First, my bibliography!
Oak, Manali. "Negative Influences of the Media." Buzzle.com. Buzzle.com, 05 Mar. 2012. Web. 02 Oct. 2012. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/negative-influences-of-media.html>.
Now, my analysis!
The article that I chose to analyze was "Negative Influences of the Media" by Manali Oak. In her article Oak clearly and concisely depicts the negative aspects of the media, and it's affects on our youth. In her thesis Oak states that the media has a negative affect on our thinking and behavior, this negative influence often flies under the radar as it is part of our daily lives, affecting the way we act and conditioning our children to act a certain way as well. Oak's first supporting detail was that the media causes "blind immitation" in our youth, stating that when kids are young they look for idols, usually finding them in celebrities, whose negative actions are usually highlighted by the media, rather than their positive actions, so children at impressionable ages try to imitate their role models who are usually highlighted for their scandals. The next detail that Oak used to support her thesis was that of "the wrong message," stating that newspapers, television, and the internet are used to send social messages, sometimes warnings to the public. These messages may be misinterpreted by younger children who do not know the context in which to take it, having a negative impact on the young mind. In her next point Oak states that "negativity" is taught through early exposure to bold or violent films, books with adult content, TV shows portraying unsavory practices. Oak claims that the news "gaudily" portrays grisly themes such as, murder, rape, drugs, violence and sex. Things that may need to be addressed, but not in such a flashy manner to where it may affect young impressionable minds. The next point Oak touches on is how the media promotes an "unhealthy lifestyle" through junk food and fast food advertisements, and not advertising healthy foods, excercise, or the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Instead, the media hypes up fast food, energy drinks, "fad diets" and advertising expensive excercise equiptment, and weightloss programs, promoting the American ideal of instant gratification. Next Oak touches on how the media causes an "information overload" since some form of media is attached to us nearly perpetually, it is addictive. You are either watching, reading, or listening to some form of media continually, constantly being exposed to information that is sometimes useful and necessary but usually not. Oak then supports her thesis with the concept of "media addiction" stating that children and teenagers. due to the accessibility of it are literally addicted to TV, internet, music and their cellphones. They are exposed to things the may misinterpret or even misunderstand completely due to the constant stream of media that they are subject to. Another supporting detail that Oak uses is "self hatred" or the negative impact on the already fragile body image of adolecent women, causing them to seek "perfection" by going under the knife, doing fad diets, or even leading to eating disorders. All to look like a model, singer, or actress that the media claims to have the "perfect body" usually portrayed as thin.Which leads to Oak's next point "health problems." Oak states that the TV or computer causes eye problems, lack of physical activity leads to obesity, and the media portrays thin as beautiful, and chubby as ugly or abnormal, leading to eating disorders. A survey Oak references that was done on fifth graders by the National Institute on Media and the Family showed that kids had become unsatisfied with their bodies after watching a video from a famous artiste and a scene from a popular television show. Next Oak touches on "changed outlook" as a negative affect of the media. She states that in order to grab the public's attention the media often exaggerates events to a certain degree, and that most children and teens cannot filter that it is exaggerated and believe it to be real. Oak states that "fact fantasy confusion" is also a negative affect of the media, stating that kids may mix fact and fiction if overly exposed to the media. For example; scary movies that claim to be "based on a true story." These sort of claims warp the distinction of fact and fiction for children. Lastly, Oak exemplifies the "right or wrong dilemma" as a negative affect of media, stating that there are so many different venues of media that it surrounds us, becoming more convincing. It becomes more difficult to tell wrong from right, we do not question the authenticity of reality shows, we simply watch, intake and are influenced.
Oak's piece is mainly opinionated as she only uses one instance of statistics in her work, and even so she ommitted the names purposely, making research next to impossible. I feel that she did not do much research, but based her writing on her own personal observations.
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