The Media: About the media

The Media: About the media: " They are every where, they are the main source of our information. The question is “are all the in..."

About the media

                                      
They are every where,  they are the main source of our information.  The question is “are all the information given to people true?” Not quite. The media changes people’s perception of other people or things. The media could be used for good and also dangerous purposes. The media is a very powerful tool!

I watched a lot of High school movies, when I was in Nigeria. It made me think that every high school in the U.S. had dominating groups of people. I also watched My super sweet 16, which was usually aired on MTV. Most Nigerians also watched that program. We all thought that all Americans had a mighty bash for their 16 birthdays.  The American shows in Nigeria made the citizens feel a sense of inferiority.  It made many teenagers look up to the American lifestyle as their role model and the Nigerian lifestyle as lame. When my dad told me I was coming to the United States of America, I was very excited, I felt like it would be everything I saw on t.v. I really had high expectations for America.  I expected to see a lot of friendly, wealthy and happy people, I expected for things to be easily accessible. In short I thought that America would be a place where wealth came in easily and a place of relaxation and enjoyment.

When I arrived the U.S. most of my expectations were gone. I realized that many Americans don’t even watch MTV, with a few exceptions of some shows like teen mom, and so on which talk about real life issues.  What people were viewing in Nigeria about the U.S. are mere fairy tales.  Many Americans do not even waste their money for sweet sixteen celebrations. I also realized that wealth did not come in so easily as a expected. A person had to work really hard to achieved success any where in the world, there is no magic to it. What I came to realize is that the U.S. just had a lot of opportunities for determined people, but you still had to work hard. I realized that everything in America had to do with money. If a person wanted to enjoy his/herself money had to be involved. My biggest shocker was depression. Despite the fact that there are many wealthy people in America , many of them are still not happy or are depressed. The media never showed that many Americans are depressed. To other nations, America is a wealthy, happy and cool country.

The effect of the media also applies to the way Africa is perceived in America. If you ask an average American to tell you what they think about Africa, they would say “ a continent with a lot poor people”.  The media does not show the wealthy and good side of Africa. Whenever Africa is being showed on T.V. in America, it is always about the need to help the malnutrition or children dying of hunger and AIDS.  People see the difference, when they reach Africa personally. Africa is no a perfect continent but it is not as bad as the way it is being shown in the media.

These are a few examples that show the effect of the media on people. My advice is that people should not use the criteria of the media to judge other people or to use it as their guide about places.Experience is the best guide.