Tavaglione (FGCU) ~ The Effect of the Media

When you wake up, you might turn on your computer before class to see a news update on Google, Yahoo, Bing, whatever your home page is set to.  You might grab a newspaper, or a coffee at Einstein Bros. while watching one of the many morning shows.  Later in the day you might pick up the latest sports magazine, or Cosmo.  Then you come home and “pre-game” for your favorite show, getting food ready, making sure your comfortable, and finishing all other work before relaxing in front of the television.  Then maybe you will watch a late night show, (whichever one your loyal to), right before you go to bed.  Every day we have some sort of schedule whether we set it or it just happens, and for most people the vast majority of this schedule includes interaction with some form of the media, whether it be newspaper or reality show.  We just don’t realize how much the media affects all of us.  According to a study made by California State University students, over 99% of households in the United States own a television.  The average American will watch over 4 hours of television a day, adding up to an astonishing 9 years of watching television during a 65-year life  (Television).  Now, not everyone watches that much television, and some of you may watch twice as much, but this is an astonishing statistic that many of us have contributed to.  In regards to magazines, according to the Media Information Center, the average magazine reader spends 45 minutes reading one issue.  85% of U.S. adults read magazines regularly, and 87% of those adults purchase a subscription  (Media Info Center).  From Cosmo to Late night with Jimmy Fallon, the media affects us more then we know.  People may wear certain clothes because of what fashion is currently being shown on the latest episode of The Hills.  Friends are torn apart by political news stations like Fox.  Girls are glued to magazines like Cosmopolitan and Vogue, guys to sports and car magazines.  People act like the actors and actresses they see on television and movies because they think it’s cool.  After great comedies like the Hangover come out, people repeat the jokes so much that it makes you wish the movie never even came out.  The media affects us in such a profound way that I can’t even begin to describe it with simple statistics and opinions.  I am not saying I don’t pre-game for my favorite shows and pick up a sports/car magazine every once in a while, but I don’t let the media change me, (at least not to much).  Whether the media’s effect is good or bad, that’s a matter of opinion.

http://www.mediainfocenter.org/magazine/magazinecategories.asp

http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html

This entry was posted on 22. February 2010 at 20:23 and is filed under Introduction to Sociology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.