Essay Example on the Impact of Media on Society

Introduction

The advancement in technology has widely reshaped the field of media and how it impacts society. The access to media and interconnection of the society provides a suitable avenue for the society to be manipulated by its feedbacks. Race and ethnicity have been presented in a seldom manner through mainstream media. On the contrary, they are presented through a narrow path that earns them prejudice, and stereotypes, that have dominated in telling the story of the race. According to Afifi et al. (2018), the media has reshaped the way we interact and associate with one another. Prejudice has been widely used to promote hostile social agenda that has been fueled by the advancement in technology and thriving media reports. The advancement in media, and technology, has impacted society, causing a rift in a race. Communities such as African Americans and Muslims are among the most affected societies curtesy of the media. On the contrary, cyberbullying has been another significant factor contributing to racial discrimination due to the media’s stereotyping. Thus, the essay seeks to critically elucidate on how the impact of media and technology advancement has affected society.

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Media on Muslims

Media has reshaped the way different races interact with one another. According to Afifi et al. (2018), the Muslim community’s relationship with the Americans deteriorated from 45% to 12% after the 9/11 incident. Never the less, the media has echoed the deteriorating incident, portraying Muslims as terrorists supporting religion. As a result, this has reshaped how the eastern, especially the Asian community, interacts with the western community.

According to Afifi et al. (2018), “global media portrayal of the Muslim community has been misleading, despite being welcomed by both hands in the global society.” Despite numerous terrorist attacks associated with the Muslim community, the media has strongly echoed out the negativity of the Muslim community and how inhospitable they are. As a result, the media has spread the fear and negative image to the society regarding the Muslim community.

The film industry has utilized media as its primary platform, portraying the Muslim community in a seldom manner. On the contrary, most of the evil, and minor characters in war movies, portray the Muslims as terrorists and offenders of the law. As a result, the image portrayed by the media has impacted the society in developing a prejudice that the Muslims are terrorist or violent people.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying has been fueled by the advancement in technology and widespread negative images portrayed by the media on a racial basis. According to Olweus & Limber (2018), cyberbullying is widely fueled by race, targeting both adults and teenagers. Nearly 55% of the reported cyber-bullying cases reported globally, and the victims tend to be of a different race or ethnicity. The possibilities of conducting cyberbullying without apprehending the perpetrators make it a suitable choice to hurt the feeling of innocent victims.

According to Olweus and Limber (2018), nearly 32% of the reported cases are male victims, while 68% are female. On the contrary, 65% of the females have experienced cyberbully more than ones, while 52% of the females are mostly aged between 16 to 43 years of age (Olweus, & Limber, 2018). The motive behind cyberbullying is fueled by the negativity spread by media, in depicting how inferior some certain communities are, compared to others.

Media on Blacks

Racial discrimination in the United States has been a major debate, with constant fights between blacks and whites. Even though numerous organizations have taken a different twist in fighting racism, little change has been achieved, especially with the advancement in technology and media. The media has revamped the relationship between the whites and the blacks in numerous ways. One of the areas that have become a key target for the black society is the negative portrayal of the black community as inferior or outsiders in society.

According to Saleem et al. (2017), the media’s speculation and negative depiction of the black community have widened the rift and gap of socialization. The blacks are portrayed as inferior, or having to secure the local jobs, in numerous video plays. Even though the concept is part of reinforcing or depicting diversity in the film, the role played by blacks highly speaks volumes. Viewers are forced to perceive the low-achieving positions and roles, affirming the stereotypes created by the media on African Americans. As a result, this reflection on media has subjected the community to think and act in ways that undermine African Americans.

As Saleem et al. (2017) asserted, the media has improved on improving the quantity of African Americans. However, despite the increase in showcasing the African American’s, the quality has been changing on a foot-dragging pace, making the society believe the stereotypes associated with African Americans.

Conclusion

In the bottom line, media and technology advancement have widely affected society. Technology has reshaped the way people receive and interact with media. As a result, society has access to critical information at their fingertips, courtesy of the internet. In this case, society has the opportunity to access and comment on the information aired by the media. Never the less, the media has portrayed a negative image on African Americans, depicting them as inferior, defiant to the law, as well as the violent society. Through this, the society has been forced to acknowledge that African Americans are inferior and less equal to the whites.

On the contrary, the relationship between the west and the Muslim society has been widely echoed by the negative portrayal of the community by the media. Media has reshaped how we see the Muslims, from an angle of terrorism, and none compliance with the law. In this case, society has strongly adapted to the negativity fed to them by the media regarding the Muslims.

References

Afifi, T. D., Zamanzadeh, N., Harrison, K., & Callejas, M. A. (2018). WIRED: The impact of media and technology use on stress (cortisol) and inflammation (interleukin IL-6) in fast paced families. Computers in Human Behavior, 81, 265-273.doi. 10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.010

Olweus, D., & Limber, S. P. (2018). Some problems with cyberbullying research. Current opinion in psychology, 19, 139-143.doi.10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.04.012

Saleem, M., Prot, S., Anderson, C. A., & Lemieux, A. F. (2017). Exposure to Muslims in media and support for public policies harming Muslims. Communication research, 44(6), 841-869.doi. 10.1177/0093650215619214.