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The role of the media in politics
The role of the media in politics
The role of the media in politics
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The media is actually used as a channel of disseminating information to the audience. And the media influence cultural, moral, political, economic and religious values because they tend to set the agenda for its audience. Not only setting the agenda but also framing. The media tend to frame the central organizing ideas for news content, entertainment, which supplies a context and suggests what the issue is through the use of selection, emphasis exclusion and elaboration.
An instance of political influence in Neil Postman chapter in “Typographic Mind”, he analyses the speech of Lincoln during the time of debates. This actually links to the series “Blacklist redemption season 1 episode 2” that the political value in which in today’s era seem
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In Typographical America Neil Postman loves the idea of everyone getting involved even uneducated people could react to the discussions.
CONCLUSION
All in all, the three chapters of “Amusing Ourselves to Death” work together theoretically and practically about the media influence towards its audience. Neil Postman asserts the public as victims to whatever media metaphor exists. The media shapes the perception of reality and truth. And that brings one to say that cultural, political, economic, religious and moral values are influenced by the media either negatively or positively.
REFERENCES
Cedars, S. M. (2013, March 24). GradeSaver. Retrieved from http://www.gradesaver.com/amusing-ourselves-to-death/study-guide/summary-chapters-3-5.
Foley, J. (1997, February 22). Pontifical Council for Social Communication. Retrieved from Ethics in Avertising: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/pccs/documents/rc_pc_pccs_doc_22021997_ethics-in-ad_en.html.
Postman, N. (1985). Amusing Ourselves to Death. London:
Media, the plural form of medium, describes various ways in which we communicate in society. A phone call, email, radio, computer, news on TV, etc. are all forms of media. In our society today, the media plays a significantly large role in influencing society negatively, twisting one’s perspective of the truth. In author Brooke Gladstone’s, The Influencing Machine, she discusses how media is looked at as an “influencing machine,” that’s controlling the mind of its viewers. Throughout the reading, Gladstone guides her readers through perceptions of media and how it influences them to get readers to understand the truth about media and the manipulation behind it.
Throughout American history, important, credible individuals have given persuasive speeches on various issues to diverse audiences.
In the intro of my essay, I listed vague examples about how television impacts society. Throughout my content I did not elaborate on Postman’s believed the age of typography was, and the difference between the past and the age of show business today. In addition, I lacked comparing Postman’s argument to Francis
Postman wrote 18 books and more than 200 magazine and newspaper articles. Postman's best known book is Amusing Ourselves to Death, published in 1985. It explores the decline of the communication medium as television images have replaced the written word. Postman argues that television confounds serious issues with entertainment, demeaning and undermining political discourse by making it less about ideas and more about image. He also argues that television is not an effective way of providing education, as it provides only passive information transfer, rather than the interaction that he believes is necessary to maximize learning. He draws on the ideas of media theorist Marshall McLuhan to argue that different media are appropriate for different kinds of knowledge, and describes how oral, literate, and televisual cultures value and transfer information in different ways.
Prior to the Neolithic Revolution, news and traditions were passed down over time by word of mouth. With each additional person, the tale got altered based on that person’s point of view and values. Overtime, these common methods of interpersonal communication, such as the ways humans communicated and what they communicated about, shifted with the change in technology. However, the altering of information remained the same. Much like the oral tradition, modern day media has a way of altering reality. In Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, he argues that the media, both on television and in print, have negatively affected and altered the way societies communicate. Together, the varying mediums cause phenomenon’s in the world to
“The problem is not that television presents us with entertaining subject matter but that all subject matter is presented as entertaining” (87). Postman’s main concern does not rest in the, “...Junk entertainment” (159) shows, but when the programs take the seriousness out of a subject matter. Worse yet, “The problems come when we try to live in them” (77). The obvious gap of discourse can be seen evident when he mentions the Lincoln-Douglas debates, with attentive audiences listening to oratory for a long period of time, while constructing arguments of both opponents claims (45-47). Soon this “Age of Exposition” (77) gave way to the “Age of Show Business” (83). Irrelevant Information found its way through the telegraph, that ultimately creates no effect on the receiver as, “Facts push other facts into and out of consciousness at speeds that neither permit nor require evaluation” (70). A variety of information does not mean all can be useful and beneficial. The public's attention shifts to photographs that are attached to a story, creating an illusion of context. “...Pseudo-context provides [no] action, or problem-solving, or change…[but] to amuse” (76). Postman reminds the audience that information will not lose
Postman’s main argument here is that the power of typography has the ability to control discourse. When language is controlled by print, an idea, a fact, or a claim is the result. And today we have this unrelenting demand to understand and know everything we are presented with. Print gave priority to the intellectual and rational mind, therefore encouraging serious, logical public discourse. Postman supports this claim by arguing that the Thomas Paine’s “Age of Reason”, a written pamphlet that challenged the religious and political institutions of the 18th century, was coexistent with the growth of print culture. Paine scrutinized the Bible and charged its divine claims as false. He did this through careful analysis and came up with logical conclusions. In essence, typography and print created and changed people’s identities and beliefs.
The media, including television programming, cartoons, film, the news, as well as literature and magazines, is a very powerful and pervasive medium for expression. It can reach a large number of people and convey ideas, cultural norms, stereotypic roles, power relationships, ethics, and values. Through these messages, the mass media may have a strong influence on individual behavior, views, and values, as well as in shaping national character and culture. Although there is a great potential for the media to have a positive and affirming effect on the public and society at large, there may be important negative consequences when the messages conveyed are harmful, destructive, or violent.
The media has motivated the people to do actions and provided them stereotypes about other people. The media can plat important role in shaping public response by telling the news in specific ways to make people focus about specific news. Today, people can get the news in several ways. The traditional ways are still available beside the social media that changes people ways to get news. People in social media can look at the news fast, and from different perspectives.
The cultivation theory suggests that “the cultivation of attitudes is based on attitudes already present in our society and that the media take those attitudes which are already present and re-present them bundled in a different packaging to their audiences” (Griffin, p.366). The Truman Show is an excellent example of the cultivation theory as it gives us an interesting insight into the effects that the media has on society. It is no secret that the media has altered our way of living. From the fears they can instill from the news we watch, to the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the sports we watch and even our political opinions are all influenced in some way shape or form by the media.
Newspaper, radio, film, television. These are only a few of the various forms media can take. From the moment we open our eyes to the instant we shut them, we are surrounded by media and absorb the information it hurls at us in an osmosis-like manner. The news ranges from the latest terror attack and political scandals to supposed UFO sightings and scandals involving sandals. We as an audience tend to focus more on the message the media relays rather than on the medium in which it is presented to us.
Media is the most powerful sector of an economy. It is a tool to maintain a balanced society which is characterized by well informed people, effective democracy and social justice. In fact, media has unparallel influence on all aspects of human life in modern times.
Media also influences the thinking of people and society in general through entertainment as well as advertising and marketing campaigns. It is the creative ideas and boost to the imagination that people get once they watch a television show, movie, commercial or listen to a certain song. The impact any of these forms of media can have on an individual’s thinking can change in that most of them view the various stars in the movies, TV or the music industry as role models and as a result, they start imitating them. This type of influence oftentimes will influence the way someone views a political
Media is used by dominant powers to spread their ideological beliefs and to help maintain social control. Althusser (1971) explains that, as an ideological state apparatus, media doesn’t use pressure as a way to bind society together under one dominant ideology, but instead uses the will of the people to make them accept the dominant ideology. However, media is also used as a way for people to challenge the dominant ideology. Newspapers, for example, will have articles that openly criticise and oppose the dominant ideology for what it is, whilst at the same time providing perspectives and opinions on different ideologies (such as feminism) that society can believe in. Although these alternate ideological perspectives exist, they are usually overlooked and only ever reach small audiences. Ideology can also help us understand the media because of the way in which it distributes ideology. A lot of different types of media, such as film and TV; reflect different ideologies, though we are not always aware that they are doing so. An example of this would be action/adventure films, which shows that using force or violence to solve problems is acceptable and reflects upon certain ideologies. This helps us to understand the media because the ideology that is reflected in these films is capable of reaching big audiences through the use of TV and film, thus allowing for it to become a more common belief within
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.