The Effects The Media Has On American Society - Term Paper Example

? THE EFFECTS THE MEDIA HAS ON AMERICAN SOCIETY The ability of the media to influence the public in countries worldwide is not standardized. Most commonly, the media is used for ensuring the support of the public to the initiatives developed by the government in regard to the management of crucial public issues. In USA this trend is highly developed. Media is considered to be a critical tool of communication between the government and the public, a fact which is reflected in the use of the media every time an important governmental plans needs to be promoted. The effects of media on American society are critically discussed in this paper. It is noted that the relationship between the media and the particular society is of similar form as in other countries worldwide – referring to the relationship between the media and the local population. However, in USA this relationship is highly developed; the media is considered as the unique tool for identifying the consent of the public to particular political decisions. It should be noted that through the decades the power of the media to affect the American society seems to be weakened – probably under the influence of the failures of media to represent the actual status/ quality of political and economic plans as promoted by the government, the local authorities but also the private sector – the case of Enron which was considered to be a quite powerful corporation, as presented through the media, is an indicative example of the failure of media to check the validity of the social and economic messages promoted through the particular means of communication. Traditionally, the American society has been strongly affected by media. As a result, every time that a critical political decision had to be supported the media was used, more or less, to ensure the consent of the public to the attempted changes. In order to understand the effects of media on American Society, it would be necessary to refer primarily to the characteristics of this society. Then, the potentials of media to affect the particular society would be made clear. The American society is based on specific principles/ ethics. Trust is of key importance for getting the approval of the public. In terms of decisions related to the management of the country’s issues, the participation of the public has been of critical importance. The term participation refers to the awareness of the public of the basic rules of the attempted plans, i.e. the direct involvement of the public in the realization of these plans is not necessary. In other words, in the context of the trust, as existing between the politicians and the public the provision of information to the public on the main principles/ parts of governmental decisions is considered as having the sense of involvement of the public in the relevant initiatives. The power of the media to influence the view of the public on critical social, political and economic issues is reflected in the literature published in the particular field. At a first level, the ability of the media to influence each individual has been assessed. The theories developed in this area have been rather contradictory. In the study of Shirley (256) reference is made to the hypodermic needle theory, which is based on the view that media cannot affect equally all people; rather, the media affects each individual at a different level in accordance with his background and perceptions. In the context of this theory it is believed that the behavior of the individual is of critical importance in order to understand his exposure to the media, meaning the level at which the media can influence the views/ decisions of the particular person. On the other hand, there is the magic bullet theory, which considers the potentials of the media to influence the public as being of a standardized form. In the context of this theory, the media is able to influence all people the same even if the message transmitted through the media has not been checked as of its validity (Shirley 256). The above theory accepts that media has a unique power to influence the public no matter the perceptions of the public towards the media or the personal beliefs/ background of each member of the society. The involvement of media in the social and political life of people in America has been studied using appropriate theories and concepts. The American School has noted that society in America, like in other countries worldwide, has become ‘mass society as a result of the radical industrial development’ (McMillin 44). In accordance with the above view, the involvement of media in the daily life of people in America is unavoidable. However, the terms under which this involvement has to be developed should be carefully examined/ evaluated. On the other hand, Peters and Simonson (232) consider that the identification of the effects of media on society, requires the examination of three different issues: a) the effects of the existence of media in the particular society, b) the structure and the ownership status of media have also to be reviewed; at this point it is made clear that media tends to be differentiated in countries worldwide, meaning its structure but also its ownership characteristics. This difference is resulted because of the different rules and criteria for the establishment of mass media worldwide, c) the potential ability of the mass media to affect critical social issues, as this ability is also differentiated in countries around the world, has also to be explored. In the study of Peters and Simonson (232) the potentials of media to influence the American society is related to the following facts: a) not all types of media has equal potentials to reach and affect the public; it is noted that when reference is made to the involvement of media in the perceptions of American people, a particular type of media is described: the mass media. Indeed, the mass media has the potential to reach an enormous part of the population, being able to influence the beliefs of people in regard to various social, political and economic problems, b) in America, the mass media is highly developed; reference is made, as an example to Hollywood and the Radio City (Peters and Simonson 232); thus, the potentials of mass media to influence the public is considered to be extremely developed in America – compared to other countries worldwide where there is no such relationship between the media and the society, mostly because mass media in other countries is not adequately supported being less capable – compared to America – to influence the view of the public on the status and the effects of various governmental initiatives. In the study of Preiss (2007) reference is made to the gender stereotyping as promoted through media in America. It is explained that the empirical studies developed in the particular field revealed differences in the responses of Americans to the media. These differences refer mostly to the television and are related to the gender/ age of the viewers. For instance, it was revealed that the time spent on television is higher compared to any other single activity in America – reference is made to audience of different gender/ age. At this point it is explained that the increased power of television to influence the perceptions/ beliefs of the viewers is based on the following fact: televisions exist in all homes across America. Moreover, the educational and understanding skills of the viewers are minimal (Preiss 200) compared to media of different forms. From a similar point of view, pluralists consider that the ability of the media to influence the social life of people in America should be evaluated using four different criteria: a) content, b) media, c) audience, d) interaction (Block, Houseley, Nicholls and Southwell 124). In accordance with the above view, not all forms of media are equally capable of affecting the daily life of people. Instead, their potentials to influence the perceptions of people in regard to critical social and economic issues seems to be depended on specific factors, as described above. At this point, the following issues should be highlighted: a) the evaluation of the content of media can be quite difficult taking into consideration their expansion – not just in terms of geography but also in terms of size and number, b) in any case, the type of the media seems to be of critical importance for evaluating its power to influence the beliefs and perceptions of people; for instance, it has been proved that the television has increased power to influence the public’s perceptions in regard to various social and political issues – compared to other types of media; the significant time of exposure to the television – than to media of different types – is probably the reason for the increased power of television towards other media forms, c) the characteristics of audience of media are not standardized; this fact can be a problem; for instance, the exposure of adolescents to violent scenes or political messages which are not clear. The effects of media on American society need to be evaluated using a wide range of criteria. Primarily, the readiness of the public to accept/ process the information transmitted has to be checked. In accordance with Berger (14) the effects of media on American people can be negative under the following terms: a) when the age of the viewers is lower compared to the level of the information transmitted – referring to the case of adolescents who view emissions that address the adults, b) when the messages transmitted can lead to the violation of law or the decision to proceed to radical changes in regard to the family life – referring to the case of emissions that promote violence or infidelity (Berger 15). From a different point of view, the media can be used for promoting the creativity of people of various ages – referring to the case of emissions that are related to sports or similar recreational activities (Lazere 500). In other words, the effects of media on people across America are not necessarily negative. However, there are many chances for the media in USA to play such role, especially if the content/ quality of media is not checked in advance. The responsibility of parents and of the supervisors of adolescents can be significant. People in America can be benefited by the media but only under the terms that their exposure to the media is carefully planned – meaning the examination of the content of the media in advance. The above assumption is related to media not only in American but also in all countries worldwide. However, because in America the power of the media to be involved in critical social and political decisions is high, compared to other countries, for this reason it is important that the terms of the exposure of American people to the media are carefully reviewed in advance. In accordance with Holt & Perren, the evaluation of the effects of media on the American society needs to be based on the following fact: media in America, like in most countries worldwide, are owned and controlled by giant corporations. Thus, their forms and content are decided in accordance with their potentials to attract the interest of a high percentage of the population. It is explained that for this reason, specific media forms, like ‘talk and game shows, soap operas and situation comedies’ (Holt & Perren 102) have been significantly developed in media across America. It is implied that the potentials of the media to reach a high part of the population is set as the key criterion for deciding the type of the media promoted in America. The above fact leads to the following assumption: the ability of the media to influence the view/ perceptions of people in American may be similar to the relevant potentials of media worldwide. This fact is verified but up to a point. In America, the involvement of media in daily social and political life is increased, compared to other countries worldwide. As a result, the potentials of the media in America to affect the views/ perceptions of people on critical social, political and economic issues are higher than the similar potentials of media in other countries worldwide. On the other hand, Callaghan & Frauke note that the ability of the media to affect the social ethics and perceptions is reflected in the following fact: traditionally, racism has been a problem for black people in America. The development of media allowed the differentiation of existing perceptions on racism. In fact, through the media, the American society became more liberal, ready to accept concepts like equality and fairness no matter the race or the gender (Callaghan & Frauke 175). From this point of view, the media has helped the American society to get rid of problematic perceptions, which have led to severe social and political turbulences in the past. The power of media to change the view of American people in regard to the rights of people with various racial and gender characteristics to have access to the education or to the workplace in equal terms with their colleagues should be considered as the most important benefit of media, as a critical means of communication. The increased power of the media to influence the perceptions of the public on critical social and political issues is explained in the study of Willis & Willis (2007). In the above study, the power of the media to affect the public is related to the development of the media, as took place through the decades. Emphasis is given on the introduction of the real-time reporting in 1990s (Willis & Willis 68). This scheme, as used in media across America, is based on the perception that the news reported refer to events as they are developed at the time of the reportage, i.e. in real time. The introduction of this scheme highly affected the power of media to influence the public. It has been proved that real-time reporting has been able to influence the public at a higher level compared to the common reporting, as used in the past, in the context of which the news reported referred to the past and not to the present. Since the introduction of real-time reporting the relationship between the media and the American society become closer; the power of the media to affect the perceptions of people across America was increased, a fact which has been used ever since for getting the consent of the public to critical political and economic choices. At a next level it has been made clear that not all forms of media communication are the same – reference is made especially to the media forms developed in American. For this reason, the effects of media on the American society can be differentiated, meaning that the ability of media to affect people across the country is not standardized. The most common example of this phenomenon is the case of non-traditional media, the effects of which are known as ‘non-traditional media effects’ (Willis & Willis 68). In this category, specific type of media belongs: for instance, the Larry King show, the Opra show or ‘late night comedy shows as the Late Night with David Letterman’ (Willis & Willis 68). The ability of this type of media to influence the perceptions and beliefs of the American public is increased because of the following fact: the news and the views transmitted through the specific type of media do not require a particular level of education; instead, they can reach people of various backgrounds and educational status, i.e. they can affect a significant part of the population, compared to the common media which is expected to influence a specific part of the American society – for example the TV emissions focusing on the presentation and explanation of the progress of the economy; the information provided through these emissions is not clear to all people; only those who have appropriate skills/ educational status can capture the specific type of information. In accordance with the issues discussed above, the involvement of the media in the social and political life of American is not standardized. In any case it has been proved that media can affect American society but the forms of the specific relationship can be differentiated. Also, it seems that in America the power of the media to influence the perceptions and beliefs of the public is high, compared to other countries worldwide. This trend is explained by the following fact: in America the media has been traditionally involved for ensuring the support of the public to various governmental plans. Also, in the particular country the media has been highly developed – referring to the establishment of a variety of media forms for responding to the needs of people with different educational status. In other words, in America, media is a critical tool of communication. This means that the involvement of media in all social and economic activities is continuous and significant. However, the ability of the media to persuade people across the country on the rightness of various political initiatives seems to be decreased, compared to the past, probably because of the failures of media to meet specific standards of quality, as set by the initiators/ administrators of the particular means of communication. The increased dependency of the media on the financial support of the state could be possibly a reason for the expansion of the above phenomenon. Works Cited Berger, Arthur. Media and society: a critical perspective. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Biagi, Shirley. Media/Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2006. Block, Peter, Houseley, William, Nicholls, Tom and Ron Southwell. Managing in the media. Oxford: Focal Press, 2001. Callaghan, Karen & Frauke, Schnell. Framing American politics. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Pre, 2005. Holt, Jennifer & Alisa, Perren. Media industries: history, theory, and method. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Lazere, Donald. American media and mass culture: left perspectives. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987. McMillin, Divya. International media studies. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007 Peters, John & Simonson, Peter. Mass communication and American social thought: key texts, 1919-1968. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. Preiss, Raymond. Mass media effects research: advances through meta-analysis. London: Routledge, 2007. Willis, Jim & Willis, William. The media effect: how the news influences politics and government. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. Read More