How Media affects us
by Mallory Yarbrough
Media is a huge part of our lives. It dominates the screens in Times Square in New York, our laptops, our cell phones as we walk down the street, and our TVs at home. By age 65, most Americans will have spent 9 years of their life glued to their television screens. And the internet? Studies show that 1 in 4 people spend more time online than they do even sleeping. Media is a way to be entertained for many people, a source of news for others, and – a bad influence on all of us.
Since most Americans are so involved in media (from Jersey Shore to CNN and everything in between) it only makes sense that it could have a negative effect on us. 73% of Americans think that the entertainment industry has an adverse effect on our morals. The same study showed that the more media we take in, the less religious and less averse we are to things like abortion or sex outside of marriage.
Media also affects our body image. Pictures of airbrushed, young, and flawless women urge us into fad diets, eating disorders, and spending huge amounts of money on makeup and clothes. The diet industry alone in the U.S. is worth $40 to $100 billion dollars, and cosmetics account for at least $60 billion per year. It’s not just women, either. The broad-shouldered, muscled, Adonis looks are just as unattainable to men as Barbie’s figure is to women. When people see these same visions of beautiful, perfect people over and over, they wonder why they can’t look that way, or sing like that, or aren’t as popular as the people in the movies. It’s enough to make anyone take a major hit to their self esteem, and a lot of people do.
Some think that news media can desensitize us to tragedies. There are so many horrible things going on in this world, but after seeing the same stories over and over it gets harder to feel strongly about them. Movie producers use those same horrible things in their films. They’re even less of a reality there, where people can actually laugh when somebody gets tortured or murder.
So, what do you think? Is it us that influences media or is media influencing us? Of course, if you do like media, your opinion might not even count. A study proved that the more someone pays attention to it, the less they think they’re being affected. We’ll just have to hope for the best, since there’s no way we’re all going to stop watching TV or getting on our computers.
Media is a huge part of our lives. It dominates the screens in Times Square in New York, our laptops, our cell phones as we walk down the street, and our TVs at home. By age 65, most Americans will have spent 9 years of their life glued to their television screens. And the internet? Studies show that 1 in 4 people spend more time online than they do even sleeping. Media is a way to be entertained for many people, a source of news for others, and – a bad influence on all of us.
Since most Americans are so involved in media (from Jersey Shore to CNN and everything in between) it only makes sense that it could have a negative effect on us. 73% of Americans think that the entertainment industry has an adverse effect on our morals. The same study showed that the more media we take in, the less religious and less averse we are to things like abortion or sex outside of marriage.
Media also affects our body image. Pictures of airbrushed, young, and flawless women urge us into fad diets, eating disorders, and spending huge amounts of money on makeup and clothes. The diet industry alone in the U.S. is worth $40 to $100 billion dollars, and cosmetics account for at least $60 billion per year. It’s not just women, either. The broad-shouldered, muscled, Adonis looks are just as unattainable to men as Barbie’s figure is to women. When people see these same visions of beautiful, perfect people over and over, they wonder why they can’t look that way, or sing like that, or aren’t as popular as the people in the movies. It’s enough to make anyone take a major hit to their self esteem, and a lot of people do.
Some think that news media can desensitize us to tragedies. There are so many horrible things going on in this world, but after seeing the same stories over and over it gets harder to feel strongly about them. Movie producers use those same horrible things in their films. They’re even less of a reality there, where people can actually laugh when somebody gets tortured or murder.
So, what do you think? Is it us that influences media or is media influencing us? Of course, if you do like media, your opinion might not even count. A study proved that the more someone pays attention to it, the less they think they’re being affected. We’ll just have to hope for the best, since there’s no way we’re all going to stop watching TV or getting on our computers.