IMPACT OF MEDIA ON SOCIETY CAUSE AND EFFECT ESS THE IMPACT OF MEDIA ON SOCIETY 1.0 INTRODUCTION The audience view media as a source of entertainment,the journalists consider media as a source of livelihood and fame while the owners see media as a source of income and political power. The question is what the purpose is ofmedia in our society? Is it really that important and how does it influence our daily decisions in life? Media has been growing sharply with the increase in the level of technology. The society you are living in relies on information and communication to give them the lead, entertainment, education, health matters, travelling and any other thing they do. All they need to understand is that most of their common decisions they make, beliefs and values are solely from what they know (Simons2010) The society has put all their confidence and trusts in the media as a source of command togive them education, entertainment, and news. The impact on the kids is so intense that the parents should know how it functions. 2.1 Influence on the work When we talk of media influence, the most manipulative channel is the television. People are oftenly exposed to weird pictures of brutality, commercials and nude celebrities. Media owners have telecommunications, music industries, and electronic media and video games packs which are easily accessed by the majority. These owners have the authority to in sway the opinion and philosophy of the people and their children since they have united as one. Its with this respect that everyone should not only rely on what the media says but also rely on their personal judgement. They should also be conscious of what their children are exposed to everyday. Moreover, the media can outline the public judgement. For instance, during the 9/11 attack in the US the media painted Osama guilty as they were told by the government. This influenced the public views on terrorism same with the attack in Iraq which made people support war on terrorism. Sometimes through the opinion polls some candidates pay the media owners to receive more favour and votes (Charles 2000). It is for this reason people should not independently rely on media. According to Kunchik and Ciptel in their book œintroduction in science of publishment and communications they say people are sheep and the shepherd is the TV. 2.2 Young people and the celebrity culture The media as a market makes its money through the adverts they sell. The young people are easily swayed as they go for the media says it’s good. Most decisions to buy are made depending on what the newspaper, magazines or TV says it’s fit for their use. The media owners use very popular celebrities to advertise. The young people will always accept those products because they trust them. Some young people practise a sport that the media gives more attention to thereby enabling them to be healthier through exercise. On the other hand the young people will be easily swayed when they see their favourite superstar using cigars, pornographic images, use of junk foods which might lead to a negative lifestyle among the youth. Through the movies and TV they always want to be accepted when they are associated with very successful persons. They want to look cool when they use products the celebrities use. When they see their favourite celebrities using junk foods they also want to eat the same. They think it’s best for them and they end up into obesity while for some women they want to slim to look like models which might lead to health issues. 2.3 Television Violence Through the movies people watch, there are numerous pictures of violence of people hurting others. With children in particular they might get traumatised by what they see hence while growing up they may become more violent or shape into weird personal values and characters. Some kids have been reported to carry guns to school to harm others because of the violent video games they are exposed to (George, Scharrer 2007). They should understand war is not an entertainment because in war people lose while in entertainment people do enjoy. The Parents and the guardians have the responsibility to scan what their children watch. They should however be careful not to extend the limits as it may completely affect their children psychologically. Some youth can afford to buy television sets or even download movies when their parents are not within vicinity. This has created a huge barrier for the control measures on what the kids watch. 3.0 CONCLUSION It is without doubt that media has really corroded people’s mind. Media has brainwashed the natural reasoning of the people, people can no longer make judgements without consulting on what the media said. Some will even go further to know what the weather forecast said to know the kind of dressing to put on, to identify what they should eatand what management decisions they should make. Media has now remained to be the teacher for the children. The parents have lost control of their kids which has led to the moral decay of the society. Besides, the media has been of some benefit; it informs the people what is happening across the world and the general updates on the events in the world making the global become one small place. 4.0 REFERENCE Comstock, George, and Erica Scharrer, Media and The American Child (Academic press 2007) Herbert W. Simons, Media and Politics, (The John Hopkins University 2010) Lewis, Charles, The buying of the President 2000(Avon Books 2000)