Media Usage

In today’s society, it is common for people to turn on their television, radio, or computer and easily obtain the newest information circulating the world. However, most people do not think about where the information is coming from and how the source of the information can affect the message. Yet everyday, the people who control our media, such as publishers, editors, and television producers, are constantly manipulating the things that are occurring around the world to make them into the messages that they want the public to hear. Therefore, just because we hear or see something on television, on the radio, or in newspapers and magazines, it does not necessarily mean that we can accept it to be the absolute truth. The most basic example of this would be television shows. Most teenagers base their view on the world from television shows like The Hills, Gossip Girl, and One Tree Hill While many people find these shows entertaining and amusing, most of their views about the world come from these misleading television programs. For a long time, most of my perception about what high school would be like came from shows such as One Tree Hill and Laguna Beach. Thus, it was strange to find out that high school wasn’t at all what television made it seem. Nevertheless, I recently discovered that the writer of One Tree Hill is a man born in the mid-1960’s. When you sit back and actually think about who is writing the show, it is quite undeniable to realize that a man in his mid-forties could not possibly know what high school is like for teenagers in today’s society. And while the themes of teenage pregnancy and drug use may be present in our reality, most of the time, our society isn’t accepting of such incidents. Yet on TV, it seems as though someone will always be there to help you sort out your mistakes and get you back on your feet. Aside from this, a source of information that is even more overlooked is our education. Although it is true that education plays a