How do the media influence your beliefs?13021116

One day , when I was walking on the street, I saw a man coming across the way. And, I noticed his lips were thin, very thin. Suddenly I reminded of what I had heard from an entertainment news a few days ago. It said that a man who has thin lips was an inconstant. With the curiosity, I followed him stealthily. It seemed to confirm what the news said was correct, not unexpectedly, I saw him quarreling with his wife and slapping to her in the next corner. It made me surprised, and, I found myself that I subtly was led by the nose. It was the first time that I had realized that how do the media influence our lives, our values, and our beliefs.

1. We chose the media

Nowadays, we live in a modern, technological society, media is full of every area of our lives. And, what you can’t deny is that media plays an important role in the world. We can send messages to everyone instead of writing letters; we can telephone each other to express our emotion; we can know current events from TV, knowing where are against a war now, knowing what’s the weather like tomorrow. Obviously, media brings us so many conveniences, proving a Chinese proverb that “without going outdoors, the scholar knows all the wide world’s affairs”. We chose the media, because we can’t live without media. When people face the world, we are habituated to accept the information that we know and interested in or, they are relevant with our experience. Gradually, we will have a form to filtrate what kind of information we actually need and, to know how to get the information. And at this point, media makes a crucial contribution to the mankind.

2. Media influences our beliefs

In the period that information couldn’t be widely circulated, the main way that we received information was passing through what our parents said, what the famous people said, and what the knowledgeable said. Afterwards, newspapers and broadcasts showed up. To a certain extent, they expanded channels for people to get more information. But, in fact, newspapers and broadcasts almost passed on something similar. It means that, although the form to get information was changing, the essence was unchanging, it still was “listen to others”. The advent of the Internet has accelerated the flow of information obviously. At the same time, it also shocked us a lot.

Certainly, media can make us aware of what’s right, what’s wrong, what’s the knowledge we never know before. For example, in the past two weeks, my mom called me and told me that she finally knew how to deal with the situation when a child was choked by food rightly. It would better beat the back to let the child disgorge the food, instead of stroking the anocelia from top to bottom to let the child swallow the food. It maybe make the child suffering from shock. And, it is worthwhile to note that she know the relevant knowledge from a TV show. Moreover, she always has a belief that the later way above is more effective. At that moment I was thankful to media to spread the right information to the society, not only knowledgeable, but also unknowledgeable. All in all , as we all know, ignorance can guide people to deathward.

But, every coin has two sides. Media also has its disadvantages. Normally, irresponsible information will guide us to the wrong way. An experience of my own——All of our living circumstances tell us that man is basically good. However, I believe that not only we Asian, but also white have a wrong impression of black people. From the foreign movies we watch, the American broadcast we listen to , the TV programs we get, all of them pass on us the information that black people must addict, extremely vicious, drug trafficking. And black people always have guilty of rape. When I was young, I didn’t know media also could broadcast something wrong and mendacious. I didn’t know wrong information could lead people to kill the truth yet. And proof by facts, the first impression is extremely important to a person, especially a child. From then on, although I know black people is kind, friendly and outgoing, positive, I also have a little curiosity and fear when I come across with them on streets or in subways. Actually, these images are faked by white, are results of racial superiority.

Some people say that they like to hear the appraisement from foreign media, they like to take up famous bloggers’ suggestions, because the appraisement and suggestions make them feel that they will be filled with wisdom. Nevertheless, it is absolute that media has subjectivity. All of media has its own standpoint. If we blindly believe media but exploring truth, our cognitive views and beliefs will be passive., and maybe you will change what you have realized.

The biggest benefit of Internet age may not bring more positive information(actually but more negative news) to us, but give us an opportunity to chose and adopt the information. If we have an aim to make lives be better and happier, being free to filter and chose information in the right way, instead of following another’s lead in voicing opinions and being partial to media, we will build up right beliefs without media’s misdirection.

 Reference: http://ah.sina.com.cn/news/economy/2014-09-15/1650116286.html