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The Media and Its Role Today

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The Media and Its Role Today
1.0 The Media and its Role Today

The media has always been playing the main role in providing information to us. Whether it covers on education, information or entertainment, gaining the latest news on these topics has been made easier nowadays with the help of the media. There are a number of the types of media that could be obtained nowadays. This includes television, radio, newspapers, magazines and internet. Although the main idea of the media is to educate people on the latest happenings, and connect the people from different parts of the world, there is also a downside of it. Sometimes, the media could have an impact towards a person’s personal lifestyle. One of the many impacts that could be influenced by an individual due to the media is their state of health. Exposure of the media could influence us either mentally, physically and socially as well.

2.0 So How Does the Media Influence a Person’s Health?

2.1 Parent Child Relationship

First of all, the media in a non obvious way is actually influencing its audience’s social relationship between parent and child. There is no doubt that when relating to the media, families are always getting together whenever they are watching a movie or enjoying their favourite sitcom aired daily. This is one of the healthy influences of the media as it helps to create closer bonds between parents and their children. A recent study estimated that 65 to 85 percent of young children’s viewing is with family members, where more than half viewing with their parents. (Van Evra 1998) But on the other hand, some people tend to misuse the media as a way to get out of family crisis. This could be seen normally among teenagers and young children where they turn to the media to avoid interaction between family members, especially their parents. It is indeed true that parents are the main contributors towards how their children behave. Nevertheless, it also could not be denied that the media is also one of the major influences of



References: Retrieved October 2, 2007 from http://family.jrank.org/pages/1681/Television-Family-Social-Uses-Influence-Television-on-Families.html Positive Choices ( Andrews University ) Retrieved October 2, 2007 from Exposure to Media Influence Retrieved September 25, 2007 from Retrieved September 25, 2007 from http://www.something-fishy.org/cultural/themedia.php The media doesn’t influence you except when it does Retrieved October 3, 2007 from Media and eating disorders Retrieved October 4, 2007 from The media’s influence on violence and aggression Retrieved October 4, 2007 from Research on the effects of media violence Retrieved October 4, 2007 from Race, Class, and Gender in American Media and Sports Retrieved October 4, 2007 from Perceptions of Race and Crime Retrieved October 5, 2007 from The White Screen: Absent Voices In The Media Retrieved October 5, 2007 from The Media: exploring the role society and media play in the development of an eating disorder and the media influence on eating disorder Retrieved October 5, 2007 The University Record, October 22, 1997 Media Influence Eating Disorder Retrieved October 5, 2007 http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/9798/Oct22_97/media.htm Retrieved October 5, 2007 http://www.teachers.ab.ca/Quick+Links/Publications/Magazine/Volume+86/Number+1/Articles/Building+an+Inclusive+Society.htm

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