Does the Media Shape Who We Are - 2522 Words

Introduction The Mass Media is an important feature of modern society; its development has undoubtedly been a core factor to rapid social and technological change and also to the rise in personal income and standard of life as well as the decline of some social traditions. Mass media can be defined as venues for messages that are created for consumption by large numbers of people. It is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state. The degree to which the mass media has influenced society today has been (and still is) debated upon for decades. It can be argued that the mass media is used as â€Å"an instrument†, both more powerful and†¦show more content†¦The school proposed the hypodermic model of effects. This envisaged the media as a hypodermic syringe that injected the audience with its contents like a drug making them acceptable to the attitudes, opinions and beliefs expressed by the medium about the decisions that they make. ‘The image of mass communication process entertained by researchers had been, firstly, one of â€Å"an atomistic mass† of millions of readers, listeners and movie goers, prepared to receive the message; and secondly†¦every message [was conceived of] as a direct and powerful stimulus to action which would elicit immediate response.’- Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955) The Inoculation Model Another theory similar to the last is the Inoculation model, a long term model that is based upon the idea that if we are continuously exposed to certain images, we then become immune to them. This was an argument used in the Jamie Bulger case in which two teenage boys were said to have been obsessed with and therefore influenced by the film Child’s Play 3 and thus drove them to carry out a horrific crime on the toddler. Television violence has been a hot topic in recent years especially the effects it has on young people. As a result there are censorship guidelines notably in the aim not to influence the minds of the young. For example, in America certain sketches of the animated comedy The Simpsons are censored. It is not evenhanded to sayShow MoreRelatedThe Media s Influence On Society1560 Words   |  7 Pagesjust the way you are. How many times have we heard this, yet we live in a society that appears to contradict this very idea. If looks don’t matter then why do women and girls live in a society where their bodies define who they are? If looks don t matter then why is airbrushing used by the media to hide any flaws a person has? What exactly is causing this, why do we feel like we are just not beautiful the way we are? Its the media. It’s because the media promotes a certain body image as being beautifulRead MoreThe Influence of Mass Media on the Young Male Image Essay1645 Wor ds   |  7 Pages Mass media creates a stereotype promoting an image of how a young man should act, appear, or resemble in todays society. The media has a great influence over what we view and hear as a society and it can have an effect especially on a younger men and the image that they want to portray. Moreover, the media has a lot to do with the image we perceived in our minds and young men are easily perusable by what they see or hear. With the media flooding negative influence, it builds up to having thisRead MoreWhat Does Manufacturing Consent Mean?924 Words   |  4 Pages1) What does manufacturing consent mean? †¢ Noam Chomsky separates his surroundings in 2 groups. 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Our thoughts on politics is constantly evolving and maturing as we encounter different agents throughout our lives. These agents of political socialization include our family, our education, the media, and many more. They shape our values and beliefs from the moment we are born to the moment we die. Our family environment contributesRead MoreThe World of Mass Media1067 Words   |  5 PagesThe world of Mass Media is a complicated place as told by former TV and Radio reporter, Al Meyers. â€Å"You never know what you’re going to be doing, but then there’s the ability to be able to do it and to share that with the people who are listening.† Meyers, who is retired, gave me the pleasure of sitting down and talking to me about the world of Mass Media Communication, then and now. Most of what we hear about in the world today comes to us as it is broadcasted through the television news networking