The Role of Mass Media in the Lives of Americans
An excellent paper 2 example by Morgan Waldroff.
What is the first thing you heard when you were born? Can't remember? It was probably something like loud voices, crying, laughing, cheering, the television. That's right, the television, almost every room in hospitals across America have at least one television set. The average American consumes some form of media 71 hours per week; about 32 of those hours are spent watching television (U.S. Census Bureau 2004). That's more time than most children spend in school! In many homes across the country the T.V. is on most of the time, these homes are referred to as "constant television households", often being African American families (Gitlin 2001). Other forms of mass media are magazines, radio, Internet, movies, and advertisements.
It is reported that among all leisure activities watching television is the favorite among Americans (Saad 2002), why wouldn't it be? The television is where Americans get most of their information, the news tells us what kind of important evens are happening in our community while the advertisements inform us on the best products and services we should be investing in. Many Americans refer to the media for fashion and beauty advise, information on current politics, and the newest technology but much of that information can be untrue and/or misleading.
While the newspapers and other forms of media can be helpful when looking for certain information, not everything you see and read should be believed. The intentions of most newscasts are to provide their viewers with information about recent and upcoming events, local weather, and other "important" things happening in their community. However, many views are mislead by the information they receive; while crime is decreasing the amount of time spent reporting crime is increasing (Angotti 1997, Chiricos et al. 1997) leading viewers to believe the opposite of what is true. I have always wondered who decides what is important to viewers; certainly no one can know what everyone wants to see reported. Most newscasts consist of information that specific station feels is important so many viewers watch wondering "who cares?" nonetheless, they continue to watch! I personally find it disturbing that more people can tell you what's going on with Britney Spears than about our current presidential race, someone must have decided that Britney was more important to our country than Hillary!
It must be the same people who decide to report about Britney that decided what kind of roles people of color would play. Although minorities watch more television than whites they make up a small percentage of all television characters. People of color are often cast in stereotypical roles giving the general public negative impressions of smaller social groups. Asians are commonly depicted as quiet or silent and often play roles where they are secondary to some other main character. Native Americans are easy to spot while they are usually shown as strong, silent, warriors, and people who "live off the land" with clothing made from animal skins and other "native American" clothing. Latino and African American men tend to be stereotyped as criminals and athletes, women of these racial backgrounds are often shown in sexual or domestic roles. Finally Jewish women are almost never shown except when they are the targets of stereotypical comments (Kray 1993). Spending 32 hours per week viewing these stereotypes being played out can really have an impact on one's perception of others, I would be a perfect example. When I was four or five years old I remember seeing and African American man running from police on television, a short time later I was in the car with my mother and as she pulled over to let a police car with its lights and sirens on pass us I told her he was probably going to chase the black people. No one had ever told me anything about African Americans and I had never had a negative experience involving anyone of African decent but for some reason in my head they were all to be chased by police; thanks to mass media it took a few discussions to change that view.
Another scam being played out by mass media is in advertising. How else would we know what to buy? Its not like anyone knows how to make decisions for themselves, someone please guide us! The average American sees an estimated 1,500 adds per day (The Ad and The Ego). Ads contain everything from which soap you should use to which car to drive. Much research has been done to find out the most effective forms of advertising, and most ads essentially manipulate your mind into believing that you personally need whatever is being shown. They tell us we need to have the biggest car because every person must have a use for it; if you don't have ten kids to drive around you must need to move large objects or drive on mountain sides and if not, you will be more safe in an accident so bigger is better. It is also essential to have the latest and greatest cell phone; you must have a need for email, Internet, GPS, phone service, camera, music player, and text messaging in the palm of your hand! While these are only a couple examples it doesn't stop here, no matter what your looking for there is most likely an advertisement out there to tell you where you can get it and which one to get.
Finally I would like to talk about beauty in the media. Beauty is one of the largest markets in existence. When you hear the words 'Miss America' what image comes to mind? Is it a blonde, blue eyed, tan, twenty-something woman with a large white smile and perfectly straight white teeth? I wonder why...it probably has everything to do with what is considered 'beautiful.' Only certain forms of beauty are valued by the media and do not represent all forms of beauty valued by Americans. What is considered beautiful to one person is not to the next especially between people of different cultural backgrounds and social status. The men and women we see in the media everyday are "beautiful" and "handsome" and although that's great for them it is not necessarily so great for everyone else. Many people spend the majority of their time attempting physical perfection so they too can be "beautiful." The media rarely shows "beautiful" people with disabilities, living in poverty, or having ethnic background although this is a reality for many Americans. In recent years African Americans have become more prominent in beauty advertisements they do not represent what most African American women look like. The African American women considered "beautiful" are those with features similar to whites such as light but even skin tone, light eyes, and straight or wavy hair.
For most Americans media is purely a form of entertainment and most don't see the hidden message, it is secretly pounded into their minds day after day. It is all fun and games for you while institutions in our country take your money and tell you how you should spend your time and what to look like while doing it.
Bibliography
Margaret L. Anderson, Howard F. Taylor. 2008. Sociology In Everyday Life. Thomson Wadsworth/Thomson Corporation. United States.
"The Ad and the Ego." Video. 1997. Parallax Films documentary.