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Role of Media In Our Society

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Media::A signifant Role in Society

Media plays a significant role in our society today. It is all around us, from the shows we watch on television, the music we listen to on the radio, to the books and magazines we read each day. Television more so that any of the other medias achieves a myriad of different goals. These goals range from entertaining to educating. Various confines of education and entertainment are depicted in television.
For the most part the television is found to be very entertaining. People watch television shows they enjoy and find entertaining. Television is often looked at as a babysitter for children. The viewing of television can entertain the young and old alike for great amounts of time. Along with entertaining, the media is used to inform society. Days are often started by the listening of the news on the morning television, judging the latest updates on the local traffic jams. Days are often concluded with the watching of the late night news on television, keeping us informed of the world and the events occurring around us. Steven Stark, author of Glued to the Set has been quoted as saying, "the local newscast has replaced the network news and the newspaper alike as the average American's main source of news." (390)


James B. Twitchwill author of Adcult USA: The Triumph of Advertising in American Culture states,"The culture we live in is carried on the back of advertising."(405) Television is used to inform, entertain and campaign and most significantly, it is used for advertising. In fact, television is so centered on advertising and these advertisers play such large sums money to advertise that advertising has taken over. Every five to fifteen minutes a commercial is played on television. The intent of these commercials is to create a feeling of need by the viewer to purchase, consume the product being advertised. In fact, advertising has become so prevalent and so extreme that the average citizen of our society has taken on a significant role as a consumer. The clothes we wear are often a byproduct source of television advertisement. Companies advertise their product or clothing to make their logos so blatant and conspicuous that everyone who sees you knows who made your clothing or your product.
Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford,1998.
Twitchell,James B. But First, A Word From Our Sponsor.
Television plays a major role in our daily lives. It not only influences our preferences, it affects our beliefs, our likes and our dislikes. It can strengthen our knowledge and broaden our perspectives. Many different goals are achieved from the television.

Generation Gap- A Myth or Reality?

'Generation Gap' is a term which is often coined to point out the different behaviour of today's teenagers. Parents often use it as a negative term to indicate their anger and frustration at their offsprings' doing. While, on the other hand, teenagers use it to signify their freedom and label their own parents as 'outdated' and 'out of touch' with reality. In truth, it is neither a positive nor a negative term. It is definitely present, yes, very much there, as mindsets do change from one generation to another but it is not such a big 'real' issue that can become the cause of a fallout between teenagers and their parents.

As a child grows into a teenager and then into an adult, he wises to follow a different lifestyle from that of his parents. This might not be essential but is a sufficiently common scenario. A youth's social icons, his idols and the value system to which he adheres is often not the same as that of the parents. He might like to dress up differently and live differently from what his parents designate as the 'right choice'.
His thoughts an actions might not always be different. At times, they shall agree with those of his parents. It even happens that the advice of his parents which he considered 'obsolete' at the age of fifteen suddenly becomes full of wisdom when he is twenty-five.

Generation Gap is thus neither a complete myth nor a full reality. It is a fact that must be accepted by teenagers and their parents that at times, they may think differently on some issues as the social scenario has changed during the decades. It is not a complete reality since the core values of an individual do remain the same irrespective of the generations that may pass.