Publicity In The Media example essay topic

We are the media and the media is us. That statement is very broad and is so for a good reason. Through out the world and the history of our society, media has transformed, melted, bent, molded and made our society and culture what it is today. But at the same time, our culture and society has done the exact same thing to media. It is hard to realize or imagine a time without televisions, telephones, fax machines, printers, computers, cell phones, pagers and other electronic technologies that have made our lives, hopefully, stress-free. Those items were and are still being invented today to make our lives easier and better, but are they really making life easier and better?

Media plays a big part in defining what society wants and gets. Society tells our media what society wants. There are both upsides and downsides to the media, one saying what both of us want and two doing what both of us want. First let's start with the downsides of our media.

Our media censors us and desensitizes us to our own society. Lets take for example the news, in news the stories that air are stories that include blood and guts. Why? Because those stories reflect the morals of society. We would rather actually see someone slashed, shot, run over, or cut than be asked to imagine what happened. The reason for preferring violent images comes from and stems from movies.

It is not a good action flick unless someone loses their life or good guy, bad guy. It is what we are used to. Even in the fifties there was Zorro and the masked ranger. The good guy always had to win no matter what. This way of thinking is where the media gets their ideas. Another downside of media is the negative image they give the United States.

If you go to Ireland and ask them how they thought Americans lived, they would probably say that we are stuck up, violent, non-caring, money grubbing and work obsessed people. They get this idea from American sitcoms that air there. One for Example is The Simpsons. They think that all males sit on the couch, drink beer, and are not responsible. They think that little boys go around and cause trouble and get kicked out of school. As for little girls, they think they are angels and never do anything wrong unless possessed by the devil.

Finally, they think that females are in charge of keeping the males out of trouble, as well. Of course, this is not how we are, and it is only a sitcom, however, sitcoms reflect the society you live in, or do they? Of course, this is an exaggeration and other countries should know better than to think that Americans live like the Simpsons characters, but that is what media does to people that do not know the society being depicted. In addition to creating negative images of the United States, our media tarnishes the character of specific Americans as well. Lets take old Bill Clinton for a test drive here. When he was suspected of having an affair with a White House intern, our media zeroed in on him to find out if he did or did not have an affair with Monica Lewinsky.

We had analysts examine whether he should or should not tell us he did, what would happen if he did, what would happen to the relationship between him and his wife. Our media told us how to think about situation and, what should happen to him if he answered their questions a certain way. Our media never let us think what we wanted to think. Instead they gave the false impression that we did have total control of what way we thought, but in each station they took a viewpoint and bombarded us with it. The effect was similar to brainwashing us. Some stations did explore alternative perspectives, but most stations had only one view.

Then when our media asked for the peoples opinion, amazingly the publics opinions were the same as our media's opinions. In away, our media im beds the seed of what to think, and hope the public follows. Well, I have demonstrated a couple ways that the media, specifically television, has negatively shaped our society. I will now look at the positive effects of media.

Our media keeps us informed about what is going on in our community, in sports (both local and national) and relevant stories that directly effect our daily life. In this day and age, our media can tape sports event, edit it, and play on the ten o'clock news. The technology used by our media has helped us keep up on the latest things. This technology has helped us get the information we need. An example of a relevant story would be on that covers new construction on a street that you commonly traveled so the public can find alternate routes to work. Such a story can save the public time and frustration.

Our media can save the public time and frustration, if they listen. Media has also helped in getting together and showing that America is as strong as a country as any other. Due to the attack on September 11, 2001 each of the large corporations got together and raised money and American spirit for the people who had lost their lives and lives that are there cleaning up the devastation that was left from the horrible attack. This act of kindness and loyalty to the country and flag that we believe in, and what this country was founded on, gave us a different look at our media. For the first time they were not trying to make more money than the other and they were not there to get more viewers and higher ratings than the other. They were there to make a point and to make sure that people knew that America, even though it is a very industrial country, we can back our fellow Americans in a time of need.

Media can also inform us of things to watch out for. For example, if there was a restaurant, that they did a story on, and they explained that it has not passed a health inspection in ten years, then you will probably never attend that place again. Or if animals in the South American rain forest are dying because a large American company wants to put a factory there. They will either lose a lot of business or change their ways because most of them cater to the American population. And no company can afford losing us as a market.

That is the overall what media can do to a society as a whole, but let me tell you what my opinion of the media is. Sometimes they go a little over board, but overall they do their job. Some instances they seem to always try to find the answer and end up Being a little bit too long. And most the time they do not know when to stay out of peoples business. What I think is very interesting of our media, and what I am going to focus on is publicity in the media. We have learned in our society that no publicity is bad publicity.

And the best example of that is Eminem. About a year or so ago they were criticizing him for his lyrics and that kids should not listen to him because he is a gay basher, wife beater, killer, etc. But in reality he never has done any of it, but expresses himself in his music. Everything they said about him good or bad boosted his records sales tenfold. Why? Because parents heard a little part of his song and told their kids that they could not listen to him.

But of course what are kids going to do if you tell them that they cannot have it. They will some how or another get their hands on it, whether it be from another kid or buying it themselves. And that is exactly what happened. He got the news press after him, the news media after him, MTV did a interview with him, and all because parents did not like his lyrics. My response to them is then do not listen to him and do not by his records.

The only way a music artist makes any money is if the records sell. Now, on the other hand, if any of this happened to a politician their career would be over. They would never be believed and many people would disregard what they say. Again it all started because the media opened their mouth and printed it on paper. Overall media is a good form of communication and reinsures that this country would not survive without it if you took it away from them right now, but if we never had media in the first place, this might have a different answer. Media is all around and you can never get away from it.

Always be aware of what they are saying, but do not take their word as Gospel. They are just expressing the same right all of us have. Just remember to express your own.