Impact of media on attitude
Any channel of information is known as media. For instance, Television, radio, newspaper, the internet as well as magazines are all known as the media
Attitude is a feeling you have, a disposition, a value or a state of mind. In addition, it is how you view life and things as well as how you behave towards them.
In the last 50 years the media influence has grown exponentially with the advance of technology, first there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the internet.
We live in a society that depends on information and communication to keep moving in the right direction and do our daily activities like work, entertainment, health care, education, personal relationships, travelling and anything else that we have to do.
A common person in the city usually wakes up checks the TV news or newspaper, goes to work, makes a few phone calls, eats with their family when possible and makes his decisions based on the information that he has either from their company workers, news, TV, friends, family, financial reports, etc.
What we need to be aware is that most of our decisions, beliefs and values are based on what we know for a fact, our assumptions and our own experience. In our work we usually know what we have to do based on our experience and studies, however on our daily lives we rely on the media to get the current news and facts about what is important and what we should be aware of.
We have put our trust on the media as an authority to give us news, entertainment and education. However, the influence of mass media on our kids, teenagers and society is so big that we should know how it really works.
The messages that the media send out are basically communications to change people’s attitudes and behaviours.
This means that television commercials are only likely to succeed in strengthening people’s attitudes toward a product if they already like the product, or if they have no opinion for or against that product
Television also has a unifying effect on people. They can witness the same events on television that numerous others also witness. This makes people feel like they have shared common experiences, even when they were never actually together. This may also have a conforming effect on people because they are now exposed to the norms of an entire area, country, or even the entire world. This conformity can be used for good by sincere pledge drives, or abused by some charities that may be corrupt.
The credibility of the speaker is also a variable in determining the effect of a communication. The higher the credibility, the greater the impact. However, even if the speaker has low credibility, over time, the ideas separate themselves from the speaker in the mind of the person that witnessed the communication. Therefore, the ideas may have more of an affect than it would seem at first.
Now a days Media impact have increased knowledge, changed attitudes and facilitated behaviour change on some of the most pressing issues of our time, including violence against women, HIV/AIDS prevention, sustainable development, reproductive health, human rights and democracy.
In 1984. After successful telecast of hum log: it soared to the top of entertainment charts and drew a regular viewing audience of more than 50 million people. It also began to shift family planning practices..so I can conclude that it is one of the major impact of media.
Perhaps most important is how strongly a person believes in his or her own ideas. If a person does not have a strong attitude toward something, it is likely that it will be quite easy to change his or her opinion. However, if a person already has strong convictions, a communication that tries to change his or her mind will have little effect. Debates between two ideas only seem to strengthen a person’s current beliefs.
Media is also known for its negative traits which can cause an immense impact on a common man.recentlltly media has become more news oriented to gain TRP(television rating point) which helps to compete with their rival competators.Media has fully fledged grown in to commercial business where they only deal with immediate news that will gain them immediate popularity compared to their rivals.
Media now treys to focus more on the ugly and bad side of people rather than their good side which in turn only helps the media with news but in return destroys a mans dignity and self being.
To be more précised about the medias negative traits lets focus on the example of home stay issue that recently took place in Mangalore.
Ex:There were a couple of teenagers celebrating a birthday party were it was intruded by some “political goons” who claimed that it was a rave party in which the teenager where involved with. We found the goons thrashing and mobbing the girls for wearing skimpy clothes, the medias which where around didn’t make an effort to stop it. instead went on shooting it, to gain a solid footage for their respective news channels. When the girls were harassed and man handled the media only tried shooting it in different angle rather help the girls to a safer place. If the media as claimed where there to defend the society should have focused more on the intruders so that they could be recognized easily by the society and put behind bars.
Because of the raise of the technology media has got stronger and wider. Using certain technology in media people try their hands on software’s which help them hack certain peoples personal account and get access to their personal information and pictures that can be posted on social site which can be viewed globally.
conclusion
Though many people know that the media affect the mind and attitude of people many did not know exactly how much the nature of the effect. The media are just another way in which society influences the individuals
Media is a very strong tool in the hands of a man which can be either used to make or break an attitude of the individuals. every media is born with the responsibilities to protect and safeguard the society and people living in the society. I know that truth is always bitter, and its not wrong. Media focusing on the bad and ugly side of the people. But they must also focus on the solution and try using the feed back. That they receive to create changes, so that it helps the common man to follow up and move ahead in the right path. The media should play a major role always on bringing a positive change so that it awakens the individuals mind set for a better tomorrow.
shilpadsouza22 