The media have always been a basis of communication in mass culture, but we can't say that they have been present since the world began. The rapid development of media occurred in 19th and 20th century. Nowadays, the media are present in almost every aspect of our life and sometimes it's difficult to avoid their influence.
First of all, thy are the most important source of information about what is happening in every corner of the world. They keep us informed about wars, significant political or cultural events, catastrophes, accidents and crimes. Moreover, the mass media provides entertainment of every kind. Thanks to them we can listen to good music, watch interesting films, comedies, shows or sports programmes. TV not only adds colour to our life, but has also enormous educational possibilities. It broadens the mind, increases our knowledge about the world, people, their culture, tradition and so on. What's more, it offers many courses, for example in foreign languages, cooking or gardening.
But on the other hand, television and the Internet impedes communication people from talking. Many families set up their activities and lifestyles around a TV program schedule. They do not communicate their feelings, don't exchange impressions or views but have their eyes glued to TV instead. In this way the strong relationships in the family are weakening. The more we watch, the more passive we become. Instead of going out for a walk, we prefer to sit in our armchairs and ruin our health. Apart from that television has a very negative impact on children who are exposed to silly cartoons or violent detective stories which don't teach them anything. Moreover, they are easily influenced by trashy commercials and tempted by junk food, sweets or expensive toys.
I don't really believe the media for two reasons. Firstly, some journalists and paparazzi look for scandals all the time. They observe famous people, take photos of them and draw false conclusions. For example, when our popular pop star – Doda is seen with some men, we can read inthe gutter press that she has a new lover, as if she couldn't have just friends. Or when some day a famous woman goes for a walk without make – up, journalists write that she has a depression or that she is seriously sick. In that case I can say that the media are irresponsible.
Secondly, there are some political connections. Many people working for the media have their own favourite politicans and political party. Sometimes they don't try to hide it and present the news so that make people sure that this party is OK and honest, but the other – opposition party is bad and unfair.
It is often said that the media are the fourth power. I can agree with this statement, because if there are no media, we won't know about any current affairs. So it's possible to draw a conclusion that the media create our view on certain issues and different people. Sometimes we suggest what we heard in the radio or watched on TV during the general election.
I think that a good idea is to find out how different media, different newspapers and TV programmes present a particular issues before we create our own point of view.