September
2006
Negative Influence of Media on Society
With my quest for inner peace and my search for true happiness, I began to analyze everything I did during my day that could influence me. I won’t bore you with my entire day, but I discovered that a huge part of it is spent listening to, watching and reading media. Media being defined as all the means of communication, like newspapers, radio, internet, and TV that provide the public with news, entertainment, etc., usually along with advertising.
I get up in the morning and drink my coffee while scanning Yahoo news. Without fail, it is mostly negative. I turn on the TV a few times during the day and I’m bombarded with advertisements for junk food, fast food, beer, and stuff that I don’t need. I drive to the office and I hear commercials on the Radio for the same. I see billboards showing me an anorexic looking female modeling clothes. I pass the McDonalds and see the golden arches in front which says below a bizillion served. The parking lot is full of overweight people with sodas in one hand and a bag in the other. I go to the grocery store and see several of the products I saw advertised. Coke is on sale and piled up in the front of the store. I remember that there are nearly 10 teaspoons of sugar in everycan, so I resist buying a twelve pack. I look at my shopping cart and it has actual advertisements for junk food on it. I check out and see a dozen various tabloids talking of the latest diet or gossip. The back of my receipt appears to have a coupon for McDonalds.
Geez, these ads are everywhere, instructing me to eat food that will eventually kill me, drink booze, buy crap I don’t need, and to try the latest fad diet. With all of this bombardment, it’s no wonder my mood teeder todders up and down as well as my health, bank balance, and weight. I now see why I sometimes have this irresistable urge to drink a Coke on a hot day or get McDonalds on Fridays. I’ve seen THOUSANDS of advertisements for both of those products over my lifetime. And why is that? Well, repetition sells. That’s why many ads repeat things over in the same commercial. If you hear something enough, it becomes true in your mind. If the news says the world is going to hell everyday, you’ll begin to think the world is.
I’m an adult with some life experience, just imagine how kids are influenced. Childhood obesity is becoming a huge problem. As of 2000, 15% of kids ages 6 - 19 were obese. 10% of 2 to 5 year olds are overweight. Various experts theorized that the media may have contributed to this in the following ways:
- The time children spend using media displaces time they could be doing physical activities.
- The food advertisements children see on TV influence them to make unhealthy food choices.
- Cross-promotions between food products and popular TV and movie characters are encouraging children to eat more high calorie food.
- Children snack excessively while using media, and they eat less healthy meals when eating in front of the TV.
- Watching TV and videos lowers childrens metabolic rates below what they would have been if they were sleeping.
- Depictions of nutrition and body weight in entertainment media encourage children to develop less healthy diets.
The hyperlink above references 40 studies that back this up.
And as of 2001, 60 million adults have been classified as obese with 9 million severly obese. And these numbers are still rising.
So what is the answer to fix this problem? I don’t know. But I have made some changes in my life that have helped the situation.
- I stopped watching the evening news.
- I cut my TV use down and read instead.
- I watch cable which doesn’t have as many ads.
- I mute commercials and read during them.
- I got XM satellite radio which has no commercials on the music stations and listen in my truck and at home.
- I am aware of the influence of negative news on the media and I try to stay clear of it.
- I try not to look at the newstand at the checkout counter. When I do look, I ask myself “what is the media up to these days to sell magazines?”
- I don’t bother reading billboards.
- On the TV series I have to watch, I get the DVDs after the season is over which have no commercials.
- My friend has Tivo and can fast forward through commercials.
- I prefer to watch educational and informative channels like Discovery, History, and Animal Planet.
You are what you eat. This also holds true to what you feed your mind. Feed it news of despair, celebrity gossip, junk food ads and pictures of anorexic models, and you might sink to new lows. Feed it empowering, positive, uplifting fuel and you will rise to new heights.
(25 votes, average: 4.48 out of 5)
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I do not believe that your site is credible, and in fact I believe that some of your ways of dealing with it are a little overprotective. I also think that media influences society in bad ways, but many people can resist the temptation to buy something they saw on a commercial, so even though I partially agree with what you say, I still think a lot of this is a load of you know what.
Most people in society do not believe what I say. And that is fine. But I think repetition does something to people’s minds. Why is America the fattest country? Maybe it’s the constant advertising for fast foods and junk foods? Why do we have such crime rates? Maybe it has something to do with the glorifying of violence by the media? If I see thousands of murders in movies and TV, all before the age of 16, will that influence me to murder? Probably not, but it very well may make me more violent.
Here is a quote from Psychological Science In The Public Interest: Well-supported theory delineates why and when exposure to media violence increases aggression and violence. Media violence produces short-term increases by priming existing aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed behaviors. Media violence produces long-term effects via several types of learning processes leading to the acquisition of lasting (and automatically accessible) aggressive scripts, interpretational schemas, and aggression-supporting beliefs about social behavior, and by reducing individuals’ normal negative emotional responses to violence (i.e., desensitization).
Yes, people can resist. And my way of resisting is to not subject myself to the thousands of daily images that go against what I want in my life. Thanks for reading and commenting! I really do appreciate your view.
It is true that when it comes to media and it’s negative influence most people default into the defence mode. I think the reason for this is the the influence of media itself. The truth of the matter is that the negative effects of media are more than we are aware of and I am not even sure if we will ever get to know all of them. If it is important to anyone to have control over their behavior and thinking process then they should be very careful what they allow enterence into their minds; conscious and subconscious. The mind is an avenue to the soul and must be guarded jealously, what one puts in it is all that can come out of it.
Very true, garbage in, garbage out. Or you are what you eat. That’s why I don’t pay much attention to most media. I was reading a book, Running From Safety, and the character Richard was talking to Dickie about how the weatherman was saying it was supposed to storm, hail, earthquake, Tsunami, etc., but he went flying anyways. Because the only weather he cares about is that which is from his wingtip to wingtip, and the tail to prop. All the other weather going on is for those people there, not him. Thanks for the comment Israel.
Interesting. soem of the methods i understand on a personal level but watching a program without listening to the ads still gives ratings to that slot meaning more ads. your right about crap being pumped out into every available aspect of life.
When I watch or listen to commercials now, I ask myself, what are they trying to sell to me and what marketing techniques are they using. This seems to lessen the need I get to buy their product. But yes, television and radio is driven by ads. But that doesn’t mean “I” need to watch, listen, or buy their stuff. I must admit, sometimes I am swayed. Like recently by a P90X infomercial. However, their product is working well so I’d like to think I made a smart buying decision. Which reminds me, it’s time for me to workout!
I feel that some if not most of what you said is correct. I feel that the bigger problem is the media as a whole. They all make money from advertisers and customers. To increase there audience (to make more money) they word things to sell more subscriptions, papers, gain notoriety and to catch the listeners attention. I can keep writing and complain but I don’t have that much time so I’ll say this; Our society will continue to spiral in this direction until someone comes up with a capitalistic approach (a niche in the market) to combat this problem. The media GIANTS are so powerful and influential that they managed to; persuade the public to support the invasion of Iraq, campaign to have themselves embedded in Iraq to report the facts, twist the purpose of why we are there (WMD vs 17 resolutions broken, the shooting at our planes in the agreed upon northern and southern no fly zones, etc), only blame the Republicans when there were no WMD found (even though there was repo’s demo’s and indy’s supporting it plus other countries because of the world wide intel agency’s reporting identical presumed facts), only show death and destruction in pre, post, and real-time, not show a fair amount of liberation and reconstruction efforts, and even use that misinformation as a basis to exert their opinion about the latest IAEA report about Iran. Good Luck to all who try to slice and dice info from the misinfo!!
okay, so I read this as part of a research paper that I’m doing right now. I agree with it but I’d like to briefly point out something.
If i offer you a Coke (a brand name you’ve seen most of your life and almost everyday) or Kola (a product that looks and tastes very similar to coke) which one would you buy? Even if ‘Kola’ is cheaper you’re more likely to buy Coke. And i know this first hand. Most consumers that walk through my line won’t buy something that hasn’t seen advertised.
lameoooo
I believe this is pretty true. Even though these are simply opinions they are accurate. Pay attention to the way you react to the news and commercials. You hear about murders and sexual assaults on tv and automatically you begin to breathe a little faster and your heart starts to beat harder. Then you hear about how in the town next to you there was an armed robbery. Now I bet your heart is really pounding. You’re probably also locking up your jewelry and doors and windows, sleeping with a gun in your drawer. Still believe they don’t control us? I have to say I spend maybe two hours a day paying attention to the media. And that’s simply because I attend college online and I’m forced to sit in front of a computer. Of course dating a musician doesn’t help my listening to the radio but when it comes to a commercial the station is typically changed at that point. Pay attention to the way your body reacts when you are watching the news. Its a subconscious effect they have on you and you don’t even know it until something close to you happens.
Good day! I would like to say that I have had a research on this particular topic and I found out that staistics of childrens’ obesity is growing up. from my point of view the real bad influence of the Tv and mass media will take place if a child is upbringed so. I mean the core reason for childrens’ problems with weitght is within the family and parents’ upbringing, their time spent on their children and their love and care given to them. usually teens and little kids watch much TV and later behave aggressively towards their family members and peers when they are left alone without any attention, and when their parents are busy with their work. unfortunately, today people are so surfeited with all these blood, crimes and violence, depravity and murders on TV that we I mean parents and their children take it for granted. it has become normal when little kids can easily see naked women and men in commercials and hear bad words on TV. I really don’t know where we are going and most importantly where our children are going and who they will become in the future. this problem’s solution is within parents’ hands and of those who really cares about the future generation. thank you for this post, love Aigerim.
Dear friend,
i am a student, pursuing an one year advertising course ,i dont know where to start but you are my only hope who can save my career.i had written an article on obesity and sent it to a friend of mine. he saw your this above blog - The Negative Influence of media on society. copied the same exact blog and pasted with the article, i had written. i thought it was written by him and submitted it in my college, as i was not aware of it .i had also used the same stuff for my one more assignment.
after a week i came to know that my both semester results have been upheld, because i have palagrised. when they sent me the document i came to know that the paragraph that my friend had included was actually a copied one and then i have been told to leave the course.
i wouldnt have seeked your help because i am ashamed of what my friend did to me, but the reason why i am writing to you is because i have a panel inquiry if i can proof my innocence and save my one whole one year that studied and get my degree. i have nearly in the verge of finshin my course but now because of this one assignment my career has been ruined.
i am so sorry. god knows that i am innocent and wasnt even aware of it.please help me
i was sleeping today afternoon and i dreamt that if you wrote me a mail that you have permitted me to use your this blog as my work or you didnt have a problem that i have pasted your whole blog in my assignment,then may be i can be saved.please please i will realyy be very thankful to you throughtout my life for saving my career. i am a girl fron india,came to ireland to study, with a bank loan.
i dont have guts to tel my family because i know being a girl from india is wht, i was really lucky to get this oppurtunity but i think my dreams have shattered, youre my last hope.
if you could give me your numeber i could speak to you once else if you can trust me once for god’s sake then please to put me mail at - vaishnav.deepika@gmail.com. i only have one day which cansave my career. i will be waiting for your mail anxiously,please have some pity on me
thanking you
Best Regards
Deepika Vaishnav
i am writin you again..apologies for the same.. i need you help, i have a final panel on 19th june,12.00 in ireland. it i dont prove my innocense then my whole one will be ruined. please grant me the permission that you had allowed me to use the blog of yours for my collge assignment. i know my friend made a mistake and becoz of him i am on the stake of my career. just because of the 2 assigments my whole year of hard work has left me no where.. ur only my last hope..i m really beeging you to save me..my email id is vaishnav.deepika@gmail.com. please sent me a mail..please please..u can only save me!!!
Dear Deepika,
I would be happy to help you in any way that I can as long as I am telling the truth. I just emailed you but it was returned. You are more than welcome to reprint my article wherever you’d like. In fact I would be honored if people did so. I am really sorry to hear that your friend did that to you and that your career is in jeopardy.
I have a question though. You sent the article to him and he copied some of my blog into it. Were you and him working together on the article? Or was he helping you write it without telling your school? Because if it was supposed to be solely your work, and you used what you thought was his writtings, wouldn’t that in fact be plagurizing?
In any case, I would be happy to help if I can.
You’ve talked about media being a negative influence on a COMMERCIAL basis, all of the ads on tv and radio. But even by blocking that you still have negative influence on everything else. Movies I think now a days are horrible, what the MPAA considers safe for 13 year olds I do not. Also look at television, when I was a kid the only time sex was on TV was at 10pm at night on the payed for channels (HBO etc.) now you can flip through the channels anytime of the day and see all kinds of garbage on. But I see you did mention Music, which once again if you look at it’s to the point everything that comes out is negative in some form.
And most people will disagree, I kind of understand why. I’d probably be a little defensive if I was told I am the way I am because of my influence, it’s almost like being called a puppet. But like the old saying goes “If you want to know what kind of person you are, just look at the people you are around”
It’s kind of sad really, it’s almost like you have to live in a cave if you want to keep away from negativity. Just my 2 cents
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Y is u so stoopid?
I think your post is very apt.It is true that throughout our day we use different media and are highly influenced by it.Well that’s the job of media persons! I’m a first year mass media student myself,so I can identify with what your saying.Well right now im working on a project on ‘Media-Psychology’ and will be using your post as one the case studies.
I completely agree with the points made in this article! However, I also believe that music and television even without advertisments is still very influential media. Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe that people should completely cut off television, movies, music, etc. from their lives. I just think that advertisments are not the only form of media.
This is interesting.
I espeicially liked your conclusion.
I used a bit of it (Conclusion) for my essay,
But i put your credit on it.
That’s fine, right?
I didn’t hand it in yet;
So I can change.
Funny how your original topic was Negative Influence of Media on Society but you trail off into the issue of obesity… This is a simple fallacy called “Red Herring”, it is where someones starts off with one topic and partway through, the arguer goes off on a tangent, raising up another issue that distracts the audience from what is really at stake. This is a sign of a very weak argument.
This goes torwards the original topic-
People know what kinds of things are on the media: sex, drugs, violence, advertisements, etc. It is the person choice at whether or not they want to see these things. And there is also this amazing thing called Parental Control. For those of you who don’t know what this is then here’s a summary. EVERY television show/movie on TV has ratings, ususally these say V-violence, L-language, SC-sexual content, etc. With Parental Control you can set it to where any TV show with one of these rating is blocked by a password (that you make up). Now, the Parental Control doesn’t have a setting to block advertisements, but I myself am under the age of 18 and can honestly say advertisements have no affect on me. Sure, some of them might make me crave a cheeseburger now and then, but it is MY CHOICE on whether or not I get that cheeseburger. The advertisement in no way whatsoever makes me get that cheeseburger, I make myself get that cheeseburger.
The first person to comment (Erik Kepler) has a good point. Sure the media can be very influencial, but you can easily resist the media. So in my own opinion, I say NO, media does not have a negative influence on society.
I myself am under the age of 1000, interesting age huh? And it seems you contradict yourself Dr K. Ads have no effect on you, except to make you crave something. That sounds like an effect. And we are what we eat. Watch enough cheeseburgers on TV and you are more likely to eat one. Eat enough cheeseburgers and you become one. But yes, we all have a choice. So make a good one for you.
But my weak arguement isn’t being graded for school, although several people have used it in their college papers and I have 20k hits on this page now. It was just a thought that I expounded on. Thanks for the comment!