Gabriel Galvez
5-8-14
Professor Collins
Term Paper: Issues with Media
As US citizens many of us rely on the media to keep us updated with what is
going on in the world whether it’s the news, radio, or newspapers. Today I will be
informing you of the false accusations, misrepresentations, and manipulations that the
media produces and shows the world. It’s a huge issue since the media has a great power
to influence their audience to feel a certain way or believe a certain “truth”. This
influence is a way to hide what happens behind the scenes of these corporations and mass
news providers, In other words the people of the United States has no idea what really
happens in the world. I will be explaining this topic to you through a social-conflict
approach, Structural-functional approach, and finally a symbolic-interaction approach.
From a social-conflict approach we clearly see the inequality between the media
and the people and that is the power to influence. Often, media corporations battle with
other corporations in order to broadcast the news the United States and don’t mind lying
about a topic that was poorly covered. We as the people don’t really have a chance at
changing the way media operates because we don’t realize that there is a problem in the
first place, which is the first form of disadvantage between the media and us. The media
often grooms the covers of their articles or journals in order to appeal to us. It is the
power the media has to manipulate us into believing what they have to say. For example,
TIME magazine put out a cover that read, “Why anxiety is good for you”. Based on
hundreds of years of medical research anxiety is not good for you at all and in most
severe cases can cause a stroke or a heart attack. However, this title seems so bizarre that
it would make many average Americans open up the book and read it. Ultimately, the
social conflict theory is in the inequality of powers between the people and the media
with the media being at a higher point since they have the power to manipulate,
influence, and create.
From a structural-functional theory, there is an order in society that gives us the
news and information we acquire. In this system the media functions to broadcast the
important updates going on the world and the citizens function to absorb the information
and apply it to society. The problem with this is that if the media puts out a story that
states that eating more red meats can decrease your chances of having a stroke, the people
are going to buy red meats and not knowing the other risks that are taken when eating a
high amount of red meats. In order for this system to function properly the news need to
provide correct information to the people. There are great consequences to be faced when
it comes to media mistakes, it can altar the way society lives and control the lives of
many citizens that depend on the media for information. According to an article on
opednews.com, “Many of the corporate reports, produced by drugs manufacturers such as
Pfizer, focus on health issues and promote the manufacturer's product”. In other words
the big corporate companies function above the media and control what the media puts
out in order to sell a product or gain a better reputation.
From a symbolic-interaction theory, the media influences a lot of our daily
interactions whether it’s in the workplace or at home. Like I said in the previous
paragraph, the media can influence what we do in the matter of minutes. For example the
media always comes up with new ideas that are supposed to be to our advantage when it
is really making us do something that society wants us to do. The cosmopolitan magazine
always has different ways to have sex and different ways to get a girl to like you and as
crazy as it sounds, it does have an influence on us. This is an attempt from the media to
make you live a certain way because this is what society is doing. The media also gets
away with telling us that it is good to do certain things because it can help our health.
Recently, the media posted a newscast that said, “We need to relieve more stress by
doing things that we wouldn’t normally do”. This very statement can very much change
the way that we socialize with people and more importantly, can change the ways that we
respond to our families. Symbolic-interaction theory deals with the interactions of
everyday life and an interaction of everyday life is watching the news, or hearing a new
piece of information from a media source. In other words, the media is a symbolic
interaction that symbolizes change for the modern society.
In conclusion, the media serves as a great tool for us only when the information is
correct. That being said, the people will never be sure whether the information is correct
or not which is how the media manipulates us into molding with their perspective of
society. I informed you that the social-conflict approach focuses on the inequality of
powers between the media and the people, Media having the power to influence, and the
people only having the power to absorb the information provided whether its correct or
not. I informed you on the structural-functional approach by showing you that big
corporations function to control what comes out on the media in order for personal gain,
rather than honest news. Finally, I explained how the media is a part of everyday life and
as we speak is changing the way we interact and respond to society from the symbolical-
interaction theory. In order for us to fix this issue we must find a way to correct our
media’s mistakes and find a way to factuate the stories that our media is broadcasting.
References:
1. Macionis, John J.. "Social theories." Society: the basics. 7th ed.,
Annotated instructor's ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall,
2004. . Print.
2. Best, Joel. Damned lies and statistics: untangling numbers from the
media, politicians, and activists. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 2001. Print.
3. Curran, James. Mass media and society. London: E. Arnold ;, 1991.
Print.