My focus for this blog is to concentrate on the corruption of media, it being an important issue that seems to be on the rise and could pertain a great deal to politics. Politicians have been one of the many groups to use the media as a means of persuasion and coercion, especially during times of presidential elections [soon approaching in 2012]. A very common example would be when politicians create series of commercials blatantly accusing it's opponent, while often overusing dramatic sounds effects and bold red lettering, saying "the real truth" that we. My town in New Jersey shows these very often during our governor elections and other smaller ones within the state. I remember a few years back, my friend's mother had written a letter to the running governor [whom she of course disliked] and complained about his ridiculous commercial. While I don't remember it, I remember her being irritated that while he was bashing his opponent, he continued to pronounce the name wrong every single time. It really is something silly but she still wrote a letter to him and basically stated her opinion on those commercials and how they really are not necessary.
It's situations like these where the media, and we as the audience, are constantly manipulated and taken from our own free will, it becomes a problem that needs to addressed head-on and not swept under the rug. Many people commonly acknowledge that it is a problem, but don't follow through and attempt to make a change. Is it possible to even change the media or how it's run or being transmitted to us to prevent exploitation?
Subliminal messages, sexual undertones, these are just a couple examples of manipulation techniques used by many advertisers in the media. Whether it be a perfume magazine ad, a music commercial or even a quick 30 second blip you hear in between songs on the radio. With technology being so available to us and in use for most of our days, it makes sense that we are so easily manipulated by the media [sometimes being on the phone or the computer is even the basis of most of our days.] In the case of students and young adults, they use technology as their prime mode of entertainment and communication, which has made themselves the central market for any mainstream marketing campaign.
The media makes for a nice outlet for politicians who need to gain the young person's vote. Celebrities have made most of their fortunes from product endorsement and more and more groups are learning how to make it work similarly for them. All politicians really need are the statistics for trends and things alike for any given area and they'll be provided with countless way to win over an age group. Celebrities take it a step further and use themselves for political endorsements, giving them the money and the politicians their vote. In the end it seems like a win-win, but the audience is left with a feel of defeat and being taken advantage of. We are the audience, but more importantly we are the consumers who are susceptible to manipulation in the media as it is always around us.
Young adults and students are represented as careless when it comes to politics [or anything important really] and unwilling to vote. I am a student and while I have not enjoyed following politics in the past, I made sure to vote when I was able to because it is a right we all have. I try to understand politics and get myself to a point where I could randomly spark a conversation on political topics, but I've never gotten there. I just feel as though it doesn't hold my interest very long because the corruption begins to overwhelm me. While marketing advertisements did remind me to vote, it wasn't my full reasoning for voting. Nevertheless, studies have shown that these advertisement strategies are in fact successful and if it increases positivity like having more voters, then it isn't the worst thing that could happen.
Sometimes it can be used as a positive thing, but the issue is important and but I'd like to explore it further and possibly see how it could be prevented. I think relating politics to public media would be especially timely for the upcoming pre-elections.
