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Jillian DiBlasi English 0701 Professor Gayle 13 Sept 2013 How Media Shapes American Society Media impacts the American way of life. There are multiple ways that the media portrays American society. America has been shaped and molded for as long as media has been around. From Roosevelts fireside chats on the radio to checking the news feed on the internet, media continues to inform the general public. Media used to be associated with books, journals, newspapers, magazines, and so on. Currently, most media is presented mostly through technology. Media sources offered are television, the radio, and the ever-so-popular Internet, the newest, most connected form of media. Media is not just confined in America, it is exposed universally. Social capital may influence the way we interpret the message of the media around us. Social capital is the idea that aspects of social backgrounds can be beneficial in some way. Social capital may target certain groups of people negatively and positively depending on how the viewer wants to perceive the information given. The way people comprehend social media is the way that the American society is shaped. The world relies on this mass media for their everyday routines, such as watching the daily news, getting the weather forecast for the week, watching a food commercial, or simply listening to the radio. The media connects with massive amounts of people and serves many purposes, whether it is to inform and educate, or for a leisurely activity. The news and weather channels are types of media that would be categorized as informational media, but media such

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as Facebook are strictly for leisure. Conventional wisdom has it that people are too dependent and thrive on media. Media is in constant possession, therefore it is second nature to us. The media is used in a persons everyday life, so it is difficult to avoid. It is unclear to some people that media even impacts their way of life at all. Little things such as sitting down at the dinner table, conversing about current news to other employees, or telling a close friend the juicy news on the recent feed are often overlooked, but they all refer back to how we live our lives. The media can affect America in a positive manner, but can also shape America in a negative way. America assumes that what they see and hear in the media is the correct information, so they will go ahead and make assumptions based off of what the media said says is true. The media can throw subliminal messages to their audience. Occasionally, their audience might not always pick up on it. Everyone reacts to media differently, but there is always a general population that the media tries to draw in. The person who produces the media does it on purpose - to create more publicity for themselves or for their company. Sociologist Gregory Mantsios, the author of Class in America, claims that the media presents the upper and lower classes to satisfy some real or imagined voyeuristic need of the ordinary person (698). He suggests that nobody talks about class, and that it is just assumed. He insists that Americans mistakenly hold a set of beliefs that obscure the reality of class differences and their impact on peoples lives (658). Basically Mantsios means that people are shaped by what they see and hear from mass media. Since the media relays this information to us, America as a whole is impacted. They believe that they should treat other Americans how they are shown through media causing American to react the way we do.

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Media exposes social capital in multiple ways whether it is age, gender, race, religion, etc. An example of race is shown in a KFC commercial. An Australian, white male is at a sport match with a bunch of rowdy African Americans surrounding him that are banging bongos, dancing, and having a good time. The guy sits there rubbing his eyes and looking very agitated by the people around him. He then asks, Need a tip in an awkward situation (The Young Turks Racist KFC Ad in Australia). He pulls out a bucket of KFC chicken, and every one of the African American decent grabs the chicken from him as he states too easy, (The Young Turks Racist KFC Ad in Australia) with a sly look on his face. This commercial does not have a positive message, but the media still continues to air it. KFC emphasizes the stereotype: black people love fried chicken. It gives viewers the impression that black people must love fried chicken if it is allowed to be aired on television. KFC targets African Americans and makes viewers believe the racial stereotype. Social capital can affect the way viewers understand this particular commercial about race. A rape case that took place in August of 2013 clarifies a type of social capital in an appalling way. In Stuebenville, West Virginia, a town well-known for football, a teenage girl was raped by two football players named Malik Richmond and Trent Mays. The town was well aware that a crime had been committed, but it seemed as though there were no consequences for the two boys. Why? Because these two were on the high school football team, they were somewhat excused from the crime that was committed. The case was finally brought to attention by a blogger. She saw the crime scene unleashed on a popular media site, Twitter. She investigated the case and eventually the two football players were accused and brought to court. Surrounding the court were numerous news stations awaiting to hear the story. CNN

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News decided to give the crime a plot twist. They gave their audience a specific message; they felt pity for the two high school football stars who had promising futures (The Sublime Degree CNN Grieves). The use of vocabulary used by CNN News swayed their viewers opinions on the case so that they would have some kind of sympathy for Richmond and Mays. They only reported on one side of the story by showing Richmond crying and apologizing to the girls father. CNN also presented the fact that his father had problems with alcohol and drug consumption, forcing the viewers to blame Richmonds father, instead of Richmond (Trial by Twitter). Overall, the reporting was biased in more than one way. It led viewers into thinking that crimes are okay as long as successful, star football players commit them. Richmond and Mays were football players in a huge football community and had more status than the victim. It all came down to the perceived status and value of the football players and not the actual events that surrounded the case. The way the media treated this case impacted Americas overall understanding of it. The way American perception has been shaped is mainly through popular media. Social capital plays a major role when it comes to mass media. Media uses social capital to their advantage to attract different viewers by focusing on gender, age, race, etc. Media is almost necessary in todays world. With the way technology works, it can be pulled up in an instant. As long as technology continues to advance along with the media, people will get their news. This has a downside, however. Media cannot be completely objective, therefore everyone has an opinion on what is being broadcasted. American society can view the media however they choose, so the people who find their news through technology have to be careful to not become biased by it.

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Works Cited Levy, Ariel. "Trial by Twitter." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. The Young Turks. Racist KFC Ad in Australia. Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 04 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2013. The Sublime Degree. CNN Grieves That Guilty Verdict Ruined 'Promising' Lives of Steubenville Rapists. Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 17 Mar. 2013. Web. 22 Oct 2013.