Mediaocracy, the Affect of Mass Media on Modern American Society
The American public view their country, the United States as a democracy, yet with such a large presence of mass media in modern American culture, has it in fact evolved into a mediaocracy? Whether it is on a billboard on one’s way to work or the magazine stacks on line at the supermarket, the media has essentially become inescapable. It is a part of the public’s everyday life, a source of entertainment, and a source of information on critical current events. But with the advancements in technology, has the media’s influence grown so large over modern day society that it has the power to shape culture and public opinion? The presence of the media now far exceeds its original purpose for public knowledge of current events and has crossed the boundary into defining popular culture and establishing the norm in modern day American society. Today the general public is bombarded with images of how they should look, what they should eat, and how they should behave. Holly McClure who wrote a book on the very topic about media and the effect it may have on society states, “Did you know that: The average third grader has witness 16,000 TV murders? [Did you know that:] By the age of 17 most children will have viewed at least 400,000 sexual acts on television? Our greatest battlefield in this new millennium [with new technologies invented everyday] is for the minds and hearts of our children” (McClure). With such a profound impact that is being witnessed one has to wonder how will such a large exposure to the media impact the development of adolescents. And more importantly how will that translate into tomorrow’s adult population? There are different perspectives on the controversial issue of what the media’s affects are on the population that it is intended to serve. The truth of the matter is that what the public sees, what they hear, and what they read is being controlled by fewer and fewer large multinational corporations. In regards to the news, it is no longer
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