Effects of Mass Media Paper
By Leilise Vega
HUM/186
Instructor: Allyson Wells
Due: 9/14/15
Effects of Mass Media Paper
Mass media has gone through quite a transformation over the past decade where there were only a couple forms of media. Today mass media has many different forms, from the TV, to the internet, to radio, to social media sites; the list goes on and on. In this paper I will discuss the evolution of mass media during the last century, as well how these developments influence American culture. Furthermore, I will discuss the term media convergence and how it affects our everyday life in ways we never even gave a second thought to. Lastly, I will discuss the absolute importance of media literacy for responsible media consumption
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in today's society. There are many major developments in the evolution of mass media during the last century. One century ago was the year 1915, and at that time we were in the early stages of the Information Age where the major development of mass media was the telegraph. The telegraph was a major development at that time because it made four key contributions to communication; information was able to be shared instantly rather than transported through ships or stagecoaches; it turned information into something of value that can be bought and sold; it made communicating with the military, businesses, or political leaders easier to coordinate commercial or military operations; and lastly the telegraph opened the door for future technological advancements such as the radio and later even the cell phone (Campbell, R., 2015). In fact, by the 1920s the radio became the next big development to into play in the electronic phase of the Information Age. Later in the 1950's and 1960's, the development of the television arrived and made a huge impact on the deliverance of mass media because now people can watch the news, cartoons, TV shows, etc. instead of only having the newspapers or magazines. Soon after between the 1970's and 1990's came the developments of cable TV, DVDs, DVRs, e-mail, and cell phones thus ending the Information and beginning the Digital Era which is where we remain today. In the Digital Era, new technologies such as cable TV and the internet developed so quickly and are still constantly advancing. Today social media has become a major form of mass media for people all over the globe with the majority of teenagers and young adults using Facebook or Twitter. According to Campbell, R., (2015), "This turn to digital media forms has fundamentally overturned traditional media business models, the ways we engage with and consume media products, and the ways we organize our daily lives around various media choices". The term media convergence involves taking older forms of mass media and modifying it, or collaborate it with newer forms with the use of the internet so that the same information can be shared in multiple forms.
For example, many major newspapers and magazines are also available through online subscriptions making them more accessible for people who prefer to read their news electronically rather than having the print version. This certainly affects everyday life in many ways. Many people today get the majority of their news through their Facebook / Twitter accounts because major news stations actually have Facebook / Twitter and post news articles as soon as they come out. Even TV shows access much of their audience through the internet. Shows like American Idol or Dancing with the Stars work with the internet so the audience can vote for their favorite contestants to stay on the show. People are able to take their everyday life and record a simple video on their phone, post in online and thousands of people from all over the world can view and comment on it. Even nearly all books in now have an electronic version of the book that can be read through a tablet or e-reader. Even old classic books like To Kill a Mockingbird have an electronic version of it taking away the need to carry around the actual book. These are just a few examples of how media convergence has affected everyday life in today's …show more content…
society. With all that is continuing to change and progress in today's deliverance of digital mass media, it is important that everyone in today's society become more media literate.
Media literacy involves being able to have access to all forms of media, being able to analyze and evaluate it, being able to create our own form of media such as a blog, being able to reflect and critically think about what is being presented to you, and being able to actively participate in social action through collaborative efforts (Hobbs, R., 2011). Having media literacy is so important because it not only allows people to be more involved in their community, but it also gives people the knowledge they need to access credible and reliable information that can be used for many different reasons. As developments in media continue to progress, the need for media literacy will only continue to grow. Soon it will be a requirement in schools to educate all students on media literacy if it isn't already. With the unlimited amounts of information available in today's society, media literacy is essential in getting around it all and making sense of
it. References: Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B (2015). Media and culture: An introduction to mass communication with 2015 Update (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's. Hobbs, R. (2011). KEYNOTE EMPOWERING LEARNERS WITH DIGITAL AND MEDIA LITERACY. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 13-17. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/869882726?accountid=35812\
“What counts as literacy, how literacy changes in response to the new media landscape, and what value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online? (Jenkins, 2009)"
When discussing the media, we must search back to its primal state the News Paper. For it was the News paper and its writers that forged ahead and allowed freedoms for today’s journalism on all fronts, from the Twitter accounts to the daily gazettes all must mark a single event in the evolution of media in respects to politics and all things shaping. Moving on in media history, we began to see a rapid expansion around 1990. With more than 50% of all American homes having cable TV access, newspapers in every city and town with major newspaper centers reaching far more than ever before. Then the introduction of the Internet; nothing would ever be the same.
The impact of mass media within the contemporary society is a process that can neither be underestimated nor presumed. The exposure to media and its subsequent influence on the life of human beings is evident in every sphere of their lives. The invention of the first printing machine to the latest discovery of mobile gadgets is proof of how this industry as revolutionized over time. In Canada, the media are solely responsible for mirroring the happenings and undertakings of its citizens. People are able to keep themselves informed on current trends, breaking news or even new discoveries through the media. At the same time, individuals also get to learn how other cities are progressing in terms of economy. There have been a lot of positive and negative impacts of the mass media within virtually all societies. This paper is a brief essay that
Over the last 500 years, the influence of mass media has grown exponentially with the advance of technology. First there were books, then newspapers, magazines, photography, sound recordings, films, radio, television, the so-called New Media of the Internet, and now social media. Today, just about everyone depends on information and communication to keep their lives moving through daily activities like work, education, health care, leisure activities, entertainment, traveling, personal relationships, and the other stuff with which we are involved. It's not unusual to wake up, check the cell phone for messages and notifications, look at the TV or newspaper for news, commute to work, read emails, take meetings and makes phone calls, eat meals with friends and family, and make decisions based on the information that we gather from those mass media and interpersonal media ...
...e importance of media studies will not decline, in fact, it will be more dominated in the future, and therefore we need to study the media to understand how it influences ourselves and the society. Not only that, people who study the media rather than consuming it would know how to act rather than being acted about. In saying this, media literate people are and will be better citizens and they can pose questions on the different benefits of the media as well as understand how the media is constructed.
The definition of mass media is “a means of communication that reaches large numbers of people in a short time, this can consist of the use of television, newspapers, magazine, and radio”, and within the last decade the internet as well. (HarperCollins) The media can actually be a minor or major effect on individuals depending on how or what their view is on the particular subject or matter. The effects it plays on individuals and societies will depend on the exposure to the subject matter at the time, but it effects all ages from young to old.
Today's society is very selective; each receiver reacts differently through his or her own experience and orientation according to mass media. Therefore, mass media exists in many different forms such as magazines, television, newspapers, internet, motion pictures, and even plays. Some examples of these forms of mass media are cosmopolitan magazine for young modern women and TSN television network for sports fans. With such extreme varieties of mass media existing in today's societies there are three major constraints that seem to have an impressionable impact. These constraints can keep mass media very restricted.
How media literacy is defined is important for it exerts influence on the framing of the debate, the research agenda and policy initiatives (Livingstone, 2004). However, its concept has always been controversial (Luke, 1989). The definition of media literacy first appear in the 1992 National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy, which described it as: “The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages” (Rubin, 1998, p.3). Based on this definition, many researchers are putting efforts to redefine it from different aspects. Some definitions of the last decade involved the understanding of how media functioned in society (Messaris, 1998). Others pointed out that media literacy instead depended on the understanding of the technological, political, economic constraints affecting the transmission of mediated messages (Lewis and Jhally, 1998). According to Tyner (1998, p17), definitions range from the tautological (computer literacy is the ability to use computers) to the hugely idealistic: “The term literacy is shorthand for cultural ideals as eclectic as economic development, personal fulfillment, and individual moral fortitude”. One of the definition that is more related to daily practice puts emphasis on critical thinking and the ability to distinguish media content form social reality, as Potter (2001, pp4-5) put it: “Media literacy is a perspective that we actively use when exposing ourselves to the media in order to interpret the meaning of the messages we encounter.” While popular US textbooks on media literacy have an interesting description, which says, “we build our perspectives from knowledge structures; to build our knowledge structures, we need tools and raw materials-the...
The mass media has played a key role in shaping people’s lives. The modern society’s use of mass media including TV, radio, newspaper, as well as print media has largely influenced people’s ideas regarding themselves and the society at large. This is evident from their behavior towards themselves and their community as well as their treatment of the environment. While some experts believe that the media is to blame for most of the negative behavioral traits among the active members of society, the majority agree that the media makes people understand and develop a positive sense of association with their society within which they live, making it easy for them to identify and get their role in it.
Throughout the previous years, the effect of mass media has produced exponentially with the innovation of technology. Initially there were books, tabloids, journals, photography, movies, broadcast, TV, New Media of the Internet, and now mass media. Nowadays, each individual are most depended on the news media and gossips to preserve their lives moving within everyday accomplishments. We trust the mass media for the existing newscast and evidences concerning anything that is significant and what we must be conscious of. We rely on the media as a consultant for gossip, info, and amusement. The amount of authority varies on the obtainability of media. All of the customary mass media partake excessive impact throughout our existence. For example the 20th century port...
If one asked “What is media literacy?” a majority of people would be puzzled. Some would say that it is the ‘written’ part of media that is not usually seen or a written layout of how media should be produced. The bulk of people would say they have no idea what media literacy is. People in today’s society should be informed about media literacy. Society should be informed of what media literacy exactly is and how it applies to the field of communications.
Mass media, including TV, radio, newspapers have a great influence on people and especially on the younger generation. It plays an important role in shaping the opinions and position of the younger generation. In the present, the younger generations are influenced by mass media, including TV, radio, and newspapers. They think this is the model for them because in daily life it is necessary for everyone, therefore, it is not unusual that it has a great influence on the people and especially on them. It plays an important role in shaping the opinions and position of the younger generation. The younger imitate the mass media and it has an impact on the younger on they way they dress, speak or behave.
According to Ministry of Education’s Resource Book “Media literacy is one of the few instruments that enables teachers and students to challenge the great inequalities in knowledge and power that exist between those who manufacture information in their own interests and those who consume it innocently as news or entertainment.” Media literacy is a course to help students separate fantasy from reality in the media. Media literacy is a set of skills that enables people to critically analyze messages in the media. By using an inquiry-based instructional model, media literacy encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see, and read.
Media literacy gives us the ability to understand the information and process the underlying meanings within. According to the video “Media Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom” (2009), media literacy is defined as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media in all its forms. The video “Media Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom” (2009) refers to media literacy as a skill that allows people to be critical thinkers, which makes it more difficult for others to influence a person’s thoughts and ideas. With the massive amounts of media available, we need to be able to decipher the meanings beneath the messages. Media literacy is more important than ever in today’s society because of the advancements in technology and the increase of all forms of media. In today’s society, we should make an effort to change our ways and use a culturalist approach to media literacy. “A culturalist approach to media literacy education views mass media as an integral part of the cultural lives of youth, not an outside force to be resisted or overcome” (Mittell 391). With the amount of media we are all exposed to, we need to give our younger generation the appropriate education on how to analyze and evaluate the media that they will be bombarded with. With the evolution of technology and media, it is absolutely crucial that we include media literacy in the education process for the sake of the younger
Media technologies are becoming an important aspect of today’s society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. Media is commonly defined as being a channel of communication. Radio, newspapers, and television are all examples of media. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Since many people use media very frequently, it is obvious to assume that it has affects on people. According to the text book Media Now, "media effects are changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior that result from exposure to the mass media," (386). This leaves us with many unanswered questions about media and its influences. This paper will look at how the effects of media are determined and explore the main affects on today’s society - violence, prejudice, and sexual behavior.