Module 5 review

For the Module 5 readings, I found the discussions of the impact that media has on our brains to be especially interesting because of the significance that media, specifically social media plays in our current lives. In the article, “The News Bias: Distorting Reality and Feeding Fears”, by Benjamin Radford, it is explained how news biases distort reports and change how we understand and react to the society and world around us. After reading his explanation of what media and news can do to our society, I began to think about significant things that have taken place and how the news and media may have controlled society’s understanding and reaction to them. Although, it is a scary thought that news can control how we understand their reports, we can detect them, as explained in the article, “How to Detect Bias in News Media.” This article discusses the types of questions we can ask, such as, who are the sources, if so is there diversity, whose point of view is it from, are there double standards, if so is there stereotypes, is there loaded language, or a lack of context. I now find that these are important questions to keep in mind when watching the news.

Then in the article, “who Gets to Speak on Cable News?”, we are made aware that different news stations are placed onto different political spectrums. In regards to watching the news, Republicans and Conservatives believe in personal responsibility and limited government, while Democrats, or Liberals, believe in strong government and equality for everyone; news channels will display more of one of these ideas than another, which will help to see their political spectrum (Student News Daily, 2010). From Karen Sternheimer’s slides, she explains that what we see in the news is only a small part of what we, as a society, need to know that is occurring in our government (P. 219). Because media has so much power it is crucial to be media literate and be aware of biased news.

Continuing with Sternheimer’s readings, Chapter 10 discussed consumption and materialism. Having media of famous people and their lavish lifestyles causes both children and adults to dream of things that they cannot afford. I found it said that teens specifically said that they would be happier just if they had more money to buy things (P. 246). Then, Chapter 11 discussed, that although media has a big influence, it is not to blame for everything, there are other causes as well.