Media Around the Globe and the UAE - Essay Example

 Media refers to the various means of communication available. It includes but is not limited to the television, radio and news paper. Media has in one way or the other changed the lives of millions around the globe and the UAE is no exception! The media has a strong impact on the minds of people, be it in the cultural, social or educational manner (Schement 2002). Essay Media has affected the people of this country like it has of millions of people around the globe. Gentile, D. A. (2003). Media violence and children gives an example of how kids are raised in our society; previously when there used to be no media, they were brought up playing with their toy cars and dolls, and as they grew up they demanded to go out playing in the park etc. And now in this era of increasing media penetration how children are brought up is a lot different; their childhoods are spend playing with toy guns (no wonder this is where all the violence stems in) and as they grow up they become cruel young men who believe life is nothing but a war zone which can be conquered with their “toy guns” (Wellisch 2000). Television is that source of the media which affects our society most strongly. When I say strongly, I mean it because a research by Emercon Statistics, 2000, show that on average a person who subscribes to cable in Dubai watches television more then 6 hours a day! Everyone knows of the success story of Dubai; it used to be a desert not until long ago, till the Sheikhs invested some money in developing this city and what you see now is one of the mega cities of the world! Foreign media played an important change in this development of Dubai from a desert to a city, then a mega city and now eventually a media and fashion hub! The effects foreign media has on the UAE are countless. It has changed peoples’ life style, how to perceive things, what they study and how they study and even more their aspect towards life! Bryant, J., & Thompson, S. (2002). Fundamentals of media effects gives this situation: An Arab wife, previously she used to sit in the home and settle all the household chores so that when her family came home in the afternoon, they could all spend quality time. As time passed, American television channels opened in UAE and that made the Arab women know about the American culture (where husband and wife both go to work). And now If you see an Arab wife in this era, they’re don’t perceive life as to staying at home and waiting for their family to comeback while they settle their chores, they instead and go out and work! Media of course has changed lifestyles. (Bryant & Zillmann 1994) The youth I believe has been affected significantly of the lot. It is generally believed that media exposure brings more aggression into, viewers especially in youth if the movie is a violent one. To prove my point I believe there wouldn’t be a better example then the classical “Bobo Doll Experiment” from Strasburger, V. C. (1995). Adolescents and the media: Medical and psychological impact. This experiment was done on nursery going children. They were put into a play room where they observed a television where an adult was hitting and kicking and inflatable doll and making sounds as if he was really fighting. The movie was then stopped and the children were observed for the next ten to twenty minutes. On the other hand another group of children were put to play with a similar doll, but they weren’t made to see the adult hitting the doll video. The results were significant and as expected! The group who witnessed the video was performed similar aggressive acts on the doll while the other lot did not. The above experiment proves that the youth tend to take what they get from the media. According to Ravitch, D., & Viteritti, J. P. (2003). Kid stuff: Marketing sex and violence to America's children, most human rights group have called in for a total ban on movies for youth, especially those that depict sexual and violent scenes. Considering the negative aspect, one needs not to forget that the media has a bright side as well. In recent times, interactive programs have been made which help children in studies. Also a lot of foreign television channels have come up which help the children in UAE know about what goes on around (Discovery & National Geographic are just a couple of the lot). Foreign television channels and newspaper on the other hand have also made it relatively easier to acquire latest news from other countries and can be taken as one of the many benefits that media has to offer (Torr 2002). Let’s now consider the effect of media on the minds of people, especially youth. People tend to believe that what comes out of the television box or the internet is exactly the right thing and needs to be followed upon. Without any doubt media helps in getting to know about the latest trends and what’s going on but it comes upon us to see if the same thing is going to be fine for us or not? For instance many Arab kids see and adore how members of rock bands dress up in their concerts (may they even be in the extreme cold of Antarctic). Many, I’ve observed tend to copy them right through without even putting their mind to use that thick leather jackets would do nothing but make them feel like hell in the already humid and harsh whether of the UAE. Media is also giving birth to the American norms in our Arabic society. This is basically as the Arab audience prefers watching American movies and drama serials over others! What’s changing a lot due to the American media influence is the family and relationship structure. Previously young men and women used to marry each other, make their families and used to live happily! But according to Strasburger, V. C. (1995). Adolescents and the media: Medical and psychological impact, however this trend is in the declining slope; what’s going on now a days is that university going kids tend to engage in with each other for temporary relationships rather then getting married. Even many cases have been reported where these temporary relationships have gotten into the “physical” phase and then ended! Media has played an essential role in globalization. It has made the entire world a global village and what’s accessible in Europe, can also be now viewed in Saudi Arabia at the touch of a button. Talking about globalization, English has made its standing as a universal language! If you see the multinationals situated in Dubai or school and university kids in the UAE, they prefer to use English as a medium of language as they deal with each other! Even though Arabic is still used as a medium of dealing, it has been limited only to the primary school books. But then again its not only UAE where English has taken over the native language, this practice has been common in most countries throughout the world. Media has also affected the educational system in general. In the older days students used to get their home works which were supposed to be done on their registers and submitted. Now as the internet has made its mark in the world, this media is also used for study. Often times teachers now ask their students to do their assignments and mail them over the internet. Internet classes are also conducted in recent times. How this system works is that the students are assigned a specific time to log onto the school website where the teachers’ lectures are broadcasted live and you can view them from the comfort of your home. The American University of Sharjah is one of the many educational facilities where such kinds of services are being provided! Conclusion The media has revolutionized the life in general throughout the globe. It has crossed all barriers and made it a lot easier for people to stay in touch with the rest of the world and know what’s going on. But what needs to be controlled is how we take in information from this source. (Dunlop 2007). UAE has now become a head station of media companies around the globe so we need to make sure that we do not let the foreign culture overtake ours; in fact such legislations should be bought in which promote our culture from all those channels which are broadcasted from our country! As media reaches most of the people around our country, we should take its benefit and make such shows that depict our national pride and culture. We need to show our youth that we have out very own identity, an identity different from the world and need to make them understand that following these foreign media channels would do nothing but harm our very own social values and culture and leave us back to no longer then where we started! Bibliography Greenfield, P. M. (1984). Mind and media: The effects of television, video games, and computers. The Developing child. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Bryant, J., & Thompson, S. (2002). Fundamentals of media effects. McGraw-Hill series in mass communication and journalism. Boston, Mass: McGraw-Hill. Dunlop, J. C. (2007). Effects of media literacy instruction Recognizing and analyzing racial stereotypes in media. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oklahoma State University, 2007. http://argo.library.okstate.edu/login?url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/etd/umi-okstate-2196.pdf. Bryant, J., & Zillmann, D. (1994). Media effects: Advances in theory and research. Lea's communication series. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum. Gentile, D. A. (2003). Media violence and children: A complete guide for parents and professionals. Westport, CT: Praeger. Schement, J. R. (2002). Encyclopedia of communication and information. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Wellisch, M. (2000). Games children play: The effects of media violence on young children. Watson, A.C.T.: Australian Early Childhood Association. Ravitch, D., & Viteritti, J. P. (2003). Kid stuff: Marketing sex and violence to America's children. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Strasburger, V. C. (1995). Adolescents and the media: Medical and psychological impact. Developmental clinical psychology and psychiatry, v. 33. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Torr, J. D. (2002). Is media violence a problem? San Diego: Greenhaven Press Read More