Media is very much a part of what we perceive as reality today. It can definitely be seen as an omnipresent being in our daily lives. Media is simply something that we cannot escape. We are targets of the media every time we turn on the television or the computer or even while we walk down the street. The thing that first comes to mind when I think of media is the use of media in regards to advertising and marketing as well as how news is delivered to the public.
Media is most certainly a large role in what we shape as our reality today. One thing that makes the connection between producer and consumer so strong is the accessibility to the technologies of today. We cannot avoid the media in our day-to-day lives. Of course, when referring to the technological advances that allow media to access us so easily, I am talking about the use of computers, and more specifically, the Internet. Every time a person logs into their email or goes to a website, they are bombarded with a various number of ads either directly on the website, or in a pop-up window. This is an example of how media shapes reality today because it is shaping us in to a consumer society. Advertising companies use a series of different stimuli online such as use of color, sound, and visual effects, to appeal to the viewers’ senses. Through these sites, media is subtly getting in the heads of the consumer, making them feel that they need what they are viewing.
Another way in which the media shapes reality is through the way news is delivered to the public. People get there news in many different forms. Some examples of the ways in which most people receive news are through television, print, and virtual access. It is important to note that all of these forms of news are censored. Television newscasters, especially those in local news, deliver news approved by their producers whose stories are approved by the network on which it is broadcast. When we turn on the television we see more and more stories about human interest pieces and weather than we do about politics and current world issues. They leave those stories to national news such as CNN. It seems to be the same with newspapers, with the exception of a few more deaths and war stories. The virtual world gives the public news mainly as a secondhand source, further filtered. These ways in which the news has gone through a large filtering system shows that media shapes our reality by putting us slightly at ease. They do not really lie to us, but they leave out important stories or stories that that would upset the public. More importantly, they run stories that do not require the public to think. By doing so, media is able to tell us that we live in a slightly safer or nicer world than we actual do live in.
It can be seen that media is always present in our lives. They use a number of tactics, whether it is in advertising and marketing or through news sources, in order to draw the public in and keep them interested, but necessarily informed. These things shape what we view as real, but do they show us what is true? It is not until we begin to question what we are viewing and realize who we truly are as individuals and not as a demographic, that we filter out for ourselves what is truth and what we believe in.
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