Does the Mass Media Benefit American Society?

Each day most Americans take advantage of evolving technology to supposedly make life better for them and their families. The media are no different and often seem to drive the public's interest in new technology. But is it improving our lives? Have the technological advances of the past decade or so made a positive impact in our existence? Do our journalists, being embedded with our troops, positively affect the quality of news we receive?

Or have we become a society that sits in our La-Z-Boy craving the sensationalism of Jerry Springer, the scheming of Survivor, and the humiliation of The Bachelor? Are we afraid to go outdoors and experience life ourselves because it is so conveniently served to us on the television, in cyberspace, on shock radio programming and 24 hour live coverage of our country "liberating" Middle Eastern nations? Are we raising the next generation to expect instant gratification without the risk of exposure to the consequences of life? Does the Media, in fact, benefit society?

During the "police action" in Vietnam, I was a young boy and remember seeing the news coverage on the events of the previous few days. I vaguely recall death tolls being broadcast. Numbers that were larger than I could comprehend. I recall seeing cargo planes of body bags being unloaded and funeral services featuring 21 gun salutes over flag-draped coffins. I even seem to remember the immortal words, "...and that's the way it is" as Walter Cronkite said good night to America.

Do I remember any of that or has it been ingrained in my mind by subsequent viewings over the years? I also recall "Romper Room," "Bozo the Clown," "Sesame Street," "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood," "The Flying Nun," "The Brady Bunch," and the gritty police dramas "Adam-12" and "Dragnet." I don't remember thinking any of that was anything but entertainment, but again I was a young boy. My thoughts now seem to lean more towards cynicism.

I fear that society today is too frequently entertained by other people's misfortunes. People seem to crave watching the dysfunctional "guests" on "Jerry Springer," and break in to applause because the woman who just found out her sister has been sleeping with her husband breaks into tears. I've watched rooms full of people cheer when a building in Iraq explodes, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the building's occupants were not even identified as enemies. The embedded media don't say much about the mistake that was made and just move on to the next story of the coalitions' ferociousness.

I fear that those of us in our recliners are too easily guided toward the next thing the media wants us to see, and forget about the fact that we have not yet had closure on the previous events. Too few of us are willing to point out that we found no weapons of mass destruction, nor have we located Osama bin Laden. Have we been misinformed once again by our government, through our media and the rhetorical speech of those elected to represent us?

While working for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service as a U.S. Navy Broadcast Journalist in the Republic of the Philippines, I experienced first hand how honesty and Journalism went hand in hand. The civilian press, including CBS, NBC and CNN, were not allowed access to internationally newsworthy events. Only the military Journalists were given access to the news that was happening and we were censored, not only by the government of our host nation, but also by the U.S. Government. Granted, this was over 20 years ago, but at the time, it was my impression that the press should not be manipulated by the government. Most people had no idea that it was.

I wonder how much manipulation still exists. Because of the fact that we have reporters tied to the troops, leads me to suspect that this was government's way of keeping tabs on where they are. One of the world's oldest military strategies is to always know where your enemy is.

I am able to type a few words into a search engine and am told what to think about any great literature and read the relevant parts of that literature. I can tune into prime time television any night of the week and witness the shredding of someone's life and dreams all wrapped up into an hour-long reality-based television program. I can effectively take part in not only my world and what's important to me, but in fact, I can be involved in everyone's world right from the comfort and safety of my recliner. There was a time that this would be considered a handicap, or something a quadriplegic may have to endure. Today's society however, considers this a luxury.

While media has made all this possible, I think it is up to society to have the strength of morality to not let it become life as we know it. Without being in the world we are shown, we can not possibly make intelligent choices as to our future, or understand the perils of the people we watch. We must as a global society, get out of our recliners and have a say on things that are more important than who's the next American Idol. It is wrong for us to sit back and trust what is being told to us by the politicians and reporters. It is irresponsible of us not to go out into the world, form our own opinions, and investigate for ourselves if what we are being told is true.

Do the media, in fact, benefit society? In closing I will say that in my opinion, the media, as it is being used today, does not! It definitely has the potential to benefit society, but only if society has enough self-discipline to utilize the technological advances responsibly. We still must question what we are being told and shown. We must not be satisfied that what is on the television or the Internet is true.

Society has been misinformed, if not blatantly lied to, throughout the advances of technology, by the very media and government officials that we, for some reason, trust unconditionally! When that unconditional trust stops, and society begins to get out of their recliners and ask questions and demand answers, then the media will again benefit the World we live in.