Fox News, CNN, The New York Times and Headline News...what do they all have in common? That's right, they are all owned by a larger company. One would hope that this larger company has the nations interest in mind, but as we all know, humans are fallable. The controlling conglomerates of the mainstream media are also in control of the news that is reaching you. This influence upon what reaches the general public ultimately influences public policy.

The shows on television, the ads in magazines, the billboards by the side of the road, they are all some form of media outlet. The issue at hand though is the influence these outlets provide. We have young girls dieting in order to satisfy the look of the model in the ad. We have young men drinking mass gaining supplements to satisfy a more muscular build. We have this perpetuating desire to buy the name brand of what-so-ever, so we are not viewed as an outcast. We buy into what the media tells us to buy into. For some of us, we tend to make the claim that we are not buying into the mainstream, so we go the rebellious under-ground route. Guess what, that rebellious route you are taking is owned by the same company that owns the mainstream route.

These are all instances of us being consumers, but how does it affect us on our policies? The answer lies within the message. What do we see? What do we hear? What are we conditioned to like or not like within the media that is bombarding us on all sides? We subconsciously change our policies within us to satisfy the rest of the group to that which we belong. We don't want to be the only one fighting against the tide of popular decision. So, to say that we belong to a certain group, means that we take on the mindset of that group, thus our policies will change. What is even more important to notice is that the group to which we belong is sucking off the teet of one or more major media outlets to determine their next move.

The final question that we can ask of ourselves is how much of my thinking processed is influenced by the media? How much of me is me and not just conditioning? We are encouraged to be critical thinkers, not critical consumers. So, the next time that news story about food shortages on CNN is wrapped around a McDonald's commercial, and you then all of a sudden want a big mac; try to think outside of that recycable cardboard box.

Learn more about this author, Dave Real.
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