Media: Impact on Shapes Lives, Ideas, and Global Thought - Research Paper Example

Section/# Media: An Impact ment on the Way in Which it Shapes Lives, Ideas, and Global Thought An undeniable aspect of the current world is with regards to the fact that media proliferation exists upon almost every level of society. Working hand in glove with this level of media proliferation is the fact that individuals from all demographics are continually integrated with news stories as they develop. Moreover, a societal norm is represented by the media and has a profound level of impact with regards to the way in which individuals integrate with understandings of morality, consumerism, and/or appropriate behavior. As such, the power that media has upon the lives of individual around the globe is dynamic and likely will increase as globalization and media integration continue to be evidenced. As a function of seeking to understand the impact that media has on stakeholders within society, the following analysis will engage the reader with some of the most prominent ways in which media impacts the way in which people think, act, and define/constrain their lives. A negative aspect regarding the current realities of media coverage and terrorism is with respect to the overall level of understanding that continual 24/7 coverage of terrorism related events ultimately has upon societal consciousness. If one considers, for instance, the recent Boston bombing was indicative of the way in which media proliferation and continual coverage worked to undermine any type of understanding, realization, or remorse for the events and focused upon anything but rational or substantiated reports. In effect, the media circus that surrounds many of the terrorism incidents, especially those take place to mastic way, has escalated to such a scale as to diminish any semblance of professional reporting and devolve this into something of a media circus/frenzy in which each and every potential angle and/or hearsay is given air time and discussed as a means of continually providing the viewer/listener/reader with a new take, a new stance, or new information concerning the topic at hand. Ultimately, all of this is done as a means of providing the media outlet with a further level of revenue. This is due to the fact that they are solely and completely aware of the realization that their profits and revenues are contingent upon their ability to continue to manufacture and engage the participant with what can be considered “new” information. Understanding that is necessary to continually compete with the viewer/reader/listener’s attention, these media outlets engage in a form and level of coverage that would have been unheard of that a few years previously. Although such a level of analysis is circumstantial at best, the reader could seek to create a level of understanding between the rapid increase in global terrorism and the rapid increase in media coverage that it is garnered over the past 10 years time. The profit-driven nature of the news media strikes at the very core of the issue up for discussion within this analysis. Ultimately, the very sad reality is that the news media derives a very great deal of profitability of the suffering and magnitude of harm that both man-made and natural disasters in her around the world (Thomas 53). At Within such an understanding, it becomes quite obvious to the reader that the news media is ultimately desirous of events such as terrorist actions which will greatly increase the scope of viewership that they would otherwise derive any one particular time. Although this is indeed sadistic, a rapid increase in viewership as a result of terrorist action allows for the news/media outlets to rapidly increase its profitability. Once again, although such a reality is difficult to fathom and completely understand within an ethical interpretation of the current paradigm, it is nonetheless true and impacts upon the extent and level to which terrorism is engaged and the extent and level to which societal stakeholders are presented with a continual influx of information concerning these activities. Firstly, it must be understood that the United States has long ago developed mechanisms through which social media opinion can be shifted. Within the United States military psychological warfare operations, there exists entire divisions of civilians and soldiers whose job it is to shift public opinion with regards to one issue or another (Szecsi 123). In very much the same way seeking to take social media as a barometer of the way in which “the people” feel with regards to a given topic is ultimately at risk of being representative of a particular biased and warped view. Upon the other side of the equation, it must be understood that as soon as the autocratic leaders of nations such as to media, Libya, and Egypt realize that social media was being used as a tool against them, these sources were promptly shut down and indeed the plug to the Internet was removed for the nations in question. As can be seen, this represents a fundamental flaw with regards to the way in which social media is oftentimes put forward as the great mediator of bias and injustice/propaganda within the modern world. Realizing that it was impossible to battle against an insurgency while removing its form of communication, the Egyptian government sought to fight back utilizing a paid militia of commentators and news pundits that integrated and inundated Facebook and Twitter with pro-government stances. In such a way, the reader can come to the profound level of realization that even though globalization and the proliferation of media initially helped the truth to come out with regards to the occurrences that were taking place within these autocratic and repressive regimes, these very same tools were quickly use against the opposition as a means of neutralizing their effect (Olausson 1293). Accordingly, rather than saying that social media and/or the globalization of media and its impacts are ultimately neutral or bad, the reader should instead come to the interpretation of the fact that these same tools, put forward as a hopes of democratizing the media, can in fact be utilized in quite the opposite direction and have an inverse affect. Further, an undeniable fact is that the adolescents within our society grow up in a world that is saturated by media and media influence. One particular aspect of this saturation is the extent to which television pervades the current culture. Whereas children of generations past have been exposed to television, the total numbers of hours each week that exposure portends has increased seemingly exponentially of late. This has many negative effects on the individual which is exposed; regardless of age. One of the aspects of the negative effect that a large consumption of television media has been shown to effect is a range of health issues within those individuals that watch a number of hours of television programming weekly (Groening 69). Although the negative health affects have been a topic of much recent discussion, the expressed purpose of this research analysis will be to draw a level of inference upon the way in which violence represented in television media affects the minds, outlook, psychology, and world-view interpretation of the adolescent viewing audience. Although violence has always been a discernible and visible part of the human experience, the proliferation of violence on the television has provided a paradigm shift in the way that the shareholder, namely adolescents, engage with an understanding of this representation within the reality of culture and entertainment that television necessarily portends. Ultimately, the scope and level of the violence that is represented along with the increased total viewing hours that adolescents within society are engaging with means that the level and extent to which this violence is represented has increased exponentially over time. However, before delving further into the nature of violence and its effect as represented within television media, it is important to qualify that regardless of the effect that violence within media could have on the individual, it cannot and should not be blamed for all extant violence that exists due to the fact that violence and its representation within human society has far predated the first exhibition of television or the media in general. One of the most important aspects of the effects of the media on the adolescent mind is the way in which it causes a degree of exposure and acceptance of violent actions as a reasonable and expected means of conflict resolution. Many studies have looked into the explosion of anger and aggression issues that have been represented lately and made convincing links and parallels to the extent to which the representation of violence within media, and specifically television, has contributed to the rise in the prevalence of these issues. However, regardless to the particular study that is engaged with, most authors and researchers have agreed that children and adolescent exposure to violence plays an integral part in the ultimate expression of violent behavior; or at the very least integrates an understanding among the shareholder that violent expression is an acceptable means of conflict resolution within society and culture. One of the primal difficulties that has been enumerated upon by many researchers is the fact that it is difficult to engage appropriate research and measurement tools on the effected populations due to the fact that few parents want to admit that their children have the run of the house and can watch as much television as they wish. Due to such a constraint, seeking to gain reasonable inference on the amount of television consumed and drawing a link between the percentages of violence exhibited within this programming and the exhibition of violence, aggressive or behavioral issues within the individual becomes increasingly difficult. As a function of understanding the extent to which television media has pervaded our current culture, it is useful to briefly examine a few statistics on the topic. Firstly, as early as the 1950’s, as few as 10% of the entire population even owned a television set. Currently, around 99% of all households within the United States have at least one. Moreover, one out of two children has a television set in their room; this of course provides instant access to the adolescent to a wide array of programming. It should of course not be considered that all programming that the adolescent will engage with is violent in nature; however, the fact of the matter is that the average American adolescent will view approximately 200,000 acts of violence which includes over 16,000 murders prior to the age of 18 year. Due to the fact that the proliferation of violence within the current media is at such a high level, the extent and exposure that the adolescent is expected to realize will most likely only continue to grow over time (Paun & Azaroiu 297). Moreover, studies have indicated that the average time spent watching TV for the adolescent will soon exceed 28 hours per week. As such, the researcher can readily note that the constant increase in the level of media proliferation into the lives of adolescents combined with the ever-increasing levels in which violence is exhibited within television programming. In keeping with the theme of the ways in which media globalization has impacted upon the ultimate level of “truth” and “fairness” that exists within the modern world, it must also be understood that the media conglomerates have been able to have a noticeable impact upon what can be termed as popular culture. By presenting a specific world view and promoting it through a level of globalized media, these entities are able to shift public opinion and create a popular culture that otherwise would not have existed (Lazariou 207). Ultimately, as individuals throughout the world are presented with more than a single viewpoint and represented with the complexity of the issues, situations such as the one which had been previously defined concerning the British Parliament, are more likely to take place throughout the current model. From the information that has been presented, it must be understood that the media has a profound and residual affect upon nearly each and every aspect of the way in which human beings live their lives, integrate with one another, understand salient news, and formulate a view of culture/morality. In such a manner, the effect of media, in all its forms, cannot and should not be understood to be miniscule or tangential; rather, it is a very real and present influence that helps to define reality for everyone who integrates with it (Zayani 51). Moreover, as a result of the increasingly globalized world in which we live, the level and extent to which a person is able to escape from the impacts that media has and not be affected in any way shape or form by it is almost impossible. Works Cited Groening, Stephen Francis. "Connected Isolation: Screens, Mobility, and Globalized Media Culture." Dissertation Abstracts International Section A 69. (2009). PsycINFO. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. Lazariou, George. "Media Knowledge And Journalism's Mission In Democratic Polity." Contemporary Readings In Law & Social Justice 3.2 (2012): 205-211. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. OLAUSSON, ULRIKA. "Theorizing Global Media As Global Discourse." International Journal Of Communication (19328036) 7.(2013): 1281-1297. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. PAUN, STEFAN, and GEORGE AZAROIU. "The Importance Of Technological Innovation To International Relations." Economics, Management & Financial Markets 6.2 (2011): 295-303. Business Source Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. Szecsi, Gabor. "Language, Media And Community In The Information Age." Coactivity / Santalka 21.2 (2013): 119-127. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. Thomas, Roger. "Media, Cultural Diversity And Globalization: Challenges And Opportunities." Journal Of Cultural Diversity 18.2 (2011): 48-54.CINAHL Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. ZAYANI, MOHAMED. "Media, Cultural Diversity And Globalization: Challenges And Opportunities." Journal Of Cultural Diversity 18.2 (2011): 48-54. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. Read More