How the media affects prejudice

Posted by Winnie Melda on October 19th, 2018

The mass media is considered as one of the main places that are filled with prejudice.  It is where one gets exposed to prejudice by watching television, reading books and magazines, or even studying school textbooks that present stereotyped views of various groups of people. This is because most of the content found in advertisements, television programs, movies, and other media are saturated with racial and gender stereotypes. As a result, the content of the publication tends to influence how people perceive and relate to one another profoundly. In many instances, the immediate effects of stereotype activation fade after a few minutes, but regardless of their duration, it reinforces stereotypic thinking in the long run. (Howitt, 2013)

Additionally, evidence suggests that once a stereotype is activated, it can be reactivated by something as simple as a disagreement with someone in the stereotyped group. Thus, even though media-based stereotypes may seem harmless when considered individually, their cumulative effect over time can be substantial. It can be developmentally appropriate for children, but when negative values are attached to those differences, the media influence will result in prejudice and discrimination against specific groups.  As the children bolster their worth by finding a group of people whom they can put down hence, allowing them to feel more important and powerful than those they put down. Although some improvements have been made, it is not difficult to find TV shows that depict some well-established stereotypes hence the way media is portrayed it is widely believed to have consequences for levels of prejudice and stereotyping in the mass public. (Street, 2010).

 References

Howitt, D. (2013). The Mass Media & Social Problems (Vol. 2). Elsevier.

Street, J. (2010). Mass media, politics, and democracy. Palgrave Macmillan.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in legitimate research paper writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for buy narrative essay.