Mass Media Influence on Perception of Drugs - Essay Example

Mass Media Influence on Perception of Drugs Mass media plays a significant role in convincing our mind about what is good and what is bad or at timesdepicts indecent things in such a way that our mind considers them good decent for ourselves. At times we don’t realize that even if we know the something which is not good for us but in subconscious we feel that it is the current fashion. Sometimes we feel amused by the lives of rock stars even when we understand that it is not virtuous at all. The point is that it is the mass media which creates an opinion about different thing or subjects, whether they are moral or immoral. In many cases it is the mass media which has represented the drugs in a pleasurable way. First of all, it is important to analyze why the mass media is so influential nowadays. A group of sociological researches investigated that how important is the role of mass media in the modern society and how it is inducing human intellectual and psychological development. In the book “One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the ideology of Advanced Industrial Society” Herbert Marcuse claims that in modern society people are determined by the information that comes from mass media and technologies (13). This information creates the perceptions people keep in their minds to evaluate situations their face in their lives. The idea is that people have become addicted and are astounded by the images and concepts that mass media have thrust in them. In some cases, concerning drugs, mass media shows people who have used some medical drugs to become healthy and happy, we undoubtedly believe that we will get the same effect if we start using the drugs as well. The reason behind the blind trust on mass media is idiom frequently used by media “Seeing is believing”. We forget the fact that everything is about business which is shown on media even the media itself is the part of the business. It is the biggest tool of manipulation used on the society. Niklas Luhman, in his book Social Systems, explains that communication is the basis of society. Our modern society and social system are highly dependent on mass media; it works throughout all the aspects of society (25). Initially public opinions are formed through advertisement, programs or shows, which are evidently one of the most manipulative effects against personality. In simple context people tend to learn a lot from media in term of what to wear, how to behave, what to look like etc. Luhmann claims that the messages we receive from media can describe the current developmental level the society is taking up (36). This means that if we can see the tendency of increase of drug messages in media it can cause some sort of moral degradation of society. Another point of view is that mass media has not only penetrated into human minds and formed the conceptualizations of drug usage, but has also become a drug itself. Media illustrates products and other thing in a way that at times we can’t live without them. We trust the information we get from there and become “mediated” (Zengotita 5), which means we have become someone who is totally consumed by media influence. Sociological researches often point out a tendency known as media addiction among modern people. Internet is one of the media which is the most addicted and the most popular among people. It is considered to be the most manipulative modern media tool (Huang 346). One of the factors that need to be enlightened is that people don’t differentiate between the right messages from the wrong one, which they receive from media. Very often drug usage is considered stylish and harmless. Mass media is a pillar of mass culture, and it frequently sends messages in the society which are quite dangerous in nature. To be clearer every now and then drugs are shown to be helpful in different situation, for example escape from problems, being in the dream world, denying the reality and feeling happy. There can be several ways to show this easy life. It can be an advertisement of alcohol or medical drugs or a drama showing drug use or narcotics in teenage life or even songs which make you feel good but show things which are immoral. At many occasion we can notice “before-after” scenes, in which initially show unhappy and hurting faces which become smiling, relaxed and happy afterwards” (Barcus and Jankowski 90). It mostly concerns medical drugs advertisement on TV or printed press. The message we are supposed to receive is that the advertised drugs are reliable and helpful, and we usually have no doubts about their quality or even about whether we need them or do they fit our needs at all. In case of narcotics or alcohol we are usually warned about the consequences of their usage, and they are not advertised with the same commitment, so it is up to us whether to take this responsibility of their side-effects and use them or not. Some researches show that in such cases where media promotes several things that may become dangerous (like medical drugs), people start using them more often because they begin to worry about their problems more, because ever since their problems are promoted they are publicized (Mutz 691). What we can see in modern society is how popular drugs become in media, and that government’s mass media campaign on drugs isn’t really effective (Hansen 1054-1055). Moreover, people clearly know about the harmful effects drugs and alcohol can cause on human organs, but it probably turns out that stolen pleasures are the sweetest. But even though the prohibition of such pleasures is legal, the message advertising them is much stronger and obvious than the actual law. One of the most famous and popular TV series “House, M.D.” describes a drug addict medical doctor who unravels mysteries of human body, diagnoses the most difficult diseases and is generally a genius. The slogan of the series is “Genius has side effects”, which in fact shows that even though the doctor is drug addict, he is a hero. But the question is why everything is positioned the way that it becomes normal for a doctor can be drug addict? Why is House made so attractive and charismatic by the scriptwriters that his addiction and “side effects” are not disadvantageous, but even add some charm into his character? The example evidently shows the real message of the series: drugs can make you extraordinary. Another example is of movie stars and other celebrities, many of them died from drugs. Media keeps showing about celebrities who are on drugs and fan who follow those celebrities tend to be like them and repeat their behaviors. The promotion and advertisement of drug in our society is a serious problem. It is obvious that media as a whole is playing a corrupt role, while at one end showing addiction of drugs and on the other presenting them helpful and harmless on the other. Works Cited: Barcus, F. Earle, and Jankowski, Susan M. “Drugs and the Mass Media”. Annals of the American Academy of Social and Political Science. 417(1975): 86-100. Print. Hansen, Anders. “Will The Governments Mass Media Campaign On Drugs Work?”. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Edition). 290 (1985): 1054-1055. House. Prod. David Shore. Fox. 2004-2012. Television. Luhmann, Niklas. The Reality of the Mass Media. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000. Print. Huang, Chiungjung. “Internet addiction: stability and change”. European Journal of Psychology of Education. 25(2010): 345-361. Print. Marcuse, Herbert. One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society. Boston: Beacon Press, 1964. Print. Mutz, Diana C. “Contextualizing Personal Experience: The Role of Mass Media”. The Journal of Politics. 56 (1994): 689-714. Print. Zengotita, Thomas. Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in It. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2006. Print. John Bednarz, Jr. with Dirk Baecker: Social Systems: Niklas Luhman 1995 Print Setting the Agenda Maxwell Mccombs 2004 Read More