The Mass Media Have an Adverse Effect on Moral Standards

‘The Mass Media Have an Adverse Effect on Moral Standards’

        It is no secret that the mass media plays a very important role in maintaining moral standards. But what exactly is morality? Does a list of what is right and what is wrong exist? Throughout history, moral standards have changed. The media has been influencing morality for such a long time it is hard to say when it started. Such an example is Ancient Egypt, where public standards played an important role in society. Those leading the Empire imposed social standards that people followed by the letter. The same thing happened in Medieval China.

        However, the influence that the media has on morality can be tracked down to the 18th century, when publishers started to spread out magazines all around the world. That is considered a breakthrough in social life. Ever since then, the media has been influencing everyday life. It has been deciding what people wear, what they eat, what they look like, and even what they choose to do in life. Present technology has only heightened the authority that mass media has on the way people live their lives. People believe in what is written or shown on screen regarding social and moral standards. They are tricked into believing that whoever wrote those things want what is good for the society they live in.

        Therefore, the Internet and TV dictate moral standards. A good example of how the media has influenced morality are the privileges that homosexual pairings have in the USA as of 2015. It proves that old social beliefs can be changed in the blink of an eye. Another example is the change in the way people regard child violence. While verbal abuse against a child is frowned upon, physical violence is considered a crime. This proves that mass media can have a positive effect on the way society judges certain matters as moral or immoral.

        Although the media can have a positive effect on today’s morals, it sometimes affects moral standards in a negative way. For example, the constant use of rude language or the use of brutal comments regarding celebrities or public people, can have a very bad influence on the way young people grow up and the way they form their own moral standards. This way, today’s youth will be alright with judging people in a brutal or rude way, thus changing moral standards for the worse.

        According to a famous sociologist, social changes are going too fast. ‘What is hero today, tomorrow can be hated by everybody. In reality nothing can stand long, all implies moral relativism. Nothing is neither right nor wrong. Even strongest morals round off very quickly.’