Extent of Positive Effects of Entertainment Media on Society - Report Example

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Introduction

In the contemporary society, the mass media as an industry has opened several doors for many people in the society. Considering the growth of this industry, several specializations have come up in the media career including entertainment media (Weiler, Myers & Berry 2012).

Today, it is clear that media as a whole has a lot of influence in the daily living of people. The content of the media has a huge contribution to changing the values and the lives of the society. It becomes along with the societal changes. It can change the way the society thinks. The Medias persuasive nature in entertainment can influence the societal thoughts and behaviors. It exposes the society in a totally new world that it can associate and bond with. Everyone is virtually exposed to media on an everyday basis. This is so whether it is video games, music or even television. These types of media have both negative and positive influence on the individuals and society as a whole. These influences do affect the lifestyle of the people and how they choose to live it (Pasiuk 2006).

The entertainment media has a relatively powerful influence in shaping and molding the societal lives. It has reached a point where the society is fully depending on the information and entertainment from the media and in so doing we are affected in various aspects in our lives. The usefulness of entertainment media in providing instant information about the events around the globe is undeniable but always taken for granted by the majority of the members of the society (Vaughn 2006).

Extent of positive effects of entertainment media on society

The influence of the entertainment media on the society has risen immensely over the last five decades largely due to the advancement in technology. Entertainment media nowadays is a contemporary form of journalism also referred to and digital journalism where the editorial content conveyance is via the internet as opposed to the classical broadcast or print media. The lowered cost of distribution, fewer entry barriers, and fewer computer networking technologies have led to the increasing utilization of digital journalism (Lieberman & Esgate 2012). The form of media provides efficient, quick and accurate reporting of breaking news and provides the audience with a synopsis of events as they emerge. Nonetheless, the speed to which information posting occurs on the internet could affect its accuracy.

The primary objectives of any form of media are entertainment, education, and provision of information. Initially, the forms of entertainment media were in the form of radio, magazines, newspapers, and television. Currently, the internet, cell phones, and palmtops are at the center stage of the entertainment media. The various forms of media led to both positive and negative impacts in the society. Online journalism is a contemporary form of journalism also referred to and digital journalism where the editorial content conveyance is via the internet as opposed to the classical broadcast or print media (Weiler, Myers & Berry 2012). Most entertainment media are currently present on the internet forums. The entertainment media has immense positive influence on the society regarding the education, health and socialization of masses but also presents with various negative impacts including moral decay, inactive lifestyle and the instigation of hate and violence among various groups (Appleton & Yankelevits 2010).

Entertainment as a function of the media functions to relieve most people from a hectic day and aiding relaxation in a calm environment. The entertainment media is also useful in socializing the masses and also helping them to formulate opinions and arrive at particular decisions. The lowered cost of distribution, fewer entry barriers, and fewer computer networking technologies have led to the increasing utilization of digital media. Some of the forms of entertainment from the said media are electronic games and movies (Tisdell & Thompson 2007). The games, for instance, challenge the players fostering critical thinking and decision making skills. The movies, on the other hand offer relaxation and fosters creativity among the viewers and the artists. In the present age, most people depend on the electronic media to remain connected to friends and the outside world.

Entertainment media also plays an educative role in the society. Entertainment media is use in different forums to educate the masses about morals, their rights, religious and social obligations among other things. The utilization of the internet has over the years accelerated personal interactions, internet forums, instant messaging and social and economic networking. When electronic media set itself in the global cultural imagination, it was foreseen that the same would lead to a golden era in politics and social interactions (Plunkett 2008). The use of the internet is increasingly becoming a common feature of civic and political engagements. The diminishing group loyalty and social media fragmentation gave rise to an era of a vibrant and personalized political engagements in which the individual personal actions expressed are displace the group action frames.

The electronic media around the world have been forced to change their media of communication to a more personalized and digital frames such as the use of the internet to educate and inform their audience. The growing impacts of the internet on electronic media classified advertising and brought free news to the target audiences who were no longer interested in paid subscriptions. The result of the above on political journalism is the pauperization, localization, globalization and personalization of news and information (Jacquart 2004). The selective perception of the media implies that image that one’s attention focuses on could change in relation to the figures presented. Cultural perspectives and symbolisms could not be underestimated in semiotics. The culture from where the image is produced depicts a closeness of ties between the humans.

With the fast-growing technological advancements in the electronic media, images are now livelier, more appealing, striking and dynamic in nature where the audience transforms from the classical passive one into the active subjects that can personalize mass communication. Media images are seen in the modern print media and could also employ the use of signs (Kishino 2005). The images could affect the behavioral mechanisms of the community as most of them are inspired by world realities. The entertainment media is one that has greatly shaped the global economics. The increased economic growth gave the emerging and developing nations a greater influence in the global economy.

Consumption of the entertainment media generally depends on the geographical parts of the globe and the socio-cultural dynamics (Plunkett 2008). The increased economic growth gave the emerging and developing nations a greater influence in the global economy. The aspects of fashion brand advertisement need to be reviewed to improve customer satisfaction and utilization of the products (Artz 2015). Globalization affects all aspects of human life from the infrastructure to the health and academic systems. The entertainment firms are left with the option of dealing with members of the virtual communities. Virtual communities refer to a group, or a social network of people who socialize and interact through the social media that crosses geographical, socioeconomic, or political boundaries to meet specific targets.

On the other hand, the electronic media has also had its fair share of negative impacts particularly on the children, teenagers and young adults at their very productive age. For instance, the entertainment media has instigated violence among the children and young adults who are preoccupied by the forms of entertainment that displays much violence and hate speech (Vaughn 2006). Political forms of entertainment media around the world have been forced to change their media of communication to a more personalized and digital frames such as the use of the internet to educate and inform their audience.

The entertainment media has also led to an inactive and sedentary life among the contemporary youth predisposing them to various forms of lifestyle conditions. This is because the consumption of the electronic media basically involves long periods of immobility and concentration leading to diminishing levels of physical activity. The entertainment media forms a vital part of our lives and communication (Pasiuk 2006). Most forms of media forms send coded messages to the target audiences. The media content are usually marketed and advertised in fashion magazines and related articles. The entertainment magazines, for instance, have a capacity of influencing the choices of masses immensely.

Conclusion

For long the media as a whole has always been blamed for sting and negative operations, but t should not be forgotten that it is the same media that sheds light o the society on what happens in the entertainment perspective. There are several ways and instances when entertainment media has been giving voices and airing the plight of the poor as well as those who have been neglected by the society. The common man can voice his or her concerns, but the media ensures that their plights of the common people are being heard by the right people at the right time.

Entertainment media acts as a medium for communication between the government and the common people through sharing of policies by both the people and the government and having the voices of the people reach those who are in authority. Thanks to the power of the entertainment media, several scams are being uncovered thus saving millions (Weiler, Myers & Berry 2012).

In addition, the entertainment media including documentaries, movies, songs, books have been inspirational through portraying the lives of great people in the society. They have been able to tell true stories in ways that have been appealing to the societal members. Entertainment media has been helpful by enabling small ideas and messages are able to spread wide and far thus creating inspiration in the people to come together and fight for a common cause. In conclusion, will not be wrong to state that the entertainment media truly shape the society, and the same media acts a true reflection of the society (Lieberman & Esgate 2012).