Media Studies Induction Task

Why Study The Media?

Media comes in many forms including: social networks, newspapers, advertisements, films and billboards. It is important to study the media in order to understand the influence and impact it has on both individuals and society as a whole. By understanding how the media manipulates information, we can avoid being deceived by it. Media has both a positive and negative impact on social skills and communication as it keeps people connected, in particular teenagers, while also restraining them from social interaction. In our current society, media surrounds every aspect of our lives and is inescapable. It is constantly evolving and therefore forces all generations to evolve with it. The future is unknown, but it is highly probable that this is only the beginning of an era dominated by the many facets of the increasingly connected media.

The media has a significant impact on many people, particularly teenagers as they are the most impressionable. According to research by Emily Frith-Social Media and Children’s Mental Health (2017)- over one-third of 15-year-olds in the UK are ‘extreme internet users’ meaning they spend more than six hours of a typical weekend day on the internet. As well as this, it was recorded that, in 2015, 94.8 percent of 15-year olds used social media before and after school. These staggering statistics prove the involvement of media in most teens’ everyday lives and therefore, the power it has over their view of the world they live in.

Although social media has the intention of bringing people closer together, it can in fact tear them apart. Too much time spent online can result in social isolation as it restricts users from face to face interaction and so can be damaging to their social skills.

Social media can also affect adolescent’s mental health as the more time spent online means a higher chance of being cyberbullied. It can also affect their mental health as all over the internet there are promotions of an unachievable standard of beauty due to the works of Photoshop. Images of celebrities with seemingly perfect skin, hair and bodies are everywhere and idealised, causing many girls to acquire life threatening eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Boys can also be made to feel less ‘manly’ if they do not fit the image popularised by the media.

When setting up accounts on social networks users are required to enter personal information about themselves including their date of births and even where they work or study. This routine has become so normal that many people do not realise the risks that come with sharing personal details and unknowingly put themselves in vulnerable positions. Media also allows for the normalisation of big issues such as self-harm as there are a wide range of pages that share people’s stories with graphic images so issues such as this become nothing extraordinary as they are viewed on a daily basis. Violence is also made to appear normal and causes many to be unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy, the number of school shootings in the USA being proof of this.

Physically, media can also have a negative effect as sitting inside on a computer all day or in front of a TV is reported to be a huge contribution to the current obesity crisis in the UK as it decreases the amount of exercise these young people do. It can also cause sleep deprivation and poor sleeping quality which can be detrimental to their concentration and behaviour at school, interfering with their education.

However, the media can also have a positive impact on the youth as it can help teens who live sheltered lives develop cultural and political awareness. Because of news channels, magazines and social networking sites, adolescents are able to see the bigger picture of the world and society and can form their own views and beliefs. Media also connects teenagers to their peers and gives them a chance to improve their social skills, helping them in the future. There are many ways that the internet helps teenagers improve their reading and writing skills as many enjoy writing blogs and reading through articles that interest them. There are even available apps that allow people to learn languages in an interactive way that is beneficial to kinetic learners.

The media can also be used to manipulate people and their opinions, whether that’s through one-sided newspaper headlines in order to gain support for a political group, or advertisements for products that are made to appear essential when in fact the consumer has no good use for them. For example, ‘The Sun’ newspaper is written by people with conservative ideologies, therefore it is heavily biased and projects a negative light on the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn in particular. This gives readers a false and misleading view on politics as they fail to share the whole story and emphasise the flaws of groups they do not support.

One significant example of the manipulation of the media is the coverage of the Brexit referendum by conflicting newspapers. Some papers such as ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The Sun’ were fervently in favour of leaving the European Union whereas others such as ‘The Mirror’ were diametrically opposed to this position. The power of the media to manipulate its audience can be extrapolated from the results of the aforementioned referendum as between ‘The Sun’[1] and ‘The Daily Mail’[2] there is a combined total daily reach of 14 million readers, while between ‘The Mirror’[3] and ‘The Guardian’[4] there is a reach of a meagre 8 million. From the 57% difference in the reach, it is easily inferred that the influence of the right-wing media was likely a significant contributor to the vote. This shows that the media can manipulate the electorate to the extent that powerful media outlets are able to alter the outcome of major national decisions.

In the past, it was clear when an item in the media was an advertisement, whereas nowadays advertisements can be embedded into different formats of the media. For example, product placement in films to promote a brand. This can be deceiving as viewers don’t realise they are being advertised to. Also, advertisements on TV, in magazines and in newspapers can be manipulative as people don’t realise the strength of the influence the branding has. For example, if you see an advertisement several times on TV, then subconsciously you are more likely to buy that brand over another as you feel like it’s safe and familiar.

In conclusion, it is crucial that we study the media to ensure we do not fall victim to its potency. Teenagers spend most of their spare time online which can cause social isolation, mental health issues and be physically detrimental. However, there are many benefits of social media including learning opportunities. By recognising the fact that media normalises negative behaviour, we are able to understand that these issues are exaggerated and not as prevalent as they may seem. If we are aware of how newspapers twist the facts and are biased, we are less likely to put our faith into what is written as it is not a balanced view. We can be swayed by advertisements, so understanding effect on us helps us to make decisions based on our wants rather than their manipulation.  The amount of media we are exposed to has rocketed over the last decade and is heading on a fast trajectory into the future and the challenge for us is to keep up.

---

[1] https://www.newsworks.org.uk/the-sun

[2] https://www.newsworks.org.uk/daily-mail

[3] https://www.newsworks.org.uk/daily-mirror

[4] https://www.newsworks.org.uk/the-guardian