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Cayden Johnson

Marriage and Family SYG 2411

Prof. Dickey

21 January, 2021

The Impact of the Media on Society

Any media produced by a society will have a lasting impact on the members of said society

and will play a great role in affecting the attitudes, beliefs and ultimately the behavior of those

individuals, especially those regarding the family. Many often complain of the media’s negative

impacts, that the minds of the young and impressionable are being corrupted and tainted by

today’s cinema, the news, and social media. And while it is true that the media has many adverse

messages that often serve to assault the worldview of young and old alike, the media in and of

itself is not necessarily negative. The use of media can have either a net beneficial or harmful

effect on the society that it is subjected to it. However, in today’s society, much harm occurs as

the result of the media adversely affecting the worldviews of many individuals, especially the

young when it comes to family matters.

Television and cinema are very prominent in American culture today and many TV and film

producers exploit this prominence by injecting all sorts of agendas that negatively impact

society’s view of the family. Movies and shows often depict Feminist ideals and openly celebrate

homosexual relationships on screen. These depictions can adversely affect an individual’s view

on family as the traditional family is openly and viciously attacked by these types of media

posing to be “entertainment.”
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Advertising also plays a part in negatively affecting society’s views on the family.

Materialism, the striving to multiply physical possessions, is touted by advertisers as the lifestyle

of choice in an attempt to relieve potential customers of their money has an adverse effect on

Americans today by glorifying selfishness and greed, things which are antithetical to a healthy

and stable family relationship. Furthermore, ads today are becoming more and more politicized

and have started to feature more and more leftist propaganda to further the political agendas of

the advertisers. This politicization of advertising can also affect society’s view of the family.

The news and, to a greater extent in today’s world, social media, can also have a negative

impact on society’s conceptualization of a traditional and stable nuclear family. For the same

reasons as the above examples, social media can negatively impact the worldview regarding

marriage and family in the young and old alike as those in charge of the news networks and

social media can manipulate what their audience sees and thus impact the way they view the

world.