Effect of Media and Mass Communication

The media is a powerful presence within the lives of others. It can be described as the main channel of mass communication. Media is often used to deliver a message to a large audience who are diverse. It can be written, broadcast or spoken. Media is a significant force within modern culture. Culture can be defined as the norms and values of a society. In our culture, the communications media hold an influential place in disseminating information, forming attitudes, and motivating behaviour. Technological advances are increasing the role of the media and its capacity to shape public opinion. Our society depends on the news media to provide information to help us form opinions and make voting decisions. It is clear the media has a huge impact on our culture. The media influences a number of subjects in our culture; one of which is deviance. Deviance can be described as the fact or state of diverging from usual or accepted standards within both social and sexual behaviour. Our cultures view on deviant behaviour is moulded by rules carried out by the government. It provides the basis of our morals and views which guides us through being a law abiding citizen. The media however plays an important role on putting emphasis on and questioning these morals and views. Deviant behaviour is often enhanced by media through deviance amplification. Some might say it is encouraged by publicizing deviant behaviour. And often provoked with the formation of ‘folk devils’. The term mass media was formed during the creation of print media. The earliest printed mass medium was the European popular prints from the fourteen hundreds. Johannes Gutenberg introduced printing to Europe. Gutenberg invented the movable type printing which played a key role wi...

... middle of paper ...

...f the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews 5(10) [Online] Available at: http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volume5/chapter10_media_violence.aspx (Accessed 29th January 2014)

Fog, Agner (1999) Cultural Selection Available at: http://www.agner.org/cultsel/chapt8/ (Accessed on 29th January 2014)

Harcourt, Houghton (2013) CliffNotes Available at: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/deviance-crime-and-social-control/theories-of-deviance (Accessed on 29th January 2014)

Harcourt, Houghton (2013) CliffNotes Available at: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/contemporary-mass-media/the-role-and-influence-of-mass-media (Accessed 29th January 2014)

Lamb, Brett (2013) LessonBucket.com Available at: http://lessonbucket.com/vce-media/units-3-4/media-influence/evidence-and-arguments/ (Accessed 28th January 2014)