The Way the Media Influence Our Lives

Are we influenced by the media, if yes how much? Sociologist and Psychologist contemplate that question often. The media has been accused of causing violent behavior, negative racial stereotyping and negative body perceptions mostly among young girls. No one can deny that the media has an effect on society, but is the media just giving society what he or she wants? Has the media taken away our ability to think for ourselves critically? We are constantly feed information from the newspapers, television news and weekly news magazines most of us believing without question because we believe the source credible.
"In 1989 while jogging in central park a women was brutally attacked raped and beaten." I remember the incident well because it was all over the news, in papers and magazines for months. Five teens Hispanic and African American were accused of the crime. I remember the newspaper articles and reporters on television referring to the teens as an angry wolf pack. The word allegedly was absent form all conversation over the incident. The media convicted the teens before the trail began. I believe because of all the negative exposure from the media the teens didn't have a snowballs chance in hell. All five of the boy were convicted and served time for the attack on the central park jogger.
Thirteen years later, a man named Matias Reyes who was not related to the crime at all is now coming forward from behind bars and saying, "you know what, by the way, I'm the one who did it. And the five teenagers who served time, they didn't do it." And the DNA that was taken from the victim's body at the time of the attack matches Reyes. Reyes also confessed to an identical crime two days earlier in the same area of the park. The lawyers who defended the teenagers are now saying "we were never told about a lone, Predatory rapist prowling that same area of the park just days before the jogger was attacked." The police and the prosecutors may have