The media Is corrupting our society. Do you agree?

Media influence refers to the theories about the ways in which the mass media affect how their audiences think and behave. I agree that the media is corrupting our society. The negative influence is caused by the showcasing of harmful images that tends to lure the audience into following by example. The media, the medium through which these images are shown to the world, comprises of old media and new media. Old media refers to newspapers, magazines, television and the radio, while new media refers to the World Wide Web and even blogs.

One major concern, that has been the talk of the town for quite some time now, is that of the increasing cases of eating disorders among women of ages as young as 9. The media has painted the image of the perfect woman through advertisements on TV, such as those of food products warning the dangers of women’s appetites, and through magazines by publishing pictures of very thin models and actresses. This is one reason why beauty endorsements have become an increasing trend lately. Even in beauty pageants it has been seen that over the years, the contestants’ weights and body measurements have decreased significantly. This leads women to become more conscious of their body and start dieting. Some starve themselves to the extent of contracting diseases such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. One such case was that of Toni Tahoun, formerly an air stewardess, and her stepsister, Nina, both of whom suffered from anorexia. Toni sought help from a specialist and became much better, although she still struggles daily. Nina, however, was unable to hold on and died from a heart attack at the age of 25, in 1986.

Another large impact of the media is that on violent behaviour. The mass media plays a vital role in the forming of one’s opinions and subconsciously affects our minds. In a recent study it has been claimed that children who watch wrestling programmes are more likely to commit violent acts and carry weapons. True enough, in 1999, 12-year-old Floridian Lionel Tate killed a young while imitating moves he learnt from watching wrestlers on TV and was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment. Movies depicting violence have also corrupted people’s mindsets causing them to commit disastrous crimes. For example, the film Natural Born Killers, voted by Premiere as one of “The 25 Most Dangerous Movies”, has inspired several murders including the Columbine High School Massacre, where 14 people died including the 2 students carrying out the shooting rampage.

The media’s influence is even evident in the field of politics. The famous incident in which John F. Kennedy won Richard Nixon in the presidential race, was a result of him presenting himself and appearing better than Nixon on television. Another incident was that of Joseph McCarthy’s hunt for communist infiltrations in the US, which was broadcast frequently on TV, thus influencing the negative attitude of Americans towards communism, without a neutral viewpoint.

The evidence is glaringly obvious in all these incidents where media has caused harm in health, much violent tragedies and a president to be chosen on the basis of good looks. Hence, it can be clearly seen that the media has been corrupting our society and continues to do so.

http://www.geocities.com/starving4pride/MediasNegativeInfluence.html

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p010646.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Born_Killers#Serial_killers.2FMass_murderers_emulating_the_film

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_influence