Do the messages we see in media reflect our world, or does our world reflect the messages we see in media?
Think about what you watched on TV last night. What did it show you about the world we live in?
Maybe you watched national news coverage where you were given a crash course of the current politics and scandals. Or maybe you watched "The Bachelor," where you saw droves of girls fighting for 30 seconds of a man's time in hopes he'll eventually fall in love with one of them.
What about the commercials you saw on TV last night, or the billboard you saw going to work this morning?
Media is all around us, and each has a specific message. Are you aware of what it is telling you?
National news shares a message that politics is the most relevant, interesting and perhaps most important subject to talk about. "The Bachelor" shares a message that a good way to find love is by dating 30+ people by narrowing down your choices one at a time.
Commercials are sharing a message that we have to buy the newest phones, cars, appliances or any other gadgets, to be the relevant to the people around us.
And most of us are letting those messages become what we as individuals, believe, whether we admit it or not. And we as individuals make up society.
So, does media reflect society, or does society reflect media? Really think about this for a second.
Does the national news media cover mostly politics because the owners of the news organizations want people to care more about this subject, or are they just covering what viewers are wanting to watch more of? Are the commercials showing us an innate want for the best and newest items, or are they telling us what we should be wanting?
Messages are not always negative, though. Media has also taught us a lot of great lessons.
Over 50 years ago, when Jim Crow laws were still in existence and the Civil Rights movement began to take place, a book was published which shared a revolutionary message of equality — "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
While this book may not have immediately or directly solved the issue of inequality in the 1960s, it no doubt let its contemporary ideas sink into the hearts of its readers.
Change in society is gradual. It doesn't happen over night. It happens one heart — or mind-changing-encounter — at a time, and media producers have tapped into this.
So you may be thinking, "How dare they insert subliminal messages into my mind!" But that's not my goal by writing this.
My goal is to make all of us as aware as we can be of the messages all around us and what they are teaching us almost every second of every day.
If we are aware, we'll know how to be smart consumers of media, and we'll know more of why we think what we think.
What are some some examples of media you see that are sharing messages with their audience?
Comments