THBT the mass media is corrupting the society. Do you agree?

The mass media is a communication tool in modern society. However, it has many flaws - some of which are listed here.

1. Many of us are familiar with the advertisements we see everyday. Advertisements have become a norm in the society, and they play on peoples' feelings through bandwagons (you "lose out" because you do not use the product), sex appeal (because you use the product, people think you're more attractive and desirable), and other strategies such as visual imagery, emotional words (to play on peoples' feelings) and transferring positive feelings of people about that product. One example of advertisements would be slimming advertisements - they advertise on "sexy, slim and svelte" bodies to appeal to girls - but they create a wrong impression, as well as a sense of vanity. In fact, slimming advertisements encourage girls to diet excessively and become anorexic. The models that such slimming advertisements use are usually emaciated, "size zero" models. Other advertisements include cosmetics and facial ads - they use "fair, smooth and supple" skin to appeal to girls as well - while in actual fact, this creates a sense of vanity.


2. Magazines are also a form of mass media. Many women magazines we see today are packed with advertisements and fashion stuff. These create a sense of materialism in adolescents, and they would have the temptation to buy that set of accessories or clothes shown in the magazine, just to follow the in-crowd. Stuff such as teaching girls on how to engage in dates has also created a wrong impression in girls.


3. Music: It is with no doubt that music is ubiquitious in our lives. However, the lyrics of some rock music are full of vulgarities, sex, violence and even Satanism. Death metal band Deicide writes morbid lyrics on Satanism and violence, creating a wrong impression on adolescents. These are further portrayed in MTVs that are acted out from time to time, and this further influences adolescents negatively. In fact, MTV violence could be one of the causes of violent acts in the society nowadays. The lyrics of girl band Pussycat Dolls have also been a negative influence in young people - even girls aged 9 are singing the lyrics "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me" and "We'll be making love endlessly". Listening to these songs aren't the only thing - the raunchy dance moves, the revealing clothes they wear, as well as their skinny frames (adolescents might think they look great, and would diet excessively to get that "beautiful and hot" body) are also influential. Even fallen pop princess Britney Spears has turned from an innocent-looking young girl from the Mickey Mouse club to a scantily-clad "slavegirl", posing naked in a bath, dancing seductively, and even exchanging a lingering kiss with Madonna in one of the MTV music awards. This is definitely not morally right - youngsters are learning the wrong things - are these values that should be inculcated in youngsters nowadays? Definitely not!


4. Violence: Studies have shown that some videogames - packed with violence, and adult-related content, has led to youngsters thinking that taking drugs and drinking alcohol is acceptable - when in actual truth it damages health. TV shows such as WWE and other boxing matches give young children the impression that violence is "cool" - and they might even imitate the actions shown on TV. Even websites containing violence are popular amongst youngsters, who inevitably get influenced by the content shown. People are also very familiar with the violence shown on newspapers. Coverages on the newspapers nowadays are jam-packed with photographs relating to the violence caused, and the details of the violence itself - this also creates a negative impact on society. A recent study shows that crime rate has been increasing at an exponential rate - where do the perpetrators get their "inspirations" from? From reading articles concerned with violence, of course. Some of them even tend to be "copycats" and imitate the actions carried out by previous perpetrators - just because they look up to these people as "role models".


5. Drama serials: Most drama serials tend to beat about the bush, eventually arriving at a "happy ending" where 2 lovers get together, or where the lawbreaker finally receives his punishment etc. In fact, most of the drama serials on lawbreaking ramble on and on about how the crime is committed by the lawbreaker, portraying an impression that crime "is no big deal", as punishment is only implemented at the very last part of the serial. Also, the punishment portrayed in drama serials are very mild, and do not portray the actual thing shown, thus giving people the wrong information.


6. The news coverages done by the mass media nowadays are rather superficial and subjective, and some facts are even twisted. Clearly, this is morally wrong in the context of society - people will not know the actual truth and they would be mislead by the news coverages done by the mass media. Some of these are evident in news coverages of conflicts and riots, such as the Gujarat riots in 2002).Through the examples illustrated above, it is with no doubt that the mass media is corrupting our society.