How does media affect our daily lives ?

How does media affect our daily lives ?

       Media has dramatically influenced the daily life of human beings in the last fifty years. Modern life is based on the mass media and its consequences. Media involves television broadcasting, advertisement, radio and magazines. In western societies, these factors are constantly relevant and is developing more and more in the developing countries. The following paragraphs will discuss the relevance of media in daily life and the consequences brought with the presence of mass media.

        Imagine the following scene. It is seven o’clock in the morning. You are walking to the bus stop and sit down on the bench waiting for the bus to arrive. You look to the right and are acquainted with the advertisement of a new car, to the left a poster advertises for the new winter collection of H&M. Thousands of such posters could be found all around a city, thus the media forms the environment surrounding us.

         A second example illustrating the relevance of media and its influence is the propaganda broadcast on television. The documentary Bowling for Columbine by Michael Moore, illustrates the propaganda found in American society. A typical example resulting from this propaganda, would be the chronic influence of fear surrounding the daily life of an American citizen. Even though many of these fears seem odd, it is due to the American media that such fears is relevant. For example, it was reported that the Killer Bees found in Africa would swoop over the North American country and cause the death of many Americans. However, the bees never came, but enormous effort was put into preparing for their arrival, all being dominated by the media. American media can be blamed for such situations, because the Americans are not any different to any other human being around the globe. It is the media that has formed their mentality, which is not found a second time in the world in such a manner.

         The media also has a personal influence on the way an individual acts and presents him/herself. Fashion would be a classical example of such influence. Particularly women form their lives due to such influence. A new fashion collection is presented by a women with the ideal figure. Her body masses are 90, 60, 90. This illustration of the fashion media has often caused physiological illnesses of women, such as eating disorders and the wish to obtain the ideal figure. During the last couple of years, more and more cases of men disorders have been reported on the news. This is a good example of media influence, because it has only been in the last five decades that men have found themselves in the roles of models. Throughout history, women have always symbolised the concept of beauty. Today, through the development and relevance of mass media, the usage of men modelling has been detected and so they can be found in magazines or posters just as often as women. Men are also found on the catwalk. This has all happened due to the impact of media in fashion and the product industry. Thus, males with eating disorders is becoming more of a serious issue. The media, does in most cases, see itself as innocent and thus the mass media production is continued. After all, consumers are essential for the survival of the media.

        Last but not least, the media has a tremendous impact on the daily life of young people. Whether it is from the advertisement of toys, clothes or computer related products. Already at a very young age, these children are bombarded with thousands of advertisements for products. This can be found on television on a children’s program, where publicity introduces one toy after the other to the child watching. This bombardment of products is relevant for all age groups and in many cases has a great impact and influence on the desires an individual has. Even though media is more successful in the influence of younger people, there are enough adults that also fall for the manipulation.

         In conclusion, the media plays a constant role in our daily life. We are manipulated and influenced in our appearance, beliefs, desires and opinion. The media has formed our physical environment in which advertisement posters decorate our buildings, walls and transportation systems. This of course has changed within the development of mass media and will continue to change in the future.