What is the media's importance in our lives?

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Almost every day of our lives, in one way or another, we will watch, hear or read at least one form of media. It is because of this widespread saturation and immense power that the media has in today’s modern world that we must study and understand them. Media in the form of newspapers, film, radio, television, and computer network communications surround our everyday lives. It is through this that we are provided with information ranging from local and state-wide stories, to coverage of events and information world wide. Media developed on the Western world is viewed in many countries and extremely influential to us, as social and cultural beings, as well as political and economical dimensions of the world. This essay will explore the essential power an individual is given by studying the media, and how this study can open ones mind to the way things work. The politics behind media texts are an important aspect to consider. As individuals in the modern world, different forms of media encircle us every day. This dominance of media makes it vital to be able to understand and analyse a media text when confronted with one. The study of media broadens the mind and teaches us not ‘to take things at face value.’(Bazalgette, G p.10) There are various reasons why we should question what we are told in the media; including, but not limited to, the fact that the media ownership is concentrated, making a variety of different view points hard to find. When looking at a media text from a political viewpoint, the focus is put more onto where the media text comes from, rather than how it was conceived. Questions such as who made the text, why, and in whose interest it was in, must be asked. The media can be seen as a method of persuasion to its targeted audiences, and. the power structures behind the media or a certain text are worth consideration. Media studies illustrates how

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