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Lauren Gordon
Ms. Betts
ENGL 1102-B
2 April 2009
Media Influences
Mass media is a work place which is constantly growing with more jobs available to the
public as each year passes. The mass media major at Valdosta State University is the second
largest major selected by students enrolled. The field is very competitive when hunting a job.
Many jobs that were once available are not today because of the technology innovation, making
it easier for one person to do more than one job, but the industry is still growing and expanding.
The technology world involves some type of media and everyone is in involved in technology
someway. The influence always exists. In the article Influence of Mass Media written by Maya,
she describes the different types of media that exist. She says “The term mass media describes
many forms of entertainment: television, film, music, newspapers, magazines, the internet, and
advertising” (Maya). She then goes on to say that these forms of media have been around for
decades with everyone being able to access them. The access has become easier over the years
causing people to spend more of their time involved in some form of media. The influence
overwhelms people in their lives. The cell phone has become a must have for people in their life.
If their phone battery dies or the phone does not work properly, people do not know what to do.
The television is another media device that is in almost every household. Media is a necessity to
life and influences every part of how people run their life. Without the media industry, life as
known today would not exist and everything would be different.
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The first big media invention that changed the lives of many people and continues to
influence life today is the radio. During radio’s infancy, it was considered and luxury in many
households. As the popularity increased, the radio was a must have in every American
household. The radio was the form of entertainment in houses before the technology innovation
took over. The first thing to be broadcast on the radio was not music but talk shows and
comedies. Many of the shows now on the television first started on the radio. The radio
eventually evolved into how it is known today, playing music. Now the radio is a major
influence in life. A radio in a car used to be extra cost; today it is a standard feature. When
people drive, the radio is playing, blaring music from a radio station, compact disc, or the iPod.
The radio is also available in many stereo systems in most homes. Many children have a radio
sitting in their room and listen to it every morning while getting ready for their day. The
influence radio has in everyday life is enormous. If the radio did not exist, music would not sell
and children would have nothing to listen to while home alone bored. People do not realize their
dependence on the device until it stops working. The car ride becomes longer than first thought
and time at work passes slower. Radio dictates some parts of life with the shows that are run
daily or weekly. During the weekend, radio stations have their top forty songs of the week played
every Saturday at the same time. Teenagers have to have their radio on to listen to that show and
get their music for the day or week. Advertisers use this show to broadcast ads for their product
because they know that people are listening. With new technology, there is the XM Satellite
Radio which does not have commercials, and many people like this radio because commercials
bother them. The music is what they want to hear being played, and with this radio, they get
music continuously without interruptions. Miranda Watson writes about radio and the stations
that have the influence in Germany. She states, from an interview with Katherina Landahl “‘To
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fall in love with a song, you need to hear it, so radio will always be important," she notes. "Radio
still has a big influence on the single charts, unfortunately, as it's how many listeners rather than
what listeners want which counts’” (Watson). Even though the writer is talking about the radio in
Germany, the same concept applies here in the United States. The radio, like other parts of the
media industry, depends solely on rating and how many people are listening. The more listeners
a station has, the bigger the influence they contribute to society. What the radio plays tells people
what they want to hear. Without radio, life would not be like it is know today. People would not
know what to do while driving or getting ready in the morning. Radio influences life in many
different aspects, and people need it to be able to function properly.
Another part of the media industry influencing everyday life is the television. The
television was invented before World War II, but because of the war, did not sell very well. Once
the war ended, people started to spend their money on more luxurious things like the television.
Because the radio had already become popular the television took the most popular radio shows
and made them into television shows. The first real station was HBO, but NBC was the big hit
once it came along. People loved to watch the moving picture and not have to imagine what was
going on in the show. The actors/actresses made the television shows easier to enjoy. As
technology progressed, the television advanced and became smaller with more stations available.
More companies wanted to make televisions and sell them to consumers making the price of a
television less expensive. More households owned televisions and the influence became massive.
People started to revolve their life around their favorite television shows. “I Love Lucy” came on
Thursdays and people had to be home, finished eating by the time the show came on the air. This
tactic continues to happen today. Families have their favorite TV shows and have to be sitting in
their living room by the time the show starts or their entire week is ruined. The number one show
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in America is American Idol with people being home and finished with their school work by
8pm so they can watch the show. Television controls life more than radio does because it is
easier to turn on the television than to have to fidget with a dial to find the radio station desired.
Also the radio is mostly listened to in the car while the television is watched in the home. The
television is used as a device to bring families together. Denis Matthews writes in his article
published in the Mass Communication and Society Journal, “Parents and children who watched
together promoted affection; parents and children were observed to touch more during coviewing than even during parent-child play” (Matthews). Families rely on the television to bring
them together instead of trying to have conversations about other things. The influence has
grown to a point where people do not even realize how impacted the television is on them. Today
100 percent of people own a television with 66 percent having cable. The television runs seven
hours a day in the average household. People have the television on and do not realize that media
has taken over their life. Cable was out in the city of Valdosta one weekend and people did not
know what to do. Life came to a standstill because nobody knew how to function properly
without cable. Without the television, people would not know what to do in their free time. In the
early 1900s, before the radio, people would read a book, but that is unheard of today because of
the other options available. TV is one of the main influences people have in their life. This black
screen that shows pictures with sound is needed to make people feel complete and on tract in
their life. The influence is huge and most people do not realize it. The worst part is those same
people will never know the influence television has in their life until it does not work anymore.
The biggest influence that the mass media industry has over the world is the internet also
called the World Wide Web. Before the internet was introduced people could only communicate
linearly, meaning one person to another person. When the internet came to be, people could
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communicate with more than one person at one time making life easier and faster. The internet
was first invented to be used by the military having the name APARnet. Finally in the late 1990s
the internet became available to the rest of the world, and everything changed dramatically.
People could talk to one another while browsing many other sites at the same time. Other parts of
the media industry began to slip, but they invested in the growing internet causing their stock to
rise once again. Phone companies began to offer the internet as package deals with the phone and
cable. Everyone needed the internet to feel a part of society. Many people started their
companies on the internet taking orders instead of building a store and trying to start from the
ground. Today the internet has grown into the biggest part of the media industry while having the
largest impact as well. People use the internet for everything. Newspapers and magazines can be
found on the internet for free instead of having to buy them every day. Television shows can be
viewed in full on the internet should one miss a show one week. Finding information is easier
using the websites Yahoo and Google. These websites are search engines allowing people to type
in items or questions, then thousands of related websites appearing. Stores make most of their
money with people buying things on the internet. Schools do registering and update information
on the internet. The internet is the one thing that connects everyone together. In an interview
conducted with area head Frank Barnes, he stated “I spend at least twelve hours a day on the
internet watching television shows and browsing different websites. It’s only 10:15 in the
morning and I have checked my e-mail six times since arriving here.” Spending twelve hours a
day on the World Wide Web definitely influences people in many ways. One of the things done
most on the internet is people playing video games whether it is on a website or connecting
different people with different consoles through the internet. Most video games on the internet
are some type of killing game which has an influence on people saying that killing is acceptable.
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The one game that girls play the most is Sims. .An article published in the New York Times
talked about a man named Richard Cook using the internet to influence people on congressional
issues. When asked why he was doing this he stated, “’This is much more powerful because this
gets information in the hands of people who make the decisions’” (Raney). A former
congressman is using the internet to come in contact with the citizens of America. He uses the
internet because people now use the internet for everything. People spend all their time on the
internet not realizing the impact it is having on their life. Without the internet people would have
so much free time that they would not know what to do. People rely on the internet more than
they rely on anything. Without the web life would be completely different.
The mass media industry is the biggest industry in the world with the biggest influence as
well. John Vivian says in his book, “We swim in an ocean of mass communication, exposed 68.8
percent of our waking hours to media messages” (Vivian 3). Usually the only time people are not
involved in the media is while in the shower, walking from the car to work, or spending time
with the family while the television is not on. Being exposed to media that much, has to have an
influence on people somehow. Riding in the car has the radio with music influencing the way
people think and what is popular in society. The television has a set time programs run at
requiring people to plan their life around these shows. This influence happens each day with
different shows on during the week. The internet is the biggest influence while continuing to
grow. People spend most of their day on the internet. Students are the people that rely in the
internet the most but all the different websites and games available influence somehow. Without
the media industry many of the essential things to life would not exist. Mass media is an industry
that will always be around changing the way life functions. If media did not exist people would
not know what to do.
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Barnas, Frank. "Interview with Frank Barnes: Mass Media Area Head." Personal interview. 17 Apr.
2009. Frank Barnas is the area head of the mass media department at Valdosta State University.
He makes his living being involved in the media. Mr. Barnas proves the point of media
influencing life because he knows about how the media influences life including his.
Matthews, Denis. "Media Memories: The First Cable/VCR Generation Recalls Their Childhood and
Adolescent Media Viewing." Mass Communication and Society 6 (2003): 219-41.
Http://web.ebscohost.com. Summer 2003. 8 Apr. 2009 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/
detail?vid=3&hid=115&sid=12477717-3d90-447f-8947-249fb2028dd4%40sessionmgr
102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=sih&AN=11129951>. This journal
article talks about how the television influences adults today because of their childhood. The
article also talks about the television as a part of media dictating families lives having them
spend time together. The TV causing families to spend time together is another way of influence
on their life.
Maya. "Influence of Mass Media." MySistahs. 9 Apr. 2009 <http://www.mysistahs.org/features/
media.htm>. This article talks about the influence of mass media. My entire paper is about the
influence of mass media, so the article fits perfectly with my paper
Raney, Rebecca F. "TECHNOLOGY; Lobbyist Turns to Internet to Influence Policy Makers." New
York Times 15 Nov. 1999. 17 Apr. 2009 <http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/15/business/
technology-lobbyist-turns-to-internet-to-influence-policy-makers.html?scp=3&sq=influence%
20of%20internet&st=cse>. This article shows how a person is using the internet to influence the
thoughts of others. People are on the internet many hours of the day being influenced by what
they see.
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Vivian, John. The Media of Mass Communication. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2009. This book is very
useful for my paper because it talks about all the types of mass media in the world and what they
are used for. The book also provides statistics for how much people use the media. If the media
is always being used then it is influencing life which is proved in the paper.
Watson, Miranda. "Radio Blues." Billboard 03 Dec. 1994. 8 Apr. 2009 <http://web.ebscohost.com/
ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=101&sid=dbfc5623-926d-420e-918d-c4d9bdcf8d37%40sessionmgr
103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=9412212550>. "Radio
Blues" states that the radio relies on the ratings to decide on what music to play telling the public
what is popular. The music is influencing the people in what to think.