Culture and Diversity in the Modern World essay

Mass mediais considered to be any form of communication. These include written, broadcasted, or spoken forms that reach a particular audience. These include TV radio, advertisements, movies, newspapers, the Internet, magazines, etc. It well known by many societies and cultures is a major force in contemporary culture, in the whole world. Where mass media reflects and builds culture is considered as mediated culture by most sociologists (Mary, 10). Societies and individuals are bombarded persistently with messages from a huge amount of sources including the TV, billboards, and newspapers. These messages endorse not only goods, but moods, feelings, and a sense of what is and is not imperative.

Governing bodies, media directors, officials, and sociologists have all debated the controversial question on the role of mass media in the society and on individual basis. While opinions differ as to the degree and kind of weight the mass media wields, all sides concur that mass media is an everlasting part of both traditional and modern culture (Alexander, 19). It is therefore a matter of great importance to note that discussing and evaluating the different depictions of sociology in the mass media is significant due to its potential influence on individual’s ideas and notions concerning the social world and the corresponding effects. This script will depict some of the media items as an illustration of the concept mentioned above. To arrive at the conclusions statistical analysis was carried out in relation to the same topic of discussion.

 

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Page 11 (this is the page number of the book that the information is available)

Discussion

In the article ‘Mapping America’s Diversity: A Changing Population’, one can easily note that the diversity has increased in the nation over the past few years. In sociology, diversity is a major aspect that has to be considered while tackling the same. The mass media in this case provide a map, which is a written communication to pass information to the relevant audience. In essence, it can be taken into account that, the depiction of such information by the mass media illustrates overtly how aspects of sociology are incorporated in every piece of information that is conveyed through the media (David, 57). ‘Society in the global Perspective’ is one depiction of how social information conveyed through different forms of media can influence different aspects of sociology. As a matter of fact, issues such as unemployment among the minority or the youth discussed in this piece of article clearly show how among many, social aspects are greatly influenced by the mass media. According to Anderson (11), for one to clearly distinguish and/or understand the deeper meaning of globalization, they should look at it beyond the individual societal boundaries and consider the societal connections in between them.

Page 23

Discussion

According to the article in this page, Anderson (23) asserts that in a contemporary society, and/or civilized society especially one that is technologically inclined, there are a number of media items that most people especially the youth and the young generation retrieve information form. She goes ahead to state that, ‘they walk around with plugs in their ears’. This clearly indicates the social nature of how media items incline the society. As a matter of fact, new technologies such as the introduction of smart phones, tablets, iPods, etc have greatly changed the social nature of most societies. This ranges from the youth to the older generation. Continued usage and the increase in the urge to posses this gadgets influences the social nature of the society (Curran, 5). For instance, in the picture seen above, a student or so to say, is trying to use a tablet. The speed with which information is relayed with these gadgets is quite stunning and thus most people of a contemporary society will always try to use them. This n turn influences some social aspects in the society in either one way or the other.

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The internet is one tool that has been of great use among the young generation, and nowadays even the older generation, to spread information and even rumors. Devices, which help assist with internet usage, are most of the time, portable. This makes it quite easier for the users to navigate and browse. This culture has evolved further into ‘texting’ and ‘tweeting’. As a consequent, the sociological aspect of the entire society is eventually affected by the mass media items discussed above. Thus, Anderson, in this article tries to show how technology, on its greater part, as an item of mass media, has influenced the sociological nature of the society.

Page 17

Discussion

At a glance, the civilians in the pictures in these articles are carrying placards depicting some messages to a particular audience. This shows that information in mass media can be relayed in different ways. T o be exact, Anderson touches on the Afghanistan story where civilians are demonstrating. They are actually pushing for peace in their country. In this case, the mass media item in use influences the actions of the citizens and the demonstrators.  This is on the greater part the sociological aspect of the society. Quoting some of the great people including Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx W.E.B. Dubois and Max Weber among others, Anderson tries to show the different perspectives that the society has towards various situations such as war (Anderson, 17). She ends up concluding that the stability of the society largely contributes to the stability of the whole. Moreover, constancy in a society starts from the family as a unit. Thus, on a social perspective, mass media items portray the dos and don’ts of the society in turn influencing the whole.

Page 30

Discussion

In this article, Anderson (30) tries to illustrate how language shapes culture and the society’s social nature. Without language, mass media items cannot convey any of their messages. Language is the most significant aspect of mass media. Different languages have different delineation to different people. Anderson (30) states that language is a big part of culture and that the two cannot be put apart. The picture in this article shows a banner telling people of where the voting is taking place. To emphasize on the same or as a matter of concern to the non-English speakers, the same has been put up in two other languages. This is just to ensure that all the audiences targeted in the message on the banner are reached at. To be exact, the same language may have words which in the real sense mean differently to diverse people. Such words used by media items have the tendency of influencing the way of thinking of different people. The different influences bring about a difference in the effects language has on the sociological aspect of the larger society (Alexander, 29). This means that the different ways in which people understand tings due to the language problems or complexity may be one of the factors that contribute to changes in the social aspect of individuals, families or the whole society at large.

Page 34

Discussion

Cultural diversity is one of the most celebrated aspects of sociology. In most workplaces, it is one of the most discussed issues affecting employees. It entails the different cultures that different people have and how this affects their daily lives in the society (Curran, 16). Racism is one of the products of cultural diversity. Being member of one of the marginalized communities may be one’s stepping stone onto the adverse effects of racism. In the pictures above, the citizens are carrying placards written on ‘say no to racism’. This in one way or another influences the perspective of people towards then issue of racism. This is just but one of the best examples according to Anderson (Anderson, 34). Other illustrations include child molestation and the much talked about death penalty. The information relayed by mass media items relating to such issues should be inclined in such a manner that tries to disallow such practices. This is in order to try and influence the perspective of individuals in societies towards the marginalized communities. With this in place, the items can play an influential role in ensuring that the society is inclined in the right manner sociologically.