Mass Media Messages and Effects

Mass Media Messages and Effects

Mass Media has always had an influence on society, and none more so than the Ineternet. The Internet's influence on society has changed the everything from the way that society communicates, shops, learns, and entertains themselves. It has also become the fastest way that information is spread around the globe. One click of a button can distribute information to millions of individuals , whether the information is accurate or not. The Internet has also changed the way the society inter-relates. People can communicate with an individual online and never know anything personal about the other individual including their sex, race, or religious preference. In that way, the Internet has had a positive effect on society. It has opened individuals to participate in a world community where the personal details of another person's life no longer seem to matter. Messages delivered through news outlets, such as television and newspapers, have also had an effect on society. People are more apt to believe reports from trusted journalist and reporters, than the information they overhear at the local grocery. News outlets have become the final word in some instances. The way the information is delivered through these formats can determine the success or failure of everything from local laws, to the movie premiers and elections.

There is an unethical effect to some mass media messages that are delivered due to the fact that

society that depends on information and communication. Every day society looks to mass

media sources for information on the current news and facts about what is important in the world

what we as a society should be aware of. We depend on the media to be a reliable authority to

deliver honest, accurate news, and quality entertainment and education. With so much riding on

the authority of mass media sources, there is an opportunity for individuals to deceive, and

advantage, of the trust individuals place in media outlets. The first mass media tobacco-control campaign in the United States was the result of a federal court judgment. Under U.S. law until 1988, broadcasters were required under the Federal Communications Commission's Fairness Doctrine "to encourage and implement the broadcast of all sides of controversial public issues over their facilities, over and beyond their obligation to make available on demand opportunities for the expression of opposing views." In 1967, in response to a legal challenge by attorney John Banzhaf, the Fairness Doctrine was interpreted as being applicable to tobacco advertising. As a result, from 1968 to 1970, health ads about cigarette smoking were carried on the airwaves, with