Stephanie Touch Dr.

Alesha Gayle English 0701 15 Oct 2013 How Media Impacts the American Way of Life The news is negatively impacting our way of life by narrowly focusing on the bad things that are going on. Media impacts the American way of life by influencing judgments, choices, and opinions. Americans constantly rely on the news for important information and current events. The news is everywhere, so there is no doubt that Americans will be hearing updates on what is going on in their country. The news is negatively impacting our way of life because it focuses on negative messages, the understanding that the audience wants more of these messages because it excites them. The assumption is that the audience is used to it. To keep their ratings high, news reporters show what they think that Americans are interested in seeing the violent and negative things that are going on around them, so that is what they show. The new affects viewers opinions through the tone that is used by the reporters. For example, on the case of the Steubenville rape trial, the news reporter from CNN, Poppy Harlow, spoke in a sympathetic tone for the offender. She said, It was incredibly emotional, incredibly difficult even for an outsider like me to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures. Star football players, very good students literally watched as they believed their life fall apart. It affects the viewers opinion on the trial because they not once, brought up that fact that the boys were wrong for raping the girl. They only talked about how the young football players lives were ruined for

making one mistake, making it seem like the fact that the boys raped a girl did not matter to them. This also goes back to social capital because the boys were football stars and they were the towns glory and fame. They were treated with a lot of respect and protection because they made the town look good. Social capital can be taken advantage of by the boys because they boys knew that the town would try to protect them from all of their wrong actions. Moreover, the negative impact from this was that it shows how people are being treated differently because of what social capital they have. The news gave off that message in the same way that the folks from Steubenville would have. They took the boys side without caring about what happened to the girl. They are focusing on all of the wrong things. It means that the news tried to make the boys look like they have made mistakes because they are boys and that it should not ruin their whole lives. What the news should have focused on what happened to the girl and how the rape negatively affected her for the rest of her life. A way that media or the news is negatively impacting American way of life is the way it influences judgment. What this means is that people listen to what is being spoken in the news, which gives the audience an opportunity to change their judgments on their beliefs. Some beliefs that Americans might change are beliefs of race. There are many stereotypes roaming in America, but once people hear it in the news, they start to believe that it is true. For example, The Young Turks had a news report on racism in Australia. It was about a KFC ad that was racist against blacks. It showed a civilized white man surrounded by uncivilized black folks. He pulled out a bucket of chicken and they all became civilized again (The Young Turks). One of the news reporters said, And when you give them chicken, they shut the hell up and start acting civilized again. What he meant by this was that the KFC ad was saying that black people are uncivilized and that they love fried chicken. I think that this can also impact Americans judgments because

this ad was from Australia and the stereotype that blacks love fried chicken is an American stereotype. It affects Americans judgments because it is showing that people from other countries are using these same stereotypes which will push them to believe that the stereotype is true. Social capital impacts our receptions or understandings of mass media because there is always a particular audience that the news is writing or giving the message to. Depending on social capital, there will be various opinions on what is going on in America. There will be different views and understandings from all sorts of people. Peoples social capital changes the way they interact with other Americans. For example, in Dalton Conleys, Honky, Conley was minority in a community of minorities. He lived in a community filled with Hispanics and Blacks, while he was white. Conley was not sure how to interact with white people when he moved to a white neighborhood. He faced a situation where he did not know how to react upon because he was not use to being around white people, and did not have an excuse of not blending in with them. He said, I didnt know what to do. In the split second it took to react, my mind formulated two choices (192). He did not know if he should put on a ghetto act or to throw the rude comment back to the boy, Khalil. Then he said, Upstairs I paced in circles like a dosed-up laboratory animal, wishing I were back in our old neighborhood, where at least I had my skin color to blame for not fitting in (192). There are certain types of ways that people act according to their social capital. It affects their opinion because people think that they should act a different way around higher class or lower class people and they automatically create an opinion of the particular type of people. Social capital impacts Americans reception of mass media because the writers or reporters have a kind of way to talk depending on the audience that they speak to.

Social capital impacts Americans understandings of other Americans because people have different types of social capital, which makes it harder for people to understand where others are coming from. For example, the Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in voting. The article An Assault on the Voting Rights Act, by the Editorial Board of The New York Times, said If we had a federal government that was not paralyzed by partisanship, this ruling would serve as an inspiration to take action. Congressional Democrats would quickly prepare a more expansive formula, and the Republicans who voted for the old formula just seven years ago would support the new one (2). The federal government is in favor of the Voting Rights Act because they do not understand the situation of the people that are being discriminated. They do not know what it is like to not be a part of something that they should have a say in. It is also the case for minorities, where they do not know where minorities are coming from. It is hard for people to understand one another when they do not have the same amount of social capital. People who are not affected by certain problems in America will not have the same amount of care than the people that are being affected. To conclude, media is negatively affecting the American way of life. The news regularly focuses on the bad things that are happening in America. It influences peoples judgments and decisions. The news keep talking about the bad things because they assume that Americans are used to it and they understand that people want to see more. Americans hear something on the news and always have their own opinions on what is going on. The things that are being said and how they are being said can affect peoples opinions and choices. It can be from something as small as an underage drinker to something as big as the government shutting down. The way the news put things will always have an influence on peoples views no matter how bad or unreasonable they might be.

Conley, Dalton. Honky. New York: Vintage, 2001. Print. The Editorial Board. An Assault on the Voting Rights Act. New York Times 25 June 2013. Print. TheSublimeDegree. CNN grieves that guilty verdict ruined 'promising' lives of Steubenville rapists. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 17 Mar. 2013. 14 Oct. 2013. The Young Turks. Racist KFC Ad in Australia. Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 04 Jan. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.