Chapter 2: Culture and the Media

I want to start this chapter out with the link below. I see it as a sad picture because we take the innocence away from our children so easily.


http://www.thankgodiamfresh.com/documentary-how-the-media-influences-children-and-adults-alike/

While at my computer I look around and question how many brands can I find just looking around in my office. Just within the small space around my computer not including the whole room I can easily see more than 30 brands imprinting their images into my brain. I think that America's culture is shaped by our media, since most Americans have about 3 TVs per household, and that's not even including the computers that we have access to or the magazines we read the billboards we see on our way to work and the dozens of adds aired over the radio. You can find media and any type of brand advertising in any kind of media format. It's defacing America.

I chose this chapter about culture and the media, because I see media effecting our culture in a bad way and not in a positive light. I do however know that media has produced good things as far as getting information quicker, having new media formats to use our freedom of speech to get the word out quicker. Watch the video below, you'll see that you never really get the full story and that the news can shape the outcome of an election by simply not giving other running mates enough air time. The news these days seems to be giving out their own personal feelings on a situation instead of just covering a story and being biased. The news used to be a place where you can go and watch a story and be able to make you're own opinions about it, but now it seems like we are being influenced by what they want us to see and hear. Do you agree with how the media aired the elections in the video below? Do you believe this is still happening in today's television, radio, magazines, ect?

Below is a link I found about how the media influences us, and not always in a good way. An article by PBS on how mass media most of the time targets the easily influenced, vulnerable audience that are the kids of today.

http://www.pbs.org/perfectillusions/eatingdisorders/preventing_media.html

This is an hour long documentary about the media and the news/politics in the early 90's. How things are edited to benefit themselves and not the viewers. It's very good and insightful i recommend watching the whole thing.

http://www.thankgodiamfresh.com/documentary-how-the-media-influences-children-and-adults-alike/

Here are two links that I found interesting about culture and our media. The second link really interests me she asks a lot of good questions like, does being on facebook/twitter make you feel more connected to your friends or less? For me the initial wanting to be on facebook to talk with friends that lived else where all the time was nice and to keep up to date with everyone was a good thing, but when I look at the situation I feel less connected in some way, there's no face to face interaction which I feel people need, nothing seems personal anymore.

http://brandingbrand.com/blog/the-age-of-online-advertisements-what-we-want-to-see/

http://mashable.com/2011/02/23/social-media-culture/

A poem I found on culture.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/cool-culture/

And here for fun is a word search...