The media and the social problems
The mass media plays an important role in modern society. In fact, many have claimed that people spend more time watching TV than watching the actual human interaction. The film industry is a billion dollar a year business, and most people agree on a daily basis to their favorite radio station. With all this power, one would think that the mass media would be in an excellent position to initiate social change, positively affecting social problems, and help to combat social evils that are considered deviant. However, the mass media has largely failed in addressing the social problems, and if at all, has contributed to the problems that exist in this society. As seen through the presentation of the most important variables of race three, class and gender, has the mass media covers actually contributed to the social problems, so that they strengthen and the various stereotypes that exist in which to continue a vicious circle of these problems.
television has perhaps become the primary vehicle that the company gets its information and presents its values and expectations. One of the most important roles television dramas is the presentation of news and information. What selects a station to present as newsworthy a strong role in can play, how people look at their society and the world around them. Often TV news sources have a tendency to only negative images of minorities broadcast. On a nightly basis, individuals with histories of minorities in robberies, murders and rapes are bombarded engagement, as if minorities are the only ones who monopolize this type of crime. Very rare are the stories of the inner-city minority male youth who is a scholar, or the young mother stacked despite the odds against them, graduates from college. In this way, the television media plays a strong role in formulating racial problems. With the constant display of these negative images, two problems quickly arise.
The first of these minority groups are subjected to stereotypes, like the images fixed mental images are presented and are exaggerated and applied to the group as a whole. Whites, who are the dominant culture, watching the news, learned that minorities are less intelligent, more violent, and usually less human. In addition, the minority groups can even develop reactions that are turned inwards and create a sense of hopelessness, despair and self-doubt that can lead more sociological problems in the form of alcoholism, drug abuse, aggression and crime in yet. Thus, the television news can contribute assistance presented pictures to this vicious, self-reinforcing, cycle and provides little, if any solutions to the problem of racism.
is Closely related to racial issues related to the class. Since the life of the poor, inner-city minorities are represented and is considered negative; capital flight and the economic activity develops with the stereotypes associated. Those seen to avoid having capital neighborhoods as violent or dangerous, and the money is not spent or invested in these communities. Once this happens, minorities are trapped in an economic isolation that is devastating. Jobs disappear quickly, and social reforms are doomed without hope of a potential work to failure. Once the welfare system fails, divide the United States will continue into two companies: a multiracial and reasonably prosperous; the other, at a disadvantage and often dark skin, living in semi-permanent poverty. As urban minority neighborhoods increasingly depleted, there will be more sensational, be negative stories of minorities, while at the same time to ignore other methods to present the problems of the inner city and provide workable solutions.
With regard to sex, although the TV media have been much more successful in promoting gender equality, as a whole, the mass media will not give a balanced picture of the diversity of women's lives and their contributions to the Society. The advertising industry, which is a billion dollars a year business, often emphasized sexuality and the importance of physical attractiveness in an attempt to sell products, and this is to focus on their appearance undue pressure on women. These same advertisers use to send to the public television as a main tool information. Because of this obvious distortion in advertising, diseases such as bulimia and anorexia afflict millions of women and young girls are often made perfect because of the constant stream of images from image to women feel unsafe.
mainstream television programming that reinforces the traditional roles of women should be limited in the same way for women in society. Periodically, rap music videos almost naked minority women with only role to serve their people, are seen by millions of people, reinforce the myth that minority women are nothing more than sexual beings who "down" with whatever always. not help these pictures the rampant amount of sexism that exists in this society, creating an even wider gap in the relationship between men and women, especially among minorities. Also published by an Associated Press release in the Sun-Times Chicago, the three major television networks had occurred covered less stories of minorities in 2004. This disturbing trend for the last three presidential elections years, reported journalists in the minority only ten percent the nightly newscast featured on ABC, CBS and NBC.
According to Robert Lichter, director of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, switch networks familiar faces when it comes to election campaigns and cover for minorities correspondents familiar is synonymous with white.
print media is another important vehicle in which develops social problems. As in television media, it may be paid a large discrepancy in the type of coverage to issues of race, class and gender. Newspapers, if their reports and reporting to formulate, have a tendency to concentrate heavily on the problems of gangs in urban minority neighborhoods. As a result, the print media has created an environment of great concern to gangs and gang violence in the city. The gang problem is a constructed image with great force in the public discourse. The fight against the bands can be used to initiate social control, even in areas where gangs are not a big problem. Ironically conformist young people are the ones most affected by such tax strategies that take the form of curfews, dress codes and rules for participation. Thus, the symbolic power of the gang metaphor lies in its successful application in situations where the bands are relatively unimportant or inconsequential.
Whether it is used to justify or prohibit a certain type of dress, skateboarding defend or improve a politician = s views on the election day, the gang metaphor is a powerful tool for an image evoking that through a variety can be used by social actors in search of power and the negotiation of social influence. Thus, media pressure actually to construct a social problem and to present it more often then reality would actually suggest. Print media has a great influence in the class questions. By selecting ways in which to present a story about a labor strike, the media can help influence the success of one class over the other, and how these classes are perceived. In addition, as with regard to television news media described above, and is connected to the question of race that the media is further based the economic difficulties of urban areas on their coverage. Finally, media pressure can also increase and the impact of negative gender patterns and structures by their reporting.
The mass media is important to investigate the social problems, both as they are born and how they persist. The media, by selecting their coverage and the issues it chooses to, is extremely strong force in this society. Race, gender and class are closely related as stereotypes of the mass media on one of these three factors often leads to social problems in the other factors as well as immortalized. The three are closely linked in helping to explain why the media works in the way that it does. The media can provide information in the way, however, to perpetuate the social institutions and practices that have been functional for their existence to the present time is.
In addition, the media can also serve as operating in the manner to see it does, because the system rich, white, keep males helps whom are the primary owners and distributors of mass media in a position of power. Although social problems have existed since the dawn of time, the media to different perspectives and points of view have to help eliminate many of the clichés that are opened more that currently exist. Modern society must strive all his media a powerful tool, in which the powerful voices of the oppressed may arise to challenge different viewpoints on society.
If this is the case, move closer to this company, to cure diseases under the social variables that the current mass media contributes to a large extent. The mass media has acted, the social problems perpetuate it relates. The mass media must be considered a big part of the problem in the areas of race, class and gender to be. To combat this situation, the mass media need to formulate a new plan that makes itself open to different perspectives, and that will also provide traditional models of race and class and gender in question.
