Media Icon Television example essay topic

Society has always had icons. But today an icon can create another icon. With the proliferation of movie stars, musicians, athletes, and models; modern technology has played an enormous part in how we dress, speak, act, and even vote. Society has so many icons from both past and present, including people and symbols, but the most influential may be that of the media. Much of the media today consists of radio, television, print, and computers.

What probably has been the most influential is television. Television includes more of our senses than the other mediums, with the exception of computers which are closely similar. Each time we turn on the TV, we are bombarded with history, comedy, music, fiction, current events, and advertisement to name a few. Media today has much more influence on our lives than what we really may want to accept. With the advent of MTV in the early 80's, the style of music, the way we act, dress, even speak, has had a tremendous impact on the public, especially the youth. Is this harmful?

That would depend on many factors and could be discussed at great length. But it does make one wonder if the Britney Spears, or Justin Timberlake's, of the music world would even be so popular without the hype given by the media, and its videos. Maybe they would? As mentioned in Seeing and Writing (McQuade 432), Madonna has utilized the media to promote herself and even reinvent herself. Likewise, many professional athletes may or may not be as famous if it were not for the media. Some athletes are better know for their off field antics than they are for their playing ability.

Television provides good escapism for some and information for others. But where does the ethical line exist? Should there be one? Many would argue that it's not up to the media to be ethical, let the consumer decide. Nothing could be more profound though than the way we receive international, national, and political news and information. Society wants to know that the truth is being represented and both sides of issues presented fairly so that they can make an informed decision.

An example of this is the current situation in the news about the war with Iraq and the upcoming national elections. Many people do not realize that at least 35% of the media we see in all markets through out the US is owned by a just a few corporations. Just recently Senate rejected a plan that would have allowed the FCC to grant the few corporations who are owners of television, radio, and print media to increase their ownership to over 45% of the market (Philips 1). In essence what this all means is that a lot of what we hear or see is heavily influenced by the corporations who are owners. The risk that this causes is a less diverse set of opinions are being expressed. As the media icon television creates more Madonna's and Elvis's, is the media also creating more Clintons and Bush's?

How many people vote for a president by how attractive he is? Many of the images we receive from Iraq are what the media wants us to see. And tragically we need to be informed of the negative that exists, but I have yet to see on television my family or friends over there who inform me on a regular basis of how happy the Iraqis are and how a majority of the US soldiers are welding hammers and saws, not rifles. How would we respond if we were inundated with the images of soldiers building schools, as opposed to those who are doing the policing?

Bibliography

McQuade, Donald, Christine McQuade. Seeing and Writing. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's 2000.
432 Philips, Heather. "Senate Rejects New Media Ownership Rules". Mercury News Washington Bureau. 17 Sept. 2003.