by Cindy Kessler

Created on: February 13, 2011   Last Updated: February 28, 2011

The role of mass media in society refers to the institutions that provide information to people. Television, radio, newspapers, periodicals, film and the internet are some of the vehicles providing information to society today  

Traditionally these sources provided information about important events, such as a war, a weather incident, an election, financial news, local news, national news and international happenings. The messages flow one way, from source to receiver.

The receiver or audience self-select the television station they view, newspaper or magazine they purchase. The ability to provide feedback to the media source is limited. A characteristic of mass media is that the receivers are relatively anonymous.

Some rolls of mass media are providing information about pending threats such as weather events or useful information such as new products or stock market quotes.

Traditionally news events were reported as objectively as possible. Today news outlets have blended the news-reporting with commentary. The motive for this blending is persuasion.

The entertainment function of mass media provides diversion from the real world through film, print and art forms. The success of quality transmissions of sporting and other events on television has pushed much of our society into spectators rather than participants.

Mass media plays an important role in transmitting social values such as appropriate behavior and attitudes. The effectiveness of this method of socialization can be seen in the similarity of young people’s tastes throughout the world. Hair-cuts and styles, clothing, music, dancing and movies are similar in teens in diverse parts of the world.

Young people around the world are enormously influenced by the clothes and hairstyles of sport figures or movie and music celebrities. Commercial institutions use these people to increase sales of products from tennis shoes to hair coloring.

After seeing hundreds of advertisements on television, magazines, newspapers, billboards and even on the sides of buses and trucks, a consumer makes a decision to buy a particular brand of a product. Advertising drives the American economy. All ages are influenced by this flood of product advertising. It is common to hear our society referred to as media driven.

Fifty years ago young people learned how to complete tasks from their parents or at school. Recipes were handed down from one generation to the next. Today most young people know how to prepare hamburger

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