Is mass media a cause of moral decline - Essay Example

?Mass Media and Moral Decadence Mass media have enjoyed the limelight for the benefits that it has brought to the society to a point that its failures have been overlooked. The failures range from poor coverage of content and negative exposure to moral decadence in the society; where moral decadence is crucial. As a result, it is essential to evaluate mass media in order to ascertain whether it is a cause of moral decline in our society. Mass media have contributed largely to the decadence of morality in the society due to its role in lowering religious tolerance. As such, mass media have continuously portrayed the differences found within different religious groups and drawn criticisms towards them. This has led to increased hostility amongst different religious groups and religions since mass media draw a line between them. This creates the illusion that none of the religions can coexist peacefully without getting into each other’s business and without pointing out their differences. It is because of this that there divisions in the society, and a poor sense of nationalism and humanity because people do not look at which makes them one or brings them together, such as being part of the human race and the other things that they depend on each other for the daily living. Instead, the media illustrates their differences through talks on television that are aimed at showing who is right and who is wrong and religious content that is distributed all over television programming. In addition, mass media has strong roots on the internet, where it continues to post inciting information and reckless coverage of sensitive religious events. This can be seen in the case of the middle-east, where the West continues to wage war in the name of liberation. As such, mass media fuels the war by including terms of religious radicals that are fighting a holy war against another religion that they perceive to be in the process of dominating their lives (The Washington Times, 2007). In addition, mass media has led to moral decadence in the society is through reckless programming, or rather the content that is approved to air on television, radio and even on films. Most of the content on the television and radio may not contain express and explicit sexual content, but that does not mean that it lacks strong sexual content. A large portion of the population spends a large amount of time watching television or interaction with other forms of mass media. This is the same mass media that is indiscriminate in its programming, where it portrays popular culture, in which sexual promiscuity and people are idolized. It is this idolization that is killing the sense of guilt and morality in people especially children as there is not much they understand (Wilson, 2008). They are more into taking that which they are exposed to as the gospel truth, as opposed to choosing that which is right and leaving out the rest. In addition, mass media over the internet provides easy access to inappropriate content in the form of pornography, which affects the behavior of people and their perception of the world and others (Wilson, 2008). This is in the case where one becomes hyper sensitive to sexual content that he or she thinks and perceives real life events on a sexual perspective. As a result, there is increased possibility of sexual crimes since pornography is glorified in mass media leading to rapes and abortions in pregnant women; proving that mass media has considerable influence towards moral decadence. Moreover, mass media present strong content relating to violence and aggressive behavior, which affects the development and control of emotions in people (Wilson, 2008). In this case, mass media, especially television and video games show increased instances of violence, which may be helpful for the individuals watching them. However, the intended benefits do not entirely manifest themselves in the people but instead manifest a negative consequence of moral decadence. This is because instead of creating an avenue for the release of negative emotions, it leads to expression of negative emotions towards other members of the society. The death of morality in this manner can be viewed in specialized cases as one witnessed in china, where empathy lost all meaning. A child got hit by a vehicle and then got ran over by another vehicle, and over eighteen people walked past, according to a CCTV camera, and none of them stopped to help (Shanghai Daily 2011). This proves the contribution of mass media towards negative moral development that, in turn, translates to moral decadence. In addition, mass media has created avenues of showing that it is fine to earn a living through any means and at whatever cost as was the case of the Chinese accident. People went about their business as if nothing happened and without any sense of visible remorse, which is a consequence of numbed empathic feelings brought about by exposure to similar events on mass media. Still on aggressive behavior, one may argue that media creates room for one to see that which he or she would not like to be, and the consequences of violent behavior. Honestly, this exposure creates rooms for reinforcement of negative behavior, where one cannot understand or even draw a line between reality and fantasy (Soldout1, 2011). It is also because of mass media that morality is lost on some people since they learn new behaviors and tactics; that they would otherwise not have learnt had they not been exposed. As a result, they acquire poor morals of not conceding defeat when they lose, but instead they fight over the most trivial of things, to the extent of killing one another. This is evident in cases of school shootings, where students that cannot cope with their emotions release them on other students by shooting them. In conclusion, anyone seeking to exonerate mass media from its contribution towards moral decadence should put a strong front based on fact and not mention isolated cases. However, it should be noted that mass media are not all evil, but there are those aspects that bring shame on society by ruining social values and morals. References Shanghai Daily. (2011). Moral decay stems from pursuit of wealth at all cost. China.org.cn. Retrieved from http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2011-11/03/content_23803348.htm Soldout1. (2011). The Degradation of Moral Character. HubPages. Retrieved from http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/36486 The Washington Times. (2007). Americans see Media Aiding Moral Decline. The Washington Times Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/mar/8/20070308-123726-1902r/?page=all Wilson, Barbara. (2008). Media and Children's Aggression, Fear, and Altruism. futureofchildren.org. VOL. 18 : 1 Retrieved from https://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/18_01_05.pdf Read More