The media has 'programmed' you - Admission/Application Essay Example

Your full April 2, The media has programmed me The term media or mass media includes print media like books, newspapers, magazines, or electronic media like recordings, radio, movies, documentaries, television news casting, or internet media like blogs, message boards, podcasts and videos. A major part of the public lays the foundation of its opinions and decisions upon what it sees and hears in the news on television, in papers, or at the internet. This paper reflects on how media has programmed my life.

The challenge of selection is the biggest difficulty that has started affecting our lives as citizens. “…the challenge of making selections from among the overwhelming number of messages in the constant and increasing flood of information” has made lives harder because we, now, have to filter out the message options by putting our minds on “automatic pilot” (Potter 6). As far as I am concerned, I do not really believe in everything I see on television news channels, hear from radio broadcasting, or read in the paper.

Though I regularly keep in regular contact with what is going on in the world, however, I, at times, keep on dividing the information by two or three, and believe in just a portion of information being transmitted, which is the challenge of selection I just mentioned above. For example, when the hype of bird flu arose, every news channel was talking about it, and every newspaper was writing relating to the fatal consequences, so much so that people started feeling that they were all going to die in the next few minutes.

But then, I told myself not to get obsessed with the whole idea, and nothing happened except just a few cases, say one or two, regarding bird flu. The automaticity of my mind, or the automatic routines, has enabled me to decide what information to believe and what to discard or ignore, in this information-saturated world. The famous Tiger Woods Scandal is one such story which blew things out of proportion just because of the hype created by media, but I never gave much importance to it. “The biggest news as the Tiger Woods scandal played out for the third week on gossip sites and chat boards everywhere wasnt really news”, says Dahlberg (para.1). Media portrayed Woods to be the supreme philanderer ever.

Perhaps there is not much to the story as is conveyed by media. Who knows? Thus, one should not wholly believe upon what is going on in media. One should rather do one’s own research to find out actual facts. And that is what I do. I think ethical issues are as important to be followed in media as in any other field. I have the right to get accurate, honest and transparent information as I have to make up my decisions, concepts and opinions based upon what I collect from media and research.

This keeps me from believing everything I see or hear or read.In short, the challenge of selection and the automatic routines have programmed my mind in such a way that, now, I am able to believe or discard news on the basis of my beliefs, judgments, and frame of mind. Works CitedDahlberg, Tim. As Sports Scandals Go, Tiger Woods is Tops, Bleacher Report Inc., 2009. 2 Apr 2013. < http://bleacherreport.com/articles/308905-as-sports-sandals-go-tiger-is-tops >.Potter, W. James. “The Challenge of Selection.

” Media Literacy. USA: SAGE, 2010.