The Vital Importance Of Mass Media

Mass Media is of vital importance in mankind’s life. It is a medium for individuals to search for as well as exchange the latest information and knowledge; and it is also a platform for commercial as businesses can promote their products and services via media. Apart from getting academic or official materials, entertainment is another major function of the media. In everyday life, it is common for individuals to get contact with television programmes and advertisements since they exist in most family, restaurants as well as every corner of the street. Moreover, the consumption of internet also increases in the recent years. For example, in the United Kingdom, nearly half of the age group from 9 to 12 has social-networking profile (European Commission, 2011); and a research points out a phenomena that a quarter of British replace their evening major entertainment, television, by computer (UKPA, 2011). The media takes up a significant role in people’s life and society and the trend tends to be upswing, this shows that people relies very much on the use of media as media are convenient to us. It is interesting to find out the reason of the popularity of different kinds of media and how often individuals spend time on the field of media. Also, the project can help to understand the culture which is being brought out by the television programmes in United Kingdom. Media is beneficial to us to at some point; however, media will do us harm if we misunderstood the implications brought by the media. In this case, media have a great influence on mankind and social behaviours, which includes both positive and negative impacts. As media has become the social norm, therefore, it is possible for project study to investigate the seriousness of how teenagers are being affected by the media, which can be the benefit from the media; and to what extent, their social behaviour is being affected.

Aims & Objectives

In this project study, the main focus will be more on the point of view of the teenagers in the United Kingdom because this age group is easily being influenced and attracted by some new matters. Thus, the aim of this research study is, firstly, to give a brief introduction of the popularity of different types of media in the United Kingdom, such as, television programmes which include news, educational programmes, soup dramas, reality shows and variety shows, advertisements and internet. It is also important to analyse the purpose of the existence of these media and also the age group which they want to target. Secondly, how teenagers can benefit from these media. For example, some meaningful and encouraging programmes not only can help teenagers to gain knowledge and experience, but also establish a positive and strong moral value and raise social awareness. But at the same time, undesirable impacts are also generated from these media. The reason is that, teenagers may have different interpretation or perception of the programmes; they may also develop negative attitude towards life and behaviour, like anti-social behaviour, commit crimes, being impractical or even live in “fantasy” and lack of motivation to do anything as media helps to beautify and shape the reality. Thirdly, there will be a little discussion on how the government imposes tighter laws and regulations to control the adverse effects brought out from the field of media.

Method

In this project study, both primary data and secondary data will be used to make this research a convincing and academic one. For the primary data, questionnaire will be used. This questionnaire contains four sections with 18 questions concerning the consumption of television programmes, advertisements as well as internet, and these questions help to reveal the view of teenagers on the effect of media. The survey will be carried out through the Qualtrics (https://s.qualtrics.com), a website which is designed for conducting survey. It targets teenagers who are living in the United Kingdom and the sample size will be 50 or above, so the results can be more objective and comprehensive and then a detailed analysis can be made by using these data. For secondary data, reference books, journal articles as well as video will be used. All these sources are academic and relevant to the topic; they are strong support for the arguments in the project. Firstly, for reference books and journal articles, one of the books, Crime and Law in Media Culture, and also the journal article, Media made criminality: The representation of crime in the mass media, both discuss about the relationship between crime and media which are connected by a strong bond. The information also points out that; media sometimes maps crimes and law which makes them look playful and trivial. As a result, audiences will have wrong conception and look down upon the law and punishment. The media affect the thinking and behaviour of an individual, if the effect is positive, it can help to shape the community a better one; if not, it will deteriorate the moral value in society. Moreover, media is a two way communication, which means not only the media give out information and knowledge, but the audiences also need to give responses. After talking about the social behaviour, I will focus on how people react and accept the messages. Secondly, the video is used as it looks from the perspective of the audiences and analyse how they interpret the messages from the media. It is important to know the attitude hold by people towards media because it gives us the clue on how people are affected by the power of media.

Section 1: Television Programmes

(1) How much time do you spend on watching television?

More than 5 hours a day

1-2 hours a day

Sometimes (during leisure time)

Never (Go to Section 2)

(2) Which types of television programme would you prefer?

Please rank your choices (1=highest; 6=least)

News report _____

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Soap dramas _____

Reality shows _____

Variety shows _____

Educational programmes _____

Films/Movies _____

(3) Suggest 2 adjectives which are most suitable to describe television programmes.

______________________________________________________________

(4) In some reality shows, films and dramas, indecent language, violence and sex

scenes can be seen, do you think the government need tighter control on them?

Yes, this can help to establish good moral value in society

No, as these coarse language and scenes are the fundamental element of the programmes

No comment

(5) Which of the following statement will you support?

Television programmes involve positive social value and are mostly beneficial to mankind.

Television programmes pose bad impact on mankind as they are generally exaggerated and indecent materials.

Section 2: Advertisements

(6) Where can you see advertisements mostly?

_______________________________________________________________

(7) To what extent, advertisement is attractive? Specify your reason.

(1=very attractive; 5=not attractive, it can be neglected)

_______________________________________________________________

(If your answer is 5, please go to Question 9)

(8) Which aspects of the advertisement can catch your sight?

(You can choose MORE THAN ONE option)

Colourful and beautiful design

Brand name

Price and discounts

Models or Artists

The promoted products or services

(9) Do you think advertising is successful in persuading people to make consumption?

Yes

No (Go to Section 3)

(10) Have you ever convinced by the advertisements to buy any products?

Yes. Please name one: _____________________________

No.

Section 3: The Internet

(11) How often do you use the internet?

Every day, 5 hours or above

Every day, less than 2 hours

Sometimes, when there is research work and for leisure

Never

(12) Which of the following activities will you perform on the internet?

(Choose FOUR options)

Social-networking (Facebook, Twitter, Skype, MSN, E-mail)

Download music and movies

Research

Settle private matters (Bank statements, Mobile phone statements)

Games

Watching videos

Get the up-to-date information (News, Fashion, Technology, Entertainment)

(13) Name ONE advantage and disadvantage of the internet.

Advantage: _____________________________________________

Disadvantage: ___________________________________________

(14) Which statement will you support?

The internet is convenient; it is a good assistant to make works run smoothly and efficiently.

The practice of using the internet makes a person get addicted to it and isolates himself from the outside world.

(15) Is it possible to live without the internet in the modern society?

Yes

No

Section 4: Overview

(16) Vigorous development of the mass media is…

(Specify your reason.)

Good,______________________

Bad,_______________________

(17) “Mass media is everywhere in our life, it is inevitable to ignore it.” Do you agree?

Yes

No

(18) Which of the following will influence one’s mind and behaviour mostly?

Television programmes

Advertisements

The Internet

This is the end of the questionnaire. Your opinions will greatly assist the process of the analysis. Thank you for your precious time and opinions!