The Role of Media as a Socialization Agent - Essay Example

Though the author points out the fact that the ratings have significantly declined even in Europe where a high percentage of people still regard the formerly popular global leader, he holds the opinion that racism among Asian communities may be a significant factor in the president’s declining rates in Asia. This, he argues, may have been prompted by anti-terrorism policies by the Obama administration and the revolution across Arab nations besides the president’s Muslim and African origin (Stanley, 2012).

Media as an agent of socialization

Socialization is a process by which individuals learn and acculturate a society’s adopted norms and opinions. The print media as illustrated by Stanley’s article in The Telegraph establishes itself, as a socialization agent as it forms a basis for gaining information towards accepting beliefs about communicated facts and perceptions. It informs of, with the potential of further influencing, global perception about the United States and its current president, Barack Obama. The newspaper is also a socialization agent by offering a forum in which people can interact and share their opinion with one another. The consistency in the trend of Obama’s rating also communicates a global expectation, a characteristic of socialization. The forum is therefore an effective socialization agent through its role of facilitating communication (Andersen and Taylor, 2007).

Analysis of newspaper article

The article illustrates a variety of sociological concepts such as authority, stereotyping, and ethnic groups. Demonstrating President Obama’s popularity across Asia that identifies racism as the factor towards decreasing popularity of the president among Asian populations illustrates ethnicity and concepts of authority. Identified racism with respect to the subject’s declining popularity among Arab nations as well as his considered Muslim and African origin however demonstrates stereotyping and the concept of ethnic groups (Andersen and Taylor, 2007).

The functionalist perspective that focuses on the interaction between aspects of a society is the most useful sociological theory for understanding the article. This is because the perspective explains interdependence among different aspects of society toward sustainability. The article identifies the media as a part of society that interacts with political and social factors. It demonstrates political opinion by discussing the popularity of an incumbent president ahead of his reelection bid. It also illustrates global politics by discussing international policies and phenomena that have influenced the politician’s global popularity. The article also develops a forum for airing political opinions that illustrates Obama’s declining political authority and admiration among the global society (Andersen and Taylor, 2007).

Conclusion

Stanley’s article about the trend in Obama’s popularity illustrates the role of media as a socialization agent by being informative and offering a forum for discussion. It also demonstrates functionalism theory in society through interaction between the media and both political and social factors and illustrates sociological concepts of authority, stereotyping, and ethical groups.