unequivocal views which establish them distinctly from one another.